“He probably saw what we all saw, that Sydney was going to be a major contender in the world of tennis. Her star was on the rise, and he wanted to go along for that ride. She’s smart. Gorgeous. Talented. He could do far worse.”
Reese nodded in agreement. Hallie definitely wasn’t getting any argument from her there either.
“And still, he threw it all away.” A lump formed in Reese’s throat as she forced out the words. It was guilt, that she was happy that Sydney was out of Grant’s clutches, even if it had come with considerable hurt.
“Exactly. Which brings me back to my central point,” Hallie said, growing serious again. “Sydney King is my best friend and the best person I know. If you do anything to put her in harm’s way, let alone hurt her yourself, there will be hell to pay.”
“Erm… got it.”
Then Hallie smiled brightly, and it was the strangest thing to see, juxtaposed with her threatening demeanor mere seconds ago. “Okay, good. I’ve never done the whole ‘threatening someone’ thing, but I feel like it went well. You agree?”
Reese shut her eyes and nodded, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, Hallie. You did great, though I don’t know if it always includes a request for feedback from the person you’re intimidating.”
“Always room for improvement, I guess.” Hallie rapped on the doorframe. “Okay, well, your coffee’s getting cold. You’d better drink up. We have a busy afternoon of check-ins for the long weekend. See you in the lobby in twenty?”
Reese leaned back in her chair, letting the soft movement soothe her. “I’ll be there.”
Hallie bounded out of the office, treating threats and intimidation the same way she treated a pep talk, and maybe to her, they were the same.
Yet again, though, the idea had been reinforced, by someone other than herself this time, that her situation with Sydney wasn’t something she should take lightly.
Later Thursday night, Reese was dragging herself back to her room when her cell phone rang.
She answered the unknown number. It could be any of about a half-dozen vendors she’d called earlier that morning regarding quotes for some of the bigger projects she was considering at the inn.
“Reese speaking.”
“Hey, Reese. This is Brynn.” There was a pause before Brynn unnecessarily added, “Fitzpatrick. Grant’s fiancée. Your mom gave me your cell number; I hope that’s okay.”
All she wanted to do was shed her clothes and take a long, luxurious bath, but instead, she let herself into her room and plopped down on top of her unmade bed, where Reese pursed her lips. “Sure thing, Brynn. What’s up?”
“So my mom let me know that you’ll be joining us this weekend, which is great,” she said, like she genuinely meant it, her voice taking on that airy, excited quality Reese had become familiar with the weekend before. “I wanted to get your dress size so that I could bring a bridesmaid dress for you to try on.”
Reese stifled a groan. She’d been trying so hard not to think about her upcoming inclusion in the wedding event of the season.
Instead, she pasted on a smile she hoped came through in her voice. “That’s so thoughtful. I’m a six or an eight, depending on the brand.”
She could hear Brynn scribbling on a piece of paper. “Got it. I’ll see if I can get one of each for you to try on, just to make sure you like it. It’s this local dress shop, so I can swing by tomorrow.”
Brynn was already being extremely thoughtful, and Reese was suddenly steeped in guilt at her complete ambivalence to the woman’s existence.
It wasn’t Brynn’s fault that Grant was good at hiding who he was. If Reese used dating her brother as a litmus test for how much she respected someone, she’d have run the other way from Sydney. Probably screaming.
“I really appreciate it, Brynn. Thank you.”
“Reese?” Brynn said quietly, then was silent as she waited for acknowledgement.
Reese had placed her phone on the end table before getting up and starting to undress, the call of a hot bath becoming too much to resist.
“What’s up?” she asked, distracted at the fact that her pants wouldn't cooperate.
“I want Sydney to know, I hope there are no hard feelings. You two are lovely together, and I hope Grant breaking up with her is all water under the bridge. I’m just excited to have a relationship with you, maybe even with Sydney if she’s open to it.”
Reese stopped, falling over sideways on her bed when she misjudged how far she’d gotten herpants off. “Wait, what?”
She could hear the uncomfortable catch in Brynn’s voice. “Oh, um… just that I know things are complicated, and I wanted to make sure everything was good between the four of us.”
“Yeah, right.” Reese was trying to catch up with what Brynn was saying while trying to shimmy out of her pants, which she’d gotten down to mid-thigh.
