Page 18 of The Fence Between Us

She stared intently into the steely gray depths of his eyes. “Just give me the night, Matthew, please.”

He nodded again and pulled back, offering his hand and a sad smile. “Let me walk you to your car.”

After Rabble saw her safely tucked inside her sensible vehicle and heard the doors lock, Skye watched him walk away in the beams of the headlights. By the time they finished speaking, they were alone, the last of the others having wandered off at some point. Rabble refused a ride when she offered and a part of her was relieved. Admittedly, she needed time alone to reel and think and probably cry, but she would have waited if it made a difference in his safety.

Rabble’s form disappeared into the night long before Skye put the car in gear and began her short commute home. She spent the drive on autopilot, stopping at the red light automatically,driving between the yellow lines marked on the asphalt because it was habitual.

Even putting her key into the lock and letting herself into her house felt automated.

She threw herself onto the reading chair with a groan, her mind drifting as she closed her eyes against reality. She’d been in love with Rabble ever since that For Sale sign next door came down and the dusty, shaggy-haired little boy appeared beneath that wonderfully tall tree. He had been her confidant in all things, and anytime she had something to celebrate or cry over, she ran directly to their fence, always to Rabble who waited for her.

Skye knew, in her heart, Rabble loved her, had always loved her as no one else ever had before or since. Her head however, liked to throw around her insecurities, letting them hurdle through her mind like a bouncing ball. Did he truly love her? Or had she simply been a convenience of the time, another lonely person looking to escape the confines of the small town. Did he love her now? Or was she once again, a convenience for the time being. With her heart and head constantly at war, was it worth the risk of finding out which was right?

Skye’s head spun as she weighed years of history and strife against wishes and plans that had never come to fruition. He had broken her heart in ways that were ultimately hard to repair as they were such an integral part of who she was now. Her parents, despite their controlling manipulation, could never have crushed her the way he had, whether he meant to or not. That type of heartache wasn’t easily forgotten.

Skye glanced around her house. It was small, sure, but it was hers, and it was solid and steady and everything she wanted from her comfort zone.

But we don’t grow in our comfort zone do we, Miss Wellington?she heard herself in her head, as clearly as if shewere speaking to her students. She said something similar to a little girl from the previous year who had been afraid to try out the monkey bars.

At one time, Rabble had been her comfort zone… Was it worth it, the probability of heartache if she took the leap and let him back in?

Skye moved aimlessly about the cottage, starting a load of laundry, washing the few dishes that sat in the sink, folding the blanket that graced the back of the couch—anything to put off the inevitable. She jumped in the shower, taking extra time washing her hair, scrubbing every inch of her skin, and shaving her legs to perfect smoothness. The water turned cold before she finally shut off the spout, wrapped herself in her fluffiest bath towel, and stepped out of the tub. With a second towel, she tied her hair up in it, letting the cloth pull the extra moisture from the long strands, and sat on the edge of her bed, her towel dampening the sheets as she laid back, lifting her phone in front of her.

She shot a text message off to Elyza before she could second-guess herself, and a few minutes later a ten-digit number appeared on her screen. She saved the number to her contacts and opened a blank message. The cursor laughed at her, mockingly blinking at her. She typed a few words, then deleted them, and the cursor kept blinking on and off, a bleak reminder that she had yet to write a single word worth sending, nothing that reflected how she truly felt. Good lord, she felt like a teenager again!

Inhaling deeply, Skye gathered her courage, typed the one word she could manage, and hoped he understood who it was from and what she meant.

Chapter 11

Rabble

Rabble fully expected Skye to ignore his question and leave him waiting for her reply. They hadn’t exchanged numbers and he regretted that now more than ever. A short-sighted mistake made on his part, fueled by the myriad of emotions that swamped him each time he saw her. His brain ceased working in her vicinity and he did good to form coherent thoughts at all.

He waited outside of view until her car drove away from the warehouse, then took the long path back to the bed and breakfast, hoping the hushed night noises would soothe some of his anxiety over her lack of answer. He wanted to shout at the dark sky, but he finished his walk, letting the cool night air breathe life into him. Whatever she chose, he would respect it, even if her rejection tore him to pieces.

Returning as late as he had, he missed out on Mrs. Basket’s formal dinner but found a sandwich and bag of chips atop a tray on the table with his name scrawled across a piece of white printer paper beside it.

A sealed manila envelope also sporting his name waited next to the plate.

Grabbing the dinner tray and envelope, he hurried up to his room, sat down at the small desk, and practically inhaled the turkey sandwich and plain potato chips. Then he turned his attention to the envelope.

Tearing at the flap, Rabble pulled out the final documents from the title company, detailing the purchase of his parents’ old property. He’d met with the realtor in the city before he’d left, signing the paperwork and officially accepting ownership from an older man who purchased the land at auction after Rabble’s father passed away. He shoved the documents into his laptop bag, knowing he’d need to review them at some point but not willing to let thoughts of his father and his life on that property weigh on him.

After showering and dressing in a loose pair of cotton pajama pants, he switched off the lights and laid down on the bed, his feet dangling slightly at the end, and snorted, picturing how far Declan and Dash’s feet hung off since they were both several inches taller than him at just over six-foot tall.

He pulled out his phone, the bright light shining strongly in the dark, temporarily blinding him as he squinted at the name that appeared. His breath hitched at the unknown number. One word, that was all she’d messaged, just one word. But Skye had said yes. Sleep evaded him after that, his mind spinning with all of the possibilities open to them now. Tendrils of doubt tried to worm their way into his thoughts. They couldn’t pick up where they’d left off as kids, too much had transpired in their lives since their idealistic days of dreaming of running away together. He’d been to war; his body and mind bore the scars of that. But she had too, a different sort that wore on her heart and soul. Would they fall into the same familiarity that felt so natural when they were younger or had life changed them so irrevocablythat they couldn’t find middle ground? Rabble avoided those thoughts, trying to squash them as they arose to focus instead on what he could do to make Skye smile.

Just the mental image of her smiling face lightened Rabble’s mood, the weight that normally sat on his chest, eased. Her shining face appeared behind his eyelids as he closed his eyes and drifted. The picture blended Skye’s appearance throughout the time he’d known her. Her face lit up like it had as children, the excitement of learning something new with him or her laughter at a silly joke he told, but her eyes belonged to that of the woman he was becoming reacquainted with. There was sadness there, a loneliness he understood and hated, and a sense of hopelessness, of being trapped in a cycle that never ended.

As he drifted off to sleep, he vowed to steal that sadness, the loneliness, the hopelessness, and help her create a life that reflected the dreams they’d chased all those years ago.

***

Rabble spent the entire next day feeling like he was walking on air.

He woke early, momentarily forgetting he and Skye weren’t meeting to work on the parade float. They’d made plenty of progress staying late the previous two days, in part to remain on schedule and because life had a tendency of getting in the way at the least opportune times. He also had work obligations during his time in Shiloh Hills, and Skye had a home to maintain and a job helping Elyza during the summer.

With the hot sun still low in the sky, Rabble threw on a pair of basketball shorts and went for a run.

---