Page 69 of The House on Firefly Beach
Curiosity consumed Ben’s face, and then he looked oddly excited. “Nate Henderson?” he asked, looking over at Sydney with suggestive delight.
“You mean Nathan Carr,” Sydney corrected. “And yes.”
“Sooo…” Ben said, clearly dying to know the details.
Sydney discreetly shook her head to let him know that there was no news with the Sydney-Nate situation, which seemed to confuse him. Strangely, he looked down at her hand and then made eye contact again. What was that all about?
“Have you talked to Nate at all, Syd?” he asked her.
“Plenty,” she answered.
“Aaaand did he tell you…?” He eyed her as if she could read his mind.
“How he feels? Yes.” She didn’t want to get in to this in front of everyone.
“And what did you think about that?”
At this point, Ben and Sydney had Uncle Hank, Lewis, Hallie,andJacqueline’s attention.
“I’ll tell you later,” she replied. “Hallie said she has piña coladas.”
They’d all left the kitchen table littered with empty piña colada glasses and scattered gift bags, their gifts of seashell necklaces, straw hats, and key chains sitting by their places, while they sat outside on the porch watching Beau run into the surf, shaking himself off and diving in again, clearly delighted his human was home. Ben and Robby were in the yard, and Jacqueline, Hallie, and Sydney had been catching up on everything.
“Where’s Uncle Hank?” Hallie asked.
He’d gone in for a second with Lewis and Sydney just now realized he’d been gone for a while. “Maybe he fell asleep after Lewis went home,” she said. “I’ll go in and check on him.”
Sydney went inside. “Uncle Hank?” she called into the empty downstairs. “Uncle Hank?” she walked into the front sitting room and peered through the window to the porch—nobody was there. Where was he? “Hello-o!” she said, to no answer. She looked out at the road to see if he’d perhaps gone out to get the mail and had gotten stuck chatting with Lewis or something, but it was empty. She climbed the stairs to check up there.
When she got to the top, she heard a whimper in Uncle Hank’s bedroom. She rushed down the hallway and knocked on his door, pushing it open. “What’s the matter?” she asked, coming over to him and taking his hand. He sat on the bed, hunched over, his head hanging low while his back heaved with sobs.
“With Hallie and Ben home, it just hit me.”
“What hit you?”
“I’ve already lost Clara. I can’t lose Starlight Cottage too. It belongs in our family. Where will we all gather together once it’s gone?” He took in a jagged breath. “And I’m worried they’re going to level it if we let it go.” His lip trembled. “I’ve tried to act like it’s no big deal, but I’m losing the last bit of myself. I’m too old to start a new life somewhere. I should be slowing down and basking in all the memories of this gorgeous place.”
The sound of Robby’s voice outside the window cut through their conversation. A car had pulled into the drive. Sydney tipped her head up to see Nate—he’d come over in some sort of ridiculously expensive luxury car. This was allhisfault. And he didn’t seem to be bothered at all by the fact that he was disrupting the lives of everyone who used to support him in this house.
“I’ll be right back,” she said with determination. This was it. She was going to tell him once and for all, get everything out into the open right now. Sydney marched downstairs and out the front door, breezing right past Ben and Hallie. She poked her finger into Nate’s chest. “We need to talk,” she snapped.
“Hey, Robby,” Ben said, clearly gauging the situation. “Let’s go play football.”
“Okay!” Robby ran over to Ben and the two of them went over to the yard. Hallie followed them, but she didn’t leave without first giving a look of question to her sister. Sydney brushed it off kindly and then turned her dagger-of-a-stare back to Nate.
Opening the door to his shiny black Mercedes SUV, Nate gestured for her to get in. Without a word, she slid into the seat, her lips set in a pout. He got into the driver’s side and shut the door.
“I know just where we can talk,” he said. With a rev of the engine, he pulled out of the drive.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sydney sat silently while Nate drove. They must have driven for at least twenty minutes, but she didn’t notice. She was too busy seething. She’d absolutely had it. As soon as they got wherever he was going, she was ready to lay into him. He couldn’t do this to her family.
Nate pulled onto a long, winding gravel road, propelling them deep into the woods. He put the windows down, allowing the earthy scent and the warm wind to fill up the car. Sydney’s hair blew into her face and she tucked a tendril behind her ear. When they’d made it far enough down the path that the main road was no longer visible, he stopped the car right in the middle of the road and got out. She followed him to a small patch of grass that had formed in a natural clearing. A few beams of sunlight slid through the opening in the canopy of trees, illuminating the area. Nate sat down on the ground and patted the space beside him.
She wanted to ask where they were, but it didn’t matter. This was about Starlight Cottage and Nate’s selfish act to take it away. She sat down across from him instead.
“Why are youreallyback in Firefly Beach, Nate?” she clipped.
