Page 5 of Snowbound Hearts
“When?”
I look over my shoulder, “Five years ago.”
She looks crestfallen and shakes her head. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
Again, I give her a quick nod and a smile. “Thanks.” I take another step to leave.
“How did you end up here in the middle of Colorado?” Apparently, we’re doing this now. Well, no time like the present.
I turn around and take a few steps closer to where she’s sitting. She’s put her tablet down and is just holding her mug. “After I left for boot camp, Mom and Dad sold their house back home and bought this place as a retirement plan. When they died, they left it to me and Emily. Since there was nothing left for me back at home, I decided to stay here and run this place.”
She nods, pursing her lips. “Wow. Okay, I deserve that, I suppose.”
I take a deep breath because I instantly feel bad for saying that. “No, no you don’t. I’m sorry. Ignore me. I’m just getting bitter in my old age.”
“Ha! Old age. We’re the same age, so are you calling me old?” She teases me and I think I’m off the hook.
“I may be old, but I know better than to call any woman old unless I have a death wish.” I smile and it’s the first time I feel relaxed since she showed up yesterday. “You still look eighteen years old, Sydney. Beautiful as always.”
She blushes at my compliment and then raises her mug. “Can I look at least twenty-one? Got a hot toddy over here. Don’t want to get in trouble with management.”
I sit down on the other end of the couch. “I’ve got it on good authority that management doesn’t check ID.” She laughs and it’s still the best sound in the world. So many memories come rushing back.
It’s really quiet between us and I’ve got to tell her before I lose my chance. “You broke my heart, Sydney.”
She nods as she stares down into her mug. “I know. I broke my own heart, too.”
“Why did you do that? We had everything going for us. We had forever just waiting for us and you tore that all down in a moment. Why?” I never saw it coming when she showed upat my front door and told me we were through. Never saw it coming.
I see her swallow hard. “I was so fucking scared of losing you.”
“So you left me instead? That makes no sense, Sydney.”
She looks at me and I can see her eyes starting to water. “Do you remember River Ashford from high school?”
I had heard what happened to River in Afghanistan five years ago. He and his team had no chance of survival when an IED exploded under his caravan. “I know what happened to River.”
“Well, then you get why I felt like I had to leave. I couldn’t live in a constant state of wondering if you were alive or dead, dreading a visit from two military men to tell me they’re sorry on behalf of a grateful nation, not to mention that you were going to spend most of your life on the other side of the world. I couldn’t process how that would work for the both of us at such a young age.” She turns and narrows her eyes at me, “And you never said a word to me. Not a fucking word about signing up for the Marines. You just went and did it without saying a word.”
“Sydney, I had to go.”
“No, Mason, you didn’thaveto go… youwantedto go. There’s a difference.”
“No. Ihadto go. My entire family for as far back as time has been in the military in one way or another. I had to go. It was in my blood. It is in my blood.” I shake my head. How the hell can I make her understand?
“Then why didn’t you stay in the military? Why are you here running this place?”
I take a deep breath and look down at my hands. “Because if something did happen to me, then Emily would have no one,” I say quietly.
“Shit,” she whispers under her breath. “Is that why you came back? Because of your parents?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
She sighs, running her hands through her long brown hair. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry for leaving you, for not calling you the moment I realized I had made a monumental mistake, for not being here for you and Emily… I’m just so sorry, Mason, but I’m also so fucking mad at you for not talking to me; for making a life-altering decision without including me when we were always talking about forever. I’m not the only one at fault here, Mason.” Sydney places her mug on the coffee table, gets up, and leaves the room and I watch her go. Again.
“Mason, we’ve got a problem,” Emily says from behind me. “What are you doing in here all alone?”
I shake my head as I stare down the hallway where Sydney just went. “No reason. What’s up?” I stand up, grab Sydney’s mug, and notice the lipstick on the rim and laugh to myself. I’d recognize that color anywhere.
