Sydney’s cheeks flamed. “Hallie.”
Her friend was having a little too much fun at her expense.
“I joke, I joke. Anyway… what have you two crazy kids been up to?” Hallie looked expectantly between them.
“So here’s the thing, Hal.”
Hallie threw her kale in the blender and placed the lid on it, waiting. “Hit me.”
“I’m going to need you to get on board with the story that Reese and I are dating.”
“You’re dating? God, woman, she’s only been here for a day,” Hallie said, half disbelieving and half impressed.
Sydney rolled her eyes. “If anyone asks, we’re madly in love.Can’t live without one another. Life and poems and songs all finally made sense. Got it?”
“Who would ask?” Hallie practically screamed over the blender she’d just started. The dark red liquid from the crushed strawberries was slowly giving way to a light green as the kale began to work into the mixture.
Sydney loved when Hallie was intentionally obtuse, even if she’d never admit it. “Probably a Devereux, if you happen to see one of them slinking around the inn again.”
“Are we in a throuple? I’m getting throuple energy,” Hallie said as she turned off the blender, her too-loud voice echoing off the walls.
Reese laughed from next to her. “It’s a tempting proposition, but I should probably crawl before I walk.”
Sydney bit down the unexpected flare of jealousy that Reese was considering the idea.
“I’ll play tennis with you soon if you go along with it,” Sydney offered. As always, Hallie had somehow become the linchpin of her scheme, and Sydney needed her best friend’s buy-in if this shtick was ever going to have a modicum of believability.
“Bestie, I was always going to go along with it. But I would love to play tennis,” Hallie said gleefully. “Almost as much as I love a good bit of subterfuge.”
Sydney looked at Reese, who seemed like she was suddenly wondering if they were in over their heads.
“We need her,” she pointed out. “She knows everyone. By tomorrow morning, the whole town will believe we’re madly in love.”
Reese looked at her skeptically. “Depends on the story.”
Sydney grew confident again. She’d dated Grant for over half a decade, and she knew exactly how to push his buttons.
She flashed Reese a winsome smile, loving the feeling of anticipation that came with a new challenge that stirred in her belly. “Leave that to me.”
Four
Reeseached.
Her back.
Her butt.
Her feet.
As she made the fifteen-minute drive to her parents’ house, she was aware of muscle groups in her body that, until today, she hadn’t known existed.
She leaned forward and touched her tailbone, rubbing it gingerly as she tried to keep her eyes on the winding road.
The scenic highway that took her out of town was vibrant with summer foliage, and she kept her windows rolled down, inhaling the smell of salt water and fresh air.
The drive was good for her. Calming.
After the events of today, both physical and mental, she felt wrung out.
