Page 73 of When Sky Breaks
She places some hair behind her ear and nods, a smirk indenting her cheek. “You’re kind of a big deal.”
I shrug, my face heating. “I just did what I thought I was good at.”
“Your work is gorgeous, August. I’ve always thought you were good at taking pictures. Will you tell me about California?” Her voice is timid.
I shift until I’m sideways on the pew, one knee bent against her thigh, and look down at the dark threads of woodgrain running parallel to us.
“It wasn’t as glamorous as you think. California is beautiful, and I saw a lot of places that few will ever get the chance to…”
She waits for me to continue, her expectant gaze burrowing into me as my heart riots in my chest.
Speaking the truth, I turn my head away, peering deeper into the sanctuary toward the huge crucifixion. “I was lonely. Yes, I had my uncle and some assistants who would occasionally go on assignments with me, but I didn’t have what I needed.”
There is one thing that made it better, but talking about that right now isn’t the time.
“What was that?”
I blow out a breath and attempt to steady my racing pulse as I meet her eyes. “You.” I swallow. “My biggest regret was leaving you. When we were young. After graduation. All of it. The lying, the leaving, what happened to Chase. It’s all I ever think about, and wish I could change. I could’ve done anything else, but I had to destroy the one person I loved more than anything. I—” I stop. My weakest moments are there on the tip of my tongue, but I hold them back. They’re mine to shoulder, not hers.
Silence envelops us except for the roar of blood in my ears. Even within these holy walls, I feel the sins of my past tunneling in and raking their claws through my flesh, the demons never letting up.
Sky spares me and stands, maybe to leave because I’m just too much for her. Too full of pain, too much of a reminder of what she lost. Too broken to repair.
Instead, she holds out her hand for mine, her fingers long and pale in the dim light. “Come on, birthday boy, let me go bake you a cake.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
sky
August stares at my outstretched hand with such trepidation. If the mood wasn’t so heavy, I’d probably laugh at his expression.
“You remembered it was my birthday?” he asks, still eyeing my hand like it’ll bite him.
I finally just grab his, pulling him to his feet. He towers over me and still looks every bit the little boy he once was. Minus the heart-stopping jawline and sexy tattoos.
“You’ve been hard to forget.” I wink, desperately wanting to rid him of the sadness.
“Would you believe me if I said my mom forgot again?”
The utter hurt and devastation on his face guts me. Pain from all those years ago still reflects in his eyes, and no matter how crushing Chase’s death will always be for me, seeing August carry all this weight cuts to my core.
No one seems to choose him.
Even I gave up on him, the notion needling its way into my mind.
It was a complicated situation and out of the ashes, there’s rebirth. New beginnings. Coming back home made me face my past and try to move on from it. August is stuck in this cycle of guilt, the burden of his actions getting in the way of him seeing just how far he’s come.
“I’m sorry she forgot. When she does remember, I bet she’ll feel terrible about it.”
August lifts his brows in disbelief before following me from the pew. We make our way to the kitchen just beyond the fellowship hall, leaving behind the beautiful serenity of the sanctuary. I’ve never been drawn to religion, especially growing up in the household I did, but I often wonder if August and I were put in each other’s paths for a reason. Being where the memories compound one on top of the other, it’s hard to deny just how intertwined the two of us really are. The tragedy, the fucked up circumstances. Time and distance haven’t dulled all the quiet recollections we share.
I flick on the lights, the fluorescent pinging to life, one after another, in the large kitchen.
“Let’s prep first, and then I’ll bake.”
August quirks a lip. “What makes you think she has stuff in here for a cake?”
I roll my eyes and glance over the instructions Louise left on the counter to know where to start. “Louise and desserts are practically synonymous, even I know that, and I’ve only been here once with you.”