Page 19 of The House on Firefly Beach
Sydney arrived back home at Starlight Cottage with a notepad full of ideas. She’d spent the rest of the day jotting down ideas for the magazine cover and choosing the next few Ms. Flynn letters. The creative outlet had been good to get her emotions into a calmer state and to push away thoughts of Nate. But when she saw who was out in the yard, she felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She got out of her car and shut the door.
Robby ran around one end of the grassy area with a football tucked under his arm while Nate jogged over to him.
“That was a good move you made,” Nate said, laughing, slightly out of breath before he caught sight of Sydney and offered that eerily familiar smile that made her feel like she was twenty again. Nate and Robby together was an unnerving collision of past and present that made her want to shrink in on herself, unable to face her emotions. But she forced herself to be strong, marching across the yard.
“Hi, honey!” she said, giving Robby a bear hug, lifting him up. She offered a half smile at Nate before turning her attention back to her son. “How was your day with Nana?”
“Good.” He twirled the football in the palm of his hand, the oblong shape of it causing it to wobble. He tossed it into the air.
Nate reached out and caught it above Robby’s head. “Ha! Got it,” he said.
Robby smiled uneasily at Nate, not attempting to get the football back. Clearly reading him, Nate offered him the ball.
Sydney’s blood was beginning to boil. “Robby, do you mind if Nate and I go for a little walk?” she asked.
“May I come?” he asked.
“Not this time. But I’ll come inside in a minute, and we can talk all about your day, okay? Why don’t you see if Beau needs to be let out?”
“Okay,” he said.
“Thanks, buddy.”
Shyly, Robby turned to Nate. “Can we play again?”
Nate kneeled down to get on Robby’s level. “That’s up to your mom. But I’ll try to convince her on our walk.”
After Robby had run off, Sydney whirled around to Nate. “How dare you put me in that position? If I don’t allow you to see him anymore, it will makemelook like the bad guy,” she snapped.
“Why wouldn’t you want me to see him?” he asked.
“You don’t even like kids, do you?”
“What?” His face crumpled in confusion. “What ever gave you that idea?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, frustrated that she was spending time with him instead of being inside with Robby.
“Syd, why wouldn’t you want me to see Robby?” he repeated.
She gritted her teeth, trying to keep her emotions in check, but it was a losing battle. “Because he doesn’t warm up to just anyone. And he doesn’t need someone who will walk out of his life without notice.”
Nate stared at her. “I won’t do that to you again,” he said, his face full of remorse.
“What do you want, Nate?” she asked, her tone now resigned.
He walked over to the pier and sat on the edge of it, his forearms on his knees, his hands clasped, and his head lowered as if he needed a moment to decide what he wanted to say. “That’s not an easy question,” he finally said.
So hedidwant something. She knew it. “Well, just come out with it.”
“I knew coming back would be hard…” He looked up at her. “I’ve ruined everything, and I don’t know how to make things right.” He stood up to face her. “I’m trying, Syd. But you won’t let me in. I miss you so much it hurts.”
“Why did you come back?” she asked, not replying to his admission—she didn’t know how to respond. She just wanted him to leave her in peace so she could get on with her life.
It seemed as though the answer were on the tip of his tongue, yet something was holding him back. Finally, he spoke. “Because this is home for me.”
Sydney knew exactly what he meant; she felt the same about Firefly Beach. But she wished he didn’t feel that way. Why couldn’t he have just stayed in LA or Nashville and left her and her family alone?
“Where will you live?” she asked, the idea that she’d have to face Nate and Juliana for the rest of her days settling hard in her gut. She remembered how, all those years ago, they’d talked about finding an old farmhouse right on the water and restoring it. How naïve they’d been…
