Summer Sunsets (2 page)

I look back at the house,
wondering if I should try to go back and get some shut-eye, but the
remnants of the dream are too close, and I don’t fancy another
round. I figure I’ll just stay out here, where it’s cooler, anyway,
probably thanks to the breeze bracing off the water.

I get to my feet and head
back to the shore to grab a stick. Between the moonlight and what
feeble glow the lamps provide, I start drawing in the sand. At
first, I think I’m just kind of doodling, that I haven’t really
figured out what I’m doing. Skye’s eyes begin to emerge, then her
hair. Granted, I’ve always had artistic ability, and I’ve sure
never chosen to use it—and I’ve never used wet sand and a stick as
a medium before, but nightmares and boredom usually help me figure
new things to try.

An hour later, I’ve almost
finished the rendering, and I put the last few strokes in her hair
to give it that wild carefree look before I stand to take a look at
my work. Smiling, I see her face, almost as good as if she were
really here. And that’s from memory. Imagine what I could do with
her near me, not that she’d approve of my model selection. That’s
another funny thing about Skye: she’s amazingly beautiful but blind
to it. Perhaps that’s one reason I love her so damned much. Who
knows?

For a moment, I just stand
there, staring at her perfect face, the one I’ve taken such care to
remove the pain of the past from. She is carefree and unbidden by
things she cannot control, things none of us can control, and I
only wish I had the power to really grant her that gift in life.
Slowly, I turn toward the ocean, aware that in a few hours the tide
will inch higher and higher on the shore until it washes up at my
design, eventually eroding it. Turning and trudging back toward the
house, I tell myself it’s all right; no matter what tide seeks to
destroy it, I know it can’t. The best parts of Skye are locked
inside my heart where I protect her. One last glance, and I smile
at her beauty.

Once at the house, I fall
back across the bed, exhaustion reaching for me yet again. I knew
it would. I kick off my shoes and slide under the covers to welcome
unconsciousness. The last thing I remember is wondering what time
Skye will arrive and whether I will be conscious by
then.

C
hapter Three

“
So are you planning on
getting up, sleepyhead?”

I slowly open my eyes and
find sunlight blooming in around the beach house curtains, haloing
Skye’s face as she hovers near the bed. Raking my fingers through
my hair, I slowly sit up, trying to orient myself to the fact that
it’s a new day after a night of restless sleep. “See what happens
when I leave the door unlocked? Just anybody can walk
in.”

“
Yeah,” she agrees, setting
her duffle on the dresser. “Just anybody.” She’s turned toward the
window so she’s not aware of me rising and swiftly rushing toward
her until she feels my arms envelop her and my chin rest on her
shoulder.

“
Okay. I’m up, wiseass. Now
what?”

“
That was quick.” She kind
of jumps like she always does when she doesn’t hear me approach.
She’s often told me I’m one of the quietest people she’s ever met.
Lots of people have told me that.

For a moment, we just
linger like this, and I close my eyes, so glad to feel her this
close. I don’t know she shares it. Five years ago, she told me that
we both needed to find some space and attend different colleges to
give us room to grow. I’ve often wondered if she actually meant to
give me time to rethink my feelings. Trouble is, my feelings have a
mind all their own, one that definitely includes Skye in the final
picture.

“
I’m glad to see you,” I
say, giving her one last squeeze before untangling my arms from
around her.

She turns slowly, her hair
dark auburn in the sunlight. A small smile tugs at her lips. “I’ve
missed you, too.” She lurches to her tiptoes and kisses my cheek
but pulls away before I realize it. She smiles brightly. “Your hair
is longer than before.” Her fingers tousle it. “And definitely a
mess.”

“
Thanks, Skye. You’re so
sweet.” Sarcasm drips from my tone. I peer at the clock. The red
digital display tells me it’s just after 12 p.m., and I wander
towards the kitchen.

“
I thought you said you
weren’t going to get here until this afternoon.” I go to the
coffee-maker and start a pot. “If you’d let me know, I would have
been up by now.”

She plunks down at the
table and shakes her head. “Well, I was going to wait until later
to head out, but somebody woke me at 3 a.m., and I just couldn’t go
back to sleep. Any ideas who that would have been?” she asks me
pointedly.

I shrug. “Absolutely none.
If you find him, shoot him.” I turn to face her and lean against
the counter. “Seriously, what happened yesterday when you called?
It seemed like you’ve been doing so well.”

She pushes a strand of hair
from her face, and her dark eyes peer at me. Once again, I see the
past well up in her eyes. It’s only there for a second, but I see
it nonetheless. It’s always going to be there, I think, but that
doesn’t mean it has to hurt her like this. She chews her bottom lip
for a couple of seconds before finally answering.

“
I was probably just dealing
with a lot of stress I couldn’t seem to bleed off, and there was
this huge jock that reminded me of Tyler. You know, the kind who
has money and thinks every girl belongs to him. He just got too
close, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. That’s it.”

As I stand there, I watch
Skye fold her arms across her chest over the Tinkerbelle t-shirt
she wears. Her chin tilts downward, and she refuses to meet my
gaze, making me wonder if that were really all that happened. “You
sure?” I ask softly, bracing my hands on either side of the
counter.

“
Yeah, that was
it.”

I step toward her and wrap
my arms around her, kissing the top of her forehead. “You know
Tyler has no power over you anymore. You left him in the past years
ago.” I lean there, wishing I could make her see she had nothing to
fear, certainly not Tyler Rutherford.

“
I know.” She slowly pull
back and nods while taking a deep breath. “I mean, my head knows
that. Sometimes it’s just the other part of me that gets it all
mixed up.”

“
Yeah, I get it,” I say,
nodding as I turn back to the coffee machine. I knew better than to
push the topic. I learned long ago to go easy with Skye. She’ll
talk in her own good time, and whatever comes out before that isn’t
going to help much. “Do you want coffee?”

“
Sure.” She taps her nails
on the table. “So what happened last night when you called? It
wasn’t the dream, was it?”

The
dream. I focus on watching the coffee spill into the pot,
feeling my entire body stiffen. I know better than to tell her the
truth. It will just worry her, and that’s the last thing I want to
do, especially if memories of Tyler Rutherford are surfacing. I can
dance with my own ghosts well enough without introducing them to
hers. “I just felt unsettled because of your last call. I wanted to
make sure you were all right.”

She gets up and walk to me,
watching as I pour coffee into one mug and then another. “It was a
false alarm, Devin. It’s always a false alarm. We both know that.”
She sets her hand over mine. “It’s just me being stupid and
overreacting.”

I hand her a mug. “It’s not
stupid. You went through something bad, Skye. You have a right to
be afraid sometimes, even if you’re just jumping at shadows. That
doesn’t make it stupid, and you know it.” I lift the other mug and
take a sip.

She nudges her shoulder
against mine and smiles at me. “You always know what to
say.”

That’s because I love
you,
I think and smile back. “So what do
you want to do today?”

She walks to the window and
nods out to the beach. “I think I want to go swimming, if that’s
okay.” She looks up at me, uncertainty apparent in her dark
eyes.

Gritting my teeth, I think
it’s going to take her some time to get back to remembering she
doesn’t have to please me. I just want to be with her. It’s as
simple as that. She doesn’t know how much I love her, and telling
her would only frighten her away.

I nod slowly. “Swimming it
is. I can definitely stand some cooling off.”

“
I’ll go get changed.” She’s
hardly said the words before flying toward the bathroom, and I stay
there, glad some things don’t change. She’d always loved swimming.
I’ve often wondered if she’s part fish.

As I wait, I sip my coffee
and smile, feeling the stress of the last semester and trepidations
about seeing Skye again lifting. Everything seems to be falling
into place. Now if it will just keep going that way, that will
really be something.

A couple of minutes later,
Skye emerges from the bathroom wearing a banana-yellow bikini, and
the sight of her arrests my breath as her long hair spills around
her face. She spreads sunscreen all over her body, and when she
looks up, she catches me staring. “What? What are you looking
at?”

I shake my head and shrug.
“Nothing.” I nod toward the bathroom. “I’m going to get changed.” I
gesture toward her mug. “Don’t forget your coffee.”

“
Yes, Daddy.”

I wince at that comment,
knowing she never meant to draw blood. It’s a saying, that’s all.
Skye and her father haven’t resolved any of the issues of his
leaving when she was a child, and I figure they probably never
will. Her dad still has his head up his ass as far as I’m
concerned. Skye is much better off with her step-father, Warren,
who more than makes up for the biological loser.

Once in the bedroom, I tug
off my jeans. At that moment, the ring slips from my pocket and
plinks against the hardwood floor, I eye it and bend to retrieve
it. As my fingers latch onto it, I set it in my palm and close my
fingers around it, wondering what to do with it. I know pressing
Skye just after she got here isn’t a good idea. Hell, I’m not even
sure proposing is a good idea. It’s a necessary one for my peace of
mind, yes, but a good idea, not so much.

In the end, I shove it into
one of the dresser drawers just under my tee-shirts and grab my
trunks. A moment later, I emerge grab two towels, and join Skye
where she stands in the kitchen, drinking her coffee. As I enter,
she takes one look one look at me and sputters coffee as she
laughs.

“
What?” I ask, shaking my
head. Unable to figure out the joke, I peer at my swimsuit to make
sure I haven’t done something stupid while thinking about the
ring—something like putting on boxers instead of trunks or putting
the trunks on inside out. At this point anything is possible. I
haven’t really thought I’d be this nervous around Skye. It’s just
another way my feelings have grown and I have no control over
them.

“
You are really one white
boy,” she finally says. “Don’t you believe in getting any
sun?”

I throw a fresh towel at
her, a little harder than usual. “Well, let’s say some of us have
actually had to apply themselves this year. And some of us aren’t
naturally dark-skinned.”

“
Excuses, excuses,” she
mutters, taking one last sip of the coffee. “Are you ready or
what?”

“
I’m always ready.” I say,
grabbing my keys and shoving them into my pocket. “Let’s
go.”

Skye heads toward the door,
and I follow. The moment we step outside, I feel the sun beating
down on us, and even though I’m not hot yet, the ocean sure looks
appealing. I glance over at Skye to find her smiling. We both throw
down our towels a safe distance from the water and race toward it.
At first, Sky’s pace is slow, but as she sees me effortlessly
keeping up, she runs faster, thinking her long legs will beat mine.
So not happening.

Just as we touch wet sand,
I lunge towards her, wrapping my arms around her lithe form. Before
she has time to react, I hoist her over my shoulders and begin to
carry her into the water.

“
Devin! Put me down!” She
squeals, kicking at me.

“
I will. Don’t worry.” I
carry her out to where the water touches my waist and hurl her in.
Even as I release her, I see her wide eyes and flailing arms before
she sinks gracelessly beneath the water. Folding my arms across my
chest, I cock my head to the side, waiting for her to rise above
the surface, and rise she does, sputtering and batting her long,
dark hair away from her face.

“
Oh, you are so dead,
Devin.” She rushes towards me as fast as the water will allow,
which isn’t very fast.

Grinning, I just stand
there, waiting for her to reach me. Skye isn’t a midget, even
though I’ve taunted her about her height numerous times just to
annoy her. She’s at least five or six inches shorter than I am,
which means even though she comes at me, her hands all over me as
she tries to wrestle me into the water, she doesn’t stand a chance
of getting me under unless I give in. That doesn’t stop her from
trying.

“
Are you having fun?” I ask
as she suddenly switches tactics and climbs onto my back, trying to
topple me that way.

“
You’re insufferable!” she
pronounces, fighting even harder.