Smoke. The smell wasn’t strong, but it was there, lightly lingering in the wind. And it immediately made her chest feel so tight that it became hard to breathe.
Memories tried to swamp her. Memories she worked so hard to keep deep inside.
She quickly rolled her window back up, but the subtle scent of smoke was still there, pulling her back to when she’d lost Charlie.
A lump formed in her throat, but she swallowed it. Sometimes just thinking about him made her want to fall apart. Not everyone understood. Her parents certainly didn’t. You had to have had a pet, loved a pet like family, and then lost them far too early, to get it.
When she reached Clara’s, she took a moment in her car to just breathe. But even when she knocked on the door to the garage Clara had converted into an acupuncture space, she still didn’t feel okay.
Clara opened the door and smiled. “Sky. Hi. Right on time. Come in.”
“Hey. Thanks.”
She hadn’t even gotten inside when Clara touched her arm. “Is everything okay?”
Crap. Did she notlookokay? Or was this just Clara being Clara? The other woman had this freaky way of reading people.
“I’m fine. I just…I smelled smoke on the way here and got worried.”
“Yeah, I smelled it too, but I’m sure Becket and his crew have it handled.” Clara sat at her desk, while Sky took a seat beside her. “There’s something else though, isn’t there?”
Sky glanced down at her hands, which were clasped tightly in her lap. And the words just fell out of her. “I lost someone in Cheyenne due to a fire. My dog. It might sound silly, but—”
“It doesn’t sound silly. He was your family.”
She blinked back tears. “He was.”
Clara reached out and took her hands. “I’msosorry.”
This time, she couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. “Thank you.”
To her parents, Charlie had just been a dog. Sky had felt so alone in her grief. It was one of the reasons she’d opened up the doggy daycare. And it was why she ran so many fundraisers. Forever trying to make amends for being the reason Charlie lost his life.
She scrubbed the tears from her face. “I think this appointment couldn’t have come at a better time.” She’d been getting acupuncture for most of her adult life because it always made her feel good. Especially at stressful times.
Clara pushed her chair back. “Why don’t you hop up on the bed? I know just what points to do today.”
“Sounds great.” She slipped off her shoes and got comfortable on the bed.
Clara reached for Sky’s arm and touched her pulse. Clara always started sessions this way. All acupuncturists did. Sky had asked Clara about it once, and she’d said something about Qi and blood and organs…it had all gone over her head. She also checked her tongue sometimes, but she had no idea why she did that.
Clara turned and prepared the needles. “How’s everything else in your life going?”
Sky could have laughed. Between her parents and Tony and Becket, her life was somewhere between a comedy and a tragedy. But she hadn’t told Clara about Becket pretending to be her boyfriend because, one, she hadn’t seen her, and two, what was she supposed to say?Your brother has agreed to pretend to date me so my parents won’t set me up with a guy who smells like onions?
“It’s okay,” Sky finally answered. “I’m going to CJ’s tonight with someone from work, so I’m hoping some cocktails will fix everything.”
Clara turned back with a tray of needles. “Oh, I’m going to CJ’s too, with Indie.”
“What a coincidence.” Although, not entirely. CJ’s cocktails were popular in this town. “I’ll see you there.”
“You definitely will.”
Clara stared at her feet, and the moment the first needle went in, she felt the first bit of tension ease from her body. She had no idea how this worked, but it did. It was magic.
* * *
Flames burnedin front of Becket’s eyes. Bright yellow flames that covered the ground around him.
