However Long the Night

Chapter Thirteen

Toby's tongue lolled lazily as they walked in the warm evening air. It was more humid than Will expected, and the leaves rustled in the breeze, curling and shifting on the branches above. He hoped they weren't in for rain again; the funeral would be sombre enough on its own without the weather lending an atmospheric hand. His eyes followed the cracks in the sidewalk as they branched off into tributaries, reaching toward the grass or flowing down to the pavement below.

Reaching Shelby's house, he spotted Skye sitting on the white wicker chair reading one of the books she'd borrowed from his dad. His mind wandered back to the story she told him at the cottage and he wondered if she'd eventually find the answers she was looking for. When Toby woofed at the sight of her, she looked up with a smile, and Will's stomach did a little somersault.

"Hey! I'm almost done reading these. I'll have them back to your dad this week, promise."  Setting the book on a small table, she hopped down the porch steps. Tugging on his leash like a canine Skye-magnet, Toby scrambled to cover her in wet doggy kisses. She giggled and bent down to snuggle him. "Hi, buddy, did you miss me? I sure missed you." Panting through a wide toothy grin, Toby leaned against her and closed his eyes in bliss.

"So, how about me? Did you miss me, too?"

She turned her green eyes over to Will, her 1 shining bright. "Maybe." 

"Guess I'll just have to remind you how irresistible I am."

Grinning wide, Skye raised a wicked eyebrow. "Um, did we ever establish that you were irresistible in the first place?"

Will laughed. "Wow. That's cold, Stormy. Fine, I'll just crank up the charm, and you won't know what hit you." He bowed deep, Josh-style. "Care to join us, milady?"

"Wow; whoever said chivalry's dead? Okay, let's get this party started. Where to?" She gave Toby's fur an extra ruffle before popping back up to her feet.

"I was thinking we could walk down by the park off Kemper Street. It's off-leash after seven o'clock, so Toby loves it, and there's a mean set of swings we could check out. Little known fact: I was the underdog champ in third grade." After the week he'd had, it felt good to smile.

"Now, those are some skills I gotta see. Little known fact: I'm a sucker for party tricks."

They fell into step, and Will pointed out local landmarks on the way to the park, from the bakery that sold melt-in-your-mouth shortbreads at Christmas, to the baseball diamond where he, Josh, and Alex learned how to catch, hit, and slide into home base. He took the scenic route, stretching out time to enjoy Skye's company a little longer and melting away the heaviness that had been sitting on his chest since Pete's death.

As soon as they reached the park gates, Toby started to whine and pace.

"Chill, little dude. Look, I'm undoing your leash, see? Run free, bro, run free!" As soon as Will unhooked his collar, Toby took off in a frenzy, running as fast as his furry legs could go.  "He knows to stay inside the gate, so we can just let him burn off steam. Besides, there's no one else here anyway. Race you to the swings?"

"You got it." Skye took off like a shot.

"Hey! You totally cheated!" He ran after her under the late evening sun that threw golden rays over everything in sight, contrasting against Skye's dark hair as she ran, shining on her pale skin. She was fast, but Will was faster. He caught up to her quickly and grabbed at her hand, but she yanked it away, laughing hard. Then she tripped, sending them both bowling over onto the grass.

"Ow," Skye moaned, giggling despite the fall.

"Are you okay?" He moved hair out of her eyes and felt a flicker of excitement trace its way into his chest.