Page 15 of Buried Treasure
"I know," Lucy grabbed her hand and squeezed it, reminding Sydney that she was always there for support. Then she gave Sydney a bright smile, trying to quickly change the subject. "So what's your plan for dinner tonight?"
"I want to go see Ryan first, make sure he's doing better."
"Then I'm coming back and we're ordering Greek food that's bad for us. Gyros, fried cheese, that hummus with the extra garlic."
Sydney shook her head. "No fried cheese."
"Why not?" Lucy pouted.
"It's only fun when you're at the restaurant and they light it on fire at your table."
"Are you sure we can't light it on fire here? We've never tried that before."
Sydney just gave her a skeptical look. "Did you not see my box full of books sitting on the coffee table? That thing will go up in flames if we try to set cheese on fire here."
"You make a reasonable argument, counsel."
"Let's go," Sydney said, standing to grab her keys from the kitchen counter. "You have to get to work and I have to go say 'hi' to the man-child next door."
Sydney looked down at what she was wearing and shrugged. She was sure she looked like a mess, but she really didn't care. Plus, this was Ryan she was visiting. It wasn't like she was trying to impress anyone, especially not him. She knocked and could hear Amelia's voice on the other side.
"You're being a big baby. Stop whining!"
She couldn't help but smile as Ryan's mom opened the door. "Oh, Sydney! It's so good to see you." Amelia threw her arms around Sydney and pulled her closer. "I heard you've had a bad week."
"I had a bad week too, Mom!" Ryan yelled from his spot on the sofa.
Sydney walked in to find the rookie giving his mother a mocking scowl before gingerly readjusting the pillow he was leaning against. He grimaced, the same way he did when Sydney was here a few days earlier with his bagel, and then seemed to find comfort again among his pile of cushions. She gently sat down next to him, trying not to move him too much.
"Hi," she said quietly.
He gave her a small smile. "Hi."
"Sorry about your whole appendix thing," she said.
"Sorry about your whole job thing."
"Sorry about Gretzky."
That finally made him laugh. "Andy said you started crying when he told you Gretzky was dead."
"It had been a long day," she explained.
Ryan gave her a teasing smile. "Sure."
"It was! I lost my job and my friend was in the hospital and things were bad."
"So you were worried about me then?"
He leaned in a little closer and gave her a flirtatious wink that probably made women's panties melt. But it just made her eyes roll.
"Gross, McCloud," she replied. "But it's good to see you haven't changed."
He just pushed away and flopped back against the sofa, trying to hide another scowl from the pain. "They took out my appendix, not my brain," he grumbled.
"Well, that's good since there isn't much there to begin with."
"Oh, that was a joke, wasn't it?" he said sarcastically.
