Page 109 of Indigo Sky

Fuck, he hadknownit was her at the strip club all those years ago. He had dragged me down there to seek her out; he had been pissed at me for catching her attention. That was enough to inspire another bout of rage in me.

I checked the time. It was after five in the morning. Too early to go to Roy’s, but not too early to bang on Nate’s door.

So, that was exactly where I headed. It was nearly six by the time I arrived, and it felt simultaneously strange and familiar to be back, parked in my old space, like walking through the halls of your old school. I no longer fit here; it wasn’t mine anymore, but it once had been.

I made it up to the door and wasted no time rapping my fist against it, the lock rattling against the frame. He didn’t answer, so I knocked louder. Then louder still, but he still didn’t answer.

“Nathan!” I shouted, staring at the steel door and waiting for the footsteps to come from the other side … but none came.

“Motherfucker,” I gritted out and headed back down the stairs to the parking lot, where I noticed his truck wasn’t in its usual space.

The asshole wasn’t even home.

He must’ve stayed at Crystal’s, I guessed, which only incited another fireball of anger to bowl me over. He was there, sleeping in her bed, making friends with her son, whilesimultaneously tormenting her friend. He wasusingCrystal. He didn’t care for her. He …

Stop. This isn’t helping.

I got into my car and went to the only other place I could think of.

Roy’s.

***

The door was locked, and the shop was dark. But Kate’s car sat there in the front, just as I remembered it. Clean. Unbroken. Waiting for her to come and take it home.

I leaned on the trunk and waited with crossed arms for someone to show up. Nate. Donny. Whoever the fuck else worked there nowadays. This place … it was much like the apartment now, wasn’t it? Something that had once been mine, but no longer was. It no longer felt comfortable; it didn’t feel like home. And in some ways, I was glad, but in others, it pissed me off. Because it had been stolen from me. My departure hadn’t been a choice.

Just like it hadn’t been my choice to leave Kate.

Nate had made sure of that when he dragged me into that house years ago.

Kate. I hung my head over my aching heart.

When this was all over, would there still be a chance? Could I go back to her? Would she take me? I hoped so, but the reality of it was that I had hurt her.Ihad. That wasn’t on Nate, and how could I expect her to forgive me when I couldn’t forgive myself?

An hour passed, and in true Nate fashion, he still hadn’t shown up. But five minutes after the shop had opened, a dark gray pickup truck pulled into the lot, and out stepped Donny.

He squinted and used his hand to shield his eyes in the early morning sun as he looked at me.

“Well, holy shit,” he said with a smile. “Whats going on, Rev? What can I do for you?” He gestured at the car I was leaning against. “You here to pick it up?”

“I’m here to talk to Nate,” I said, stone-faced, not bothering to correct him and say it wasn’t mine.

Donny nodded, walking past me to unlock the door. “He’s probably at his girlfriend’s place. He’s always late when he’s over there. But if you wanna come in and wait—"

“No,” I said, not bothering to look at him. “I’ll wait here.”

He stalled at the door. I could feel his stare on me. Could sense every one of the questions he wanted to ask, but likely wouldn’t. Where would he even begin?

“Hey, for whatever it’s worth, I wish Dad had fired him instead,” he finally replied. “I never really liked him, but now … I work for him, so …” He grumbled something unintelligible ashe jiggled the key in the doorknob. Then, he asked, “What’s this about? ‘Cause you look like you’re here to kill him.”

“I just want to talk,” I muttered while thinking,It’s none of your damn business, Donny.

Donny barked a laugh that bordered on manic. “Ah, damn. I was kinda hoping … well, anyway, if you wanna come in, be my guest.”

He disappeared into the shop, letting the jingling door close behind him. And the gears in my brain started to turn.

Donny was Roy’s son. He’d been around the shop for as long as I could remember. Granted, my dad was never very close with Roy—they’d been childhood acquaintances, after-school buddies at best—and although the old mechanic had always been a known person to me in my youth, the extent of my interactions with him started and ended at the shop. And Donny had always been there, even as a little kid. And since I hadn’t been around the shop over the past few years, I suspected he knew more than I did about Nate’s interactions with customers—Kate included.

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