Summer Sunsets (17 page)

We walk over to the couch
and sit. Immediately, Helen leans back against the cushions and
rubs her temples. “It’s been a long day.”

“
Where’s Warren?” I look
around the room, half-expecting he’s going to pop out, but he
doesn’t.

“
Away on business.” She
flinches and closes her eyes.

“
You all right?”

She nods and forces a smile
as she opens her eyes again. “I’m fine, Devin. But thanks for
asking.”

“
Where are they now?” I keep
thinking I should hear somebody saying something, but I
don’t.

“
Out back.”

“
How long have they been out
there?”

Helen looks at her watch.
“About fifteen minutes.”

I nod and immediately I
wish I could slug the guy. He has no idea how long it’s taken Skye
to get over his sudden departure, of all times, when things are
finally seeming to fall into place for her, he wants to come back
and make things all better. Son of a bitch. I grit my teeth and
force myself to keep sitting, knowing that even though I want to
jump right in the middle of this, it’s not my place. This is a
demon Skye has to dance with no matter how much I hate
it.

Down the hall, I hear the
grandfather clock chime. Helen is probably right. There’s no way
we’re going to make this movie. That’s of little consequence
compared to what the aftermath of her father’s visit will be. Even
if the man can get Skye to give him the benefit of a doubt, which I
really don’t see happening, he’s going to have to live up to
whatever he’s telling her, and when he fails, that’s just going to
make it harder for everyone else. I close my eyes, wishing I could
just have a few months with Skye when nothing fell apart so maybe
she might be able to trust me to pull her through. Yeah, like
that’s going to happen now.

“
So how are things going
between you and Skye?” Helen asks, reaching for the glass of ice
water sitting on a coaster on the coffee table.

“
They were going
well.”

She nods. “Before he came
back?”

“
Yeah.”

I ease up, thinking I’ll
just go into the kitchen and take a peek, but Helen also stands. “I
know what you want to do, Devin, and it’s not a good idea. Whatever
is happening out there is going to happen whether you watch or not.
It’s just harder when you see the storm coming and realize there’s
is nothing you can do to prevent it.” She takes a sip from her
water. “Would you like me to get you something to
drink?”

“
Yeah, that would be great.
Thanks.”

“
No problem.” I watch her
slip from the room and take a deep breath. Damn, I just thought
this was going to be a stress-free night involving a romantic
comedy—part of me keeping my promise to Skye. Never in my wildest
dreams did I expect this. Never.

One minute the house is too
quiet. The next, Skye is slamming the back door. I whirl and see
her stride through the doorway. Tears spill down her face amid two
smudges of mascara, and immediately I see the wreckage of her
attempts to make herself beautiful for me—the ruined make-up and
hair that has slipped from the clips meant to hold it from her
face.

She gives me a look,
something akin to pain and surprise, as though she’s been so
blindsided by her father’s sudden visit she didn’t remember I’d be
here, not that I’m going to hold that against her. There was no way
she could have known either. She rushes past me out the door as I
hear a male voice.

“
Skye, come
back.”

Immediately, I see Skye’s
father—this is the first time I’ve ever seen him. She has his eyes,
but she’s crying, and he’s angry. As if he has a right to
be.

He starts to go past me and
I step into his path. “Let her go.”

“
Who the hell are you?” He
glares at me, expecting that because he’s her father and older I’m
going to back down. He doesn’t know me.

“
Someone who’s been picking
up the pieces you left behind.”

Helen suddenly appears and
grabs his arm. “I told you nothing good would come from this, but
you refused to listen.”

“
I need to talk to her a few
minutes more.” He jerks his arm free and glares at me. “And this is
none of your business.” He starts to walk around but I step into
his path.

“
Wrong. Anything that
involves Skye is my business. If you’d stayed in her life, you’d
know that.”

“
Get the hell out of my way
or I’ll call the cops,” he snarls.

“
And tell them what? This
isn’t your house, and your daughter is an adult. She doesn’t have
to include you in her life anymore.”

He starts to argue with me,
and I can tell by his stiff shoulders and jutting chin this could
come to blows, but Helen grabs his arm again even though she looks
at me. “Devin, go check on Skye. I’ll handle this.” He starts to go
out the door, but she says, “No, you stay. You started this, and
now I have to finish it for you. Again. You broke her heart twice,
and that wasn’t enough.”

Helen is yelling, something
she rarely does, and that’s my cue to step outside. Skye’s nowhere
to be seen. I didn’t expect she’d advertise her whereabouts.
Probably the last thing she wants is to be someplace out in the
open, where her loser dad can find her.

I walk around the house but
don’t see her so I head to the Jeep and get in, planning on
searching the street. It’s not unlike Skye to take a walk to cool
off, and if only that could clean up this, she’d probably walk to
China, but I don’t see that happening.

I shove the keys into the
ignition and turn the key before I even realize Skye is sitting
there, staring out into the darkness. Tears stream down her face,
glittering in the darkness. She’s folded her arms across her
abdomen, as if that can hold in all the pain she’s feeling. Not
likely.

“
Hey, I’ve been looking for
you.”

She takes a shuddering
breath and wipes one hand across her face, trying to erase the
tears. Trouble is, more keep coming. “Could you just drive, please?
I don’t want to talk to my dad, and with my luck he’ll find
us.”

I pull away from the curb.
“Not if your mom has anything to say about it, he won’t. That’s why
he’s in the house, Skye—and I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be him
after she gets through.”

I wait for her to answer.
Instead, she’s looking out the passenger window. I know why. She
has this thing about crying in front of people. She seems to think
looking vulnerable is one of the worst things that can happen,
which is crazy considering all the stuff she’s been through. I
sense that wall going up, brick by brick, and somehow, without
meaning to, I’ve ended up on the other side again, as though I
wanted to stand next to her father. Lucky me.

“
Where do you want me to
go?” I ask, wondering if she’s even got a destination in mine. I
can tell it’s definitely not going to be the movies. That much is
sure.

“
I don’t care.”

“
Okay.” I start to reach for
her hand, but it’s locked tight against her body, and that pretty
much tells me she doesn’t want to be touched. Then again, I know
the key to getting Skye to deal with those emotions is touch. It’s
always been touch, and ten to one it’s always been my touch. She
can build all the walls she wants, but even she can’t keep the
emotional turmoil buried forever.

“
Why did you even agree to
talk to him?” I ask softly. Maybe it’s the wrong question; I don’t
know, but I can’t stand this silence.

“
I don’t know.”

Her voice is terse, and I
sense she’s losing the battle against her emotions, which means I’m
going to have to find a destination and park. She needs to talk
whether or not she thinks she does.

Ahead, I spot the turn-off
to the cemetery—a strange choice, but what other place is going to
be quiet, where we can talk? Besides, it’s not like the dead can do
anything with the secrets they overhear. Who’re they going to
tell?

Skye’s staring out the
passenger window when I pull to a stop in the gravel lot and shove
the gearshift into park. I kill the engine and turn to face her.
“He’s not worth it, Skye. Not by a long shot. You’re the best part
of him.”

Her shoulders sink but she
refuses to face me. “That’s easy for you to say, Devin. You have
both your parents with you.”

“
This again?” I ask,
puzzled. “Okay, I know he’s the sperm donor. But he’s never going
to be the father Warren has been. Your mom knows it, I know it, and
deep down, so do you.”

At that moment, Skye loses
it, and I hear the awful, gut-wrenching sobs that tear through her.
I scoot closer and wrap my arms around her, tucking her head just
beneath my chin as I rock her, waiting for her world to settle
enough so it isn’t breaking her heart like this.

“
Why couldn’t he just have
stayed gone? Why does he have to make these guest appearances, like
I should be grateful for being a stop on his tour to right things?
Why?” Her voice is muffled so it’s kind of hard to hear, but I get
them nonetheless.

“
I don’t know. I wish I
did.” I kiss the top of her head. “But would it matter if you knew?
Would it change things?”

“
No.” She sniffles and draws
back slightly. “I got your shirt all wet.”

“
It’ll dry.” I reach out and
tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m more worried
about you.”

“
I’m fine,” she whispers in
a tired voice that suggests she’s lying, and she’s wearing that
lost expression I’ve come to know so well.

“
That’s what you always
say,” I gently remind her, “and maybe you mean it, but you can’t
control what you feel, and no matter what you tell yourself,
they’re just words, Skye. Saying them won’t make them
true.”

She grits her teeth and
averts her gaze. “I hate it when you do that.”

“
Do what?” I stiffen, unsure
where I suddenly went wrong.

“
When you act like you know
me so well, like maybe I can’t even surprise you
anymore.”

I arch my eyebrows at her.
“We’ve been inseparable since we were in elementary school, Skye.
We’ve told each other things we wouldn’t dream of telling anyone
else. I know you better than anyone, and I don’t see what’s wrong
with that.” I reach for her hand, wanting to hold some part of her
close to me.

“
Because you don’t leave me
any place to hide when things get messed up.” Her voice trembles,
just like her body.

“
Why would you want to hide
from me, Skye? I know you, remember?”

“
That’s why.”

Suddenly my cell rings,
interrupting us. I’m tempted to just let it ring because the person
most likely to call is…well…right next to me at the moment, but
considering the tumult over at Skye’s, I fish it out of my pocket
and glance at the display.

It’s Helen.

Skye goes back to staring
out the window, and I figure this will give me a minute to gather
my thoughts as to how to deal with what she’s saying.

“
Hello?” I say, looking out
my window.

“
Devin, it’s Helen. Look,
don’t say anything. I just want to know if Skye is with you and if
she’s all right. She was so upset when she left. Please don’t let
her know it’s me.”

I take a deep breath,
knowing the odds of keeping Helen’s secret are about seventy
percent against. Skye’s way too smart. She’ll recognize who’s on
the other end. I’m willing to try. “Sure. I understand. I have what
you need, and we can talk about how to fix it later,
Dad.”

“
Thanks, Devin.”

“
Bye.”

I snap the phone shut and
slowly turn toward Skye. She’s not looking at me, and I wonder if
she knows. If she does, she’s not saying a damned thing--never a
good deal with Skye. It’s when she’s not talking you have to worry
about what’s going on inside that head of hers.

“
So what’s the deal?” I ask.
“It seems the better I know you, the more you’d trust me, but it
never works that way with you, Skye. It’s like the closer I get,
the more you shy away, and I don’t understand.” I reach out to take
her hand and find it pancaked to her side.

“
It doesn’t matter,” she
mutters.

“
Bullshit,” I snap.
“Erecting walls might keep everyone else out, Skye, but it doesn’t
work with me. You know you might as well answer because I’m not
going anywhere, and your silences can’t make me. You know that as
well as I do.”

Her fingers stiffen against
mine, but I keep my hand there, waiting. “Why don’t you just give
up on me already?”

So we’re back to that, are
we?
I think. “You already know the reason,
even if you’re too scared to admit it. Why don’t you just stop
fighting me and tell me what it is that makes you want to push me
away?”

A breath shudders through
her, and I can tell I’m close to her weak point. She’s never been a
good liar, and even when I push her toward that point, she would
usually rather tell the truth, no matter how hard that gets. Lying
reminds her of what happened after the rape.