Jeremy wrinkled his nose. “That’s what I was going to ask you.”
“Your mom shouldn’t talk about Skye since she’s never even met her.”
“I know! Skye’s nice. I like her.”
“I do, too.” A lot. Tonight hadn’t been anything like he’d expected, but it had been exactly what he and Jeremy had needed. The three of them had shared a quiet dinner, watched the movie Cars, which they’d picked up at the video store, and then had dessert. They’d been planning to have a bowl of ice cream, but Jeremy had told Skye she’d missed his eighth birthday last month, so she’d insisted on baking him a cake to go with the ice cream. He’d loved the attention, and he’d deserved it. David had been preoccupied with work lately. And Lynnette was so consumed with her health problems and meeting her own emotional needs, David didn’t see how she could be very sensitive to Jeremy’s. What she’d said to her mother right in front of him was a case in point.
“Did you like the movie?” David changed the subject, hoping the talk he needed to have with his son could wait until morning.
“Yeah.”
David and Skye had purposely not touched each other in Jeremy’s presence, which had left David a little unsatisfied, but he hoped the friendly way they’d behaved had been reassuring to his son.
“So are we going to see Skye again?” Jeremy asked.
David gripped the steering wheel tighter, almost afraid to ask the question that immediately came to his lips. “Would you like to?”
His son paused. “Does it mean you won’t be moving home?”
Evidently, they were going to have to have The Talk tonight. David considered pulling over, so he could give Jeremy his full attention, but he was afraid the dramatic impact of that would only frighten him, so he kept driving.
“Jeremy, I won’t be moving home—but Skye’s not the reason.”
He looked bewildered, then sad. “What is?”
“You know how you and Josh Palmer used to be really good friends in second grade?”
“Yeah.”
“But you don’t really hang out together anymore.”
“Yeah.”
“You told me it’s because you like to do different things now.”
“We do. I play soccer at recess, and he plays tetherball.”
“But you still like him.”
“Sure.”
“That’s how I feel about your mother. We used to enjoy the same things. But as the years passed, we started to change and pretty soon we had different interests and weren’t as good at being together.”
“But she says you’re gonna let her d-die alone.”
“I’ll do as much for her as I can. I promise.”
Jeremy said nothing.
“Do you understand?” David asked.
“I guess.” He stared at his feet. “You’re going to stay divorced, right?”
The full realization of his failure made David wince. But he knew he had to face the truth. Doing anything else would merely put off the inevitable. “That’s right. But it’ll be that way whether I continue to see Skye or not, so don’t blame her.” David wished there was an easier way to break the news, but he couldn’t think of one. “I’m sorry, buddy. Your mom and I tried to make it work for a long time, mostly because we both care so much about you.”
“That won’t change, will it?” Jeremy’s gaze finally lifted from his sneakers.
David pulled to the side of the road and twisted in his seat to look back at him. Now he wanted to make a dramatic impact. “No matter what.”
Skye was more frightened tonight than ever before, and for once it had nothing to do with preserving life and limb. She was pretty sure someone other than Burke had sent Lorenzo, someone who was very much aware of her and where she lived, but she had difficulty believing it was Noah.
In any case, she was too absorbed to work on the puzzle tonight. The list of possibilities seemed far too long, the clues too few. At this moment she was facing what felt like a bigger threat. After spending four years obsessed with improving the security of her home, using a P.O. box instead of her street address, lifting weights and exercising like a fiend, learning to shoot until she could hit a can at fifty yards, she’d become good at recognizing danger and working from a defensive position. But the one thing she hadn’t relearned since Burke was how to do the opposite—trust, open up, let herself love and be loved. Wanting a relationship with David was like recognizing a potential threat and going in unarmed anyway, which went contrary to every self-protective instinct she possessed.
But if she didn’t take a chance on what she was feeling, she might miss the one really great thing to happen to her in a long time.
She just wished it wasn’t so hard, that the situation wasn’t so complicated. David had told her that Lynnette had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Considering her health, he felt guilty about moving on, and she felt guilty being part of the reason. No wonder Lynnette was so desperate to keep him. And then there was the baby. What if David found out about the pregnancy too soon? They wouldn’t have an opportunity to explore whether or not they had a relationship independent of that.
She had about four months before she began to show. Would it be enough?
For the first time in a long while, she wanted to talk to Jennifer or Brenna. Since telling Jennifer about Burke’s release, she’d given them both a couple of obligatory follow-up calls. She’d also spoken briefly with Joe. But she’d been careful to keep things polite and impersonal. Now she wanted to connect, to know how they managed to love despite the fear of losing, which was something she, Sheridan and Jasmine no longer seemed capable of doing. They’d started The Last Stand to help themselves heal by making a difference in the lives of others. But, in a way, it had done just the opposite. The horrors they dealt with on a daily basis kept their wounds open and bleeding. As passionate as Skye felt about what she was doing, she realized that now. Those pictures on the wall in her office were a reminder of the chasm between her and her lost innocence.
Was it time to forget? To lay down her weapons and just live?
David had issues; she had issues; Lynnette had issues. Maybe they’d be able to work them out, maybe they wouldn’t. But she wanted to try. She loved David enough to try.
She hoped he felt the same.
Picking up the phone, she dialed Jennifer’s number although it was after midnight.