Page 71
The living quarters were small but cosy. There was a three-person couch set beneath a lofted queen bed. A microwave was recessed in a cupboard above a sink, with a mini fridge below. Two small closets held the toilet and shower. Storage cupboards and drawers were cleverly tucked away in every available space – above and beneath the sofa, along the side walls, and next to the microwave. A small TV had been mounted above the foot of the bed.
The trailer was almost thirty years old, and the age showed – in the faded linoleum on the walls and the tread-worn carpet, suspicious stain and all. But Skye was still immensely overwhelmed by the generous gift.
She’d pay them back as soon as she could, of course.
Skye plopped down on the sofa, while Stevie opened and closed cupboards. ‘This is seriously lit.’ She tapped the WiFi router that sat on the counter.
‘They’ve stocked it with everything you could possibly need,’ Andrea added and sat down next to Skye.
Skye let her head fall back on the sofa. ‘Yeah,’ she rasped.
Andrea took Skye’s hand between both of hers. ‘What’s wrong?’
Skye wasn’t sure how to explain except to say, ‘I don’t like being indebted to people. And a gift this extravagant …’
‘They’re not your father, Skye,’ Andrea commented gently. ‘They’re friends. Their gifts don’t come with the expectation of loyalty or forgiveness or silence.’
‘Yeah. Fuck Holden,’ Stevie added and raised her hand to Andrea’s for a high-five.
Skye cracked her knuckles. ‘He got me the Porsche for my seventeenth birthday.’ The 911 had been parked in the front driveway with an ostentatious red bow stuck to the hood, one that had screamed, Look what we can afford for our teenage daughter to all the neighbours. ‘I remember going outside and seeing it there and just feeling … nothing. No joy, no surprise. But I acted like it was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me.’
Andrea didn’t comment, just asked, ‘Have you come up with a plan yet?’
‘Keep moving. Don’t look back. If Holden shows up, run. As soon as my birthday passes and I have control of the estate, cut him off, make sure that he gets nothing if anything happens to me.’ Skye picked at a loose thread on the sofa. ‘This is going to sound terrible, but I’m hoping he’ll leave my mom when I cut her allowance. It was the one thing my grandma couldn’t bring herself to do. But it’s enabling her to stay with him.’
‘You can’t outrun him forever, Skye,’ Andrea pointed out.
‘I know.’
Her friends exchanged a worried glance.
‘I’ll deal with him when I have to,’ Skye insisted. ‘Until then, I just want to keep moving. Keep living. Keep racing.’
She knew they didn’t necessarily agree. But neither one of them argued.
They exited the way they’d come in. Except this time, Stevie saw TJ’s saddle hanging in the tack compartment. She flicked one fender with a long coffin-cut nail. ‘You kept this?’
Skye tipped her shoulders self-consciously. ‘I couldn’t get rid of it.’
‘Why?’ Andrea asked.
‘I dunno. I thought about it. But despite everything that happened, TJ gave that saddle to me in a moment of kindness.’ Skye ran one hand over the well-worn seat. ‘And destroying something I love just because he gave it to me seemed childish. When I see him again, he won’t know how much he hurt me.’
Stevie held up one hand. ‘What do you mean when you see him again?’
‘Apparently, he’s working rodeo events,’ Skye explained, her tone carefully moderated. ‘Which means I’ll run into him eventually. Probably soon. I’m not sure if he’s travelling, but my schedule takes me to Arizona quite a few times, because the Turquoise Circuit hosts a lot of co-approved rodeos with the California Circuit.’
‘Well, fuck.’ Stevie crossed her arms sassily. ‘Dibs on the shovel.’
While Stevie resorted to dark humour, Andrea defaulted to worry. She caught Skye by the elbow, stopping her in her tracks when she tried to walk past. ‘Are you going to be okay?’
‘Yes.’
‘Skye—’
‘It’s fine.’ At Andrea’s doubtful look, Skye added, ‘I was naive and inexperienced. I read too much into it. But things are different now. I’m different now.’
‘He hurt you.’
