Page 47 of The House on Firefly Beach
“I am not sure,” she said, her frown pulling down her features, showing her stress. “Nate said he told you about Seth.” She pushed her dark glasses onto the top of her head and made eye contact with Sydney.
“Yes. I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
Juliana peered over at Nate. “I am so thankful for that man,” she stated, her whole body now turned toward him.
Sydney stopped walking to stand next to her, and Beau turned around to see what was going on. Then he sat, clearly waiting to keep going.
“He is easy to love,” she said. “I fell head over heels for him, but he did not feel the same way for me, so we settled for friends.”
Sydney was surprised by Juliana’s admission. Here Juliana was, confessing that she’d loved Nate, and he hadn’t loved her back. Sydney could definitely relate to that. How glamorous Juliana Vargas’s life had seemed from the outside. Any bystander would assume she could get anyone she wanted. Sydney was learning that things definitely weren’t always what they seemed. She and Juliana weren’t all that different.
“I cannot see myself dating him now,” Juliana said. “We have been friends for too long. But I always wonder who will have his heart in the end.” She pivoted around to face Sydney. “Whoever it is, is a lucky woman.” She let out a wistful sigh. “He is a good man.”
“Do you think people change?” Sydney asked as she watched Nate running with the kids.
“I don’t think people change entirely. They just learn more about what they are and are not capable of. And sometimes, you think you know someone, but you have not reallyheardthem yet. My grandfather used to say, ‘If you want to know someone, listen to their stories—every single one. Who they are is in their stories.’” Juliana slipped her glasses back down over her eyes and resumed walking.
“I definitely know Nate’s stories,” Sydney said, leaning more toward the idea that Nate was who he was and there was no changing him.
“Ah, but you have not heard themall.”
“What hasn’t he told me?” Sydney asked.
“I haven’t heard them all either,” Juliana said. “But when it comes to you, he definitely has stories to tell.” She pressed her full lips together, seemingly thinking about something. Finally, she said, “He told me once that he loves you. I asked him how he could love someone he hasn’t seen in ten years. He said, ‘Because I know her soul.’ That is pretty powerful.”
First Ben and now Juliana. It didn’t make any sense. “He left me,” she said. “He just walked out on me, out of the blue, to pursue his music career. Not a call—nothing. Just gone.”
“I’m afraid I have no answers for you,” Juliana said. “He has never told me about this.”
Perhaps Nate hadn’t told Juliana that part of his little fairy-tale love story. Maybe Ben and Juliana were both wrong about him. After all, Sydney was the one who had known him best. She should stop allowing others to cloud her judgment.
“Will you ask him about this?” Juliana said.
“I don’t have any questions about it,” Sydney returned. It was pretty clear to her what had happened that day and for the years following. She deserved better.
Chapter Sixteen
When Sydney arrived at the wellness center to show Mary Alice a few ideas she’d come up with, her office door was closed. She checked her watch. Mary Alice had said to come by at nine o’clock. Sydney wasn’t late. She was actually ten minutes early, so Mary Alice must have started her first session before the regular counseling time. On her way to the spare room they’d been using, Sydney had gotten both her and Mary Alice a coffee from Cup of Sunshine, but now she stood holding both cups, wondering how cold Mary Alice’s would be in an hour when the door reopened. She walked into the small kitchenette area at the back of the office and set the paper cup on the counter. With nothing to do, she took her own coffee into the spare room and opened her email. Perhaps she could write a few responses while she waited, and get ahead.
Her skin prickled with anticipation as she saw an email fromNY Pulsemagazine. She opened the message. They wanted to talk today. She could hardly contain her excitement. Sydney looked up from her phone at the empty room, just dying to share the news with someone. This was the first big shot she’d ever taken with her writing. She typed back that today would be great and she was eager to hear what they had to say. Then she noticed she’d never responded to mel4221’s last email. She reread the last bit of the message:
… 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?
This was definitely difficult to answer, given the fact that she replayed that last moment with Nate over and over in her head, wondering the same thing. If she’d run after him that day, would he have stopped the truck? Had he been waiting for her to stop him? But she knew that she was overanalyzing things. She’d given him a million opportunities to stay. It had been his decision to leave her, and he’d been pretty clear about it.
She hit respond and typed an email back.
Hi Mel,
Do you ever wonder why someone so perfect for you actually isn’t The One? I had a similar situation and wonder that all the time. What leads people in the wrong directions?
Sydney stared at her response. It wasn’t really a response at all, but more of a conversation she was starting with this person. But the problem was, there wasn’t an answer to this. If there was, she certainly hadn’t found it. She signed her name and hit send.
Then she pulled up the spreadsheet with Mary Alice’s budget. Juliana wouldn’t model for the cover, and she and Nate would’ve been perfect, not to mention she probably could’ve gotten them at a good price. She opened up a search screen on her computer and typed in a search for local models, but there wasn’t a whole lot in the vicinity of Firefly Beach.
Before she could consider her options, her phone lit up, and to her complete surprise, mel4221 had responded again. She opened the email.
I think it comes down to bad timing and wrong choices. Do you ever wish you could rewind the clock and start again? Would things be different?
