Page 96 of When Sky Breaks

“In a good way.”

He straightens. “Let’s hope that’s still the case after we eat.”

I furrow my brows as he sets a container in front of me. It smells good as I peek inside. “What do you mean?” It looks to be some slow cooked meat dish with rice. “Wait, did you make this?”

“I attempted to cook something, yes.”

I dip my fork into the food and chew, letting the flavors mix in my mouth. “Not bad.”

He cringes. “Don’t lie, it’s terrible, isn’t it? I told Lina I couldn’t do it, but she insisted I try and?—”

I stop his spiral with a hand on his wrist. “You did good. Really good. With all this. It’s a perfect second-first date. I don’t need fancy restaurant food. I’m happy just to be here with you and not feel like I’m doing something wrong or that something is wrong with me.”

He opens his mouth to speak, but I hold a hand up. “I don’t want to talk about Johnny and his unrealistic expectations of me. I want to sit here and eat with you, and honestly, that’s it. I just want to be with you. Now. Tell me how the project’s coming along.”

August smiles and leans back, turning his wrist until his palm is up so I can lace my fingers with his. He launches into a bunch of construction terms I don’t know, but I don’t care. I’m content to watch him beam, his excitement over Chase’s Place seeping into every corner of my body.

After eating and cleaning up, August pulls me to the edge of the car.

From start to finish, I revel in how light I feel, like the clouds spanning the horizon, the oranges and reds reflecting off the side of August’s face before we sit with our legs dangling off the edge of the railroad car. He brackets my legs from behind, our bodies pressed close together.

I sink back into his chest, and he wraps his arms around me. The wind whips and I can finally breathe, taking in big gulps of cleansing air. The last rays of the sun dip slowly behind the tree line, swallowed by the midnight sky. A low whistle leaves my mouth, carried away by the fresh fall breeze.

August stiffens behind me and I hold his arms tighter so he doesn’t pull away. “For a long time, that was the only thing holding me together. I’d whistle, and you’d come running for me to save me.”

With a heavy sigh, he buries his head in my neck before inhaling along my skin, pressing his lips to a spot below my ear, his voice a low tone I feel all the way to my toes. “That’s all I ever wanted to do. To save you from him.”

“You did.”

The silence stretches as we sit, the cold metal warming under our bodies. Trees twist and sway, their colored leaves darkened by the setting sun. The lumber in the yard is stacked twenty logs high, the scent of pine and cedar invading our noses.

Lifting his head, he brushes my hair aside and sets his chin on my shoulder. “This is something I dreamed of often. I’d be camped out under the great big sky somewhere isolated, surrounded by millions of stars, but the brightest one of them all was always missing. In the dark, I searched for you. I craved being in your space, even though I was the one who pushed you away.”

We sway into each other like the trees, his arms holding me steady as we rock.

“But it was you, Sky, who made me feel the safest. The best version of myself was when I was around you. I had a hard time giving that up for the truth, but, baby, I’m so sorry for the pain I caused you?—”

“Shh,” I whisper and twist around in his arms to lay my head on his chest and rest in his lap. His arms slide across my back, the warmth in his embrace hotter than any fire he could start.

I delve my fingers into his hair and listen as his breaths slow and match mine when I caress his thick honey-brown strands. “It’s over. It’s done. We can’t go back. We can’t undo anything. All we have is here and now. And now is the calmest I’ve ever felt in five years. Just be with me. Just let me love you.”

He shudders and pulls me tighter.

I say it again so I can feel the uptick of his heart in his chest. “I love you, August.”

His exhale is slow, ruffling the hairs on my head, his voice hoarse. “I love you, too.”

We remain like this for what feels like hours, absorbing each other’s nearness as if breaking apart shatters the bubble we’ve placed ourselves in.

It’s only the beginning of our second chance, and only together will we get to write the ending.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

sky

“Don’t you think the town is taking this fall festival business a little too far?” August asks as we leave the coffee shop, and he has to sideswipe someone walking down the sidewalk with a box overflowing with decorations. “We’re not filming a Hallmark movie.”

“Aw, did you suddenly become a party pooper?” I tease, bumping my hip into his, mindful not to spill our coffees. “You know how much of a big deal this is. I think it generates enough funds to pay for any new school updates or remodels.”

---