บท 8: Acted like he had no responsibility

"Hi, there Big Boy! What are you doing here?" She started patting his head and playing with his ears while he waved his tails and moved his paws into her lap as if they were bestfriends.

She was rewarded with a few barks, indicating that he was happy to see her too. "Yeah, I am glad to see you too." She smiled, enjoying his friendly greeting.

"Oh, who are you with?" She wondered as the dog continued to leak her face. She suddenly realized that if his dog was here, then he would be around here somewhere too.

"Where is that arrogant owner of yours?" She whispered in his ears. He barked again as if the dog wanted to answer her.

"Baxter, what have you done?" Her mortal enemy said as he walked towards them, carrying a coffee and a paper bag in his hand. "Oh! I'm sorry about what Baxter did to you, Miss." He started apologizing profusely, seeing the spilled coffee on her shirt. "Bad, Baxter!" shifting his gaze and directing his reprimanding words to the dog.

"Oh, it is fine. He just wanted to play, I think." She answered the tall man while playing with Baxter's tummy as the dog refused to leave her side.

"He doesn't bother other people, so I don't usually put a chain on him." He started explaining. "He also doesn't easily warm up to strangers, so I don't understand why he jumped into you."

"Maybe he knows that I meant no harm. He just wants to make friends." She was directing her words to the man standing in front of her, hoping he would get the double meaning.

"You're probably right." Acknowledging her deduction.

"Really." She could not believe that this person was the same person she had an encounter with yesterday. Was he sick or something? She wondered.

"Yeah. What can I do to make up for what he did?" He offered. "Maybe I can buy you a new shirt or pay for the damages."

"No need. I'm on my way home, so there is no need for that. I could easily wash the stain away." Then, she finally realized that this man did not recognize her at all.

"I'm Raf, by the way. The owner of this rascal," extending his hand while commanding Baxter to sit on the side.

"I'm Sky," she followed suit and took his hand for a shake.

"This boy is Baxter," tapping his dog on the back. "It's nice to meet you, Sky. I think I should be doing something to make up for what Baxter did," Raf said.

"Oh, don't trouble yourself. It is nothing," dismissing Raf's offer.

"Let me give you my card instead. Just call me if you need anything, or you can leave me yours," Raf pulled a card from his wallet and handed it to her.

"I'll just take yours. Let us say that this was one extraordinary experience. It was nice meeting you too, Raf," Sky said, taking the card and putting it inside her bag.

"What about dinner tonight? At least let me make up for the trouble we cause." He offered, showing off his gorgeous smile. He felt that he should at least do something about what his dog did. Although, his inner thought was mocking him that it was just an excuse to see her again.

"Why don't I just give you a call later?" she answered. "I have to go, but it was great seeing you, Baxter." She patted him for the last time and started walking to the store where Lindsey was shopping.

Raf saw her walked away, somehow feeling disappointed that he might not see her again. However, this was a small town, the possibility that they might run into each other was not impossible. That, at least, gave him hope as he tugged Baxter towards his car.

She could not believe that he had fooled that guy. So, his name was Raf. Why was he asking her out for dinner? Was that a date? But he was already married. Although Brad was married, at least he did not have a kid. She thought.

When she looked back in the direction of the café, Raf and Baxter were already gone. Luckily, she spotted Lindsey walking out of the shop with groceries in her arms. She helped Lindsey with the bags and walked towards the car, finding Gerry busy watching a baseball game on the built-in iPad on the front of the car dashboard.

"What happened to you?" Lindsey asked, seeing her soiled clothes.

She smiled and answered, "Just a coffee accident." Not offering any more explanations. There was nothing much to tell as far as she was concerned. The accident was over, and she would rather have nothing to do with him ever again.

Gerry probably did not see her interaction with Raf earlier as he was so engrossed with the sports, which irritated her wife immensely since he was supposed to be watching her.

After taking a bath, she remembered to call her sister, Margie, to check on his father. As she took his phone out of her bag, a piece of card fell on the floor. Upon seeing it, she recognized it and picked it up.

Rafael Walker. For a calling card, it was quite bare, except for his name and his number. What did he do for a living? She began to wonder. He did live in a huge house, which appeared to be well-kept, so that would mean he must be well-off.

"Sky, would you like some snacks? I made some sandwiches and lemonade," Lindsey shouted outside her room.

In a minute, she quickly called her sister and talked to her about the latest condition of his dad. She was glad that he was doing fine, although the constant news about her affair still affected him sometimes.

She promised her sister that her affair with Brad was over. She was now moving on with her life. She could not do that to her dad ever again. She placed the phone back on the side table and realized that she was still holding on to the card in her hand.

After staring at it for the last time, she placed the card back in her bag and walked out towards the patio where Lindsey was waiting, taking a mouthful of the sandwich.

"That looks delicious." She grabbed one on the table and sat on the available chair. "Where's Gerry?"

"He's probably in front of the television, watching that stupid game," Lindsey said with fake annoyance. Sky could sense the love that the two of them shared, although they did bicker a lot.

She suddenly missed having a mother. She never experienced it since her mother died giving birth to her. Would she have witnessed the same kind of affection between her parents? She only heard from his dad stories about her, but that was it, just stories. Shaking off the loneliness she suddenly felt.

Drinking her lemonade to clear her throat, she eyed Lindsey and decided to ask her about something that bothered her on the car ride back. "Can you tell me something about Xavier and his family?"

It was a puzzle to her why he kept seeing Raf around, but Xavier was a no-show. She did see Raf twice when she was on the beach, walking alone on the shore going in the opposite direction.

Xavier did say that he would visit soon, so where was he now? Why did she not see him with his dad? Most importantly, where was his mom? She thought. She was only curious, she reasoned.

"Xavier used to live with his parents in the house over there," pointing to the house where she met him. "But he had to move to the city because of his condition. We don't have fancy hospitals here on the island for his delicate health condition.

"Oh! What does he have? He did look healthy." She placed her sandwich on the table, suddenly losing her appetite. She was concerned that Xavier might be terminally ill or something.

"No. It's not that serious as far as we know, but Xavier has several allergies that can be lethal if not treated immediately, so they opted to live closer to a good hospital." Lindsey quickly explained, seeing the concern on her face.

Feeling relieved that Xavier's condition was not that bad, she pressed for more information. "What about his parents?"

She again debated that she just wanted to know the boy, but in truth, her need to know Xavier's background was stemming from something else entirely. She knew she should not be feeding her curiosity, but she could not help it.

She had to figure out why Raf, the father of Xavier, acted like he had no responsibility if his son was in such a condition.