Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
DANIEL
Dating Skye is already turning out to be the best thing I’ve ever done.
I’m not sure if it’s because we were already such good friends or if it’s just because it’s Skye, but I’ve had a great time tonight.
Way better than on any other first date.
And I can’t wait to kiss him goodnight… and maybe good morning too.
After dinner, we took a walk along the river, hand in hand in the warm night air.
If you’d asked me a week ago if I’d like holding a man’s hand, I would’ve said no.
Well, first I probably would have wondered why I was holding a man’s hand anyway.
It’s not something straight men tend to do.
But if we did, I likely wouldn’t have thought I’d enjoy it any more than holding a woman’s hand.
Not unpleasant, but not high on my bucket list either.
So… why do I reach for Skye’s every chance I get?
I’m still thinking about that as we drive home… with our hands clasped over the center console. His is warm and fits mine perfectly.
His phone chimes, and he shifts his hip to pull it out, then groans. “We were seen at the restaurant.”
I snort. “We weren’t trying to be invisible.”
“Ha, no. It’s Dad. Someone’s neighbor’s friend was there too and has now told everyone they know that we looked so sweet together.”
“Sweet? Really?”
“Yeah, not my favorite word either.”
“I mean,” I continue, “I can see why they’d call you sweet. You’re a ball of sunshine… usually. But I’m—”
“A ball of sunshine? How’d you like this sunshine to incinerate you?”
There’s a note of laughter in his voice, and he hasn’t pulled his hand away, so I go with it.
“You mean like you did last night?”
Skye gives a little shiver, and the mood in the car changes from lighthearted to anticipatory.
“I was going to make a joke about getting burned, but this is probably a good time to talk about what we’re going to tell people.”
I shoot him a sideways glance. “What do you mean?”
“Well… they think we’re dating. And tonight’s not going to convince them otherwise.”
“We are dating.”
“Yeah, but do we want everyone to know? And the original plan was for us to ‘break up.’” He makes air quotes, and for some reason, it strikes me as adorable. “Which… that might happen, but I’m not ready to think about it.”
Ouch. “You think we’re going to break up?” It’s our first date, and I’ve been wondering in the back of my mind if Kieran will give us both vacation at the same time in November so we can take a trip. But Skye’s planning our future breakup?
“I said I’m not thinking about it,” he snaps, and as always when his cranky kitten comes out, I fight a smile.
“I’m trying to be sensible here. Not every relationship lasts forever, and this early, it’s impossible for you to kno—for us to know how we feel.
” He sounds like he’s reading from a script.
“We should talk about how to handle things so it’s not awkward later. ”
I nod, because clearly this matters to him, and if it matters to him, it’s important to me.
“You’ve lived here a lot longer than me, and you have family here to consider too, so you can take the lead in this.
But just so you know, I don’t care who knows we’re dating.
I didn’t care when it was fake, and I don’t care now that it’s real.
I’ll take out an ad in the local paper if you want.
Or the USA Today,” I add, just to prove how serious I am.
I’d have said the New York Times, but let’s face it, nobody I know reads that.
“My only condition is that if you want to convince people we’re not together, you wait until your mom’s gone. I don’t want her harassing you again.”
His grip on my hand tightens painfully. “Fine.” There’s a long, tense pause, and I wonder if I said something wrong. “I’m gonna screw your brains out when we get home.”
I guess not.
It doesn’t really sink in what Skye meant about the whole town being involved in our relationship until Wednesday.
The curry comb we use to groom the horses mysteriously disappears—though my money’s on Carter having taken it.
He’s still sulking about arriving at the barn too late to have seen me and Skye having sex, and we did, in fact, lay a salt line around my bedroom when we got home Saturday night.
Just in case. So he’s highly offended and taking every chance to show it.
Whatever, it means a trip to town to get a new one, since it rained the other night and the horses got muddy working.
I park in front of the hardware store, which has a small selection of animal care products for situations like this, and get out of the car.
“Daniel!”
Shading my eyes from the sun, I turn in the direction of the voice. It’s Lenore from the B&B, hotfooting it across the street toward me. I wave and call, “Hi,” as she gets closer.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she announces, coming to a halt beside me. “I want a word, and I’ve been wondering the best way to catch you alone.”
That doesn’t sound terrifying at all. Much.
“I have to get back to the estate, but I can spare you a few minutes,” I say with a smile. Hopefully that will stop her from talking for half an hour.
“This won’t take long,” she promises. “I heard about your date with Skye on the weekend and want to make sure you understand just how important his happiness is.”
Is… is she giving me “the talk”? Shouldn’t that come from Skye’s family? Or at least one of his friends?
“Skye’s happiness is essential to me,” I assure her.
“Because he’s a special person and he deserves only the best treatment.” She narrows her eyes at me. “He’s not an experiment.”
Part of me feels like I should be annoyed that she thinks I’d ever treat Skye that way, but instead I’m just glad she recognizes his worth. Even if it means the whole town is going to know far too much about my personal life. “He’s not an experiment,” I confirm. “I’m not experimenting with him.”
Her stare remains hard for a moment longer, long enough that I’m about to break out in a sweat, but then she nods and smiles benevolently at me.
“I’m so glad. I’ve been so worried since that woman got to town, asking all her nosy questions about Skye and the estate and all of you who work there.
Skye needs someone dependable like you. You’re a lovely boy, Daniel.
I’ve always thought so. Never too busy to help out when someone needs it.
You and Skye make a wonderful couple.” She puts her hand on my arm and leans closer.
“Now, you took him for a romantic dinner, and that’s a great start, but don’t forget Skye isn’t the most conventional person.
You need to satisfy his quirky side too. ”
For an endless, mind-numbing second, I think she’s talking about sex, and I wonder if passing out will end this horrifying moment.
“He has all that colorful hair, you know, and his collection of unicorn T-shirts that say how freaking magical he is. Only the word on them isn’t ‘freaking.’”
Oh. Ohhhhh. She means his quirks. Thank fuck.
Although rainbow hair and unicorn tees aren’t really that quirky.
“I can, uh, satisfy his quirky side,” I assure her, but she doesn’t seem to hear me.
“You should take him for a moonlight picnic in the woods,” she suggests.
That sounds great in theory, but it’s summer in Illinois. Can she say “mosquitoes”? Still, enough bug repellant and it might work.
“Thanks for the suggestion. I appreciate it.”
“You’re very welcome. We love Skye here. We were all so happy when you put that woman in her place.”
This is heading into dangerous territory. The last thing I want right now is for town gossip to be all about how I was bad-mouthing Skye’s mom. I’m pretty sure everyone would agree with me, but Skye doesn’t deserve that.
“I’ll always support Skye,” I say firmly. “It’s been great talking with you, Lenore, but I need to get a move on or I’ll never get back to the estate.” I take a step backward toward the hardware store. “I’ll tell Skye you said hey.”
“Sure thing, honey. Take care now!” She makes a little shooing motion but doesn’t move. I’m not entirely sure what small-town etiquette requires in this situation, even after living here for so many years, so I give an awkward wave and hightail it inside.
Where I heave a sigh of relief and make for the animal supplies.
“Daniel!”
I have a moment of panic, but it recedes when I see who the voice belongs to. “Oh, hey, Kevin.” I smile at Skye’s dad. “How’s things?”
“Entertaining.” He grins. “I’ve been on the phone almost nonstop this past week. Thanks for that.”
I wince. “Ah… yeah. Sorry?”
He claps me on the shoulder. “Don’t ever apologize for looking out for my kid.” Glancing around, he lowers his voice. “Skye says you’re dating for real.”
I get that little stir of excitement in my belly that always happens when I think of dating Skye. My boyfriend, Skye. We’ve spent every second we’re not working together this week, and it still doesn’t feel like enough.
“Yeah, we are. I hope you’re okay with that.”
He quirks an eyebrow, looking ridiculously like Skye. “And if I wasn’t?”
Fuck. “That would suck, because Skye loves you and having you be unhappy about us would make him unhappy. But it’s not going to change how I feel about him.”
Kevin’s smile is bright. “Good thing I am, then. Fair warning, though, Patrick plans to grill you about your intentions. He’s overprotective when it comes to Skye.” The smug satisfaction in his voice makes it clear he’s not upset about that.
“I’ll look forward to it.” I kind of like that so many people are looking out for Skye. Not that he needs them to protect him from me.
Kevin laughs as though he knows what I’m thinking, then checks again that nobody’s listening. “Just a heads-up—I’ll tell Skye when I talk to him later, but you should know too. His mom came to see me.”
I stiffen. “Oh?”
“It was strange,” he admits. “I thought she was going to ask me to intervene with Skye, but she just asked a lot of questions about him and his friends. I think Skye can expect her to call him.”
“She’s already tried,” I tell him. “She left a voicemail on Saturday night”—and wow, Skye turned the air blue when he listened to it Sunday morning—“and then tried again yesterday. He doesn’t want to talk to her again.”
Kevin nods. “I don’t blame him. I wish things were different for him, though. Anyway, I’ll see you around. Tell Skye I expect to see you both for dinner—whatever night suits your schedule.”
A thrill of nervous excitement races through me. It’s been a long time since I’ve had dinner with a partner’s family. Will it be different this time? Patrick and Kevin already know me, and they like me. It’s not like I’d be meeting them both for the first time.
“I’ll tell him,” I promise. Maybe over dinner I can offer some gardening tips for his vegetable garden, if he ever wants to try growing something other than asparagus. That would win me some points, right?
Kevin goes on his way, and I grab a new curry comb and head for the checkout counter, looking straight ahead.
It’s too easy to get distracted in the hardware store and spend hundreds of dollars on stuff that’s not really needed—plus, I’m a little afraid that someone else is going to stop me and grill me about Skye’s and my relationship.
“Hey, Daniel,” Clive, the owner, greets me. He takes the curry comb and frowns at it. “The old one give out already?”
“It’s missing,” I say with a shrug. “Presumed stolen by one of the ghosts.”
He snorts and scans the comb. “Pesky things. What are they gonna do with it anyway?” His huff is impressive. “I been hearing some interesting things about you.”
“Oh?”
“You’re dating the chief’s stepson?”
I nod. So close. I wonder if I’ll be able to get to my car without talking to anyone else. Maybe I should buy some posterboard and a marker and make a sign announcing that I love Skye and—
What the fuck?
What the fuck?
“Daniel?”
I snap out of the hazy shock swamping my brain and see that Clive is watching me expectantly. “Uh… yep. Dating Skye.” And seemingly in love with him.
He gives me an odd look. “Uh-huh. Your total is fifteen eighty-one.”
I manage to pay him and say goodbye without making too much of a fool of myself, then hightail it out to my car, keeping my head down and my pace quick.
The whole drive back, my own words circle through my head. I love Skye. Love Skye.
Do I love Skye?
Of course I do. I’ve loved him for years. He’s one of my closest friends. But do I love him that way?