Page 17 of Always

But my mind wanders—back to Skye, of course.

What are your hard limits?

I only have one.

What is it?

I don’t talk about it.

Don’t you think I should know? So I don’t bring it up?

Trust me, Skye. You will never bring it up.

But shedidbring it up.

And she couldn’t tell me why she wanted it. Why she wanted to punish herself in such a dangerous way.

Damn.

I rise from the bed, pace around the small room, rubbing at my temples.

What the hell am I doing here?

Is this really what I’ve come to? Chasing a woman to a Kansas farm town?

Skye’s not here. I could have easily had my people get her schedule for me. I was sure tempted.

So why didn’t I?

There’s the obvious answer, of course—that it would be a direct invasion of her privacy.

That’s never stopped me before. Hell, it’s not stopping me now. What bigger invasion of privacy is there than hijacking her hometown and her parents?

I grab my phone. Time to make that phone call.

I dial the number for Skye’s parents.

The line rings. Once. Twice. Three times. Until— “Hello?” froma female voice.

I clear my throat. “Hello, is this Mrs. Margaret Manning?”

“Maggie. Yes. How may I help you?”

I clear my throat again. This is ridiculous. I’ve stared down the world’s most successful businesspeople in meetings, and I don’t know what to say to Skye’s mother.

“I’m a friend of your daughter’s, ma’am.”

“Oh? I’m afraid Skye no longer lives here.”

“Yes, I know. I’m a friend of hers from Boston, and I’m in town on business.”

“How wonderful! Hold on a moment.” Then, “Steve, there’s a friend of Skye’s on the phone. He’s from Boston, and he’s in town.”

“Invite him over,” a muffled male voice says.

“Yes, I was going to.” Then back into the phone, “My husband and I would love to meet you. Are you here in Liberty right now?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m staying at the hotel in town.”

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