Rainn told me that before meeting Tanner, Jax had been in the hostel across the road when it caught fire and had lost all of his belongings.
I finish my salad and get ready to work. My chef's brain has memorized all the drinks we sell, so as long as no one asks for my opinion and just tells me what they want, I'm good.
Thoughts of Skyler leave me blissfully alone until I overhear a conversation from a group that's sitting at the table closest to the bar. It's quiet enough in the bar that I can make out what they're saying.
"Stop talking about pancakes. I ran out of maple syrup, and Skyler won't be at the farmer's market this week," one girl says. "Don't even get me started on the maple cream. I'm down to my last quarter of a jar. Death is impending."
"Why not?" another one asks.
"It's tapping season."
The group all nod and take a sip of their drinks, seemingly satisfied with the answer, but now I’m the one with the questions.
What did they mean about it being tapping season? How is that related to Skyler?
I suddenly realize how little I know about him. I don't know if he went to college or if he went traveling like he wanted to.
I assume that since he's still around, he's working on his family's farm, which doesn't make sense because that was always Miles's dream.
Skyler wanted to see the world before doing his business degree. We were going to open a restaurant together.
"Hey, you okay? You've been cleaning the same spot for god knows how long," Molly says.
"Yeah, sorry, just lost in thought."
She nods. "Happens to me a lot too."
I spot a customer approaching the bar. "Let me get this guy, and then I'll tell you all about Paris."
The light in her eyes brings me completely back to the present, where I work at a bar with cool people.
My mom is sitting at the kitchen table with her old recipe book when I get home from the bar.
"Hey, honey, how was work?" she asks.
"It was good. I did a wine-tasting session for the guys."
She nods.
I sit next to her, wondering how I can broach the topic I've been thinking about since I first ran into Skyler.
"Mom…I…um, can I ask you about Skyler?"
She stares at me open-mouthed, which is understandable. She'd been complicit in my escape to Europe, even though she'd tried her best to convince me to talk to Skyler. I never told her what happened, but when I asked her to trust my judgment, she did so without reservation. I also told her I never wanted to hear his name again.
"You know I'm not the person you should be talking to, Judson."
I know that, but I'm too chicken-shit to speak to Skyler and, at the same time, too curious to not ask about him.
She closes her recipe book and holds her hands together. "Skyler is a good, hard-working man. It's thanks to him that his family still has a roof over their heads. I'm telling you this because I think you need to know that he hasn’t had it easy since you left. Go talk to him."
Go talk to him.
As if it's that easy. I may have moved on, but I haven't forgotten, and I'm not sure I've forgiven.
6
Skyler
