Page 28 of The House on Firefly Beach
“Hey, what do you say we pull up the anchor and do a little tubing?” Nate said to Robby, appearing next to him. “I can pull you and your mom behind the boat.”
Juliana had taken her spot again, sunning herself on the towel at the back of the boat, her headphones in her ears. Sydney considered the fact that it might be an effort to shut everything out. A tear escaped from under Juliana’s sunglasses, and she wiped it away. What had happened to her? Nate was right about one thing: if there was anywhere on earth that could make her feel better about whatever it was she was going through, Firefly Beach was the place.
Chapter Ten
Sydney clicked on the radio in the kitchen, the sun from the day still on her skin, and pulled out Aunt Clara’s lemon bar recipe. She was going to make some for Malory’s party tonight. Aunt Clara had said, “You never know when life will give you lemons, so it’s best to have all the ingredients for lemon bars on hand. That way you can make something sweet out of the whole thing.” With a nod in the direction of Aunt Clara’s chair at the table, Sydney lumped an armful of lemons onto the counter. They all began rolling in different directions as she scrambled to get control of them.
Out of nowhere, Nate caught one before it tumbled to the ground and set it on the table. “Hi,” he said, helping her roll them into a pile. He’d showered, his hair still wet, and his cheeks pink from all afternoon on the boat. He surveyed the kitchen, the counter filled with sugar, flour, a bowl of eggs, and the utensils she’d need for baking. “You’re trying to drum up good luck for something,” he said, the idea causing a sparkle in his eye.
Sydney took one of the lemons and ran it under the water at the sink, drying it off. “What gives you that idea?”
A tiny smirk formed on his lips. “When you want something to go well, you bake and, by the look of that pile of lemons, you’re making Aunt Clara’s lemon bars. Something big must be on your mind.”
“The lemons were already here,” she said. “Mama had them in the center of the table to look nice.”
“Whatcha making, Mom?” Robby said, coming in to the room and crawling up on the barstool to see better. “Hi, Nate,” he said a little more bashfully than he had on the boat earlier.
“Lemon bars,” Nate told him, clearly not needing confirmation.
“Oh, I love those!” Robby wriggled on the barstool. “She always makes them before I have big tests in school.”
Nate eyed her and raised an eyebrow, and Sydney’s cheeks burned with the memory that she knew had been conjured up with Robby’s comment.
Sydney ignored his look and started shaving the zest off of the lemons. “I wanted to bring something summery for Malory’s birthday,” she said. “That’s why I’m baking them.” She tried to hide the fact that she was hoping things went well with Malory tonight. She missed her.
“Do you remember when we made these together?” Nate asked. But before she could answer, he turned to Robby. “Your mom and I both grew up here in Firefly Beach, and we used to make these before our big tests in college like she does for you.” He grabbed two lemons, cradling them in one hand, and then took a third. “Your mom and I can juggle these lemons, each of us only using one hand.”
Robby lit up. “You can?” He looked over at Sydney for confirmation.
She smiled, unable to deny the fondness she had at the memory. It had started as a bet.
“You should ask him out,” Nate told Malory, all those years ago, when the subject of his sister’s crush had come up, as they all stood together in the Hendersons’ kitchen baking. “Put the moves on…” His eyebrows bounced up and down. “I can give you some pointers if you need them.”
“Absolutely not,” Malory said, rolling her eyes playfully.
“Oh, come on,” Nate teased his sister. “You know I’ve got all the moves,” he said, grabbing Sydney and tickling her, making her squirm and wriggle away with laughter. He grabbed two lemons from the counter and juggled them high in the air.
“Gross,” Malory said with playful disgust. “I donotwant to know about my brother’s moves.”
“I’ll tell you what,” he said, grabbing a third lemon and adding it to two already circling in the air. “If I can juggle these for one minute straight, you have to ask him out.”
Malory laughed. “Too easy,” she said. “You have to juggle them with one hand.”
“Of course!” he said, the lemons coming to a stop one by one in his hand. Start your timer.” But before he began, he walked around the kitchen island and stood next to Sydney. “I can’t juggle with one hand,” he whispered to her and then nuzzled her ear, making her giggle. “Remember how I taught you to juggle?” he asked.
Nate had taught Sydney how to juggle using Aunt Clara’s scarves. When she’d gotten good enough at it, he had her try tennis balls, and she’d gotten to be a pretty smooth juggler. She nodded, wondering what he had up his sleeve.
“I’m going to be your right hand, and you be my left. Think we can juggle together?”
Malory piped up, “That’s totally cheating, but I can’t wait to see if you can pull this off, so I’ll let it go.” She leaned on the counter with her elbows and put her chin in her hands.
“Can we have a practice round?” he asked.
“Nope.” Malory’s chin remained in her hands, amusement on her face.
“Fine,” he said. “But if we can do this for one minute, you have to ask Brian out.”
“Okay,” Malory said, getting up and setting the kitchen timer. “On your mark, get set, go!”
