Page 20 of Buried Treasure
He gave Sydney a smile that made her feel happy, or at least that's what she thought that feeling was. It had been several days of dreariness so she wasn't sure.
"What's Spinal Tap?" Ryan asked.
"What do you mean, 'What's Spinal Tap?'"
"Oh, let me fill you in," Sydney told Andy. "Ryan here spent his youth playing hockey and thinking about hockey and watching hockey. He's still learning about awesome pop culture stuff that isn't Star Wars or internet porn."
"I don't watch that much internet porn," Ryan said incredulously.
"Anyway, we've been working our way throughThe X-Filesand some Alfred Hitchcock on occasion."
Andy's eyes lit up with excitement. "Have you watchedThe Birdsyet?"
"Not yet. I've been saving it for a special occasion."
"You should watch it with us one night!" Ryan said.
Sydney cringed silently. Sure, invite Andy over. The guy who saw her cry over a goldfish. The attractive man who stopped by her place to check in on her a few days ago because her life is such a mess.
"You know, you don't have a boyfriend, and Andy doesn't have a girlfriend," Amelia said as she walked in with a glass of wine. "You could make it a date night."
Sydney turned to find Amelia with a big smile plastered on her face, as if she was so proud of her supposed matchmaking. Sydney just ducked her head to stare at the red wine swishing around in her glass.
"That's because I'm not really into dating right now," she said quietly.
But Amelia just pressed on. "Oh, you just need a cute boy to get you out of your funk."
"Maybe," she muttered.
Or maybe not. Or probably not. Or most definitely not.
"Maybe sounds like a yes, eh?" Amelia said cheerily with her Canadian accent sneaking through. "And on that note, dinner is ready if you're hungry."
Sydney helped Amelia set the table and serve the chili while Andy kept a watchful eye on Ryan as he got off the sofa and headed to the table. He still seemed to be little shaky on his feet as he walked across the floor. Apparently, removing his appendix threw off all the rest of his internal organs plus the abdominal muscles that kept him upright.
Amelia served everyone and the chili was amazing. And while Sydney wasn't really in the mood to talk, she was more than happy to listen to everyone else tell stories around the table. Ryan may complain about his mom sometimes, but the two of them were the best partners when it came to telling stories. Amelia would start talking about the time Ryan wanted to dress as a Zamboni driver for Halloween, and then Ryan would jump in to explain.
"Everyone loves the Zamboni driver!" he exclaimed. "He makes the ice better and he doesn't yell at you like a coach does."
"Plus, Ryan adored the driver at our local rink," Amelia added. "Bill was this nice old man who always gave him a high five when he walked into the rink. Do you remember Bill's wife?"
"Mrs. Bill made the most amazing cookies!"
Andy laughed from his spot besides Sydney. "Mrs. Bill?"
"I met her after I knew Bill and the name just stuck," Ryan said.
Amelia gave her son a warm smile and continued on with her story. "Mrs. Bill thought it was adorable that Ryan loved Bill's job, and I told her about how Ryan wanted to be a Zamboni driver for Halloween."
"Because Bill was cool," Ryan explained.
"And so three weeks before Halloween, Mrs. Bill came to the arena with a Zamboni costume for Ryan. She made it herself!"
"I won the best costume contest at school!" Even now, all these years later, Ryan looked so proud of himself for having that Zamboni driver costume for Halloween. But then his smile faded a little and he turned to look at his mom. "Have you seen Mrs. Bill lately?"
"I saw her a few weeks ago at church," she said. "She was there with some other widows from the nursing home a few miles away. She seemed happy but still looks a little lonely without Bill."
Ryan looked down and aimlessly started pushing some chili around his bowl. "Remind me to send you home with some things for her."
