Page 54 of Broken Heart

Skye turned around and gave me a nod. “Yes, but I think I should warn you. I’m not very good at sports, so you might not want me on your volleyball team.”

There it was again.

This woman had such a sweet quality about her. She told me about her lack of volleyball skills, as though she believed I would be bothered by it. She was willing to wind up on a team without me in order to accommodate me.

I shook my head, wrapped my arm around her back to her opposite shoulder, and said, “Absolutely not. There’s not a chance I want you on any other team but mine.”

“Okay. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I let out another laugh, something I noticed I was doing more often as I continued to spend time with Skye. “Fair enough.”

A few minutes later, we were outside and breaking everybody into teams. This was one of those things we did whenever my parents hosted any kind of celebration in the summer months, and I knew we were in for hours of friendly competition. I hoped Skye would enjoy it so much she’d be eager to come to the next party.

About an hour into it, I had a pretty good feeling about things. Skye seemed to be doing a lot of laughing, and whenever other teams were competing, I watched her make the effort to communicate with anyone who wasn’t playing at the moment. She’d had conversations with Rhea, Ivy, and Ava, and she even spoke with a couple of my cousins.

Round after round, we narrowed the playing field down until finally it came down to two teams—Wyatt, Rhea, Skye and me versus Tate, Marco, Ivy, and Ava. In the end, they won.

But I didn’t care.

I’d had a blast, and I’d already convinced myself I won a much bigger prize.

When the tournament was over, my mom made an announcement about cake. It didn’t matter that I was twenty-seven. As far as Evelyn Westwood was concerned, if it was somebody’s birthday, they were getting a cake and a song. We’d learned a long time ago not to question or fight it.

By the time everyone had gathered around the cake Jules had made, my mom had the candles in it, and my dad was holding the lighter. No sooner had he lit the candles, my mom and grandmother started singing, and everyone else joined in.

I didn’t want to be rude and ignore everyone else that was there to celebrate with me, but I had my eyes on Skye while she sang with my family and friends. Of course, she’d promised she’d sing in this setting, but she hadn’t revealed she intended to do it so quietly. I chose to look away from her only a handful of times through the song, simply to make sure that nobody felt as though I didn’t care about their presence.

Once they’d all made it to the end of the Happy Birthday song, I blew out the candles. Sure, I felt like I was five years old again when I did it, but I refused to be the one to break Evelyn Westwood’s heart.

As my mom and sisters worked on cutting the cake for the crowd, I took the time to thank everyone for coming to celebrate.

“Okay, Cooper, you get the first slice,” my mom announced.

“And make sure you come this way to grab a piece of the glazed lemon zucchini bread I made at your request,” Jules added.

Though I wasn’t sure she intended for me to hear it, Skye let out a soft moan of delight. I looked back at her, and she asked quietly, “You made a special request?”

“I wanted to make sure there’d be something you’d like here,” I explained.

A smile broke out in her expression. “That was very sweet of you, but you didn’t have to do that on your birthday.”

Sometimes, I wondered if Skye really understood just how much I wanted her. I thought I was doing what I could to make it clear, which led me to believe that she hadn’t expected someone would ever want to do the little things for her, regardless of what day it was. “That’s just it, sweetheart. My birthday is precisely the day I needed to do it. Here’s hoping you’ll like it.”

The pair of us moved around the table and each took a plate with cake on it from my mom before moving toward Jules.

“Thanks for making the cake and the bread for today, Jules,” I said.

“You’re welcome, Coop. Happy birthday,” she returned, before shifting her attention to Skye. “I hope you’re having a good time.”

“I am,” Skye confirmed, eyes brightening. “This weekend has been the most fun I’ve had in such a long time.”

Jules laughed. “Well, stick with us. We try not to miss the opportunity to have fun or celebrate.”

“Your family has certainly perfected the art of it.”

My sister grinned. “Yeah, we have. And I want you to know I meant what I said to everyone earlier. I’m really glad Cooper met you and that you’re here with him today.”

There was a brief moment of hesitation before Skye offered a warm smile and a nod. “Yeah, I am, too.”

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