Summer Sunsets (14 page)

I’m looking for that same
cockiness that Rutherford exudes, but Morgan just stands
there.

“
Hey, Kellin.” It’s Bethany
who moves first as she stands. She always was better at trying to
smooth things out. Some things are just a little too rough for her
to fix—things like me putting Rutherford in the hospital and him
now being called to where his former best friend was punched out.
I’m expecting the cuffs to come out any minute.

“
What happened with
Rutherford?”

“
He threatened to go after
Skye again and threw a punch at me.” I avoid his gaze because I
know he’s not going to believe me.

“
Not surprising,” Morgan
mutters under his breath. Then he turns to Bethany. “When did you
get here?”

“
Probably about the same
time Tyler did. I heard him threaten to rape Skye again because of
the charges which had been filed, and I watched the creep take a
swing at Devin.”

Morgan nods and looks at
the guy by Rutherford. “Is that your brother over there,
Bethany?”

She nods. “Yeah. He was
here with me.”

Morgan shoves his
sunglasses into his shirt pocket. “I’m going to go talk to him.” He
nods at me. “You might want to have one of the EMTs look at your
eye. It’s still bleeding.”

Although my hand starts to
go to the wound, Bethany grabs my arm. “Come on. Let’s go see the
EMT.”

No, I’d rather not be
walking beside Morgan, and maybe I shouldn’t have such a grudge
against him. It wasn’t really his fault Skye was attacked, but
sometimes, when things aren’t going well, those grudges are all we
have, and that’s something to hold onto, isn’t it?

“
Could you take a look at
his head, and see if he needs to go to the hospital for stitches?”
Morgan asks, pointing back at me.

“
Sure. I’ll take care of
it.” The EMT closest to the ambulance says. She’s already pulling
off her bloody gloves and swapping them for a new pair as she
points to the back of the ambulance. Gritting my teeth, I act like
a good little boy and park it, my gaze straying to Morgan and
Bethany’s brother.

“
You didn’t do anything
wrong.” Bethany leans against the side of the ambulance.

“
I know I didn’t. But that
doesn’t mean Morgan is going to believe a word I say.” I turn my
focus to the EMT coming toward my head with a swab to clean away
the blood. As it touches my skin, I wince, expecting pain but
finding none, just a cold wetness.

“
Give Kellin a little
credit. I don’t think he’s the jock you knew in high school, and
even he’s smart enough to know Tyler was the problem here. Always
was, always will be.”

I shake my head. “You know,
you always find the good in everyone.”

Shrugging, she replies,
“Somebody has to, Devin. There has to be someone who refuses to
give up hope, or there won’t be anything to hope for.”

“
Looks like you’re good as
new,” the EMT says, peeling off her gloves. “Too bad I can’t say
the same for the other guy.”

“
Thank you,” I tell her and
hop off the ambulance so they can load the gurney with Tyler on it.
Judging from the amount of blood on his shirt, I think I probably
broke his nose. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer
guy.

Bethany looks at him and
then at me. “Dang, for such a big guy, it looks like you beat the
crap out of him.”

Stepping back, I shrug.
“Size isn’t everything, and he pissed me off. Nobody talks about
Skye like that. Period.”

Bethany is just about to
ask a few questions when Morgan wanders back to us, effectively
silencing her. Unsure what to do with my hands, I shove them in my
pockets and wait. I suspect I’m about to have the privilege of
hearing my rights read to me.

“
Well, I’ve got statements
from everybody, and it doesn’t appear Rutherford has any witnesses
on his behalf, so I’m going with what you told me, Devin, which
isn’t going to be so easy for Tyler, not with his suspended
sentence. Sometimes karma truly is a bitch.” He smiles at me. “Have
a good day.”

With that, he’s walked
away, and I know my mouth has probably hit the ground.

“
C’mon,” Bethany says.
“Let’s go get you cleaned up and get something to eat so we can
talk.”

“
What about your
brother?”

She peers over at him and
shrugs. “He’ll walk to my parents when he’s ready. Besides, he was
the one who wanted to come here in the first place.”

We head to the café around
the corner to get a burger basket. Maybe while I’m there, I can try
to figure out what to do next. There’s a small crowd, enough to
blend in. Obviously people wouldn’t necessarily recognize me,
considering how long I’ve been away from West Martin for college,
but right now I’m just stumbling over my own two feet, and there’s
nothing I can do.

Bethany picks a booth by
the restrooms. As she sits down, I head to the bathroom to wash up.
I’m not expecting to find my face speckled with Rutherford’s blood,
but my hands are covered, and I gladly wash them off, just wishing
that completely getting rid of that asshole would be so easy.
Peering at the bandage by my eye, there’s some swelling. Have to
admit that he did get one good punch in. Not that it saved
him.

Shaking my head, I go back
to the table and sit across from Bethany.

“
So, how are you?” she
finally asks, slipping a straw in the sodas that the waitress has
brought us.

“
I’m good.” For a moment, we
look at each other, watching as time melts before our eyes, seeming
to leave two high schoolers again. God, I wish it were that
easy.

“
Your brother still lives in
town, but you don’t, right? Are you here by yourself?” I ask,
raking my hand through my hair.

“
Yeah, I was getting some
lunch before I drive to Missouri to meet my husband.”

“
So, what about you? Are you
married?” She looks at the menu instead of me.

The weight of that question
seems to swallow me, and yet she doesn’t have a clue what it’s
doing to me. How could she? I shake my head. “No.” I take a
sip.

Bethany glances up at me
curiously. “That’s kind of strange,” she says. “I always figured
you and Skye would get together.”

I take a deep breath.
“Yeah, you and me both.” Right now, my emotions are spinning out of
control. Bethany must sense it as she reaches out and gently
strokes my hand.

“
So what’s going on? Where
is Skye these days? Tyler seemed to think she was back in
town.”

“
She is.”

Before I can elaborate, the
waitress comes over and takes our orders. The whole time I’m
spouting off about what I want for lunch, I keep thinking about
Skye and how things were supposed to go. Obviously not like
this.

“
So?” Bethany prompts once
the waitress leaves. “What’s going on?”

“
Well, you’re right about
Skye in that I love her. Always have.” I shrug. “But you already
knew that.”

“
So what’s the problem?” She
takes a sip of water.

I lean back against the
bench. “Thanks to the damage Tyler did, I’m not sure Skye is ever
going to be ready to open herself up to any guy.”

“
But you’re not just any
guy, Devin.” She toys with her glass, running her finger around the
rim.

“
That doesn’t mean she’s
ever going to trust me. Ever. She keeps pushing me away. Every time
I think we’re making progress, something triggers the past, and she
doesn’t seem able to fight it.”

Bethany gives me a sad
smile and squeezes my hand. “Okay, so maybe it’s not going to be
easy. It’s never been easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth
it, does it?”

“
You’re right,” I admit,
shaking my head. “I know you are. And I know she loves, me even if
she won’t admit it, but I’m not sure where to go from here.” I
reach into my pocket and pull out the ring. “I bought this months
ago, and I haven’t been able to work up the courage to propose. I
keep telling myself it’s the wrong time.”

Bethany starts to answer
when I see movement out of the corner of my eye. That’s when I
realize Skye is there, staring at the two of us, or, more
importantly the ring I want to give her. In a few seconds, I
mentally go through what she’s thinking. It’s pretty clear by the
slight drop of her jaw and wide eyes that it isn’t good.

“
Skye?” I whisper,
blinking.

She bolts for the
door.

“
Excuse me,” I tell Bethany
and literally fly toward the door, shoving the ring back into my
pocket. She’s almost to her car by the time I’m just leaving the
restaurant. “Skye, wait!” I yell and rush toward her as she jams
her keys into the lock.

I get to her just as she’s
about to open the door and press my palm on it to keep it
shut.

“
I didn’t even know you were
there.”

“
That’s obvious.” She
brushes the hair from her face and refuses to look at
me.

“
How long were you standing
there?” I try to meet her gaze but she won’t play along.

“
Long enough, Devin.
Definitely long enough. I came because my mom got a call from the
police department, trying to find me to warn me about Tyler. They
said you’d been in a fight with him.”

“
He asked for it.” I let out
an exasperated sigh and look up at the heaves, trying to figure out
what to say. “Long enough for what for what, by the way? What is it
you think you saw?”

She laughs, but the sound
is caustic. “Well, let’s see, there was a ring and a girl. One plus
one equals two, Devin.” She jerks harder at the door, but I won’t
let go. “Can you just get out of my way?”

“
No, I won’t. I don’t get
it.” I lean my body against the door. “What, you saw me with a
talking to a girl while I was holding a ring, so you think I’m
proposing. Not that it matters to you because you have no feelings
for me except as your best friend, right?”

The tremble of her lips
gives her away, at least before she purses them together and
patiently keeps refusing to meet my gaze. “You’re right, Devin. It
doesn’t matter. You can propose to anyone you like.”

I rake my fingers through
my hair. “Oh, really? Because I don’t think that’s true. Really I
don’t.” My voice is raised, which never happens with Skye, but I’m
at my wits end, and I’m tired. People are starting to look at us,
and a flush creeps into her face.

“
Lower you voice,” she
hisses.

“
Why? I don’t give a damn
what they think.”

“
Forget it.” She jerks her
hand away from the car and starts to walk off. It’s then I act,
without thought or reason. I grab her, whirl her around, and kiss
her, demandingly at first, then softening. I feel her body tense
against me, but that slowly gives way to the tenderness, and by the
time I draw back, she’s not fighting anymore. Her eyes are closed,
like she’s waiting for me to kiss her again. Her nostrils flare
slightly with each breath, and when her eyelids finally part, she
looks slightly dazed and more than a little confused.

She blinks a few times.
“I…thought you…liked that girl,” she whispers in a breathy
voice.

“
Skye, we’ve been down that
road. That was Bethany. Bethany Fields—a friend, nothing
more.”

The flush on her cheeks
deepens. “But you had a ring.”

I wrap my arm around her.
“It doesn’t matter. She’s already wearing a ring. It just isn’t
mine.”

“
Oh.” She stares ahead, and
while I know she’s listening, I can also tell the gears are
spinning a mile a minute. I wish I knew what was going on. We stop
in front of her car.

“
Look, we need to talk. I’m
going to tell Bethany that I’ve got to go and I’ll be right back.
Will you do me a favor and just wait? Please?”

She looks at the car and
back at the restaurant before finally giving me a slow nod. Unable
to sense how long Skye’s going to be okay with this, I dart back
into the restaurant, and tell Bethany I need to go. She smiles and
waves as I head outside, grateful Skye has stayed put. Half of me
figured she’d have hit the road once I slipped inside.

Instead, she leans against
the driver’s door, her arms folded across her abdomen as she stares
into space. An uncertain frown plays at her lips as her long dark,
hair falls toward her face.

“
So what are you doing
here?” I ask, slipping into the passenger seat while Skye gets
behind the wheel.

“
Devin, I—”

“
Look, Skye, you don’t have
to explain. I know you. I know when you’re scared. I know when you
need time. I even know when you feel like the world is falling down
around you. What I don’t know is why you won’t let me love you.
What’s so wrong with that?”

She starts the engine.
“It’s complicated.”

I touch her arm. “I don’t
believe that. Maybe it’s something you have trouble saying, but you
know the reason. The least you can do is share it with
me.”