13. Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
Cal
I reached Centennial Park as night settled like a thick blanket. The town’s fireworks display would begin soon, and once it started, I had even less chance of finding Skye. I shouted her name, but my voice was so hoarse, it barely carried. I whistled and waited. Nothing.
Damn fireworks. I knew better than to have her outside during the show, but I didn’t count on someone setting off bottle rockets in their backyard before dusk. My grip on the leash was too loose, my attention too focused on Rowan. At the first pop, Skye shot through the party toward our house, then past it onto Broad Street. I’d lost sight of her almost immediately, but like an idiot, had kept running in the direction she originally went. She easily could have circled back home by now. I pulled my phone from my pocket and texted Chris to check. I considered calling Theo to help me look, but I worried it might give him a panic attack. Aiden would no doubt leave his family’s picnic to help. My relationship with the O’Malley clan was strained enough without ruining the big family 4 th of July gathering.
My phone buzzed with a text.
Chris
Mom is staying at your house in case she goes there. Whole street looking. We’ll find her
I thanked him and did a quick lap around the empty park. I’d hoped she’d go somewhere she loved, but it was time to accept that Skye could be miles away. A firework exploded on the other side of Peace Falls, where most of the town had gathered in the high school stadium to watch the show. Damn it. Skye must be scared out of her mind.
I walked back to Main, thinking I should check some of the back roads that intersected the larger street. A red sedan pulled to the curb, and Rowan called my name from the passenger seat.
“Lauren and I figured we could cover more ground with a car,” she said. “Any suggestion where we should look?”
I shook my head. “There’s no point until after the show ends. She’s hiding now. Even if she heard us calling, she won’t come out. She’s terrified of loud noises.”
“Like thunder?” Rowan asked.
I nodded.
“Where does she usually hide during storms?” Rowan asked.
“In my house.”
She let out a huff. “I meant where in the house. If she always goes to the same place, she might try to find somewhere similar.”
This entire conversation felt like a waste of time, but with the colors still bursting overhead, I figured it couldn’t hurt. “She hides in the half bath if we’re downstairs, my closet if we’re upstairs.”
“Do those rooms have anything in common?”
As soon as she asked, I felt like an idiot for not making the connection before. “They don’t have windows.”
“So, maybe a shed or detached garage, especially one without windows?”
Here I’d been looking for Skye in open parks when her instinct would have been to go somewhere small and dark. I sent Chris another text.
Ask everyone to check their sheds and outbuildings
Chris
Already looked. Not there
“Chris says they looked.”
“On our street,” Rowan said, climbing from the car. “Do you bring Skye to the park often?”
“I do. I went the same route we normally walk, but I didn’t check any outbuildings along the way.”
“Do you go down Broad, then Church, and then onto Main?”
I nodded.
Rowan stuck her head through the passenger window and said something. She stepped closer to me on the sidewalk while Lauren did a U-turn in the deserted street and drove toward Church. Another cluster of fireworks exploded, each boom louder than the last.
I gripped my hair and pulled. This was not happening. Skye would have been terrified at home. The thought of her alone and scared in an unfamiliar place made me want to punch a wall. Or myself. This was all my fucking fault. I hoped Skye hadn’t run toward the high school. Not only would she be closer to the noise, she could easily get hit by a car when everyone left after the show.
Rowan laid a gentle hand on my arm and pulled until I released the death grip on my hair. “Easy there, Big Guy.”
I curled my fingers around hers and held on. Her hand was soft, warm, and fit perfectly in mine.
“Lauren is starting back at Broad Street,” Rowan said, giving my hand a squeeze. “We’ll look from this end of your route. We’ll find her.”
“We have to.”
Rowan nodded. “Poppy mentioned Skye is a service animal.”
If the situation weren’t so serious, I’d have laughed. “Poppy must have Skye confused with another dog. Mine failed obedience school twice.”
“Sorry, support animal. I’m afraid I don’t know the difference.”
“Ah,” I said, as we started the long walk back. I waited for her to let go of my hand and was relieved when she didn’t. “Are you sure you’re ok to walk?”
Rowan nodded. “Honestly, walking doesn’t hurt that much. Sitting is the worst. Stairs second. I’m slow though, so if you want to run ahead and check places in the middle of the route, that’s fine too.”
“No, slower is better. We don’t want to miss anything. We should search the alley. There really isn’t anywhere she could hide on Main Street.”
We walked to the alley behind the store fronts and looked everywhere a dog might hide. Rowan shouted for Skye, her voice sounding hoarse like mine. She’d clearly been searching as long as I had. We walked in silence, broken only by one of us calling Skye. We looked behind every dumpster and peered into every window well. I told myself I needed to hold Rowan’s hand, so she didn’t fall in the dim alley and hurt herself more. The longer we walked, the more I worried we’d never find Skye. The more I worried, the tighter I held Rowan’s hand.
“What Poppy said is kind of true,” I said after a few blocks. “Theo gets panic attacks. If Skye is nearby, she helps calm him down.”
“Let me see if I’ve got this right. Your dog is Theo’s support animal?”
“Yeah. He should really have his own, but he refuses.”
“Why if it would help him?”
I blew out a breath. “That’s a whole other conversation, and honestly, not one I want to have.”
“Oh,” she said, in a quiet voice. “I’m sorry. Forget I asked.”
She shrank into herself like she had in the kitchen after I stopped her from coming near me. When I saw her reaction, it’d taken every ounce of self-control I had not to reach for her.
“Hey,” I said, stopping in the middle of the alley. “I’m the one who started this conversation, just like I’m the one who kissed you the other day. It’s my fault things got awkward, not yours.”
She nodded and started walking again, but her hand didn’t feel as firm in mine, and her voice sounded timid the next time she called Skye. When we came to the end of the alley at the parking lot behind Church Street Brews, she stopped with a jolt. “Did you check the playhouse at the park? The one by the playground equipment. It’s been there since we were kids.”
I knew exactly the playhouse she meant. And though I’d called Skye’s name in the park, I hadn’t thought to check the playhouse.
“Go,” she said, dropping my hand and shoving me.
“I’m not leaving you in an alley by yourself.”
“I lived in DC years without getting mugged or murdered. Lauren is probably right around the corner. Now, go!”
I grabbed her elbow and led her to a portion of sidewalk below a streetlamp on Church Street. “Don’t move until Lauren gets here,” I said, taking off at a sprint. “If you fall, you’ll undo all the work we’ve done.”
I ran as fast as I could down Main Street. My high school football coach would have loved the pace I set to the park as the fireworks finale boomed overhead. Five minutes later, I skidded to a halt in front of the playhouse and stuck my head inside.
Though it was too dark to see, I could hear Skye whimpering in the corner. I shoved my six-foot two frame into the playhouse I hadn’t visited since elementary school and wrapped my arms around her.
“I’m here, girl,” I said. Her tense muscles started to relax. She let out another whimper, and a wave of grief crashed over me.
I should have been relieved, but all I kept thinking was one day, I would lose her. Skye was almost ten. She might act like a puppy, but she didn’t have many years left. I’d lose her just like I lost Logan. She licked my hand as the tears came hot and fast from my eyes. We may have sat in the cramped playhouse all night if a dark figure hadn’t shone a flashlight inside the entrance.
“Sorry,” Rowan said, fumbling with her cell phone and shutting off the light. “Um, I thought you might like a ride back home.”
At the sound of Rowan’s voice, Skye perked up and wiggled to the exit.
“I’m so happy to see you, baby,” she said, crouching to grab Skye’s leash.
I used my t-shirt to dry off my face before I pulled myself out to join them.
“Let me,” I said, taking the leash. “No telling when the next backyard fireworks will start.”
I stood, and Rowan struggled to her feet with a groan.
“This was too much for your back,” I said. I wrapped my arm around her waist. Hopefully, she’d think I was trying to steady her, not attaching myself like a leech hoping to suck the calm from her. I expected her to push me away. Instead, she turned into me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I leaned down and held her tight, resting my head on her warm shoulder. After a moment, she pulled away, but wove her arm in mine.
Lauren’s red sedan idled at the curb. Rowan opened the rear passenger door and slipped across the back seat. Skye pulled on the leash until I moved forward. She clambered in beside Rowan and licked her face. I climbed in the back seat as well, my knees crammed against the front seat.
“I feel like a Lyft driver,” Lauren chuckled. Skye put her head in my lap and fell asleep. When we arrived at Sullivan Street, the block party was going strong on the other side of the barricade.
“If y’all don’t mind,” Lauren said. “I’m going to head home.”
“Thank you so much, Lauren,” I said.
I nudged Skye. She let out a snort and yawned but followed me out of the car. Rowan and I waved Lauren off before walking around the barricade. I should have taken Skye straight home, but instead, I found myself moving through the party with Rowan at my side. One by one the neighbors cheered when they saw us. Skye wagged her tail, happy to be the center of attention.
We reached the Stevens’s house and stopped in front of the dessert table. Only crumbs remained.
“Wow,” Rowan said, smiling. “Guess everyone liked the desserts.”
“I confess I sampled each of the tarts. And I’m a little pissed. I planned to take a cupcake home.”
“Hm. Maybe I’ll bring some to my next session.” Rowan rubbed Skye’s head and smiled at me. “Night, Caleb.”
“I think I owe you a beer,” I said before I could stop myself. I held my arm out like I was about to escort her to the homecoming court. She laughed but took it.
As soon as I opened the front door, Skye trotted to the armchair where Aiden usually sat and curled into a tight ball. Rowan flopped onto the couch with the grace of an eighty-year-old.
“You’re stiff,” I said.
“Just tired.”
I nodded. “I’d offer you something other than beer, but that’s all I have, unless you want water.”
“A beer would be great,” she said.
I walked to the kitchen and grabbed two IPAs. I hoped she hadn’t set back her progress helping me, but, fuck, I was thankful she did.
Skye was already snoring when I returned to the living room.
“Poor thing must be exhausted,” Rowan said, taking the can I offered her.
“I forgot to ask if you want a glass,” I said, turning back toward the kitchen.
“Sit down, Caleb. I just walked a mile in an alley looking behind dumpsters for your dog. We’re past formalities.”
I settled onto the couch beside her, and we clinked cans. After a long pull, I set my can on the coffee table. “If I’m being honest, Skye is my support animal too.”
She placed her can on the table next to mine and took my hand in hers.
“My mom gave me Skye when I was recovering from the accident. I didn’t want to do PT or leave the house. Honestly, I barely got out of bed most days. So, Mom got the most energetic puppy she could find. Skye had these bright blue eyes then. I didn’t know they’d change to green.”
“The name suits her,” Rowan said, giving my hand a squeeze. “She has a personality as big as the sky.”
“She does,” I said. Skye let out an extra loud snore as if to agree. “I can’t thank you enough for helping me find her.”
Rowan nodded and let go of my hand. I wanted to take it back, but she laced her fingers together and placed them on her lap. “My dad loved chocolate-covered cherries,” she said softly. “Or so I thought. I gave him a box for Christmas when I was little, and he made such a big show of liking them, I bought him a box every year. Since you can only buy them at Christmas, he’d eat one a day because he said he wanted them to last. Each year I got him a bigger and bigger box.”
“That’s nice,” I said, not following where she was going, but curious.
“Well, after he died, I missed buying those boxes. Then, during my first semester at Georgetown, my hall had a white elephant gift exchange with a five-dollar max.”
“So, you bought cherries?”
“No, I bought lip gloss. But I opened a box of chocolate-covered cherries. None of my hallmates knew about my Christmas tradition with my dad. It was just an odd coincidence.”
“That’s incredible.”
She nodded and her emerald eyes glistened. “I hadn’t felt grief like that in years. By the time I sobbed through the story, all my hallmates were crying and hugging me. I took that box of cherries home, and now every Christmas I visit Dad’s grave and eat a cherry.”
My eyes burned. I felt on the edge of losing it all over again when Rowan’s face cracked into a huge smile. “Those cherries taste awful. A couple years ago, Mom confessed that Dad hated them too. He ate one a day because that’s all he could choke down.”
A laugh burst out of me, pulling the ache from my chest. Rowan laughed too, but then her expression shifted. Her mouth parted and her eyes darkened. Her breathing accelerated, her perfect breasts rising and falling in that red dress.
My stomach clenched, and before I could tell myself all the reasons not to, I ran my thumb across her full bottom lip. I waited for her to pull away. When she didn’t, I leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her mouth. Our lips moved together, soft at first, tentative. When she placed her hands on my chest, the kiss deepened, and all my commonsense evaporated.
The need to feel her roared through my body like a freight train. I kissed down her neck to the creamy skin I’d been longing to touch ever since the moment I saw her at the block party. I slid the thin straps from her shoulders and let the fabric fall from her chest. Her pink nipples pebbled beneath my fingers. She let out a gasp and threaded her hands in my hair as I bent and kissed her breast. Her grip tightened when I sucked her nipple into my mouth. I looked up. Her eyes were closed, her head thrown back, her breath coming in pants. I gave the other breast equal attention before lowering Rowan gently to the couch. She moaned as I rocked against her and the sound sent a ripple of pleasure through my body. Fuck, I was going to finish in my shorts if I kept rubbing against her.
“I have to taste you,” I said.
Her eyes widened but she nodded. I ran my hands up her smooth legs, pushing the dress up as I went. I dipped my head and inhaled the scent of her, musky and sweet. She’d soaked the delicate white lace covering her sensitive skin. I ran my tongue over the thin fabric, and she arched off the sofa. Hooking my fingers in the band, I slid her panties down her legs. When I swirled my tongue on her clit, she gripped my hair again, holding me in place. I dipped a finger into her tight heat, and she shuddered. I sucked her into my mouth, and she breathed my name, arching closer. I added another finger, pumping in and out as I twirled her clit in my mouth. She tightened around my fingers as she came, her body shuddering in waves that made my dick weep.
I couldn’t wait another second to feel her skin against mine. I sat up and pulled my shirt over my head. She ran her small hands down the ridges of my chest to my shorts then cupped me. I sucked in a breath. Our eyes locked, and my chest tightened. Fuck she was beautiful.
Just as I reached for her, a firework went off outside. Skye gave a startled bark and shot off the chair, straight to the downstairs bathroom.
The commotion cleared the lust hold from my mind. What was I doing? Rowan was a patient. She was coming off a nasty divorce and told me, less than a couple hours ago, that she didn’t want to complicate her life. I hadn’t even had my standard “I don’t do relationships” talk with her.
Luckily, the fireworks and Skye seemed to have snapped Rowan back to reality as well. “Um, do you need to check on her?” she said. “I can see myself out.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”
She pulled the top of her dress back into place, and I held her hand as she rose from the couch.
“Thanks again for helping me tonight,” I said, giving her fingers a squeeze.
“Um, thank you for,” she blushed and waved her other hand toward the couch.
We smiled at each other and started laughing.
“I better go,” she said, walking to the front door. “Good luck with Skye.”
As soon as she closed the door behind her, I collapsed on the couch and put my head in my hands. That’s when I saw the lace panties on the floor. The thought of Rowan walking through the block party bare was enough to bring me to my feet to chase after her and finish what we started. Another firework exploded and Skye let out a sharp cry inside the bathroom. I blew out a breath and prepared for a long night with the wrong type of fireworks.