Starting Over – By Christine Ashworth #5
“No one stopped, no one saw. She didn’t die right away, but it was brutally cold that night.
Her injuries – broken pelvis, broken collarbone, and internal bleeding on top of the cold…
” he shook his head. “By the time she was found, she’d died.
Her case was never solved. I went to the diner she was supposed to go to after leaving you, but her friends weren’t there and neither was she. ”
Skye opened her mouth, but no words came out. How did one heal from something like that?
“I was frantic, looking for her. Ended up filing a missing person’s report that morning, and soon after that, a street cleaner found her.” He looked up, looked into her. “As soon as I buried her next to my parents, I left New York, and I haven’t been back.”
“You blame me.” Her stomach twisted and she swallowed hard. She could see it. “You left New York and came here, not knowing this was my hometown.”
“No. I don’t. Skye.”
“I get it.” She rose. “I’d better go.” She picked up her cake plate and wine glass, took them into the kitchen. Put her bag on her shoulder.
Ethan stood there, hands shoved into his pockets, his face unreadable. “I have wished a thousand times we had exchanged phone numbers and names, but I thought we had time. After I buried her, I just needed somewhere that wasn’t New York.”
“But that’s why you backed away on the beach. Isn’t it? Because we were together when your sister died,”
Posey came toward her then, nudged her hand for pats. Skye dropped down, buried her face in the dog’s neck for just a moment. “You be a good pup now, Posey. I’m glad he’s got you, and that you have him.”
She straightened then. “Goodbye, Ethan. Write well.” Skye left without a backward glance.
Ethan stopped coming into the café.
She threw herself into planning the bakery. One week passed, then another. She received her parents’ permission to take Jenny on as her assistant, and once Jenny was confident in her skills, they worked in shifts.
Skye found a location for her bakery, just down from the Hermit’s Cove Library, across from the boardwalk that led to a lovely ocean view walk. She even talked to an architect about how to arrange the space for optimum baking ability, and minimal customer interaction.
During the day, her life was fine. At night, she lay sleepless, staring at the ceiling in her childhood room, or walking for hours on the beach, hoping to come across Ethan again, until exhaustion took her. She lost weight.
Her parents watched her with worried eyes.
The moon waned, went dark, and waxed again to full.
A bright spot in her life was Jenny. Her bubbly personality and earnest wish to learn the art and craft of baking gave Skye focus and purpose.
Finally Carla had enough and caught Skye at home. She pushed her daughter’s door open, saw Skye on her bed just staring up at the ceiling, and snapped her fingers.
“Child. Get your shoes on and come with me.”
Skye did as she was bid, and soon the two women were walking down toward the beach The day was hot, the wind had a bit of a chill, and the scent of burgers on a grill permeated the air. It was nearing the end of August, and the kids had all gone back to school.
Skye waited for her mom to speak, knowing that prodding her before she was ready would not help at all.
They reached the sand and slipped off their shoes, set them by the ramp, where other shoes waited for their owners, and continued to walk to the shoreline. Seagulls cawed.
“Skye. What happened? What can I do to help?”
“Mama.” Skye’s throat closed up. “I miss him.”
“What, you and Ethan? I know you told me you’d met him before, but what happened between you to send him flying back to New York City?”
A weird kind of relief flooded her. “Is that where he went?” She shook her head.
“We met there, he was delayed, and his baby sister died the same night. He blames me. How can I say he’s wrong?
If he hadn’t kissed me in the kitchen of a house party seven years ago, if we hadn’t spent hours together in an all-night diner, she’d be alive right now. ”
“Let’s sit.” Carla wrapped her arms around her daughter. “My love. If he had left when he was supposed to, maybe he would still have missed her. Maybe he would have been the one to die. You don’t know what might have been, and neither does he.”
“I was a convenient scapegoat that he never thought he’d meet again. Oh, Mama.” She leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder. “I really thought he was my person.”
“Dear one.” Carla just rocked her for a moment. “First off, there are many mates out there for you. Second, if after your evening with him here, he took off for New York, maybe that’s him doing the work he needs to do? You can’t know.”
“Seven years ago I saw him in that New York City apartment kitchen, and I fell hard. We kissed, we danced, we spent hours together in a diner, where we spilled our hearts out but forgot to share names and phone numbers.” She shook her head. “So stupid.”
“Did you yearn for him all this time? While you were in Europe, then back in New York?”
Skye watched the waves foam to the shore, their music a comfort. “I measured every man against him. Dumb, especially since I didn’t ever really know him. Mama, do you believe in love at first sight?”
“Why not? Why can’t one fall in love with a first look, a first touch, a first kiss? Love can be a sizzle right away, or a slow burning. The thing is, love changes and grows as we change and grow. Love is not a static unit of measure. It never has been.”
“Mama. I love Ethan. I think I could be forever with Ethan. But how could he reconcile our history with our future? How do I handle that?”
“It is not up to you to handle. Ethan needs to clear his head about it all, and until he does, you just live your life. Open your bakery. Find your own place to live, because I know how limited you feel, confined in your childhood bedroom.”
“You’re kicking me out then?” Sky laughed and wiped her eyes.
“You need your own space, my love. You know this.”
Skye sat up straight. “You’re right. About all of it. I need to go ahead with the lease on the bakery. It has an apartment above it, so that’s two birds with one stone. For now, anyway. At some point I’ll buy the building, but not yet.”
“My practical, magical child. I love you so much.”
Though it had been close to midnight when he got back to town, by four in the morning Ethan was awake and staring at the ceiling once again.
The trip back east had been difficult, but necessary. The drive home from the airport had been exhausting, made more so by the thick marine layer that had grown worse as he got closer to Hermit’s Cove.
Now, all he wanted was to see Skye. To try to explain why he had to go.
Why he came back.
He forced himself out of bed and changed into running gear. Posey was still at the doggie boarding house; he’d pick her up later that morning. He should have left Posey with Skye, but that would have taken time and explanations he didn’t have then.
Wasn’t sure he had them now.
What he did know was that he missed Skye on a visceral level. Too soon? Maybe, but he wasn’t willing to go through life a lonely and bitter man.
Ethan pulled a white sweatshirt over his long-sleeved tee, stuck his keys in the pocket of his sweatpants, and headed outside.
The fog swirled around him as he moved through the streets, trying to come up with the right words to say to her.
By the time he reached Main Street, he’d given up on the right words. They would either come, or they would remain elusive. It didn’t matter, not as much as seeing her.
The lights were on at the Busy B, though the door was locked. On impulse, he moved around to the back and knocked.
A few moments later, the locks clicked, and the door opened. Skye stared at him, surprise and wariness in her eyes. “Yes?”
Relieved that she opened the door, he smiled. “I smell coffee. May I come in? Do you have time?”
She opened the door wider. “I’m baking, but a fresh pot just finished brewing.” She closed the door behind him, locked it, and gestured to the coffeemaker. “Go ahead.”
He leaned against the coffee counter, sipped his coffee, and wondered. “I can’t believe we didn’t exchange phone numbers that night at dinner.”
“Or seven years ago, in the diner. Where I fell for you, hard. Or on the beach.” Skye spoke matter-of-factly, her movements brisk as she pulled trays out of the big oven and slid in more trays.
“Stupid. I can’t believe I was that stupid.”
She whirled, pinned him with her gaze. “You left me. Again. That makes three times and yes, I’m counting the beach.
I was thrilled to run into you again. Thinking that maybe this time, we’d actually find out if there was anything behind all the flirting and deep talk. Now I don’t know what to think.”
He winced at the anger in her voice. “I had to go back. First, thanks to you I have a novel that’s almost fully formed in my brain. What’s more, my agent loves the idea. She wanted a face- to-face meeting, because it had been a year or so.” He shrugged. “Do you want coffee?”
When Skye shook her head, he continued. “The night we met, I was full of dreams and sad. My parents were gone, and my sister was planning on moving in with friends, as having her big brother around all the time was, let’s say, restrictive.”
She snorted but didn’t say anything.
“Then I walked into the kitchen, and there you were. Dancing around the place like you were in a Disney movie. I was captivated. Charmed. And when we kissed, it was like I had found home.”
“Then Lissa died.” Sympathy shined in her eyes.
“Yeah. All I wanted to do was find you, burrow into you; but I had no way of knowing who you were or where to find you. And yeah, I felt guilty that I was with you, instead of getting her home safely.”
“So what’s changed? Why did you go back to New York?”
“I had to see my agent. But aside from that, I wanted to look at my sister’s file at the police department. Technically it’s still an unsolved case and I doubt it will ever be solved. But one thing I hadn’t noticed was the timing of it all.
“Her messages came through all within half an hour of each other, while we were still at the party. Her time of death was estimated to be between twelve-thirty and one-thirty in the morning. After I got her messages and left to meet her, the likelihood is she was already dead. I couldn’t have reached her fast enough. ”
She studied him for a moment. Ethan set aside his coffee, nerves running through him.
“What are you thinking?”
“Have you been to a therapist to deal with your sister’s death? The death of your parents?”
“I did, for a couple of months. Then I moved out here and just focused on the writing. But yeah, my agent also suggested I go back to therapy.”
“Good.”
He shook his head. “The thing is, Skyler Rivera, I want to date you. I want to see if the magic that we created between us is real. I want to see if just maybe you’re my person, the one I’ve been waiting for, the one I’ll live with for the rest of my life.”
Her smile bloomed, radiated with happiness. “Well, the thing is, Ethan Winters, I want to date you. I firmly believe the magic between us is real. I am almost a hundred percent sure you’re my person, the one I’ve been waiting for, the one I’ll live with for the rest of my life. So, yes.”
Ethan moved in, gathered her close, and felt that sense of home once more. “I am so grateful for you.”
“Can our first date be this afternoon? I want to show you the building I rented.”
“And I want to talk to you about the novel I’m writing. My agent is thrilled with me, and it’s all because of you.” Ethan caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, then drew her to him. “I’m a lucky guy.”
She linked her hands around his neck. “It took time, but I think this is the right time. For both of us.”
“I can honestly say, that throughout my entire dating life, I’ve never looked forward to a date more than I look forward to our date this afternoon.”
“Aw, Ethan. That’s so sweet.” And just like she’d done twice before, she put her hands on his cheeks, pulled him down to her, and kissed him as if there weren’t anyone else in the world.