The coffin had been nailed. Then superglued. Then duct-taped. Then wrapped in tamper-resistant packaging. Then put in the world’s most secure vault.
There was that damn tear in Stan’s eye again.
With a single sentence, Brynn had made it impossible for Reese to worm her way out of this without looking like the world’s worst sister-in-law.
Grant’s slumped shoulders and persistent glare in her direction told her he knew the same thing, even if he’d hold it against Reese forever anyway.
Reese forced a smile onto her face and met Brynn’s stare. “I feel the same way,” she croaked. “Can’t wait!”
Seven
“And what do we have here?”Hallie raised her voice and let out a whistle as Sydney reached the front lobby of the inn, attracting the attention of a younger couple grabbing coffee from the drinks station.
Sydney rolled her eyes but gave the two guests a small wave. Even if her professional career was over, she still had a little decorum in the event that she was recognized. She was best known within the tennis world, but some of her endorsements, along with magazine and commercial exposure, had made her more of a household name than she’d expected, so she’d learned to be mindful.
It was Tuesday morning, and Sydney was up at the crack of ten, dressed in a casual tennis outfit, her bag slung over her shoulder.
She felt good, her leg in a snug brace, her muscles loose from an hour of stretching that showed her just how out of shape she’d grown over the past month.
Sydney stopped at the desk Hallie was positioned behind, leaning on her forearm. “Are you trying to wake the whole neighborhood?”
Hallie took a sip of coffee and peered over the cup,looking at Sydney intently. “It’s closer to noon than sunrise, my sweet summer child.”
“Can you blame me for taking advantage of the first time in my life that I don’t have to be up at six a.m. every day?” She inhaled a deep breath, savoring the scent of the clean, fresh air that seemed to infuse the inn.
Hallie gestured broadly, almost knocking over her coffee. “We aim to please here at The Stone’s Throw Inn. Early mornings. Late nights,” she said with a wink. “We’ve got you covered.”
Upon her exhale, Sydney’s deep breath morphed into a sigh. “You know it’s not like that. I’ve been taking walks around town in the evenings.”
“You’re no fun,” Hallie pouted, eyes searching Sydney’s for any sign of deceit. “I’m trying to live vicariously through you. I at least thought this little pep in your step was because you got laid or something.”
Sydney shook her head. “I assume you mean with Reese, but no, I haven’t seen her.”
She wasn’t lying to her best friend. She hadn’t seen Reese since Sunday, when they’d gone their separate ways after the party.
She tried not to dwell on that. Their agreement didn’t involve any non-family functions, or even an expectation of friendship, which Sydney was in no position to push.
“She’s been squirreled away in the office this week, reviewing all of the financials and the operating reports for the last…” Hallie started counting on her fingers. “Oh, forty years.”
“Is she finding anything good?” Sydney asked, leaning forward. “Maybe receipts on flooded bathrooms from that private swimming pool we tried to make?”
Hallie waved her off. “That’s water under the bridge—or, carpet, I guess,” she finished with a laugh.
Sydney laughed, too, thinking through the weekly torture they had accidentally enacted on the Thatchers. “God, we put your parents through it.”
“They loved it.”
“Did they? Trying to make a family-owned business work while we were playingEloise at the Plaza?”
Hallie looked around, a softness in her eyes. “Seems like it all netted out on the positive side for them. Their retirement is well funded, and they’re sitting pretty on a patio in Boulder with their grandbabies.”
Sydney followed Hallie’s gaze to a doorway where they’d marked their heights every year in childhood. “And what about you? Are you netting out where you want?”
Hallie was one of those unflappably buoyant people who seemed to let life roll off their backs like water off a duck.
She’d never complained once about losing her best friend beginning junior year so that Sydney could train full-time. And when her parents had started traveling to Colorado more, she’d happily stayed behind to keep the inn going.
Sydney was realizing that she’d taken Hallie’s positivity for granted. She saw her as a best friend who’d always been her rock, seemingly without her own choppy seas ever throwing them off course.
