Summer Sunsets (15 page)

Sensing this discussion is
going to take a few more minutes than she’d planned, Skye turns off
the car. “Devin, I can’t compete with the person you seem to think
is right in front of you. You see me as someone who’s beautiful,
amazing, and good. I’m none of those things. I—”

“
Wrong,” I counter, turning
toward her. “You’re not perfect Skye, and I’m not blind to your
faults. You can be stubborn. You’re often sarcastic to the point of
driving people away, and you have trouble letting things go. But
you’re also beautiful. You’re amazing, and you’re not only good,
you’re one of the best people I know.”

She actually flinches at
those last words, and I reach out and take her hand. “Look, Devin.
I’m scared.”

“
That makes, two of us. But
we’re never going to get past this unless we try.”

Leaning back in the seat,
she closes her eyes. “I know you’re right. It’s so much easier to
see the future when we aren’t here where people like Tyler always
remind me of the past.”

I slip my hand beneath her
chin and lift so she has to meet my eyes. “You let me worry about
Tyler, Skye. He’s not going to get anywhere near you.”

Her eyes stare into mine,
and for a moment neither of us say anything. We just breathe. Then
I ease closer and press my lips to hers.

I don’t know how long we
sit there. In some ways, it feels like it’s forever. In others,
it’s like it’ll never be long enough, and there’s only one thing I
know—that for right now things are okay again with Skye, and that’s
enough for me.

“
So what happens now?” she
asks.

I shrug. “I promised my mom
I’d pick up a few things from the store.”

Immediately, Skye starts
smirking, which tells me eventually everything will be all right.
“Your mom actually sent you shopping? With a list and
everything?”

“
I don’t need a list, thank
you very much,” I reply, indignantly. That doesn’t stop her from
grinning, so I try to play it off. “I think she just wanted to get
me out of the house because she was tired of me being all broody
and stuff over you.”

The smile kind of freezes
and dies. “I’m sorry.”

A lone strand of hair falls
into her eyes, and I brush it back. “It’s okay. You’re here now,
and that’s what’s important.”

She nods slowly. “Okay,
let’s go to the store.” She taps her turn signal, and we start down
the road.

Chapter Twelve

“
So what’re we doing here
again?” Skye asks as she nervously toys with the hem of her white
sundress while sitting in the passenger seat of my Jeep. She
watches her fingers as though expecting them to do something
unusual, but I know it’s just the way Skye is when she’s
nervous.

“
My parents are having a
barbeque. I told them I’d be there, and I don’t feel like
socializing with all my dad’s co-workers all by myself.” I pull the
keys from the ignition and scan the numerous cars parked near the
house. “Looks like things are already under way.”

I start to get out, but
Skye catches my arm. “Devin, wait.” Her voice is breathy and
panicked. It matches the expression on her face.

“
It’s just a barbeque, Skye.
Relax.” I peer towards the house. “Looks like Uncle Rick is here,
and you’ll definitely love him. He has so many embarrassing stories
about me it’s not even funny.”

I start to move again, but
Skye’s grip only cinches down even harder. “Devin!”

Turning, I sense the
growing panic, and I don’t understand. To me, it’s just a barbeque,
but to Skye, it’s something else entirely, and that something else
isn’t good, not by a long shot. “Yeah?” I manage and turn my full
attention onto her.

Gritting her teeth, she
leans back against the seat and looks toward my house. “I haven’t
spoken to your mom since before everything went crazy.”

“
And?” I prompt.

“
I’m pretty sure she doesn’t
care for me, not considering all the trouble I got you in during
high school.”

Without meaning to, I
laugh. “Skye, that was years ago. Years. And anyway, she doesn’t
hold grudges like that.”

Skye’s eyes flash in my
direction. “So can you tell me she doesn’t have any problems with
us dating?”

The first thing I think
about is Skye’s open admission to dating, something Skye’s has
never done before. Then I follow her thought and frown, unsure how
to answer. “Well, she’s concerned because of how things transpired
that year, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t like you. It means she
wants everything to be okay, and like anyone else, she can’t
control how things turn out.”

Another car pulls up in
front of the house, and I nod toward it. “Besides, this barbeque is
going to have lots of people here besides my mom. If you’re worried
she’s going to make a scene, she won’t. Promise.”

This time I do get out, and
Skye reluctantly follows my lead. Her fingers quickly brush down
her dress, straightening the soft flowing cotton as she mutters, “I
shouldn’t have worn a dress like this.”

I smile and wrap my arm
around her. “Come on, Skye. You look absolutely
beautiful.”

“
That’s easy for you to
say,” she mutters, drawing close.

“
Yeah, it is,” I whisper,
and kiss her ear. “Because you’re beautiful no matter what you’re
wearing, and I’m glad you’re with me.”

She doesn’t answer as we
amble up the steps and into the house. As I’d expected, everyone is
out back, so we head that way, Skye hovering close beside me. Once
we get to the glass sliding door leading to the back patio, she
stops suddenly as she stares about at the twenty or so people
congregating in the yard. Even though everyone is dressed in shorts
or casual clothes, Skye stops abruptly.

“
It’s just a barbeque,” I
say again. “No one is going to be rude.”

Her gaze flickers to me,
and I ease open the door and gently nudge her forward. As we step
across the threshold, she shakes her head. “You owe me big time for
this, Devin.”

“
Looks like the next ten
movies we’re watching are going to be romantic comedies,” I sigh
and paste a smile on my face as Uncle Rick slowly approaches. He’s
wearing jeans and a white polo shirt. Much of the black hair and
beard I remember has greyed, and there are fine lines around his
eyes and mouth. The grin he wears grows larger by the moment, and
he wraps his arms around me.

“
Devin! Long time no
see.”

“
Hey, Uncle Rick,” I say. He
looks over at Skye.

“
And who is this lovely
lady?”

Skye squirms uncomfortably
beneath his inquisitive gaze. I try to reassure her by slipping my
arm around her, my fingers lightly resting at the middle of her
back.

“
This is Skye
Williams.”

She nods awkwardly in
acknowledgement. “Hey, Skye, this is my Uncle Rick.”

Realization dawns on Rick’s
face. “Oh, so this is Skye. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

With that, Skye glares in
my direction. “I hope it was good.”

“
Of course.” He looks back
at me. “And have you gotten taller, or am I shrinking?”

“
You’re definitely
shrinking,” I confirm, and pat his shoulder. “It’s hard to get old,
isn’t it?”

Rick wags a warning finger
at me. “Old, eh? Yeah, well, I must be old because I remember when
you were this short,” he says, lowering his hand to just above his
knees. “And you decided to strip off your diaper and walk around
the house, spurting pee like a little cherub fountain.”

“
Thanks, Uncle Rick,” I
manage as Skye bursts out laughing so hard I think she’s going to
fall down.

Rick pats my shoulder. “Any
time. That’s what you get for crossing foils with an old man.” He
winks at me and walks away, leaving me red-faced and Skye
giggling.

Once Rick has stepped away,
I shake my head. “You enjoyed that way too much.”

“
You’re the one saying I
never smile enough. I think that’s about a week’s worth, don’t
you?”

“
Just about.” I shake my
head and nod toward my father, who’s busy manning the grill. He’s
stacked a pile of burgers and hot dogs on a platter, and the air is
filled with the scent of them. “Come on. Let’s get a
burger.”

“
Some things never change,”
Skye says as I grab her hand and lead her that way.

“
What do you mean?” I ask,
edging among the guests, my grip sure on Skye’s hand.

“
You and food.
Inseparable.”

I frown at her grin. “It is
a barbeque, Skye. You know—an opportunity to eat.” I point at the
platter of burgers. “Besides, you wouldn’t want all that food to go
to waste, would you?”

“
Oh, definitely not. We
couldn’t have that.”

“
That’s what I’m
saying.”

As we step up to the grill,
my dad turns toward me. “Hey, Devin. Grab a plate for you and
Skye.”

“
I intend to.” I reach for
the paper plates and give her one. “For you.”

“
Thanks.” She looks at the
burgers and dogs, probably thinking neither of those fit into her
birdlike diet.

I lean toward her and
whisper in her ear. “You have to pick one. Like this.” I grab the
tongs and heft a couple of burgers onto the plate then hand her the
tongs. “Your turn.”

“
Yeah, I got that.” She
takes the tongs and puts one patty on her plate, then we walk over
to the table where the buns and other fixings wait. As we assemble
our burgers, I see my mom at the other end of the table, her gaze
fixed first on me and then on Skye. Although Skye is nervous, I’m
not. For one thing, even if my mother had something against Skye,
which she doesn’t, Mom also knows Skye is very important to me,
which means she’s not about to say something hurtful.

Skye is so fixated on her
plate she doesn’t recognize Mom is there, not until we reach the
end, where the drinks are and come face-to-face with
her.

“
Hey, Devin.
Skye.”

Immediately, Skye’s head
jerks up and she sort of takes a tiny step back, inhaling sharply.
I can see her hands tremble and for just a second I worry she’s
going to drop the plate. She doesn’t.

“
Hey, Mom,” I say. “It looks
great.”

She nods towards my plate.
“Are two burgers going to be enough?”

“
Yes, Ma’am. They’ll be
fine.”

She peers at Skye’s plate.
“You’re not eating much, hon. Aren’t you hungry?”

“
Skye always eats like a
bird.”

Skye gives me a dirty look.
“That’s not true.”

“
Only on days that end
in
Y
,” I smirk. I
nod toward an empty table not far away. “There’re some
seats.”

Rolling her eyes, Skye
says, “Yes, your royal pain in the butt.” She saunters that way and
sinks into the first open seat she comes across.

“
You think I’m a pain in the
butt? I’m hurt, Skye. Really.” I try to keep from smiling, but it
comes out anyway.

“
Oh, sit down and eat,” she
mutters, glaring at the chair. As I sink into it and she starts
eating, I can tell there’s something she’s not saying. Skye is
notorious for keeping things bundled up inside, where it takes a
salvage team to find them.

“
See, I told you this
wouldn’t be so bad.”

She shrugs and takes a bite
of her burger. “You know how I feel about getting together with all
these strangers.”

“
You’re not
with
a group of strangers.
You’re with me. They just happened to be here, too. Besides, you
wanted to watch a bunch of chick flicks without me growling any
complaints.”

“
You got that much right.”
She leans forward so her long hair falls into her face, and she
lifts a trembling hand to brush it back. Her hair only stays there
for a few seconds before the breeze tosses it back over her
face.

“
So, have you figured out
any jobs you might be interested in?” I ask and study her face.
It’s more for conversation than anything.

She shrugs. “I’ve put in my
application with various schools, but I’m thinking it’s probably
going to be a few weeks before I hear anything.” She grabs her
napkin and dabs at her mouth. “You?”

I shake my head. “No, not
yet. I’ve got resumes out there, but nothing has come of it
yet.”

Reaching over, she grasps
my hand. “It will—for both of us.”

I smile and once again
marvel at how she has so much faith in certain things while not
having much in others. I guess I can thank her real dad, who left
when Skye was small, for starting that trend, and Tyler for keeping
it going.

“
Yeah, I know.” She looks
around at all the people and sees my mom talking to her neighbor,
Sandra Owens. The two stare at us.

“
Ten to one I know what
they’re saying, and it’s probably not good.” She looks down at her
burger.