Page 47 of A Heart in Knots

“A peach milkshake?” she asked, pulling her wallet from the deep pockets of her cardigan. “And an apple scone.”

I set to work preparing her order. Clacking the tongs together, I scrutinized each scone, searching for the best one to give her. I selected one with big chunks of soft baked apple poking out from the golden brown pastry, and placed it on a plate. I wanted Skye to have the best Fair Grounds had to offer. The best I could give her. She deserved it.

“When is your shift over?” she asked as I placed her milkshake in front of her.

I glanced at the wall clock, I had technically overstayed my welcome. “Now, really.”

Skye smiled again. “Sit with me then. I’ll be waiting for you.” She turned, walked out of the building, and settled on our patio seating.

I hurried to finish my business and clocked out, went to my locker, grabbed a coffee to go, and soon joined her. By the time I sat down, her scone was gone, and her milkshake was half-empty.

“I’m glad we have another chance to talk,” she said. Her smile faded and she tilted her head. “What’s the matter?”

With a drawn out exhale, I slouched back in my chair. It was hard, metal, and not very comfortable.

“Long day. Customers were jerks.” I rubbed my eyes. “I didn’t sleep well last night,” Just like every night, but she didn’t need to know that. “So, my tolerance for people is not exactly generous.”

“Oh. Do you want me to go?”

“No.” I wanted to tell her that she was by far the best part of my day, but I didn’t want to scare her off. “Maybe you’re the exception to the rule.” I suggested instead. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I just like talking with you,” Skye said. “Is that bad?”

“No.” At least, I didn’t think it was.

Her eyes were searching my face, and my aura rippled under her gaze, like it couldn’t decide if it wanted to envelop her or shy away from her musing.

“What?” I asked.

“I can tell you really did have a bad day.” Sympathy wove around her words, making them light, and tender. “I can feel…” Skye fell silent, then reached across the table and put her hand on mine. Again, it was like my aura could melt out of my pores and swallow her hand. Was this craving what happened when an alpha loses his omega? Is this what aura damage was? I just wanted to drink her blueberry aura up, consume it and use it to patch my own aura back together, no matter how slipshod or messy the stitches were.

“I guess I’m just not hiding it as well as I usually do,” I mumbled.

“Tell me about her,” Skye’s voice was feather soft. “What did she smell like?”

I took a breath to speak, but instead of saying anything, I pulled my pendant from under my shirt. Inside, the dried clovers and little black speckles of cloves rattled around.

“Red clover.” I let go of the chain and the pendant fell until the necklace went taut and it bounced against my chest.

“That’s a really beautiful necklace.”

“Thanks.” I shifted my coffee cup in a half circle, unsure what else to do with my hands.

“Do you have any pictures?” Skye prompted.

I blinked at her, then pulled out my phone. I unlocked the screen and swiped to my photo reel, then slid the phone in her direction. I didn’t want to look. Not today.

She took in the images one by one, her delicate fingers barely touching the screen as she cycled through the gallery. I knew what she saw. I could recreate them in my mind. Marathons that we ran together. Mountains we climbed. Trails we hiked and campgrounds we slept in. Tracker as a puppy. Amusement park rides. Event movies where we dressed up as the characters, Indigo’s insistence. Snowboarding, paddleboarding, windsurfing, white water rafting.

“She did a lot of living in the time she had.” Skye’s voice was quiet, maybe reverent as she put the phone on the table. “You made sure.”

I shoved my phone into my pocket and shook my head. “I’m a camping guy. I like to stay close to the earth. Running, climbing, things like that. Anything extreme, like the snow, or water, was all her idea.”

“You said it was a… car accident?”

“Yeah.” My throat felt dry so I took a drink of my coffee. It scalded my throat but maybe that was better. I opened my mouth to say more but only ended up repeating myself. “Yeah.”

Skye touched my hand again and all I wanted was to wrap myself up in her. Her gentleness and compassion fed something in me. Her presence chased away the pain, the lonesomeness.

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