When Sky Breaks: Burn & Break Duet Book 2

52. August

“Okay.I’m going to do it. I’ll just put it on speakerphone so you can hear,” Sky says, wringing her hands as she paces her room.

On her twentieth jerky stride, I grab her wrist and pull her down next to me on her bed. “Are you sure you’re ready? You’re wearing a hole in the carpet.”

Her big blue eyes are as wide as a deer caught in headlights. She’s about as skittish as one, too. “I have to. I’m tired of wondering. Here’s my chance to figure it out so I can put it to rest.”

I tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, trying to soothe her nerves. “What will you do if she wants to meet?”

Sky freezes. “I haven’t thought about that.”

“You wouldn’t have to go alone or at all if you didn’t want to. I’d come with you.”

She melts, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I’d like that. If I decide to. I’m not sure.”

“Just take it one step at a time.”

“It’s like you’re some magic guru. You always know the right things to say to me.”

I huff out a laugh, ruffling her hair. “Thank my therapist, aka my uncle. After that, uh, day at the cliff, I clung pretty hard to him. He was the only person familiar to me in Cali, and without him, I’m not sure where I would’ve ended up.”

Most likely in the depths of hell.

Sky takes my hands and puts them on either side of her face. “I’m so glad he was there for you. I don’t like to think about what might’ve happened to you. It makes me hurt.”

Pressing my forehead to hers, I say, “I don’t feel like that anymore. Being home has helped so much. Being around familiar faces and people who are kind. Like your dad and Colonel, Benny, Lina, and even my mom. But,” I kiss her temple, her cheeks, and finally her lips, “it’s you and your complete faith in me that’s driven those demons into the dust they came from. This isn’t about me, though, Shortcake. It’s about you and your mom. No matter when you decide to contact her, I’ll be here.”

One more sappy look in my direction, and she hops to her feet. “My god, I love you. I’m doing it now. No more waiting.”

She sits at the little desk in her room, cluttered with so many notebooks and books. It reminds me of high school Sky and her penchant for organized chaos, as she called it. She’s so fucking cute, even now, as she stares down at the phone, laying face up, finger poised, knowing this moment will forever change her. “What if she doesn’t answer?”

“You won’t know until you try. Can either call back later or leave a voicemail.”

“Okay,” she says, clicking through her contacts, “I’m doing it.”

“I’m right here.”

She mouths thank you while the phone rings, her fingers shaking as she folds them in her lap. This is huge for her, and I’m proud she’s taking the next step. I only hope she can get some answers she’ll be all right with.

After three rings, I think no one is going to pick up, but a girl’s voice answers.

“Hello?”

Sky stammers and clears her throat, wiping her hands down the tops of her thighs. “Uh, hi, is this—I’m looking for Dannie Winters, please.”

The girl sounds no more than like ten years old and I worry the number is wrong.

“Like Aunt Dannie?”

A jolt runs through my stomach, and Sky must feel the same as she darts her eyes quickly to me before going back to the phone.

“Uh, yes—I’m Sky Winters. Dannie was—is my mom.”

The line grows quiet. So quiet, Sky checks to make sure the line isn’t dead.

“Let me get my mom. Don’t hang up,” the girl rushes out.

Sky and I exchange another look.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

She nods. “I think I’m talking to a cousin.”

“It sounds like it. And an aunt?”

Her eyes widen with the idea.

“Um, hello, who is this?” Another voice comes on the line, this time sounding much older.

“Hi. I’m just trying to find Dannie Winters. I got her number from a former friend of hers. I’m Sky Winters. Her daughter.”

The silence is suffocating, and I know it’s killing Sky.

I move and crouch beside her, lacing my fingers with hers so she’s got something solid to hang on to. She leans her head into the crook of my shoulder.

“Sky?”

“Yes.”

“Oh my god,” the woman breathes out, “I can’t believe it.”

Sky sits up straight but clutches my hands tighter. “Are you my aunt?”

The woman lets a laugh in disbelief. “Yes, yes, I’m your aunt. Aunt Loren. I’m Dannie’s sister. Oh, I can’t believe this. We all thought, Jesus, we thought you were in the fire with Chase. This is a shock, Sky. I’m sorry if I sound crazy.”

Sky stares at the phone.

I run a hand up her back and massage her neck.

“I don’t—I’m so sorry, I’m so confused.”

Loren sighs. “You wouldn’t be the only one. Oh honey, I’m so happy you called. Oh my, Tate, get over here. You won’t believe who’s on the phone.”

A man comes on the line, his voice gruff like he smokes a pack a day. “What? Who?”

“Sky.”

“Holy fuck. Excuse me, wow. This is damn crazy.”

“Sky, that’s your Uncle Tate, and your cousin Evie was the one who answered. We are so over the moon. Oh my word, I’m going to have to call?—”

“Loren,” Sky interrupts, emotions flashing all over her face, “Where is Dannie? Is this not her phone number?”

“Oh Sky, I’m sorry. I just got so excited there for a second. Yes, this is her phone number. We gave it to Evie after—wait.” She exhales heavily. “Honey, you don’t know, do you?”

Loren’s voice sobers, and so does Sky.

“I don’t know anything. My mom—Dannie—left after the fire, and I never saw her again. The police looked for her everywhere and it was like she disappeared. I got a new family,” Sky leans into me as she says this, and I wrap my arm around her shoulders, “but I need to know what happened and ask some questions.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Loren lets out a huge breath. “Your mom is no longer with us. We—she told us you and Chase died in the fire with your dad.”

“No longer with you? Do you know where I can find her?”

“She’s gone, Sky. She, um, she died by suicide a year after she came home to us.”

Sky stiffens in my arms, and a bolt of despair runs down my spine. For Sky and her mom, who felt like the world was too much. I, too, knew the feeling well. If I hadn’t taken those three steps back from the edge? Well, I don’t like to think about it too often anymore, but the look on Sky’s face when she turns to me pinches my heart. It’s the same expression my uncle had when I told him what I almost did. The horror, the sadness, but his bore relief.

Sky emits grief in tangible waves as her breathing labors.

“I’m so sorry,” I murmur and hold her shaking frame close.

“Sky? Are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here. I’m just…shocked.” She sniffs and rubs her nose.

“I’m sorry honey, I truly am. Dannie was not well. She took the fire very hard, and we all thought, well, you know, and now I’m not so sure what to think anymore.”

Sky takes in a deep breath, her tremors calming. “Me either. There’s so much to it. I don’t even know what to say.”

“Well, would you like to meet us sometime? We’d love to see you and get to know you and we could talk about everything? I—I’m sorry, I’m getting emotional. I just never in my whole life thought I’d ever hear from you. You may not remember, but we met you once when you were a little baby.”

“Dannie never talked about you. I didn’t even know you existed until now.”

“There’s a lot to unpack in our family, but I am so happy you’re alive, sweet girl.”

Sky tears up and runs her fingers under her eyes, a tiny smile creasing her cheek. “I’m happy to be alive myself. Can I call you back about the whole meeting you all and everything? I’m just a little in shock and need to think about some things, if that’s okay.”

“Oh goodness, yes, yes. Take all the time you need. We’re here for you when you’re ready. Just call this number. Actually, let me get you mine, and then you can call or text anytime. Sky, I’m—sorry again for the tears—I’m so happy. I obviously don’t know why things happened the way they did, but I want you to know you have us. Whenever you’re ready, okay?”

Sky clears her throat of all the emotions she’d been fed.“Yes, I’ll be in touch soon.”

She gets her aunt’s number and hangs up. Facing me, she launches into my arms, and I rock to the floor, my back thumping off the foot of her bed.

“Oof,” I grunt before situating us better on the floor, her in my lap. “Are you all right? That was a lot.”

Her fingers twist in the cotton collar of my T-shirt. “I’d be a liar if I said everything was okay. Definitely not okay. But I will be. Can I just sit here with you for a minute and think?”

“Shortcake, you don’t even need to ask.”

“Thank you,” she murmurs into my neck, her warm air brushing along my skin.

We sit like this for longer than a minute. My ass might be numb, but I refuse to tell her that or make her move. My girl needs me, and I’ve never taken any job more seriously.

“August?” she asks, her body still curled in my lap.

“Yeah?”

She twists, and the utter anguish in her eyes slices through me like a hot knife. “Do you think Dannie really thought I died in the fire?”

I exhale slowly while I process her question, my heart thudding in my chest.

“I slept outside that night. I—I couldn’t face anyone after what I had just done or what I thought I did. It was all over my face. The guilt.” I swallow, and Sky nods, her fingers resting on my forearms, drawing circles in a slow pattern. It centers me.

“Of course, there was a party going on, so no one even noticed my return. They were already so drunk. The music was loud, no one but me heard the sirens. In the morning, the door flew open, waking me up, and your mom—who I didn’t know was your mom at the time—came barreling down the steps, just sobbing. She was yelling something like, ‘They’re dead.’ I had seen her at several of my parents’ parties but never talked to her. She didn’t even look at me before getting in her car and leaving.”

I blow out a breath and lay my head atop Sky’s as she wraps her arms tight around my waist, her barely disguised gasp burrowing into the fabric of my shirt.

“After that, I never saw her again. I asked my mom who she was, and she told me. That’s all I know, baby. I’m sorry I don’t have a better answer for you.”

Her tear-soaked face meets mine, and I whisper, “I’m sorry,” again, my voice cracking. I hate seeing her cry and not being able to stop it.

“It’s not your fault anymore. Please don’t hate yourself for this. You didn’t know. No one knows. That’s what I get to live with, and I have to be okay with it. Just hold me. That’s all I need.”

I obey and pull her closer, both of us closing our eyes, shielding each other from all the pain.

It might take days, or months, or years before Sky is really “okay” with all this new information, but she can bet she won’t have to go through any of it by herself.

It’s her and me against all the heartache in the world. Nothing can break us now.