Page 22 of Broken Heart

This was all about me.

We’d only gotten through our dinner salads, so the night was still young, but I was ready to be done talking about myself.

Not completely, because I realized she had a right to ask questions about me, but at least for a little while.

Ever since I’d convinced Skye on Saturday to have dinner with me so we could get to know each other better before the charity benefit, I’d spent nearly every second of my free time thinking about tonight.

I had so many questions I wanted to ask her, many of which I was sure I wouldn’t necessarily get to tonight if any of the thoughts I had about her were the truth.

Though it seemed Skye had been growing slightly more comfortable being around me, there was still a lot of caution and hesitation lingering. I didn’t think it would be wise to push for answers to all the thoughts in my mind.

For now, I was going to settle for any bit of information I could get about her, because I was sick of talking about myself, and I really wanted to know more about her.

Since we were talking about family and work, I believed it would be best to start there. “So, now that you know all about the work I do, can you tell me about what you do?”

“I have my bookstore,” she said in a voice that indicated she couldn’t understand why I was asking her about something I already knew the answer to.

“I know. But I guess I was curious how that came to be,” I explained.

She nodded slowly, a solemn look washing over her. Before she even spoke a single word, I wanted to wrap her in my arms and fix whatever it was that put that look on her face. “It was my grandmother’s store. She opened it forty-three years ago.”

The look that had been on Skye’s face before was beginning to make sense. “Is she…”

“She died a few years ago,” Skye confirmed.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I lamented.

She gave me another nod in return before she spoke. “Thanks. I miss her terribly, but I’m so grateful for everything she did for me.”

“I can only assume you’re a big reader. Do you have a favorite genre?”

In an instant, Skye’s face lit up. I’d only seen it barely a handful of times, but it took my breath away whenever that look washed over her face. “I’ve always liked all kinds of books and stories. My tastes have changed over the years, and I’ll read just about anything. My favorites are romance and fantasy, though. I can read for hours on end and not tire of it. That’s probably because when I was eight years old, they became my saving grace. I spent hours every day at The Next Chapter, and I did it getting lost in dozens of books every week.”

Although I could appreciate the love she had for something she clearly enjoyed, even if I was not a reader myself, I couldn’t help but feel some concern over something she did say. “At eight years old, you needed something to be your saving grace?” I questioned her.

If I thought her expression had grown solemn when I asked about the bookstore, it didn’t compare to the look of utter devastation that came over her at this question. Before she even said a single word, I had a bunch of different scenarios pop into my head as to what could have happened in her life. Had she been bullied at school when she was a kid? That seemed like the most plausible explanation. What else could there have been for a little girl at such a young age?

Skye’s voice was so soft and small when she shared, “My parents died when I was eight.”

My entire body tensed as I stared at her in disbelief. “Both of them?”

“Yes. They were the victims of a robbery attempt gone wrong,” she revealed.

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry. Was this at the bookstore?” I pressed, suddenly wondering if there was a reason to be concerned for her safety.

Skye shook her head. “No. No, they had their own business. It was the worst thing that had happened in my life, and the only silver lining was that my grandmother took me in and raised me. If I wasn’t in school, I was at the store, reading.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of business did they have?”

“It was a floral shop, which makes the whole thing even crazier, right? I mean, who robs a flower shop?”

I shook my head, feeling disbelief. “Are you an only child?” I asked.

“Yes.”

Damn.

This news had left me stunned.