Repair Me (Kin #1)(42)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Sky walked toward my dad and looked back at me. “I guess I had a good reason to come back.”

He looked her up and down and I immediately felt protective of her, thinking back to him eyeing her up on the side of the road. “Sky’s spendin’ the weekend with me, so I won’t be able to go fishin’ like you wanted.”

She turned around and looked at me wide-eyed. “I love fishing! Can we all go?”

My dad chuckled. “If you’d rather go fishin’ than be alone with my son, I wonder if I didn’t teach him enough of my moves.” He started swaying his body around.

I cringed. “You’re goin’ to make her lose her breakfast. Quit that shit!” I put my arm around Sky. “You ain’t got nothin’ on me, old man. Besides, I’m pretty sure she’s happy, aren’t you?”

She leaned her head into my chest. “Of course.”

He looked from me to Sky. “So are we goin’ or not?”

Sky answered for us. “Yes. We’d love to go.”

“Don’t forget your mother comes home next weekend. Do you plan on bringin’ this pretty lady to the party?”

Sky looked up at me. I’d tried to avoid the subject, since I wasn’t planning on going. “Is it really necessary that I welcome her back?”

“You’re damn right it is. She needs us.”

“I don’t trust her and I think it’s stupid to assume she’s changed. In my opinion, the woman should be locked up for at least five years, before any of us should trust her again. She left us!”

“She made mistakes!”

“She abandoned her family. God knows what she’s done for all these years. “ I was irate thinking about it. How could he be so stupid when it came to her?

“She will always be my wife and your mother. Time isn’t going to change that.”

I pointed my finger in his face. “Mark my word. When she rips out your heart again, I don’t want to hear your shit, old man.”

I grabbed Sky and we walked back to my place before he could say anything else about it. I didn’t just want to avoid talking about my mom, I wanted to avoid seeing her and talking to her. Nothing she could say would make things okay between us. She’d destroyed me and now I had more reason than ever to hate her.

Sky waited to speak until we were back inside. “Ford, I think it’s sweet that your dad still cares for her.”

“Please don’t do that!”

She sat down on the bed. “Do what? If you want to know me, you’re going to have to know that I’m going to give you my opinion.”

I leaned into her, kissing the top of her head. “I appreciate your opinion, but you don’t know what it was like. She left us. She just walked out. We needed her.”

We were so close and I could tell she was searching for what to say next. I kissed her on the top of the head again and stood back up straight. I’d made it to the bathroom and started taking off my clothes before she followed me inside. “I don’t have anything to wear.” She looked down at her little skirt and tight shirt she was wearing. “I can’t fish in this.”

I leaned against the wall and turned off the water. After putting a pair of shorts back on, I grabbed her hand. “Come with me.”

As I pulled her out of the apartment, she kept asking where we were going, but I refused to answer her. Walking in bare feet across the gravel and hard grass was pretty painful. It helped me focus with what I was about to do. When we got into my dad’s place, I led her upstairs, still saying nothing. At the back of the hallway, we stopped at the door. I put my hand on the doorknob and closed my eyes as I opened it.

Sky let go of my hand when she realized where I had taken her. She backed up and wouldn’t enter the room. “Ford.”

“We don’t come in here much. I reckon my dad does when nobody’s around. When she first passed away, my aunt came in and cleaned everything, since neither of us could do it.”

I sat down on Harley’s bed and looked around. There were still pictures of us everywhere. I could feel the lump forming in my throat as I watched Sky taking in the room. She walked over to her vanity table and looked at some of the pictures.

Of course, Ash was also in most of them. “They were really close, huh?”

“Yeah.”

She walked over to the bed and crouched down in front of me. “I can’t wear your sister’s clothes.”

I brushed my hand over her cheek. “They’re just sitting in here collectin’ dust. A couple outfits won’t hurt. She was close to your size, so I’m sure you can find plenty. Help yourself.”

She looked into my eyes that were burning. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Yes. I can’t have my girl smellin’ like shit.”

She smacked my leg. “I can’t believe you said that!”

I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down on the bed with me. My fingers maneuvered over her sides, tickling her. She began screaming and trying to wiggle herself away.

Then the door to my sister’s room busted open. I saw my father standing there wide eyed. “What do you think you’re doin’?”

Sky sat up and then I followed. “Calm down, Dad. We were just gettin’ Sky somethin’ to fish in. It ain’t no big deal.”

“Bullshit!” He looked around the room. “This is all we have left. You both need to get out of here, right now!”

I stood up and grabbed Sky’s hand. I could tell she was freaking out over the way he was being. “They’re just clothes.” I grabbed the few things that Sky had picked out and we walked by my dad.

He leaned against the doorframe. “I don’t really feel like goin’ fishin’.”

I held up my hands and walked backwards down the hall. “Whatever!” After making it outside, I put my arm around Sky as we walked toward the apartment. “Sorry about him.”

“I get why he’s mad.”

I held the door as we walked into the apartment. Sky turned around to face me. I rubbed her shoulders. “You borrowin’ some clothes ain’t goin’ to make us forget about her. Nothin’ could make that happen.” I tugged on the bottom of her shirt waiting for her to lift her arms and allow me to pull it over her head. She followed my lead and the shirt was tossed on the floor at our feet. “Now that we ain’t goin’ fishin’, I think we should make the most of our day together.”