Page 56 of Come Back for Me
“I was hoping I’d find you here.”
“Hadley, this is Miss Sydney.”
Sydney extends her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
They shake, and Hadley looks up to the house. “It’s nice to meet you too. You have really pretty shoes.”
“Thank you.” Sydney’s voice is laced with a smile. “You have very pretty eyes.”
My heart lurches to a stop as I wonder if she sees it. If Sydney knows the brothers as well as she says she does, will she be observant enough to figure it out?
“Thank you, Miss Sydney. Mommy, can I go find Connor?”
“I don’t think . . .”
“Please! I have to help with the barn. I’m sure he’s there. He said once I was done with school I could help him because he needs help. Yesterday, he let the chickens out the wrong door, and I had to chase them so they’d go back in. You can’t let the chickens run around when the cows are there.” Hadley huffs as though it’s common knowledge. “I told him, but he said he was trying to get things done so he could go back to repairing the house. Then we found another problem in the fence, so he was upset.”
“Well, then, don’t you think he has a lot to do and you’ll be in the way?” I ask, hoping she’ll leave him be.
Sydney laughs. “I think you should go find him and let him know all the other things that are broken.”
“You know Connor?” The suspicion in her voice rings clear.
“I do. I knew him when he was a little boy who would follow me around, asking to ride my horses.”
“Really?”
“Yup.”
Hadley’s brow furrows as she looks Sydney up and down. “Did you know he’s my best friend and he thinks I’m the best.”
“He is? Well, he’s a lucky guy,” Sydney’s voice is light and playful. “I wish I had a best friend like you, but . . . he got you first.”
She nods once. “He did. And he calls me Squirt.”
Sydney’s smile grows. “You have a nickname from him?”
“I do.”
“Wow, do know that Connor loves nicknames. When we were little, I gave him the best one and since you’re his best friend, I think you should have it.”
Hadley claps her hands together and squeals. “Really?”
“Absolutely! You should call him Duckie. He loved it so much, and he would laugh so hard hearing it again!” Sydney’s smile tells me that he will not do that.
“Okay! Can I go, Mom?”
“I guess so, but if you don’t find him in the barn, please come right back.”
“I will!” Hadley yells over her shoulder since she’s already running away from us.
Sydney gives a soft laugh. “She’s adorable.”
I watch her run at full speed, hair swaying side to side, and my chest feels lighter. She looks so carefree, like she should be. I try to remember any other time I’d seen her like this, and I come up short.
Sure, she’s been happy in the last seven years, but it’s different. Right now, I don’t see the hesitancy to just be a kid. It’s as if she’s really found a sense of safety that allows her to...be free.
“She’s all that matters to me.”
