Page 80 of Meant to Be
Sydney considered telling Jenny she’d be happy to share her feelings, except she knew she’d be rebuffed. She wasn’t even sure what her feelings were, but she knew it was more than casual. But casual was what she’d agreed to, and she couldn’t change the rules now.
“Now I know Mitch is the worst at that. Some people blame you. Some blame the loss of his friend Brian. Has he told you about Brian?”
Sydney nodded.
Jenny’s eyes narrowed in question. “What did he say? No… no, I know you can’t tell me. But I think it’s more than Brian’s death. But Mitch, he doesn’t talk about it.”
Did that mean Mitch hadn’t told anyone about the circumstances that killed Brian? The betrayal by his sergeant? When she came out of her thoughts, Jenny was staring at her.
“He told you, didn’t he? All of it.”
Sydney swallowed. She couldn’t know for sure, and it wasn’t right to compare stories about something so personal to Mitch. At the same time, surely he’d told someone besides her, even if he kept the rest of the town in the dark about it.
“That’s trust.” Jenny smiled. “There’s hope for him yet, if you’re patient enough to wait for him.”
Sydney sighed. “Life isn’t a Jane Austen novel.”
“Sure it is. I knew the moment I saw Kevin he was the one for me. I hadn’t even met him yet. He knew too. The difference between us and most other people is we weren’t afraid to ride that wave of emotion. It was scary but, God, what a ride. We’re still riding it, but it’s not scary now. Now it’s just…” Her eyes turned dreamy. “Perfect.”
There was a time when Sydney had thought the same of her and Mitch. When they were young, and not jaded by the hardships of the world, they’d shared everything, all of their hopes, dreams, and fears. From the moment they’d confessed their love, they never held anything back. That was why she’d been so shocked at his reaction to her postponing the wedding. Not that he would have agreed necessarily, but to simply tell her their relationship was done — the dreams were gone — that had come out of left field.
“Tell me how you met.”
Sydney smiled as the sweet memories came back to her. “I was a sheltered, shy, timid girl in my first year of college. I’d gone to a party because I really wanted to make friends and live a little, you know?”
Jenny nodded. “I nearly flunked out of my first year of college for living a little.”
“Well, I didn’t quite take it that far and, in fact, I really wasn’t very good at it. I didn’t realize until Mitch explained to me later that people thought I was conceited. I had money and a ‘way’ about me.”
“But you were just shy?”
“Right. I remember sitting all by myself, feeling like a fool, when I noticed Mitch standing several feet away. Mitch was watching me, and I felt it… you know. Like his gaze was actually touching me.”
“Oooo… I love that.”
“Anyway, Mitch was talking to some guy and I suspected it was about me, which made me even more self-conscious. The other guy put a hand on Mitch’s shoulder and motioned to a group of girls dancing and drinking on the other side of the room. But Mitch shrugged off his hand and walked over to me.”
“I can see it. Mitch is something when he’s got his swagger on.”
Sydney laughed at the image, but Jenny wasn’t wrong. “He started talking to me and that was it.”
“See. It doesn’t take much to know.”
Sydney sighed. “Yes, but we were young and still very innocent about the real ways of the world. Maybe if we’d stayed together we’d have made it, maybe not. But since we’ve been apart, we’ve changed, and those two kids are gone.”
“That’s a bunch of malarkey. People don’t change, not deep down in their soul. Sure they may act different, but who you are, who Mitch is, that’s the same.”
Sydney shook her head lightly. “Even so, Mitch and I have different goals. Same or not, our lives don’t fit together anymore.”
“Is that why you’re sleeping with him? Because you don’t fit?”
How’d she know?Sydney felt her cheeks heat.
Jenny smirked. “Girl, no one can hide sex glow. Not Mitch and not you.”
Mitch had sex glow?She brought her hands to her face, wondering if they still had sex glow.
Jenny laughed. “A woman can tell these things. Especially one with nothing better to do because she’s bedridden.”
