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“What’s happening?” As soon as the question was out of her mouth, they stopped in front of Franky, and she noticed Gus dancing with Ivy across the dance floor. She appreciated what Merritt was doing, trying to push her and Franky together.
“Hello, ladies,” Franky said.
“Hey, Franky,” Merritt replied. “Looks like you’ve lost your dance partner.”
“It would appear that way. Would you like to dance?”
“I was about to get a drink, but maybe Sky would.”
Franky held his hand out to Skylar. “Take a spin with me?”
Skylar couldn’t hold back her smile. “Sure.”
He led her onto the floor and slid one arm around her back, taking her hand with the other. Her entire body tingled from the joy of being this close to him.
“You look beautiful,” he told her.
“Thanks.” She gave him a little smile. “You look really good in a tux.”
“Do I?” He raised an eyebrow at her and grinned.
She nodded. “I like this one better than the gangster suit at the gala last summer, though.”
He let out a loud laugh. “Ah, yes, I’d almost forgotten about that … Bonnie.” He winked.
They danced for a minute in mostly comfortable silence. There was still a hint of awkwardness, particularly from the things she had bottled up inside that she needed to say. If only she could summon the courage. Instead, she went with a safe subject.
“It was a beautiful wedding, wasn’t it?” Skylar turned her eyes on her brother and his new wife.
Franky looked their way too. “It was. It’s really made me think about a lot of things.” His eyes met hers again, and her stomach flipped.
“Oh, yeah?” she managed, despite her nerves. “Like what?”
“The future. What I want out of life.” He looked in Ivy’s direction, and Skylar’s heart sank.
“What do you want, Franky?”
Her use of his name brought his eyes back to hers. “I want someone to spend my life with. Like Bash and Gen. Like Gus and Merritt. Like our parents.”
Their gazes held for several long moments before he turned his attention on Ivy again.
“I think I’m falling for her,” he admitted.
Skylar’s heart squeezed. She wanted to jump up and down like a child and scream, “No! Not her! Me!”
Franky looked her in the eye. “You like her, don’t you?”
She didn’t want to answer that. He watched her, awaiting a response. Heat rushed to her cheeks as nerves churned around inside her, and suddenly, the delicious meal from dinner wasn’t sitting quite right in her stomach anymore.
She stopped dancing, her hands falling to her belly.
“Hey, are you feeling okay?” Franky seemed to sense the change in her. “You look a little pale.”
“I think I need some air.” Skylar rushed off and made her escape from the barn just as the song was coming to an end. Her feet moved toward the house as quickly as her heels would allow in the snow, and she didn’t look back. She barely made it through the door and into the half bath before she lost her dinner. The stress of all her dashed hopes and dreams had really done a number on her stomach this week, and hearing him talk about Ivy like that was all it took to send her to her knees in front of the toilet.
After cleaning herself up, she dabbed her face with the hand towel and stared at her reflection for a long time.
How did I get here?