Sunbeams and Thunderstorms (now published so sample only)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Summer sat on a barstool in a centuries old pub. She looked around her and stared at the welcoming surroundings that the last pub she worked at could never achieve.

After meeting everyone at the airport, her mind whirled. She appreciated the chance to sit calmly and take everything in. The lack of people gave her panic a chance to recede.

"I hate to say it but that boy will always run." Jed's voice interrupted her rambling thoughts.

"Sorry?" she glanced over at him, as he walked out from behind the bar.

"Declan has spent his life running from things and it looks like he doesn't intend to stop." Jed sat down next to her.

"I've realised that." She snorted and the older man laughed.

"I'm sure you have. His problem is he's confused and he can't see the proper way out, so he runs."

"Declan said you were angry at him and that you wanted him to do something that he didn't think he could do." She blurted out.

"He doesn't want to face the truth about the something that he's destined to do. The trouble is he started something he should've left alone and now it's his responsibility. I'm not angry with him, a little frustrated, sure, but not angry."

"What do you want him to do for you?"

"Blunt, just like my girl Blaze and that shouldn't surprise me but it does." His smile appeared tinged with nostalgia and a touch of sadness.

"You didn't answer my question." Summer pointed out and his grin widened.

"No, I didn't, but I will swap you a related story instead." He dangled a tempting carrot, Summer loved listening to stories.

"Okay."

"We knew of your coming. Blaze knew she would die the second you were born and we had readied ourselves for her death."

"What?" Summer's shock hit her hard.

"There must always be sunshine and my wife Blaze was the sunshine before you." Jed explained.

"She died because I was born." Summer found a horrid guilt drop into her stomach.

"Just as you will die when the next sunshine is born. That is the way of things," he nodded his head seeming lost in his thoughts for a moment. "A sunshine lives a long life beyond that of an average human. My Blaze lived for over two thousand years." He explained and Summer gasped.

"Two thousand years?"

"Yes, you heard me right, two thousand years."

"That's shocking."

"Over time it's something that you'll adjust too." He assured her.

"I hope so."

"Would you like me to continue the story?"

"Yes, please."

"When I first met Blaze, I was a young idiot. I'd like to say I wasn't but that would be a lie and I promised Blaze that I'd tell you the truth. At the time I was known for thunderstorms and vicious lightning."

"Are you saying that you did what Declan does now?" Summer's eyes widened as she stared at him.

"Yes, and I was just as reckless and stupid as he has always behaved. Except I was younger than what Declan is now." Jed mused.

"Does that mean you're not the desert man?"

"I've had many hats over the years."

"Does the same thing happen with thunderstorms? When one dies one is born?"