Page 4 of Reckless Skye

Skye winced when her smile pulled at her split lip. ‘Today’s the day, Dre. I can’t …’ She trailed off as the immensity of it overwhelmed her. ‘I can’t stay for her anymore. My mom’s never going t-to leave …’

Andrea nodded. ‘We’ve known that for a long time.’

‘I guess I just hoped I could change her mind.’

Despite graduating almost seven months prior, Skye had waited to move on in the hope that she could convince her mom to come with her. She had turned down every entry-level law clerk job offer she’d received. And with Holden Marchant’s name paving the way, there had been many. Several, she hadn’t even applied to.

Eventually, Holden had caught on. He’d told her in no uncertain terms what his expectations of her were.

Skye had refused.

He’d kicked her out, expecting that she wouldn’t be able to rough it without the lavish lifestyle she’d grown up in. But what Holden couldn’t have known was that all those things had just held her down.

Skye had stayed on Andrea’s sofa for months, broke but free. She’d picked up night shifts at the local dive bar on Lemmon Avenue. She’d worked hard, slinging cheap drinks for less than minimum wage and hefty tips. She’d slowly and consistently added to the small pile of savings she’d accrued and waited for the right time to speak to her mom.

All for nothing.

‘Where will you go?’ Andrea asked.

‘I don’t know.’

Andrea followed as Skye limped through to the bathroom to strip her soggy clothes.

‘I just need to move, you know. Maybe head west to California. Work my way across the country. There’s a place my mom took me once – Hunt Ranch.’

Andrea rubbed at her nose. ‘A ranch? Like with cows and stuff?’

‘It’s technically a resort – a luxury one. But maybe they could use my business degree? Or I could get a job with the horses?’

Skye gingerly tugged her shirt up over her head. She inhaled a broken breath when rivulets of pain funnelled down her torso.

‘Hunt Ranch is the only place that’s ever really felt safe, I guess. Maybe it was only an illusion. It was one of the rare occasions my father wasn’t with us. It was just my mom and me.’ The memory had that grief rising, but Skye slowly, systematically forced it down. ‘It’s as good a place to start as any.’ She shrugged, too afraid to let her excitement show. ‘Hopefully, they’ll hire me. If not, I’ll move on until I find a place that will.’

Andrea didn’t reply.

Skye looked up and saw Dre’s eyes fixed on her purpling ribs.

‘Skye …’

‘It won’t happen again,’ Skye assured her.

‘Do you think he’ll follow you?’

‘No. He won’t know how to find me, and as long as I don’t cause any waves, he probably won’t try. Not yet …’

‘And your grandma’s will?’

‘Holden’s not an idiot,’ Skye replied. ‘Even if he was a danger to me, my grandma didn’t trust him. If anything happens to me prior to my twenty-fifth birthday, the trust is dissolved and the money is dispersed to pre-selected charities. So, I have over two years before I can access the trust and start legal proceedings to cut him off. That buys me time. The most he’ll do before then is try to contest the will. But he won’t get anywhere. Grandma Jo was remarkably sharp until the end, and everyone knew it.’

‘But—’

‘I’ll handle it, Dre.’ Skye didn’t know how. But she would find a way. She had two years to plan.

She pulled on a loose-fitting cotton top, one that wouldn’t squeeze her ribs.

Her broken fingers, she’d tried to force straight on the walk home. Now, they were still slightly crooked, angry red, and hugely swollen. ‘Can you grab me two plastic knives and that medical tape?’

‘Yeah. No. How about we go to urgent care and get some X-rays?’