For a split second, I thought about lying. If it was someone else, someone I didn’t care about, I might’ve. But if it was someone else, I wouldn’t have been eavesdropping.
“A few minutes.”
Skylar’s eyes widened and a pink hue colored her cheeks. She might be embarrassed about the end of the conversation, but I was more interested in what I’d heard when I came in.
She bent down and pulled a pot from a lower cabinet. I tried not to get distracted by the view. The jeans she wore molded to her backside like a second skin and showcased her curves like a work of art.
When she stood and walked to the sink, pan in hand, I moved out of the way.
Since easing into the conversation wasn’t working, I decided to go the blunt route. “Who broke into your house?”
Skylar’s shoulders tensed and she shut off the water. Her expression was blank and unreadable as her eyes lifted up to mine.
I wasn’t the most talkative man so there were very few times in my life where I put my foot in my mouth. It took me a second to realize what I was tasting was toe jam.
“Never mind.” I hoped to smooth things over. “It’s none of my business.”
Without saying a word, she lifted the pot of water out of the sink and set it on the front right burner. She twisted the knob and there were two clicks before the ignition sparked and flames appeared.
She crossed to the cupboard beside me and grabbed a box of macaroni and cheese out of it. I noticed that her cheek was hollowed out like she was biting her bottom lip. My mama used to do that when she was nervous or mad. I wondered if it was the same for Skylar and if so, which one she was.
After ripping open the top, dumping in the noodles, and setting a timer she sighed and turned to face me. I could see in her expression that she was either going to tell me off or tell me what was going on.
Part of me wished that we could just drop it and talk about more pleasant things. But another part of me was happy that wasn’t going to happen. I had a lot of questions. I just hoped that those questions didn’t cause me to be persona non grata and mess up my chances of having more octopus noodle and pizza dinner nights. But hearing that she and Luna might be in some sort of danger overrode the risk of my potential persona non grata status.
My phone buzzed in my pocket but I silenced it. Nothing was more important than the conversation I was about to have. Nothing.
CHAPTER 16
Skylar
Okay. Stay calm, I instructed myself. You have three viable plays here. Tell him the truth. Tell him part of the truth. Spin what he heard into something less-than-true but not exactly a lie.
I was still considering the options I had available to myself when Hank’s phone rang. Without glancing at who it was he pulled it out of his pocket and silenced it then put it back in his pocket.
“Shouldn’t you check and see who that is?” I asked, partly because I was buying time and partly because I genuinely thought he should.
“No,” he answered in a tone that made it clear there was no room for argument and also had my lady parts quivering with arousal.
Hank possessed confidence and command that was as unnerving as it was appealing.
“What if it’s important?” My voice trembled as I spoke.
“This is important.”
Oh my. The look in his dark caramel stare had my hormones jumping up and down with their hands in the air squealing like they were a preteen girl at a Justin Bieber concert. My reaction to him was totally unwarranted and ridiculous. I was a grown woman with a child of my own. Behaving like I had a schoolgirl crush was embarrassing.
I figured I might as well tell him the truth. What did I have to lose? Once he got a peek behind the curtain and found out how screwed up my life was, chances were he’d back off and solve my problem of this constant temptation. And if not, I would know that he was crazy because only a crazy person would want to get involved with me considering the baggage I was carrying.
“It’s a long story,” I warned.
“I’ve got time.”
I checked the pot and saw that the water was just starting to bubble. Then I set the timer on my phone. “We have seven minutes, so I’ll try and make this quick.”
I pushed open the screen door attached to the kitchen and stepped outside.
My heart was pounding hard in my chest and my stomach felt like it did right before I jumped out of a plane on my twenty-third birthday. I hadn’t wanted to do it, and there’s no way that almost thirty-year-old Skylar would. But Richie had planned the entire day and I didn’t feel like I could say no.
“Um, it’s sort of complicated, so I’m just going to start from the beginning.” I took a deep breath as I turned to face Hank.
He waited patiently, for me to collect my thoughts. Both Mrs. Birch and Billy had mentioned that Hank didn’t talk a lot like that was a negative trait to have. I was finding it oddly refreshing. The men that were in my life had always talked over me. My father. My ex. My boss. Or former boss, that is. Having a man actually listen was a refreshing change.
I lowered my voice to barely above a whisper and kept one eye on the screen door so that little ears didn’t creep up. Luna had ninja skills that she used at the most inopportune times. “The people that broke into my house were looking for my ex, Luna’s dad. Richie owes them money. I want to start by saying that he is a good guy, a good dad. He’s just…well…he’s sick. He’s an addict.”
My eyes searched for any reaction to my statement. Hank’s expression didn’t change when I shared that piece of information. There was no judgment. No flinch. No response at all.
“He works in construction.” As soon as I said it out loud, I heard Ashley’s voice in my head saying, someone has a type. I ignored it. “I should say he worked in construction. Right after I found out I was pregnant with Luna he got hurt on the job and was prescribed pain medication. It was pretty bad at first, but he went to physical therapy and honestly, I thought everything was fine. But I didn’t see what was really going on. I was pregnant and finishing my degree.”
Shame engulfed me. I didn’t understand how I could have been so blind.
Still, he had no reaction, so I continued, “But when I was about eight months pregnant a dealer came to the house demanding money. It was scary. I paid him and when Richie got home, he came clean. He explained that he’d been going to different doctors to get prescriptions. Then when that wasn’t enough, he started buying pills.”
I took a deep breath. “I moved out and we broke up. He’s had his ups and downs over the years. Even gone to rehab a couple of times. I’m not sure exactly when the pills turned to harder drugs, but some time over the past year or so he’s become addicted to heroin.”
I paused as a strange sensation overwhelmed me. It was almost as if a weight had been lifted off my chest. It had been there so long I didn’t even feel it anymore. But I did notice that it had lifted.
I’d never said those words out loud. At least not so plainly and in this context and never to someone who didn’t know Richie. It was sort of liberating to say it out loud. The only person that knew my secret was Ashley. I’d tried to tell Richie’s parents, but they were in denial. They didn’t believe me that their son needed help.