Page 63 of The House on Firefly Beach
I was just pondering the idea of love for an article I’m writing. I was wondering if, for those of us who love people we can’t be with, are there others out there for us who can make us happy? Is the idea of “the one” something we’ve made up? Perhaps there are many people we could be with?
Ms. Flynn
She got an immediate response.
I believe in “the one.” And the reason is because I think we’re wired that way. I’m a pretty regular guy. I’m rational at work, in my friendships, with people I meet. But she makes me irrational. She makes me want to give her whatever she needs to understand how much I care about her. How can we feel so strongly for one person if we were built to simply let our love go and find someone else?
Sydney could definitely relate. What she didn’t write to mel4221 was that when she’d typed the words “to the girl who wonders if there’s love out there,” all she could think about was Nate and the disappointment he’d caused her. She yearned for things to be different because it would be so easy to love him. She already did. But he’d betrayed her in the worst way, and there was no coming back from that.
I don’t know…
She hit send, the whole conversation making her feel lost and confused. The truth was that Sydneyhadfound someone else. She’d gotten married and started a life with that person, but she’d never really let her love for Nate go. Her phone lit up.
If you don’t know—sorry to ask such a personal question, but I’m curious—does that mean you still feel you could have something with him? I guess I’m hoping that my theory about The One is true…
Sydney didn’t want to give this person false hope. She typed back:
How long were you two together?
Mel answered.
Four years… So, is he still special to you?
That was definitely enough time to know if he loved her. She knew that much from being with Nate. However, Sydney wasn’t going to get into her issues regarding Nate with a total stranger. The thing was that no matter what he’d done in the present, she’d had four amazing years with Nate, and he’d changed her for the better. She responded.
He’ll always be special.I really hope you figure out what to do about your own situation. I wish you luck.
Her phone lit up with one last email.
Thanks. I’m gonna need it. One day soon, I’ll tell her everything.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Thank you for agreeing to do this,” Sydney said to Logan as he stood, holding a slew of fishing rods and a tackle box while simultaneously appearing more groomed than she’d seen him since the wedding. His hair was freshly washed and perfectly combed, and his outfit matched the specifics that Juliana had given him over the phone this morning for the photo shoot.
He stared at her as if he were speechless for a while before finally saying, “Wow. You look…”
He lost his words again, making her feel self-conscious in all the make-up. Juliana had been meticulous with her makeover, taking all morning to get it just right. Sydney nervously pushed a perfectly curled tendril out of her face.
“Gavin’s out back,” she said.
“Oh, you two look gorgeous in those outfits.” Juliana said, as she strode up to them from the hallway. She’d chosen the white sundress that Sydney had worn to the Easter church service last spring and dressed it down with a pair of wedge sandals and dangly shell earrings from Sydney’s jewelry box. Juliana had explained to him on the phone that the color for the shoot was going to come mostly from the gulf, and everything else should be muted and color-coordinated in the same shade as the sand. Gavin had agreed with this completely because the soft colors of their clothing against the shoreline would give her a lot of options for text overlay on the photo once it was formatted for the cover.
Juliana had struck up a conversation with Gavin almost immediately, both of them talking a mile a minute about camera angles. He invited her to have a look at his gallery downtown, and she laughed, telling him she’d already been in. Gavin’s art and photography gallery had gotten so popular with the tourists that he’d hired two people to work for him, which allowed him more time to do things like this. But it also meant that he missed moments in the shop like Juliana Vargas browsing around, looking at his work.
“Let us go outside,” Juliana said, starting back down the hallway while beckoning them to come along. “We’ll want to get our shots. A storm is brewing off shore.”
Juliana had been soft-spoken around Sydney most of the time she’d known her, but when she was working, she was an entirely different person. She was in her element. Her hair was pulled back from her face in a ponytail secured by a silk scarf, and she had a camera around her neck. She’d told Sydney this morning that she planned to do some test shots herself to get a feel for how the outside lighting affected the make-up, and her hair would blow across the lens were it not for the ponytail.
When they got outside, Logan leaned his fishing rods against a tree near the pier and they all walked over to the area of the shore where Gavin had set up a small set.
Gavin threw up his hand in greeting. “Hey there,” he said when they’d approached. He shook hands with Logan, introducing himself. “I’ll be shooting the cover of Sydney’s fantastic new magazine today,” he said with a smile, always encouraging.
Sydney shook her head, her modesty coming through. Or perhaps it was the rampant imposter syndrome she felt taking on this project. “It’s only a small magazine,” she said, “for the wellness center patrons.”
Gavin’s smile widened. “We have to start somewhere. One day, we’ll all look back on this moment and say, ‘Remember when…’”
“I don’t know,” she said teasingly, but really simply expressing her insecurity.
