Summer Sunsets (7 page)

I don’t know how long we
linger like that—long enough for a biker to need to get past us to
get to the restrooms, and I figure whether I want to stay like this
all day or not doesn’t matter. We’re going to have to hit the road,
so I slowly withdraw and look at her. Her gaze is fixed on the
floor, and I know she’s probably lost in some memory, a place she’s
been a thousand times before that never gets easier. I reach up and
slowly brush the hair from her eyes.

“
You okay now?” I
ask.

She nods slowly and looks
up. “I’ll be fine, Devin. I always am.”

Except that one time,
I want to add but don’t. That it’s unspoken
doesn’t mean we don’t both feel it. Not all scars are visible. Some
are so bad they don’t have to be. Trust me on that one.

I nod toward the register.
“We should probably hit the road. It’s gonna be late before we get
home as it is.”

“
Yeah,” she agrees weakly.
“You’re right. You’re always right, Devin.”

Without waiting for my
answer, she heads towards the register to pay for the gas while I
grab the two waters I’d put to the side before following her. She’s
already paid for the gas and slipped out the door as I step up to
pay, and even though I would have pumped the gas for her, she’s
already got it started by the time I get there. Too late as usual,
it seems.

Call me suspicious, but I’m
looking around for the jerk I came so close to punching out. Yeah,
doing so might have gotten me into trouble, but Skye would
definitely have been worth it. Nobody should treat her that way.
Nobody.

Luckily, the charmer is
nowhere to be seen. I’m not sure Skye has completely let go of what
happened, so rather than getting into my truck, I lean against the
driver’s door of her car, holding both bottles of water. More than
once, her hair falls into her face, and I watch her long, slender
fingers brush it aside. While she isn’t meeting my gaze, she does
seem to be functioning okay. I wait until she’s finished putting
the gas in her car before I hand her the water.

“
You ready?”

“
Let’s go.”

Hours later, in the middle
of the night, the road begins to blur, and I stiffen in my seat,
feeling hours of driving beginning to take their toll, and I know
we have a couple of hours before we’ll even hit West Martin’s city
limits. I don’t think I can drive for that long without falling
asleep, so I pick up my cell and call Skye.

“
Hello?” she says. Her voice
is breathy and tired, which means she’s probably just as exhausted
as I am.

“
Hey, Skye. I think we might
want to pull over and crash for the night. You’ve been weaving a
bit, and I’m starting to feel it, too.”

“
Okay. I’ll pull into the
next hotel I run across. There should be a few coming
up.”

Sure enough, when a Holiday
Inn’s welcome sign appears, I see Skye’s turn signal blink. I tap
mine and follow her into the parking lot. As we get out, I’m
grateful to be able to stretch my legs. At 6’4”, I’m pretty tall,
and even though the Jeep has ample leg room, I feel
confined.

Looking at Skye, I see her
deer-in-the-headlights expression, and I know if I nudged her she’d
fall over. That’s how tired she is. Instead, I slip my arm around
her and guide her toward the office. She’s so exhausted she leans
against me.

“
May I help you?” a
forty-ish woman asks, offering a smile which must have been fueled
by a ton of caffeine. Nobody grins like that at 2 a.m.. I glance at
my watch. Okay, make that 2:30.

“
We need a couple of rooms,”
I say, pulling out my wallet.

“
Okay. Just a second.” She
starts typing, probably checking to see which rooms are available.
Then she looks up. “I’m sorry. We only have one
available.”

I immediately tense,
wondering how Skye is going to feel about that.

“
We’ll take it,” Skye says,
blinking a few times in an attempt to wake up enough to get checked
in.

The hostess looks at me for
confirmation. “I guess we’ll take it,” I say, digging my debit card
out of my wallet.

Once we’ve paid, we drive
around and park by our room. As we head inside, I ask, “Anything
you need carried in?”

“
Just me,” she replies in a
weary voice.

“
Okay. I can do that.” I
lunge toward her and grab her legs so I can hoist her over my
shoulder.

“
Hey!” she screeches. “Put
me down!”

“
I will,” I reply, shoving
the plastic card in its slot. “In a minute.” I feel her arms trying
to pummel my back, but she hits like a girl, so it doesn’t hurt.
The kicking feet, however, could very well topple us
both.

“
Put me down!” she
demands.

“
Okay.” I open the door.
“You asked for it. Just remember that.” I carry her to the bed and
throw her down.

“
You are so gonna pay for
that!” Skye seethes and awkwardly rises from the bed as I stand
there, my arms folded across my chest while I watch her.

“
You’re too tired to hurt
me,” I mutter. “Maybe tomorrow.”

She comes at me full
force—I have to give her that much—but even with her full body
weight and force leveled at my waist, all it does is force me to
take a couple of steps back and shift to keep my
balance.

“
Am I supposed to be falling
down or something?” I ask calmly, looking down at my
watch.

“
Damn it, Devin!” she snaps,
regrouping. Even if it’s not working, Skye is too persistent to
give up, and if I don’t “help” her, we’re going to be at this for a
while, so I sort of let her catch me off-balance and tumble to the
bed, where she promptly sits on me, grabs my hands, and pins them
above my head.

“
Now that’s what I’m talking
about!” she smirks proudly.

“
Oh, really?” The temptation
is too great. In a flash, I flip her over and saddle myself atop
her, pinning her hands down. She’s breathing fast, and a caustic
frown replaces the smirk as she glares at me.

“
You’re so no fun,” she
says, trying to catch her breath.

“
Why? Because you can’t pin
me anymore?” As I sit there, I feel her breath caressing my face
and throat. Once again, I want to kiss her, but I know that’s not
the best idea. I definitely don’t want to spook her
again.

Without saying anything
else, I get up and move to the edge of the bed, and that’s when it
occurs to me the room only has one. “I guess I can take the
floor.”

She sits up and readjusts
herself, watching me with those bottomless eyes. “No, we can both
sleep here. It’s okay.”

“
You sure?” I frown,
wondering what she’s thinking. Even if I asked her, she wouldn’t
tell me. There are some things Skye just can’t seem to get out,
especially when it comes to feelings.

“
Yeah, it’s cool. I’ll take
this side since I’m already here.” She pulls off her shoes and
slides under the covers.

“
I’ll get the
lights.”

I turn them off and walk
back to the bed to pull off my own shoes and slide beneath the
covers as well. The curtains aren’t entirely closed, and as I peer
towards her side of the bed, I see Skye’s eyes are closed and her
lips are slightly parted. I know she hasn’t gone to sleep yet, but
that’s what it looks like. Then again, it could be just her way of
opting out of serious conversation.

I close my eyes and settle
myself for the night, glad there’s a bed because I’m tired. I’m
drifting on the border of sleep when I hear Skye’s voice. “I’m glad
you found me, Devin—and I’m glad you’re here.”

Chapter Seven

The next day, we finish the
drive home, and as I park the Jeep behind my mom’s car, she stands
outside, watering her flower bed. I get out, and she turns the
water off so she can give me a hug.

“
How was your drive?” she
asks.

“
Long but good.” I point to
the flower bed. “Are those the same weeds from two years
ago?”

“
Not funny,” she warns.
“Don’t criticize the gardener unless you want to help.”

I raise my hands in
surrender. “Nope. It looks beautiful, Mom.”

She turns the water back
on. “I thought you were going to get here last night.”

I thrust my keys into my
pocket. “Skye and I were both too tired to keep
driving.”

“
So how is she?” She sets
the hose by the hydrangea, which is overflowing with bluish-purple
flowers. A bee buzzes nearby, and I wave it away, feeling sweat
beading across my forehead.

“
Great.” Suddenly I’m
feeling not so comfortable with this conversation because my mom’s
known forever how I feel about Skye, and I sense the coming
avalanche of questions, some of which I can’t answer.

“
Great as in, ‘Yeah, we are
dating,’ or great as in ‘We’re just really good friends’?” She
gives me a pointed stare that expects an answer.

“
Great as in I don’t know,
Mom.” With that, I walk up the steps.

“
You’re never going to know
unless you ask her,” she retorts.

“
I’ll keep that in mind,” I
call, shaking my head. I sense that my mom, who adores Skye, wants
to know just as much as I do. Well, she’s going to have to be
patient, too. I go inside, heading to my room. As I step across my
threshold, I realize it’s always strange coming home. I mean, I
remember living here, but suddenly, as I look around the room at
the movie posters and remnants of high school, it’s hard to believe
I was ever that person. The only real clues this is my room are all
the pictures scattered around of Skye I didn’t take to college with
me.

Since I’m going to be here
until I figure out something about a job, I set my duffle bag on
the bed and start unpacking. When I find the ring, still hidden in
my jeans pocket, I pull it out and look at it for a moment before
hiding it in my dresser drawer, figuring maybe one day I’ll find a
way to actually propose. I’ll sense things are right or at least
feel right, and then I’ll stumble through all the words, knowing I
couldn’t begin to tell her what I’m feeling. There’re no words for
that.

I finish piling the dirty
clothes on the floor and reach for my cell to punch in Skye’s
number. She picks it up on the second ring.

“
So, hey, you want to grab
something to eat tonight? We can take a tour of the town and see
what hasn’t changed.”

Laughing, Skye says,
“Devin, nothing’s changed. It never changes. You know
that.”

“
Okay, so how about I pick
you up at 7?”

“
Okay,” she agrees. “But if
you’re going to drag me around town to reminisce, it’d better be a
good dinner.”

“
Done.” I snap the cell shut
and set it on my dresser.

Although it’s only been
hours since Skye and I were together, I feel my back and shoulders
tensing as I walk up to her front door. As I peer at the driveway,
I see two cars, meaning that probably both Warren and Helen are at
home. Skye’s car is parked by the curb in front of the
house.

I no sooner ring the bell
than Warren eases the door open. Seeing me, he thrusts out his
hand.

“
Hey, there, Devin. It’s
really good to see you.”

I shake his hand. “You,
too, sir.”

“
I’m no ‘sir.’ It’s Warren
to you.” He holds the door open wide, and we both go inside to the
living room, where Helen sits, watching television—at least until
she spots me.

“
Devin Abbott!” Before I
know it, she’s darted toward me and embraced me. “Have you gotten
taller?” she asks when she finally releases me.

“
No, ma’am. Still the same.”
Yet even as I say the words, somehow it does feel like she’s a
little shorter for some reason. God knows she’s not shrinking or
anything, so I don’t know what the deal is.

“
So what brings you over
here?” she asks, gesturing for me to take a seat in the recliner
while they sit on the couch, both seemingly glad that I’m
here.

“
Skye and I are going to go
grab a bite to eat.” I stare around the living room, wondering
where she might be. “Is she around?”

Warren nods. “Yep. Out back
on the trampoline. Last I checked, she was trying to do a flip like
she used to, and it wasn’t going so well.”

“
She’s trying to flip?” I
repeat, shaking my head. “Okay, this I’ve got to see.”

“
Be my guest,” Helen says.
“That trampoline belongs to you two, anyway.”

I smile and get up, heading
toward the back sliding door. Even before I open it, I see Skye
jumping really high and launching herself into a summersault that
breaks apart before she even hits the tramp. Her arms splay wide,
as though she’s really trying to regain her balance, but it doesn’t
work.

I step out onto the porch
as quietly as I can and watch as the late afternoon sunlight glows
gold through her hair, catching the dark strands and burning them
with light. She goes through two or three more flip attempts before
I start tsking at her. She jumps.