Chapter Eighteen
The summer sun burned down on Labor Day, pulsing like a living thing. Skylar sipped the ice-cold glass of Dr. Pepper and reclined farther on the lawn chair. Thank the goddess for their paranormal ability to regulate body temperatures. Even so, her wolf wanted to curl in a shady spot or splash in the tiny pool Jessica had set up for Mia. The light sparkled off the waves created by Emery’s and Mia’s legs as they pretended to be mermaids.
She couldn’t remember the last time she could do something like this with family and friends. Smoke and the scent of grilling meat wafted from the barbecue when Killian lifted the lid. He cursed, quite loudly, at the huge flame that leaped above the hamburger patties. Skylar snorted and cursed herself for the stupid reaction. Dr. Pepper burned her nostrils, and she coughed past the uncomfortable choking sensation as it went down the wrong pipe. A hand banged against her back.
“Jeez, don’t die on us, Skylar,” Jessica said through her laughter as Cat rubbed between Skylar’s shoulder blades. When she could finally breathe again, she looked up at them through watery eyes.
“Thanks.”
Jessica’s eyes twinkled, the similarity to her brother’s still so startling to Skylar. “Haven’t seen you around much except the diner. My brother been keeping you busy?”
Ah. The inquisition. Jamie hadn’t been able to come to the party because of work, and Skylar really should have seen this coming. She rolled her eyes, thankful for the sunglasses covering them up. “A little. That and my painting. Not to mention Emery’s homework. Have you seen what they teach kids now?”
Jessica sighed, plopping down on a chair to Skylar’s left. Cat followed suit, sitting on the one to the right. “No. I won’t know for another year at least, thank God.” Her expression shifted, no longer teasing or fun, but wary. “Things with Jamie getting serious?”
Cat groaned from the other side and shook her head. “God, Jessica. Leave the poor girl alone.”
“What?” Jessica’s mouth gaped, and she held her hands forward in mock innocence. “I deserve to know if she has honest intentions and all that stuff.”
Skylar sipped her Dr. Pepper and arched a brow. “Weren’t you just warning me away a couple weeks ago?”
Jessica shrugged a thin shoulder and leaned back, brushing back her shaggy pixie cut of blonde hair. “He’s still my brother.”
Emery squealed, dragging Skylar’s attention toward her. She bounced in the pool, trying to avoid the darting water from Finn’s squirt gun. Mia giggled in delight, and Emery darted toward the pile of squirt guns, anxious for revenge.
“So…yes or no?” Jessica insisted, and Cat leaned forward to shoot daggers around Skylar’s prone body.
Were they? Skylar couldn’t help feeling they were. But she would hate to give Jessica the wrong idea if Jamie hadn’t yet realized it himself. She had a feeling it would only send him running away.
“Right now… We’re just doing what we both feel is right.”
Jessica’s gaze burned on her, and Cat nodded as if she accepted it.
“When Killian and I first got together, it terrified the hell out of me,” Cat said quietly, watching the large man at the barbecue. “He was the first guy I’d been with, and I wasn’t really…looking for any sort of commitment.”
Killian laughed at something Brian said and tipped his beer for a drink, oblivious to the three sets of eyes on him.
Jessica snorted. “That’s the understatement of the year, Cat.”
Cat narrowed her eyes at her friend and blew her bangs up with an exhalation. “All right, I basically ran away from everyone back then.”
Skylar nodded. She understood the need, the desperation, to just do everything on your own. Depending on people was scary. Being dependent on people gave them the opportunity to destroy you, rip you up into a million pieces.
“So what happened?” Skylar asked, needing to know how the couple, who made love look so easy, had pulled it off.
Cat tilted her head, a small smile slipping over her face. “Sometimes you don’t have a choice. Even your wolf picks up on it before you do. You fall, and you fall hard. There’s no running away from that kind of love. Plus… He wouldn’t let me. Killian held on to me and didn’t let me leave.” She turned toward him, and like in the movies, Killian’s gaze met hers. He smiled and tilted his head, beckoning her over. She stood from the reclining seat, adjusting the navy bikini on her tiny body. “I’ll see you ladies later. I’m gonna go get me some action with that hunk of a man.”
Both Jessica and Skylar watched their friend as she all but curled into Killian, her frame a fraction the size of his. She stared up at him, and he leaned down to kiss her lips slowly. Brian shifted next to them, his face turning a vivid shade of red. He looked over at his wife with a pleading expression, and, seeing that she wasn’t going to bail him out, walked over to the water war in the pool.
Jessica chuckled under her breath and whispered, “That man.”
“Cat is so…different from all of you. She seems so tiny and frail.” Skylar pondered, watching the couple talk and kiss over the barbecue. Killian wrapped an arm comfortably around Cat’s waist while the other flipped the burgers.
“Don’t ever underestimate her. That woman is one of the strongest I’ve ever met,” Jessica whispered. “She’s gone through things in life that we couldn’t even comprehend.”
“Like what?” Skylar looked back at Jessica, whose eyes turned sad.
“Not my story to tell, Sky. Maybe someday she’ll tell you, but don’t be surprised if she doesn’t. It took us a long time to find out, and it’s not one she really likes to share.”
Skylar sighed, relenting. Condensation dripped from her glass onto her bare stomach, and she wiped it with her other hand. The icy moisture sent goose bumps over her skin.
“I’m pregnant.”
Skylar jumped, her head whipping back to Jessica. A small smile tilted her lips up, her eyes glittering with happiness. “I just found out a couple days ago.”
“Congratulations, oh my God, does Cat know? Does Brian?” Skylar asked, guilt churning in her stomach. Because no matter how happy she was for her friend, the jealousy ripped through her like a forest fire. It burned her throat, making the words sound forced to her ears.
Jessica shook her head, her smile falling. “Brian does, but I haven’t been able to tell Cat yet.”
“Why? I’m sure she’d be ecstatic for you.” Skylar scrunched her eyebrows together. They were best friends. Jessica and Cat were always with each other, and chances were that if you saw one, the other was around somewhere. She didn’t know how Killian ever got alone time with his mate.
Jessica’s eyes misted, and she bit her lip. “Around the time you showed up, Cat had a miscarriage. She was only a couple weeks pregnant, but it really wrecked her. She wants nothing more than she wants a family.”
Skylar’s heart clenched. Oh, God. She knew what that was like. To hold life in your body only to have it ripped away. Feeling like you weren’t good enough to carry such a responsibility, and that was why it had been taken. A sudden feeling of understanding swept over her. That was why Cat had acted so oddly on girls’ night. It all made sense now.
“Are you okay?” Jessica asked, her gaze searching.
Confused, Skylar rubbed a hand across her face. The tear dripping from her cheek was a surprise, but so was the feeling of sadness. You never got over the loss, but she’d thought she was past this.
“I’m sorry,” Skylar whispered. “God, that’s awful. Poor Cat.”
“Don’t let her know that you feel bad,” Jessica rushed the words out. “She hates pity. It’ll only piss her off.”
Skylar nodded but looked over at her Alpha’s mate nestled in his arms. Her long, white-blonde ponytail brushed his muscular biceps, his fingers tucked into the side of her bikini bottoms. She seemed all right in the arms of the man she loved. And Skylar felt like she could be all right too. With these people she could call friends. Family. With Jamie.
But in the deepest part of her being she yearned for more. She wanted his words, his acceptance of what their relationship had become. What it could bloom into. She had her friends, her Alpha, security for her and Emery. Everything she’d ever wanted. Yet a voice whispered in the back of her mind, telling her it would never be complete without Jamie’s full love. It hung there like that one tempting piece in a Jenga game. There was that desire to grab it, build on it, but everything balanced on that piece; and maybe, just maybe, if it got tugged on, the whole building would shatter. However, if she went slowly, take her time in working it out, she might be able to wiggle it out of its spot.
* * * *
Jamie rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms over his head. The sheriff station’s A/C clicked on, the air blowing in a quiet hum over the clack of keyboards. Somewhere another coworker laughed at something.
He’d just finished processing another drunk who’d decided to make a little trip to the local grocery store. Which wouldn’t have been a problem if the drunk hadn’t also fallen in front of the store, unable to get back up, and yelled profanities at any passersby, including children. Gotta love holidays. The screen burned his eyes, and he rubbed them with his knuckles.
Right now, Skylar was at Killian’s. She was probably in that delicious bikini that barely covered her ass, sipping on something cool, and basking in the sunshine. And there he was behind a desk. He wanted nothing more than to walk right out of that station and search her down, pull her into his arms, and forget he had responsibilities.
“Hey, Lewis,” Florentina, or Flo as everyone called her, called from the door. “I’m going to grab some grub at Del Taco. Want something?”
Jamie nodded, rattled off his order, and handed over a couple of bills. “Thanks, Flo.”
“No biggie.” She shrugged, disappearing through the door, her short ponytail bouncing behind her.
He looked around. It was empty except for Mack, who, if his hat was any indication, had started to nod off behind his desk. He had desk duty that day, and Jamie didn’t envy him. Or the shot to his leg he’d taken two weeks before.
Jamie really wasn’t supposed to do it, but he pulled up the search screen anyway. He typed in the names Skylar had given him: Jonathon and Selma Brewer. She’d probably get on his case for digging, but they were like a constant nag in the back of his mind. And sometimes being a cop had its perks.
It came with an instant hit. Jonathon Brewer, sixty years old and with a somewhat plain record. One DUI, some noise complaints, and that was it. To a cop, Jonathon Brewer could be any old Joe-schmo.
His mugshot left much to be desired. It had been taken during his DUI, the alcohol turning his dark eyes bloodshot. Dark, heavy bags fell loose beneath them as he glared at the person behind the camera. Greasy black hair laced with varying shades of gray and white fell to his shoulders in waves.
Disappointed with the lack of information the police database gave, Jamie pulled his cell out of his pocket and flipped through his contacts until he found the right one.
“This is Vincent.”
“Hey, buddy. It’s Jamie Lewis.”
A loud guffaw pounded into his ear, and Jamie held the phone away until the laughter ended. “Jamie Lewis, what the hell, man! Haven’t seen hide nor hair of you in quite a while.” Vince’s accent reminded him of long summer days, kicking back on his truck with a bottle of whiskey they’d sneaked.
“I know.” Jamie sighed. “I’ll get down there to visit my parents soon, and then we’ll get together for a beer at Jim’s.”
“Well, what’s going on, brother? Not like you to call me out of the blue.”
“I hate to ask you this, Vince. Are you in the office right now?”
“Yep.”
Jamie clicked the pen in his hand. It was awkward asking his friend for a favor when he hadn’t even taken the time for a visit. “I need you to look up a name for me. Jonathon Brewer.”
The creak of Vincent’s chair sounded in the background. “All right. Spell it for me.”
Jamie did and clenched the pen tightly. Vincent’s typing was the only sound between them, and then silence.
“Army, Infantry. Lone survivor of an IED to his truck. Suffered some mean trauma and…” Vincent whistled low under his breath. “He got a dishonorable. Attacked his commanding officer.”
Jamie let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. So Jonathon wasn’t all clean. “Did they say why?”
Vincent paused. “You know how it is, Jamie. Men go away and come back changed. Not everyone can handle that shit, and when they can’t, the government doesn’t want anything to do with them. Probably just a mad case of PTSD, bro.”
Jamie leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. It didn’t fail everyone, but sometimes that stuff happened. Especially to the dishonorables. Lack of veterans’ benefits left them hanging by a thread, grasping on to any straws thrown toward them. He hated to admit it, but now he felt a little sorry for the guy. He’d probably been a normal Shifter before heading out, just like Brian. That shit messes with a Shifter’s head. The wolf and the human were affected by the war, and when one snapped, the other did too. It was like having two minds in one body, and instead of just trying to keep one sane, you had to grip both like a lifeline.
But he didn’t see Brian running around beating Jessica and their daughter, Mia, to bloody pulps.
Now that was on Jonathon.
“All right, that’s what I needed,” Jamie told Vincent.
“M’kay, man. You keep in touch.”
“You got it. When I come into town, first round is on me.”
Vincent laughed his obnoxiously loud laugh, but instead of deafening him, it made Jamie feel nostalgic.
“You know I’ll hold you to that.”
After their good-byes Jamie settled back into his paperwork. There wasn’t much to be done as far as investigating. Not like he could put out an APB on someone who hadn’t done anything yet. All he could do was sit and wait, and hope the bastard was brave enough to set foot in Wolf Creek.
A glance at the clock showed a set of numbers that had him groaning. Three more hours, and then he could leave. Three more hours until he could see Skylar again. Resisting the temptation to bang his head on the desk, he went back to work.