“I’d only met her a few times before now. She lived in California until she purchased the inn.”
“Isn’t that what the Devereux family does, owns hotels? Is Reese—Is that her name?—not working with them?”
Sydney shook her head forcefully, feeling the need to defend Reese. “No, they have nothing to do with it. Reese isn’t exactly close with them.”
Her mom lifted an eyebrow. “You know, I heard the most interesting thing the other week.”
Now Sydney’s stomach really did bottom out as she looked at her mom with confusion, wondering what would come next. “And what’s that?”
“Your cousin Cade has been doing some work this summer. He got a catering job.” Which didn’t clarify the situation at all, but Sydney knew her mom had a point. Shealwayshad a point.
Sydney stayed the path, giving nothing away. “Good for him. He’s going to college in the fall, right?”
Her mom was the oldest of four sisters, who all lived within an hour’s drive of Stoneport. Sydney, content to wallow upon her arrival back in town, hadn’t sought any of them out. Her aunt Beth, her mom’s youngest sister, was Cade’s mom, so he was a good decade younger than Sydney. She hadn’t seen him in at least five years at this point. Didn’t know if she’d recognize him if she did.
“He is,” her mom said, beaming a smile before adding, offhandedly, “but he told Beth the most interesting thing a few weeks ago.”
Sydney’s body went cold as she started to connect the dots. Her mom, with incredible forethought, had been circling aroundher for the last twenty minutes, moving in closer and closer until Sydney was a sitting duck. It would have been impressive, honestly, if Sydney didn’t feel like she was going to have a nervous breakdown. “Hmmm,” she answered, not trusting her own words and, more importantly, refusing to participate in her own execution.
“He could have sworn he saw you at a party at the Devereux house, at some type of party to celebrate Grant’s upcoming wedding.” Her mom gave her a look that said, ‘Can you believe that?’
“Crazy.” Sydney felt like she couldn’t catch her breath. Why was it so hot in here?
“But I told Beth that he must be mistaken. I mean, what would my daughter want at a party to celebrate her ex-boyfriend’s impending marriage?” Her mom said the words so casually, in the way she’d always done when she wanted Sydney to admit something. The reality was, she knew that her mom already knew the answer.
“He should have said hi then, if he really thought it was me.” Heat was rolling off Sydney now, like she was moving closer to the point of combustion.
Rachel clicked her tongue. “Well, you know, that’s the thing. He said you looked pretty cozy with a woman there, and he didn’t want to interrupt.”
Sydney’s stomach bottomed out, but her mom pressed on. “So now I’m thinking maybe that woman was Reese Devereux? I never had the pleasure of meeting her, so I wouldn’t be able to know for certain.”
“Interesting,” was all that Sydney could come up with, the next in her line of one-word statements. Any lies or hedging were gone from her vocabulary with the irrefutable look her mom was leveling in her direction.
“Isn’t it?” Rachel’s voice was chipper as she busied herself cleaning off the island and placing the cutting board she’d used in the kitchen sink. “So then my daughter shows up here with aspring in her step but is surprisingly unforthcoming about the reasons for it. So I think to myself, it’s been over a year since she and Grant split. Dating someone else wouldn’t be strange. I’d be excited for her, that she’s finding someone else to spend her time with, who will treat her the way she deserves.”
“That is a good thing to want for your only child, whom you love dearly,” Sydney agreed quickly, wishing she could melt into a puddle and escape onto the floor.
Regardless of how this conversation went, she wasnotadmitting to her mom the harebrained scheme that she’d gotten herself into. Not in a million years. It was worse than any zany plan she and Hallie had dreamt up in childhood by a wide mile. She’d just spent minutes trying to convince her mom that she was doing okay, and confessing to her what she’d done would not give her mom confidence in her mental state.
But then her mom’s stare softened, and she looked at Sydney like she could see all of her secrets, and, somehow, they only made her mom love her more. Unconditional support was the thing that had kept her grounded this past year, even if she’d eschewed her parents’ well-meaning attempts to get her to open up, but now…
God, she was such a pushover.
“I’m dating Reese Devereux,” she breathed out before she could stop herself. “It’s new, but that’s why Cade would have seen me at the party.”
Her mom was nodding along, taking in Sydney’s words with the utmost seriousness. She smiled softly, giving Sydney the space to continue.
“So, yeah. I don’t know what else to say other than that. I didn’t exactly go looking for her, but here we are,” Sydney finished, looking up to meet her mom’s stare again.
“And you like her? This isn’t some type of strange transference thing because of Grant?”
Sydney grimaced at the idea. “No, I promise it’s not. I really like her, Mom,” she admitted bashfully, saying the words out loudfor the first time, feeling the truth in them as they slipped off her tongue.
“Then I’m happy for you.” After a reassuring smile, her mom turned back around and picked up the two bowls set next to the stove. “I’ll get us some gumbo, and you can tell me all about it.”
Sydney was just about to start her car when her phone vibrated from the passenger seat. She picked it up, smiling instinctively as she clocked the name on her screen.
Reese Devereux - 11:43 a.m.
