Loving Skye: Book Three (The Texas Star Series 3)

by Kelsie Stelting

  “Let’s go talk inside?” Dorian suggested.

  Dumbly, I nodded, and we all followed him into the RV. The interior wasn’t anything special—but there was a table and living room with sofas around. I imagined the band hanging out here, singing, playing guitars, dreaming up new songs or making jokes with each other.

  But now, my family filled the living room.

  Liz said, “So, the tour’ll be short. But back there’s the master bedroom. Just enough space for a bed and a crib. Then there are bunks on the other side of the living room. The table turns into beds too. We got a great deal on it, and Skye gave us just enough so we’d have a big enough down payment.” She squeezed my shoulder.

  I looked around the RV, picturing my niece living there. It wasn’t conventional or perfect, but what good would that be? It was a home where Liz could be a mom and a wife. The best of both worlds.

  “I’m happy for you,” I said, brushing away a tear.

  “Thanks, sis.” She gestured toward the seats. “Go ahead and sit down. Does anyone want a drink? We have some tea in here. And I think some soda too.”

  “Tea,” Dad said, his voice rough.

  Mom shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  Liz went through the motions of getting drinks for Dad, Dorian, and me. She was just prolonging the inevitable. She’d been gone for weeks. The pickup was gone. Mom and Dad wanted answers.

  I did too.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  For the next hour, Liz and Dorian told us about what had happened since I’d dropped Liz off in Dallas. Basically, Liz didn’t go to him until she’d sold the pickup and found a new RV for them to buy together.

  Dorian hung his head. “When we’d talked about being parents before, I told her I didn’t want kids, because I wasn’t ready.” He lifted his gaze to Liz, adoration etched into every one of his features. “But I meant it when I said we were in this together, no matter what.”

  Liz put her hand on his knee and squeezed it.

  Mom looked at them guardedly. She, like me, knew that Liz was unpredictable. Unreliable. “So why are you here now?”

  Looking ashamed, Liz averted her eyes. “After I met Dorian, I started going to therapy. I’ve been going for about a year and a half now. And I...” She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “I didn’t want to come back and risk opening up any old wounds until I knew they were healed. I’m sorry.”

  Mom’s eyes clouded over, and I glanced at the thin, white scars on Liz’s arms. We all had wounds, but hers were there on the surface, there for everyone to see.

  What had it taken for her to work through them?

  As if sensing my question, Liz said, “When I found out I was pregnant, I knew it was time to stop putting myself first.” Her eyes flitted toward the bedroom, and she stood up. “Hold on, I have something to show you.”

  She returned holding a sonogram picture. But this time, her baby looked less like a bean. More like a person.

  Dad took the picture from her with trembling hands, his eyes misting.

  “It’s a girl,” Liz said.

  Dad hunched his shoulders and cried. Liz sat on the edge of the chair and put her arm around his shoulder and reached out to hold Mom’s hand.

  It wasn’t the storybook family reunion I’d always dreamed of, but we were together again.

  She looked me in the eyes. “I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused, and I promise, from here on out, I’m only a phone call away.”

  Dorian nodded, his eyes firm.

  Dad wiped at his face with his arm and looked up at me, his eyes red. “Skye, can we have some time alone with Liz?”

  I nodded and stepped outside, immediately getting my phone out to call Andrew.

  He answered quickly. “Big day, huh?”

  A half laugh, half sigh parted my lips. “You have no idea.”

  Everything had changed in an instant. Just like when I’d said I wanted to be libero. Just like when I hurt my knee. But maybe, this time the change was leading to something good.

  “So…scholarship concert?” Andrew said.

  “Yep.”

  “And your sister’s back.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “And your parents are okay?”

  “I think so.” I glanced over my shoulder, almost unable to believe my mom and dad were sitting in the graffitied trailer with my sister and her rising-musician husband.

  His voice sounded lighter. “And you kicked my butt at the chili cookoff.”

  “Well.” I laughed. “That was kind of a given.”

  A competitive edge sounded in his voice. “We’ll see what happens at state.”

  “We will.”

  Silence fell over the line. There was just one big question left. Had Andrew had enough time to forgive me? To trust me? But I wasn’t ready to ask yet.

  “Are you coming to the concert?” I asked instead.

  “Yeah.” His voice sounded kind of sheepish.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Um. I’ve kind of been driving around Blackburn.”

  I laughed and pulled my phone away from my face to check the time. “You’ve been cruising for two hours?”

  “I also stopped and got slushies for us. Yours might have melted, though.”

  My heart took on the form of the slushy. That had to be a good sign. “Come back to the building. Maybe we can grab supper?”

  “I’d love that.”

  There was that word again. The one that seemed attached to Andrew’s name. “Me too. See you soon.”

  I walked back to the RV and stepped inside.

  “Good timing,” Liz said. “We’re ordering pizza. Any preferences?”

  “Actually…” I looked between them, still stunned at how well everything had gone. “I was wondering if I could have supper with Andrew? We’ll be back in plenty of time for the concert.”

  A small smile crossed Liz’s lips.

  Mom and Dad looked between each other, and Dad finally nodded. “Sure.”

  Andrew knocked on the trailer door and came in to say hi to everyone. Introducing him to Dorian seemed super awkward.

  Dorian stared Andrew down, even though they were almost the same height. “Skye’s basically my little sister now. So”—he cleared his throat—“you hurt her, you’ll, uh, well, you’ll have to deal with me.” Dorian jabbed his thumb at his chest.

  Dad clapped Dorian on the shoulder. “Andrew’s a good kid.”

  Well, I wasn’t crazy about Dad referring to Andrew as a child, but I’d take it. And I didn’t mind the idea of Dorian being the older brother I’d never had.

  “See you all at eight?” I asked.

  Dorian smiled. “You’ll be on the list.”

  Andrew lifted his hand in a wave, and we walked out into the mid-afternoon heat.

  With the RV a few feet behind us, Andrew said, “Weird.”

  I laughed, the quiet kind that comes mostly out your nose. “You have no idea.”

  His fingers brushed mine, but he didn’t take a hold of my hand. I wanted him to so badly. Instead, we reached his car, which he’d left running, and he held the door open for me. I sat in the passenger seat, reveling in the feeling of cool air hitting my face.

  In the center console, there were two slushies—grape for him and cherry for me. I took a sip from mine and came up with mostly juice.

  It was the thought that counted.

  Andrew got in the driver’s side and looked over at me. “Where to?”

  “Let’s do something different.”

  He put the car in reverse. “I think I have an idea.”

  He drove until we got to Blackburn Community College, and Andrew parked in front of a building labeled Student Union.

  “What are we doing here?” I asked.

  He unstrapped his seatbelt. “Eating.” He smiled. “Come on.”

  We got out of the car and walked toward the front entrance. Tall glass doors greeted us, and I couldn’t help but picture myself standin
g in the same place next year. Maybe playing on the volleyball team.

  Andrew opened the door for me, and I stepped into the air-conditioned building, staring around. I’d only been there once, for a volleyball game, and we hadn’t been in this building.

  We walked through a wide-open space filled with tables and chairs. There was even a big screen TV on one end where a couple of students were watching sports.

  “They don’t have classes, do they?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Maybe summer classes?”

  Our fingers brushed together again, but this time, he took my hand in his, and it just felt…right. We walked around the corner and into a big food-court type space. There were different buffet bars with foods of all kinds with only a few people milling about.

  I imagined Andrew and I were between classes, meeting for a meal. What would I be studying? Would I be in a club?

  We came together at the cash register, our plates loaded with random assortments of food. I’d opted for chicken fried steak, strawberries, a salad, and even splurged with a lemonade. Andrew covered the bill. That was a good sign, right?

  After he paid, we walked together to a table beside one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The view wasn’t amazing with the campus splayed before us. There were red brick buildings and a big central area with yellowing grass and a small fountain. The water wasn’t even running. But I couldn’t have imagined being anywhere better. With anyone better.

  Andrew popped a cherry tomato in his mouth. “So, what do you think?”

  I took a last look at the campus before starting on my salad. “Have you been here before?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, we had a Model UN thing here.”

  His school wasn’t that much bigger, but he had so many more awesome opportunities than I did at McClellan.

  I took in every inch of his expression, trying to remember everything about this moment. I wished I could make it last longer. “I was just thinking what it would be like if we went to school together and we were on a lunch break right now.”

  The light in Andrew’s eyes amped up a few watts. “Want to pretend?”

  Eagerly, I nodded.

  “Okay… I’ll start.” He dipped his chin down like we were in debate, and I had to fight a snicker. “Man, that poli sci test was brutal.”

  I took my time chewing my strawberry. “Well, do you think you passed?”

  He shrugged. “Average in that class is like, maybe sixty-five. Hopefully there will be a curve.”

  My eyes fell on his hand, resting by his tray, and I covered it with my own. “You know you’ll probably be the one setting the curve. You’re always surprising me.”

  His lips curled into a slow smile. “You think?”

  I nodded.

  “And what did your advisor say about your major change?”

  I raised my eyebrows. I hadn’t even decided on a major yet. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you finally decided between English and counseling.”

  “Counseling.” The word was out of my mouth before I had time to think. “I told him I was majoring in counseling, and we got all my classes set up so I’ll be good to go next semester.”

  Andrew flipped his hand over so he was holding mine back. “I’m so happy to hear it worked out.”

  “Me too.” I smiled. “Are you getting excited to study abroad?”

  He grinned. “I can’t wait to go to Madrid next spring! Are you nervous about the language change?”

  I shook my head. “We’ve been practicing. And I’ll be with you.”

  For the next half hour, Andrew and I talked like that, and it was easy to pretend this was our future. We decided we didn’t live together, but Andrew kept our dog—a labradoodle named Dennis—at his apartment, and my fish was still going strong in my dorm room where I lived with a best friend to whom I could tell everything.

  This life that Andrew and I dreamed up overlooking the community college—it was everything I wanted. Everything I hoped I could have.

  This concert might be my only hope of getting there.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Andrew and I walked back to the trailer hand in hand. We hadn’t had the boyfriend-girlfriend talk, but in our fictional future, we had a dog together, studied abroad together—that had to mean something.

  We knocked on the door, and Liz called us in. Only she, Mom, and Dad sat in the living room.

  “Where’s Dorian?” Andrew asked.

  Was it just me or did he seem a little nervous?

  Liz nodded in the direction of the building. “He and the guys are setting up.” She grabbed my hand. “Come on, I want to get some makeup on you.”

  I hesitated and looked at Andrew. “You good?”

  He waved his hands. “Yeah, I want to see if I can get any chili secrets out of your parents. The master has become the Padawan.”

  I groaned. “Lame.”

  “You know you love it.”

  There was that word again.

  I followed Liz back to the master bedroom—basically a small space with a queen bed and a bathroom just big enough to turn around in. She pulled a makeup bag out of some barely visible storage space and dropped it on the bed.

  “So,” she whispered, “what’s going on with you and lover boy?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I thought you were anti-relationship.”

  She kept her eyes down, unzipping the bag. “I’m just anti-unintended-pregnancy-that-makes-you-question-everything.”

  “Well, I’m a virgin, so no issues there.”

  “You’re a virgin?” she practically screamed.

  “Liz!” I hissed. “Keep it down!”

  Her eyes flared. “Sorry, I just thought for sure if you were dating Damon…”

  I sighed. “You actually kind of did me a solid. He was…moving a little too fast.”

  She pursed her lips and dug through the bag. “Tell me about it.” Her hand came out with a tube of lipstick. “Just kidding. Please don’t.”

  I smiled. “No worries.”

  “Pucker up, butter cup.”

  Another eye roll. But I obliged.

  “So,” she said. “Andrew.”

  “I just—”

  She yanked the lipstick tube back. “Do you want to look like a clown?”

  I hit her arm. “You asked me the question!”

  “Oh. Right.”

  We laughed, but finally I formed an “O” with my lips so she could put on the bright pink color.

  “Blot.” Liz handed me a tissue. “And spill.”

  Taking my time, I pressed the tissue between my lips and released it. Staring at the perfect kiss mark my lips had made, I shrugged. “I…really like him. But we’re not official or anything. I kind of messed things up by not telling him where I was going when I drove you to Dallas.”

  “Ah.” Her blue eyes held mine as she sat down beside me, and she put a hand on my thigh. “Take it from me. If he feels the same way you do, he’ll forgive you. Sometimes loving someone means loving them despite all the dumb things they do. Lord knows Dorian’s put up with a lot.”

  Something she said earlier hit me. “So, all that about therapy—that was true?”

  Her lips twisted to the side. “Yep. One hour a week, every week.”

  I scanned her arms for signs of her illness. But all her scars were so faded I wouldn’t have noticed them if I wasn’t looking. “So, it’s helped?”

  “More than you know.” She rubbed my back. “I think I’m finally ready to be the sister you deserve. To be the mom Chili Bean deserves.”

  Tears stung my eyes, and I hugged her. Because no matter what happened tonight, no matter what happened with Andrew, I wouldn’t have to face it alone.

  Chapter Forty

  My The Chili Beans shirt might not have been right for an impromptu scholarship concert put on by the brother-in-law I just met, but the bright lips and winged eyeliner Liz painted on my face worked great.

  The five of us, Liz, Andrew, Mom,
Dad, and me, left the trailer at 8:45 and walked to the building where we’d had the chili cook-off just hours before. It turned out “security” was some of Dorian’s friends from high school who let us pass with a lot of high-fives. One of them was kind of cute, but I had a hard time focusing on anyone but Andrew.

  Even though he was still wearing his Brindon Chili Co. we bean business T-shirt, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. Off his golden skin and the way his hair curled even more when he let it grow out a bit. Off the soft curve of his lips.

  Music was already playing—just songs over the speaker system. And fog billowed off the stage, hazing multicolored strobe lights. Even though Blackburn wasn’t a huge town, we had to push past crowds of people to get closer to the front. Mom and Dad protested, but Liz said she did this all the time.

  We got right up next to the stage, and my ears already hurt from the loud music. The excitement was just as palpable as Andrew or me, and I totally got why Liz loved this—why she loved Dorian. Any guy who could make a room buzz like this had to be special.

  I looked down at Andrew’s hand and took it in my own. He made my heart feel all the excitement of this room with a simple smile.

  His eyes met mine, and he turned his lips up into that grin I couldn’t get enough of. Not even if I saw it every single day.

  “Blackburn, USA!”

  My head swiveled toward the stage, toward Dorian and three bandmembers walking up to their instruments. There was a guitarist, someone on the keyboard, and even someone playing a trumpet.

  “Are you ready for a great time tonight?” Dorian asked.

  Everyone around us cheered and clapped.

  “Any BBHS alums in the crowd?”

  More cheers and claps. A wolf whistle.

  The guitarist started strumming out a steady rhythm.

  “You know,” Dorian said, “I’ve been a lot of places, but Blackburn’s always been home. And I’m so happy I get to play here tonight. I’m going to start off the night with one of my favorite songs. I can’t wait to hear what you think.”

  He stepped back from the mic, gathering himself, and the rest of the band started in with a lively song, one I’d heard from his Facebook videos. I already knew a lot of the words, so I sang along.