As soon as we all return to our house for the post-funeral reception, I disappear into my dad’s den, the place where I said goodbye to him.
I sit down in the chair where he drew his last breath, and I pull out my phone.
I don’t think about what I’m doing when I pull Sky up in my contacts.
Before hitting connect, I flash back to what happened when I called her shortly after returning home—how the operator came on and said the number I had called wasn’t in service.
So I wrote her a letter and mailed it to the address she’d given me. It was returned to sender. And every effort I made to locate her online turned up empty.
I was beyond frustrated.
But I was also distracted by my dad’s rapid decline in health, and I didn’t have much time to focus on anything other than him and my mom.
Right now, sitting alone in his den, I’m desperate to feel something other than the overwhelming sorrow slicing through my chest. Even if it’s anger, I’ll take it.
So I call the number again.
When the phone rings and the operator comes on once more, saying this number is no longer in service, I feel a weird sense of foreboding in my gut. But I push that feeling aside, reaching for the justified anger. When it comes, I let it wash over me.
Sky didn’t seem like the type of girl to play games. But she gave me the wrong contact information. And she had to have done it on purpose.
Dropping the phone into my lap, I slam my fist into my open palm.
She was the one bright spot I had. My world feels so dark right now, and Skylar Rosewood gave me hope.
So the question is, why did she lie to me?
Before I can think too hard about it, there’s a knock on the open door, and Jenson pops his head into the room.
“How you doing?” He glances at the phone in my hand. “You calling somebody?”
I tilt my head toward the half-open door behind him. Without asking why, he shuts it behind him and takes a seat in the chair opposite me.
“What’s up, Colt?”
I’d kept Sky’s existence to myself. I tell my cousins pretty much everything, but that night with Sky felt sacred. I didn’t want to water it down by sharing it with anyone.
But I’m worn down today. And I need another opinion. Jenson’s been my best friend for years, and I know if I tell him to keep this between us, he will without a second’s thought.
“This doesn’t go outside this room,” I say with a hard stare.
He doesn’t even blink. He stretches out his legs and jerks his chin at me. “Lay it on me.”
“I met someone. A girl.”
He raises an eyebrow in surprise. “Really? I didn’t know you even had time lately to date.”
“I don’t. I didn’t. It was one night. In Colorado. She’s from the east coast.”
He nods. “Okay.”
“And I know it sounds nuts, but I felt like she and I could really be something real someday, you know?”
His eyes flash with understanding. “I do. So don’t give up on her just because she’s not local.”
“That’s not the problem.” I hold up my phone. “She gave me the wrong contact information. And she must have done it on purpose.”
He frowns. “She lied?”
