Page 46 of When Sky Breaks
“I just have to grab a few things from the store later, and I’ll be over.” He laughs again and speaks with genuine affection in his voice. “You, too. See you soon.”
Quickly, I move to the side of the building, clutching at my chest as it heaves up and down. When August doesn’t appear around the corner, I breathe out a harsh breath and close my eyes. It’s clear he has someone important in his life. Enough to make him laugh like that. I never realized how much I missed hearing it until now.
When the coast is clear, I stalk into the station, grab three waters from the fridge dedicated to us volunteers, and stomp back toward Trek, grateful everyone is too busy to see me having a moment.
This is exactly what I need. I can be free of him and him of me.
Ugly, unsolicited thoughts about someone I don’t even know claw its way out of my chest, but I plaster on a smile despite it.
Wonder if Lina knows him like I do?
Doesn’t matter anymore. I shake away the unhinged emotions threatening to expose me as the hypocrite I am.
Trek takes the waters and eyes me with an intuition I didn’t know he even possessed.
“Let’s get this finished,” I say, spiked with adrenaline.
I’m fine. Just fine.
CHAPTER TWENTY
august
One would think with enough pounding, the annoying flare of jealousy in my veins would disappear.
Sweat pours down the side of my face, even with the open window letting in some fresh air. The scent of a bonfire from someone’s backyard invades my nose.
Letting the hammer fall beside me with a thud, I sit on my heels. My head falls back, and I close my eyes. I can’t be taking my irritation out on Catalina’s walls, but damn. Johnny Hawk really gets under my skin.
“Are you okay, mi hijo?” Catalina steps into the room, her footsteps echoing in the hollow space. Along with her soft floral perfume is the smell of baked goods. More paledonias. My favorite.
“Yeah, I’m all right. This drywall is pissi—giving me attitude, though.”
She pats my head and sets the plate on top of a stool near Carlos’s old tool bag.
Standing with her arms crossed, she examines the drywall and then casts her gaze down, amusement playing with the crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes. “I didn’t realize the drywall had a name. What was it? Johnny, you say? Interesting.”
Heat floods my cheeks. Even my ears grow warm. Damn, the woman and her sharp senses.
I rise to my feet and reach over to snag a cookie off the plate. I mull over how much I want to tell her while I chew. She’s been like a mom to me for years. She and Benny welcomed me with no question two years ago. Let me stay with them until I built my house. I might be working on things with my own mom, but Catalina will always know me best.
“Sky’s back.”
She lifts a brow. “Hmm. I might’ve heard a thing or two about that. Have you talked to her yet?”
“We met for coffee, and it didn’t go well. It was awkward, of course, and yet I felt like it was only a short period of time since I last saw her, you know?”
She smiles, and it’s warm. “Oh, mijo, I do know. Me and Carlos had a few rough moments in our relationship, but we made it through. Once Sky knows about all the good things you’ve been doing since you came home, she’ll come around.”
“I don’t know about that. I really hurt her. I broke her heart, Lina, and I don’t know if she’ll ever forgive me for that. Not sure I do myself,” I mumble the last part.
She bends and scoops up the drywall tape, handing it to me. There’s no set deadline for this project, but the sooner, the better. Someone’s going to need a safe place to go, and I’d rather not make them wait.
“You may have hurt her, but she knows your heart. I know it.” She places a palm over her chest. “I’ve tried to nurture it the best way I know how. If you’re serious about wanting her to forgive you, then you have to be persistent in your decisions. She needs to feel that you’re sincere in everything you do and that it’s not just to impress her. Us mujers don’t like that.”
I run a long strip of tape down the seam of the drywall, smoothing out the lines as I descend.
“Women don’t like their men to show off?” I joke, and she chuckles lightly.