Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
SKYE
Istare at the door Arissa and Kieran disappeared through with a kind of numb disbelief.
What is actually happening? Is today the nexus of an ancient curse and someone just forgot to tell me?
Because the only thing that could make this day worse right now is if my hair fell out or my dad called to tell me he and Patrick are breaking up.
As if on cue, my phone rings.
And rings again.
The others glance at me, but I can’t bring myself to answer it—or even look at the screen. Because what if…?
Daniel reaches across the empty space between us and picks up the handset. “It’s your dad,” he says. “Want me to—”
“No!” I shriek.
The phone blessedly stops ringing.
Dan frowns at me, but it’s not a “you fucking nutjob” frown. It’s a concerned frown, damn him. How dare he care about me and be concerned.
“You know he’s going to—” The phone starts to ring again. “—call back.” Daniel looks at the screen again. “He won’t give up, Skye.”
He’s right. My dad hates voicemail and is convinced that if he just keeps calling, eventually I’ll answer. It usually takes a dozen calls before he’ll believe I’m truly busy. Other people might freak out at seeing twelve missed calls from a parent within the span of a few minutes. Not me.
“Could you answer?” I say finally. “Ask if he and Patrick are breaking up.”
Daniel bobbles the phone, nearly dropping it, while Ewan makes a shocked sound, but I don’t have time to explain.
“Hey, Kevin, it’s Daniel,” he says cheerfully, even while he gives me a “what the fuck” look.
“Yeah, I’m good, thanks. Skye’s, uh… listen, this is really awkward, but how are things with you and Patrick right now?
” My dad must say something, because Daniel cringes.
“No, no, I’m sure that’s not… uh… Hold on, I’ll tell him. ”
He puts his hand over the microphone and glares at me. “Your dad wants to know if you, and this is a direct quote, ‘secretly harbor hopes of getting your parents back together like some stupid kids’ movie.’”
“Fuck no!” The words burst from my mouth, and they are loud.
He lifts the handset back to his ear. “That’s a firm no, Kevin. I think he’s just a little worried that, uh, your ex coming back to town might cause some problems.”
Pow. I was pretty sure Dan knew something was going on, since Dad said that whole thing about my parents, but it’s still a punch to the face to know he knows. I turn an accusing stare on Connor, who doesn’t meet my gaze. What did he tell everyone? And when?
He probably texted them when I was sulking in the car on the way back.
Daniel interrupts my gloomy thoughts. “Your dad wants to talk to you. He said I have permission to tape the phone to your head if I have to.”
Grumbling, I hold out my hand. Why am I being betrayed by my friends and family like this?
Shut up, Skye. Stop being a whiner.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Skye.” The pure relief in his voice makes me feel so, so guilty. “Jennie called and said you ran into your mom at the bakery.”
My lips quirk involuntarily as I remember Jennie’s reaction to seeing my mom. Let’s just say, she’s not a fan. “Yeah. It was a surprise. Did you know she was back?”
“I would have told you if I did,” he says with an offended edge. “My phone’s been ringing off the hook since Jennie called—my guess is that the bakery was her first stop.” He pauses. “Are you okay?”
I slide a glance toward the four men pretending they’re not trying to listen.
“Yeah. Look, Dad, I’m kinda busy right now, and to be honest, I don’t want to talk about her.
I’m staying at the estate for a few days, so I probably won’t see her again anyway.
Uh… you and Patrick are good, right? Not fighting or anything? ”
“Patty,” Dad hollers way too close to the microphone, “Skye wants to know if we’re gonna break up!”
I hear a muffled shout in the background, and then the phone is passed to Patrick, Dad’s long-time boyfriend and one of my favorite people in the world.
“You tryna get rid of me, Unicorn?” he demands, and I can’t stop my smile.
“Not ever,” I reply, and even though I tried to avoid it, there’s a tiny trace of tears in my voice. Dan’s head snaps in my direction, but I wave him off.
Patrick hums. “Skye, you want me to come and get you?” he asks, and I know he’s serious because he used my name.
I’ve always been “Unicorn” to him, since the day Dad introduced us.
I was fourteen and some fuckwits at school had been getting on my back about the gay thing, calling me “princess” and “unicorn.” I bought some face paints, watched a YouTube tutorial, and went to school with my face painted like a unicorn and rainbow stripes in my hair to really shove it in their faces.
Dad had to come down to the school because of the resulting drama, and Patrick was with him (to this day, I’ve never asked why and never will).
He took one look at me, grinned so wide, I thought his face would split in half, and announced that more kids should strive to be unicorns.
He’s the chief of police, and that tacit approval pretty much ended any further bullying that might have happened.
“I’m okay,” I assure him, my voice steadier. “It wasn’t a great day before I saw her, and I’m just… processing.”
“Wasn’t today your day off?” I can practically hear his frown. “What happened?”
“Just stuff. I’m good, Patrick. I promise. Especially now I know you and Dad are staying together,” I tease.
There’s a tiny pause, then he demands, “Is Daniel still there? Put him on.”
I pull the phone away from my ear to give it a disbelieving look.
Is he kidding me? “I don’t need a babysitter,” I protest. “Love you both. I’m going now.
” I end the call while he’s sputtering, wait for my phone to ring again, then answer on the first ring.
“Are you going to remember I’m an adult now? ”
Ewan and Dan, who’ve known Dad and Patrick for years, are chuckling, but Connor and Gabe, who’ve only met them a few times, are staring at me in bemusement. I ignore them all.
“We just want you to be safe and happy,” Patrick whines. “You can’t blame us for that.”
“It would make me very happy if you’d stop treating me like I’m sixteen.” I’m kidding now. The hovering can be annoying sometimes, but I know how to set boundaries, and I love that they care. I mostly grew up in a single-parent home, and I know how it feels to have a parent who doesn’t care.
Bluntly, it sucks.
I push thoughts of my mom out of my head and listen to what Patrick’s saying.
“…remember that you’ll ask for help if you need it. Okay?”
It’s half promise, half threat—as in, I’d better ask for help if I need it—and I grin. “Okay.”
“Great. Your dad wants to talk to you again. Keep it brief; I’ve got plans for him.”
“Ewww,” I whine, just as he expects me to. “Why you gotta say that shit to me? My dad is a sweet, innocent virgin.”
Patrick’s laughter is still echoing in my ear as he hands the phone to Dad.
“If you think I’m a virgin, we might need to have a serious talk. Your education has clearly failed somewhere along the way,” Dad announces.
“There are some things about your life I don’t need to know, shocking as that may seem,” I snark. “It was bad enough when I was still living at home and you guys forgot to be quiet.”
Dad starts to laugh. “Do you remember that time drama club was canceled and you came home early and walked in on—”
“I’m begging you, please don’t make me remember.” But I’m laughing. “Was there something you needed? I’m kind of in the middle of stuff.”
“I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. And… what do you want to do if your mom wants to talk?”
I swallow. Trust Dad to ask hard questions.
“If she wants to talk to you, that’s completely up to you.
If she wants to talk to me…” Fuck. “See if she’ll say what she wants.
I’m not interested in catching up because she’s in the mood after twenty years, but if she’s dying of cancer or something, I won’t ignore that. ” I’m not a monster.
“Got it,” Dad says. “Uh, Jennie said she didn’t say much this afternoon?”
A laugh huffs from me. “More like Jennie didn’t give her the chance to.
Mom was like, ‘Hi, Skye,’ and Jennie butted in and announced that I was just leaving, then gave me my stuff and hustled me out.
” I mull that over. “At least Mom recognized me.” I was so little when she left that there was probably only a fifty-fifty chance of that.
“I wish we’d had warning she was coming back,” Dad says softly. “I’m not sure why she did.” Her parents, my grandparents, both still live here, but she doesn’t bother coming back to visit. She was never close to them—they had her when they were older, and they just couldn’t relate.
“Well, we’ll either find out, or she’ll leave again.” No point wasting time wondering about it. I resist the urge to rub the suddenly hollow spot in the middle of my chest. Damn it.
We say our goodbyes, and I put my phone down on the table and suck in a deep breath, then say brightly, “So, I’m having some drama today. How about all of you?”
Connor snorts. “Yeah, a little, but I think you’re winning. Do you need a shoulder to lean on? Because these guys are all here.” He gestures toward Gabe, Ewan, and Daniel.
I snort. “What, you’re not going to offer me yours?” The tension in the room—which was all coming from me—starts to fade as Connor shrugs.
“I’m not so good with the shoulder stuff. But I can get you drunk and beat up your enemies,” he offers.
I grab another cinnamon twist, and it’s a testament to our friendship that he doesn’t protest, even though I can see he wants to. His gaze goes to the box as though he’s counting what’s left. He may have already stashed some, but I’ll bet he was counting on having more leftover.
“Hopefully she’ll just leave and I won’t see her again. No need for drunkenness or violence.” I take a big bite just as Josh comes back in, shaking his head.
“You’re never going to… What’s going on in here?” He frowns. “What happened?”
It takes me a second to realize that he’s probably not talking about my mom—he left before Arissa’s mini-meltdown.
“Riss quit and Skye’s mom came back to town,” Connor says. “What are the ghosts doing?”
Josh blinks and holds up a finger. “Me first. Arissa quit? Why?” Con opens his mouth to answer, but Josh shakes his head. “Not you.”
While Connor pretends to be offended and mutters that diplomacy just makes things slow, I swallow my pastry and say, “She found out there’s a very big chance we’re going to be invaded by higher demons and die, and it was too much for her.”
He thinks about that and nods. “Fair call. Kieran’s talking to her?” He retakes his seat beside Ewan and grabs his hand, lacing their fingers together. The plum-colored polish on his fingernails gleams in the overhead lights.
“Yep.”
“So what’s happening with the ghosts?” Connor asks.
Josh ignores him. “Do you want to talk about what’s happening with your mom?” His gaze is level and sympathetic. I’m so glad he came to work here.
“Not right now.” My smile is small but genuine, and the hollowness in my chest fades a little.
“Okay. I’m here whenev—”
“Seriously, for the love of god, someone tell me what the ghosts are doing!” Connor pushes back his chair and stands, and from the tiny sparkle in Josh’s eye, I get the feeling he was deliberately tormenting him.
“You need to moderate your tone,” Ewan says darkly, but his eye has that same sparkle.
Connor throws up his hands and drops back into his chair. “I hate you all.”
This is the best job anyone could ever have. Except for the possible impending death by demon.