The paramedics were leaving just as car
after car began to pull up to the house. Maury was leaning up against the front
door frame shaking each man’s hand as they approached but not letting them
enter the house until Dom gave the OK. Dominic hadn't prepared Skye and the family
for what was coming yet, so he made them wait.
Inside Skye
was sitting at the kitchen table now, still looking very pale but the confusion
that was at the forefront of her mind now was why Chase and Dom made the kids
sit at the table with her to get settled in to listen to some story. She didn’t
have much to do with the man, that was Deacon’s territory but she figured that
she understood why he was here now with the way she had collapsed and all.
Couldn’t blame him for that, he had already lost his nephew.
As
they were seating themselves, Cyrus was strong on Skye’s right, Kyra on the
left and Savannah right on her lap with her head resting
gently on Skye’s chest. Dom surveyed the faces in front of him, looking at each
one of them with a degree of concern what Skye thought was love. He tried to
lighten them up with humour “Damn what a good looking bunch!” he boasted and
that was the truth. With Skye’s looks and Deacon’s eyes Cyrus was classically
handsome while Kyra had her father’s blonde hair and blue eyes and looked just
like him. Little Savannah had dark hair and green eyes just like her mother but
her father’s regal nose and full lips. Looking at Dominic now Skye could see
where the nose came from and now that she was looking at them Chase had the
same nose too.
Skye looked
tired but smiled as she gathered her scattered thoughts together and because
Dom could always make her laugh no matter how big and scary he was trying to be.
Even though they were not close like he and Deacon were the effort still made
the smile that she showed him genuine.
Dominic sensed that things needed to move quickly as he didn't want to
keep Skye from resting but he knew that without the information he had to give
her, there was someone else that wouldn’t be resting much longer either and
that was going to be put off as long as possible. At the same time he felt that
after she heard what was happening to her she might not rest again anyway. He
leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and looked at the white oak box
that still sat ominously on the table in front of him and with a slight nod at
Chase he went and stood with his back against the island right behind Skye and
Savannah.
A
golden twinkle caught the corner of Chase’s eye, he lowered and tilted his head
towards the glint. When he saw where it came from he rolled his eyes but kept
his composure and shifted a look over to Dom in silent conversation. Dom leaned
down and the statue was sitting pristinely underneath it. When he looked under
the table again all the eyes at the table followed suit and he knew that this
particular statue was moving towards its host bit by bit. He cursed and looked
back at Chase.
“Savannah
honey?” Dom said softly. “Can you pick that up for me please and bring it
here?” Eager to help Sav hopped down off of her mother’s lap and crawled under
the table. Skye bent sideways and held her hands out. “Give it to me sweetie
and I’ll give it to Uncle.” At the same time Dominic and Chase yelled “NO!”
Successfully scaring the shit out of
everyone at the table, Skye jacked up and glared at Dom. “What the fuck!” she
yelled. Sadly she was ignored at the moment as Chase
placed the box on the table directly in front of Dominic and he opened the lid.
“Good Girl Sav, can you put it in the box for me?” the little girl did as she
was told without hesitation. Skye’s frustration was about to shoot through the
roof when she saw Chase pick up his cell phone and hit the speed dial. With
both hands spread before her on the kitchen table, fingers splayed she took a
deep breath. “Dominic…you better tell me what the hell is going on…right NOW!”
Her heart was like a jackrabbit in her chest and she wanted answers as well of
some kind of a normal day.
Outside, without needing a full ring Maury answered his cell because he
already knew who it was. “Ready?” Maury asked. Chase glanced at the family at the table and
replied “Ya we’re good to go now.” As he hung up the phone the front door opened
and a gust of fresh air spilled into the house. Skye’s first thought was that
of course, Maury was coming in and then she heard footsteps…lots of them and
took another deep breath and put her forehead on the table lightly banging it
on the wood. In the back of her mind she thought all this breathing was
bullshit but the fresh air did succeed in making her feel much more steady and
despite the trail of men entering her house she felt surprisingly calm.
One after
another they kept coming until 13 of them stood in her kitchen making it seem so
much smaller, their size sucking up the space. Skye raised her head and looked
at Dom with raised eyebrows. “Do you mind telling me now why you have a bunch of
strange men in my kitchen?” Skye recognized a few of them as they had been
around for what seemed like forever but she had never really spoken to any of
them except for Dominic, Chase and Maury. Carl and Max were brothers that had
helped Deacon renovate the space for the antique shop and that was as much as
she knew about them.
The rest of
them she didn’t know and didn’t seem to care to know right now about who they
were as much as why they were there. Dominic tapped the top of the box and took
a breath before he spoke. “Skye…do you remember when you met Deacon?”
She
was somewhat thrown by the question not knowing what this had to do with her
late husband so she spoke carefully “Yes, I met him on the Island in that bar
with the big purple neon sign.” She was vague on purpose and paused in thought
for a moment before continuing. “The Shades...I think that’s what it was
called. Why?”
He tensed
slightly but Skye caught it but he asked anyway without pause “Do you know why
he was there that night?” Thinking of
Deacon wasn’t helping her, Skye was getting more agitated and didn’t like the
feelings she was having along with the over abundance of testosterone in her
house, not to mention the topic of her meeting Deacon at all. She did know
however that if Dom was asking these questions then there was a reason for
it.
One of
the men at the back of the room started to fidget with one of the kitchen
drawers. She inclined her head just a fraction and shot him an annoyed glare
and started tapping her fingers on the table just to keep herself moving. He
stopped immediately. Thoughts began to run through her head of that night.
Images circled but stayed just outside of her periphery in her mind and she
couldn't seem to pull them in.
“Skye!”
Dominic’s voice interrupted her train of thought and was loud enough to make
everyone at the table jump. “Do you remember?” He repeated and she forced herself
to take hold of the memory. It hurt but she tried put the faded edges together.
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