Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29
T he breeze was cool as it blew between Sky’s fingers. It was a better week. There’d been no more incidents, no more home intruders, and things between her and Becket had been good. Really good. Even though the urge to protect him by pushing him away was still there, the need to keep him close was stronger.
So he’d remained close. Every night for the last week, either he’d been at her house or she’d been at his. He’d been driving her to work, picking her up.
He squeezed her thigh. “Hey. You look deep in your own head.”
She turned from the window to look at him. The long fingers of his other hand curled around the wheel, and the muscles in his arm rippled. But it was the day-old stubble that had her wanting to reach out and touch.
She set her palm over his. “I was just thinking that it’s been a good week.”
“ Good doesn’t come close to describing it.” He turned his hand and lifted hers to his mouth.
She shuddered at the kiss. But then her mind went to the evening ahead. “I can’t believe my parents are coming to your family dinner. It’s so weird.”
“Why’s it weird?”
“Because it feels like two worlds colliding.” She angled her body toward him. “You know that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine starts hanging out with Susan, George’s girlfriend, and George loses his mind, saying that his two worlds are colliding and he doesn’t like it?”
“I’ve never watched Seinfeld before.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You hate dogs and you’ve never watched Seinfeld ? Do you hate rainbows and ice cream too?”
“Some days.” He grinned at her. “But I like you every day.”
“Good answer.”
He squeezed her hand. “Today will be great.”
“Really? I’m already in defense mode over the looks my father will throw your way.”
“I can handle your father.”
“I know. It’s me who feels the urge to strangle him, and I can’t do that in front of your mother and the town sheriff.”
He pulled up in front of his mother’s house. Half a dozen cars were parked on the street, one of them being her parents’.
So. Weird.
They climbed out and Sky grabbed her pasta salad from the back.
Then Becket slipped an arm around her waist. “So, in Seinfeld …why doesn’t George like Susan hanging out with Elaine?”
“Because when he’s with his friends, he’s Independent George, and with Susan he’s Relationship George. If those two worlds collide, Relationship George will kill Independent George.”
Becket frowned. “This doesn’t sound like a show I would watch.”
“You will be watching it. We’re starting season one tonight.”
“How many seasons are there?”
“Nine.”
He chuckled as they stopped at the door and he tugged her into him. “You know I’d do anything for you, right? Even sit through hours of mindless TV.”
“ Seinfeld is not mindless.”
He lowered his head, his mouth hovering over hers. “It doesn’t really matter, because with you beside me, I don’t know how much concentrating I’ll be doing.”
“Hmm, I guess you’ll just have to try hard.”
“ Really hard.”
He lowered his head and kissed her. His tongue swept across her lips, making her groan. He’d just slipped his tongue inside her mouth when the door opened.
She jolted, shoving at Becket’s chest. “Dad!”
Her father’s gaze moved between them. “Skylar. Becket. It’s good to see you both.”
Ha. She didn’t believe that for a second. And the almost warning in his tone when he’d said Becket’s name didn’t help convince her.
Becket dipped his head. “It’s good to see you too, Mr. Williams.”
Her father cleared his throat. “Your mother left her glasses in the car. Everyone’s in the backyard.”
“We’ll see you out there.” Becket nudged her out of the way and her father passed them.
Yep, that was about as awkward as she’d expected.
They joined everyone out back. Becket’s mother, sister and brother. Aspen, Holden, and Sky’s mom. She went around to greet everyone. When she reached her mother, the woman gave the tightest hug.
“Oh, darling, it was so nice of Pam to invite your father and me.” She pulled back. “She’s just lovely. The entire family is.”
Sky snuck a peek behind her to see her father hadn’t returned yet. “Is Dad being nice?”
“Of course.” Her mother’s brows shot up. “He wouldn’t come to someone else’s house and be rude.”
Hm. Maybe. “And Tony’s not here?”
“Tony went home.”
Relief whooshed from her chest. He’d told her he was going, and she was glad that he was true to his word.
“He didn’t say goodbye?”
“He did. I just wasn’t sure exactly when he was leaving.”
“A few days ago.” Her mother glanced around the yard before she looked back at Sky and lowered her voice. “I think your father’s really coming around to Becket.”
She almost snorted. “Mom—”
“I’m serious, Skylar. He was talking about inviting him over for dinner.”
Well, of course he was. Becket’s mother had invited Sky over a few times now—it would be impolite not to return the favor. “Well, if he does, that will be lovely.”
“I agree.”
“I’m just going to get a drink.” She squeezed her mother’s hand before heading to the drinks table.
“She hates me,” Clara said quietly.
Indie shook her head. “No one hates you.”
“Well, she does.”
Sky filled a glass with soda water.
Clara turned toward her. “Sky, I need your opinion.”
“Of course.”
“I’ve been trying to bond with my newish roommate. She’s an investigative journalist, so I made the effort to read one of her articles on technology’s role in journalism. Then, this morning, I made her some really nice waffles and coffee and when she came into the kitchen, I offered her both and started talking about AI and automation, and their impact on journalism.”
“You sound like the perfect roommate.”
“That’s what I thought,” Clara said. “But she swallowed a mouthful of coffee, grabbed a waffle and flew out of the house with barely a word.”
“She sounds busy,” Indie said.
“Yeah, but she’s quiet and barely around, so I can’t complain.” Clara sipped her drink. “Now, excuse me, I’m going to talk to people who do have time to like me.” She turned—only to walk straight into Holden, the red liquid in her cup splashing all over his white shirt.
Clara gasped. “Oh my God…I’m so sorry. Look at your shirt. It’s ruined! And it’s all my fault.”
Holden glanced down at his soaked shirt, the material stuck to his chest, and grinned. “It’s okay, Clara.”
She turned and grabbed some napkins, then started dabbing his chest. “I didn’t see you there. I mean, of course I didn’t, otherwise I wouldn’t have spilled wine all over you. I don’t want you to think I did it on purpose, because I didn’t. That would be crazy. But then, if anyone should have a shirt sticking to their chest, it would be you, because you have a nice chest.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Not that I’m looking at your chest, I—”
“Clara.” He touched her arm and waited until she looked at him. His tone was warm and gentle. “It’s okay.”
Indie scooted next to Sky and sighed. “Ah…that pre-relationship crush goodness. Bet it’s the one thing about being in a relationship with Becket that you’re going to miss.”
Sky scoffed. “We did not start out like that. The opposite, actually.”
“It’s usually one way or the other.”
She studied Indie. “You’re not dating anyone?”
Something flashed over her face. Regret? “No, my separation from Colt is still new…too new.” She almost looked pained when she said the word separation.
Sky gently touched her arm. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” Indie smiled, but it didn’t come close to reaching her eyes.
Whatever had happened between Indie and her husband, the woman was still hurting.
* * *
“Tell me you found something on the boyfriend.”
“I found something on the boyfriend.”
Becket’s fingers tightened around his beer. He shot a glance at Sky across the lawn, then looked back at his brother. “Tell me.”
“I called the fire station in Cheyenne…told them I needed to speak to Mateo Flores about official sheriff business. They said he quit two months after a fire that had killed his girlfriend, then he left town.”
“That would line up with when Sky moved home.”
“Yeah, doesn’t look good for him.” Jesse pulled out his cell and searched for something before handing it over to Becket. “A photo of him.”
Becket studied the guy’s brown eyes, hair and fair skin. “I haven’t seen him around town.”
“Neither have I, and neither have any of my deputies. But we’ll keep an eye out for him and also keep digging. I’ll see if I can find a trail for his whereabouts after leaving Cheyenne.”
“Thank you, brother.”
“Has everything been quiet for Sky?”
“Too quiet. Makes me nervous that whoever’s after her is busy planning something big.” So fucking nervous that he didn’t want to be apart from her.
He watched as she stood talking to both his mother and hers. Her smile was huge, and for a moment, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“You need anything from me or Holden, even if it’s just extra eyes on your street, you let us know,” Jesse said quietly.
“Thanks. I might take you up on that. Everything going well with you and Aspen?”
An immediate softness entered Jesse’s eyes as he looked at her across the lawn. “I love her so damn much. I didn’t even know it was possible to love a person like this until I met her. And the knowledge that she’s safe and her ex is gone means I can sleep at night.”
Yeah, her ex had been a huge problem.
“I’m glad she’s okay.”
“You and me both.”
“Okay, everyone,” his mother called. “Food’s ready.”
Becket crossed straight over to Sky and slipped an arm around her waist. This was how close he needed to be to her to feel okay.
She leaned into him with a sigh.
They moved to the table, and over the next couple of hours, both their families ate and laughed and smiled. It felt good to be surrounded by everyone he loved. Even Roger cracked a couple grins. Maybe the old man was finally warming up to them as a couple.
And fuck, it was good to see Sky relaxed. She’d been on edge all week. She hadn’t said it aloud, but he’d felt it.
He wanted to take that burden from her, but he couldn’t.
She threw her head back and laughed at his brother’s rendition of sixteen-year-old Becket.
He scoffed. “You make me sound like an arrogant prick.”
“You kind of were,” Jesse said.
“ Are ,” Clara corrected with a laugh.
Holden sat next to Clara in a clean shirt he’d found in his car. “Hey. You guys are supposed to be talking him up in front of the in-laws.”
“Not in-laws yet,” Roger said firmly.
The laughter died and a heavy pause followed.
Esther gave an awkward laugh. “Well, this has been just lovely, Pam. Let me start clearing up.”
Becket shook his head and rose. “No. You’re a guest. Sit. Relax.” Sky started to get up, but he stopped her. “You too.”
He kissed the top of her head and took a pile of plates to the kitchen. He’d just set them into the sink when the back door opened. He expected to see someone from his family. They’d all been raised to clean if they hadn’t cooked.
It wasn’t.
Roger Williams stepped into the room, his eyes fixed on Becket, not even a hint of a smile on his face. He set the leftover tray of meat onto the island. “Becket, I was wondering if we could have a quick word.”
“Sure.” He’d answer anything. There was no part of him that would be scared away by this man. He cared about Sky. Hell, he was falling in love with her.
Roger crossed his arms. “As you know, faith is important to me. You not being part of my church is something I was really struggling with.”
“Was?”
The older man cleared his throat. “It appears I’m fighting a losing battle, and at the end of the day, I love my daughter. All I’ve ever wanted is for her to be happy and taken care of. I thought I knew best…but she’s made it pretty clear that I don’t. Will you make her happy and take care of her?”
“I will spend the rest of my life protecting and caring for your daughter, sir. If she lets me.” And he damn well meant it.
Roger’s frown deepened, and he seemed to think about that for a long moment before finally nodding. “Good.”
The door opened behind Roger. Sky glanced between them nervously. “Hey. Is everything okay in here?”
Roger held out a hand and Becket shook it—a silent understanding, hopefully that this tension between them was over.
Roger turned toward his daughter. He placed a kiss on her head. “Everything’s fine, Skylar. I’ll see you both outside.”
When he was gone, Sky gave Becket a questioning look. “Were you just shaking hands with my father?”
Becket stepped forward and gripped her hips. “I think my charm and wit have finally won him over.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”
“You sound surprised.”
“No…well, yes. But not because you’re not charming or witty. I just thought he’d never come around.”
He lowered his mouth to hover over hers. “You worry too much.”
“I think I worry just the right amount, considering everything we have going on.”
“Let me worry for the both of us.”
“Becket—”
He cut off her words with his lips. And it only took half a second for her to soften and sink into the kiss.