Page 37 of The House on Firefly Beach
“Do you know what Aunt Clara told me once?” she asked, trying to keep the wobble out of her voice. She had the attention of both Nate and Uncle Hank. “She told me that the name Starlight reminded her that even in the darkness that life could sometimes bring, this place shined—just like a star in the black of night. It brought her into the present, and she swore that she was her truest self when she simply existed in that single moment. She said that the past had already been and the future had yet to be dreamt. The present—this—” Sydney waved her hand around. “This is what matters most. This place was what made her whole again when the world made her feel less than that.”
“She was a wise woman,” Nate said, his knowing eyes on Sydney. “I like the idea of existing in the present moment. It makes everything else fade away.”
“What if we’re all still trying to live inherreality,” Uncle Hank said. “What if I might miss her less when I didn’t have so many reminders?”
The pain Sydney had dealt with over the last year as she tried to help Uncle Hank manage his grief while she coped with her own sadness came rushing back to her, so much so that she almost didn’t register the ringing of Nate’s cell phone.
“Sorry,” he said, waving his phone at them. “Juliana’s calling.” He hit the speaker and held it in front of him. “Hey, Juliana. You’re on speaker with Sydney and Hank.”
“Okay…” Her voice sounded small through the phone. “They are outside the house and I can’t leave.”
“The photographers?” he asked.
“Yes. I don’t know what to do. I’m supposed to go to my counseling appointment right now.”
Sydney jumped up and looked at the clock. It was seven forty-five. She needed to get ready; she’d told Mary Alice she’d meet her at the wellness center to look over some ideas she had for the magazine. The thought was jarring, since she had so much on her mind already this morning, but she tried to focus on the issues she could solve right now. “I can pick her up and she can ride with me,” Sydney offered. “She could wear one of Mama’s big sun hats to hide her face.”
“Hang on,” Nate said. “Juliana, call your agent and explain what’s going on. We need to know if it’s just paparazzi or if you need to be in LA for a few more months to finish your contract.”
“I cannot go back to LA,” Juliana said, her voice breaking on the last word, panic in her voice.
“We can make sure you won’t even have to see Seth. We’ll file a restraining order.” Nate spoke as if he were the only person in the room.
“No,” Juliana said quickly. “That will make him unhappy and I don’t know what he will do.”
Nate took in a long breath. “Okay. Call your agent and feel out the situation. Once we know who’s out there, we can figure out how to handle it. I’ll make sure Mary Alice knows you can’t get to her, and I’ll reschedule. I’ll work from here today.”
Juliana said her goodbyes and Nate ended the call. He turned to Sydney. “If they’re outside Malory’s still, they’re probably outside here too. Is it all right if I ask Mary Alice if she can come to you today? Otherwise, the photographers might follow you, and I don’t want them to connect anything to the wellness center. If itisthe press, then even the tiniest inkling that Juliana or I might be getting therapy could be terrible. They’ll blow it out of proportion. The next thing we know, they’ll say we’re unstable.”
Uncle Hank stood up before Sydney could respond, and retrieved a pair of keys from the cupboard. He walked back over to them and set them down in front of Nate. “Take my boat,” he said. “No one will see you if you leave from the back of the cottage. Pack what you need for the day and the two of you can work out on the water.”
Nate took the keys and his phone and gave Uncle Hank a squeeze around the shoulders with one arm. “You are the best, Uncle Hank,” he said. “I’ll call Mary Alice now so she knows what’s going on.”
“We won’t have any Wi-Fi… Give me a second so I can pull up a few emails for my column.” Sydney was trying to get her head around the fact that she was going to spend the day secluded on a boat with Nate.
“Of course,” Nate said. In the midst of the drama, a small smile formed at the corners of his mouth. “You’re writing again,” he said. It hadn’t been a question but more of an observation.
She nodded.
“I’m so happy to hear that.” He turned to Uncle Hank. “Great idea,” he said. “We’ll take the boat.”
“Excellent,” Uncle Hank said as he opened the large bag of dog food and scooped up a cup of it, dumping it in Beau’s bowl. The dog ran over and sniffed his new meal. “Then when you get home, perhaps you can fill me in on what in the world is going on.”
Sydney patted his shoulder.
Nate, who’d stepped outside to make the call, came back in and dangled the keys in front of Sydney. “Mary Alice is completely fine with it. Get your swimsuit. It might get hot out there.”
Jacqueline came in from outside. “I heard you two are taking a little boat ride today,” she said with a cautious smile. “I’ll make y’all some lunch and put it in the cooler.”
Sydney’s day was suddenly turning out a whole lot differently. And she wasn’t quite sure about it at all.
Chapter Thirteen
Sydney stretched her bare legs out on the bench seat of Uncle Hank’s center-console fishing boat, scooting back so that her laptop was under the shade of the overhang above the captain’s chair and opened the few emails she’d quickly copied and pasted, praying she’d gotten something with substance. She’d been in such a rush that she hadn’t read a single one before now, and she noticed that one of the emails was a response from Mel4221. She read that one first.
Dear Ms. Flynn,
I definitely hear you that there are things in this life that aren’t meant to be fixed, and I question whether this is one of those things all the time. She isn’t coming back to me, and I can hardly manage, knowing that she was the one person in this life who completed me. I haven’t found anyone who can fill her shoes since. What if I’ve ruined everything by letting her go?
