by Rhonda Bowen
After a brief meeting with a client for a birthday cake and cupcakes, she went into the kitchen to prep for the job, which she would complete early the next morning.
“Hey, boss lady, how’s it going?” Mario asked from the sink where he was washing down some tins.
“I’m hanging in there,” Sydney said with a small smile. “How have things been going here?”
“Same old same old,” Mario said. “Sad staff, sad customers. It’s a regular pity party.”
“I know,” Sydney said. “I was thinking maybe we should have a farewell event for our staff on the last day. What do you think?”
“I think it’s too early to be talking about farewells,” Mario said. “Where’s your faith, Syd?”
“It disappeared with the last of my bank balance, after I paid our last Hydro bill yesterday,” Sydney joked.
“Seriously, Syd.” Mario turned off the pipe. “Don’t you believe God will find a way to save this store?”
“I believe that faith is for people who have a strong relationship with God.” She measured out sugar into a glass container. “And honestly speaking, I can’t say I have that.”
Sydney had come to this sad realization recently when she had started praying for Dean. She had realized that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten on her knees to talk to God personally about anything. She had even begun to ask herself what she bothered going to church for. Maybe it was just a routine. Something she did because she was supposed to do it. But as for a relationship with God? She wasn’t even sure what that looked like.
“Then what’s stopping you now?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?” Mario leaned against the sink to watch Sydney. “You go to church. . . .”
“Just because I go to church doesn’t mean I have a relationship,” Sydney said. “Look at Lissandra. She used to go to church all the time, too. You think she has a relationship with God?”
“Don’t judge your sister,” Mario said. “She’s on a path of her own, and when God’s ready he’ll get to her. You need to worry about yourself, because all this happening around you right now may be God’s way of trying to get to you.”
Sydney covered the sugar and moved to the spices.
“Well, he sure has a funny way of doing it.”
“Hey,” Mario said, wiping the counter. “Some of us he calls in the silence, others of us he calls in the storm.”
Sydney was still thinking about Mario’s words hours later as she got off the elevator at the hospital on Dean’s floor. Visiting hours would end in a few minutes, but the staff at the hospital had overlooked the policy for Sydney and her family, as long as they didn’t make too much noise coming to and going from Dean’s room.
Jackie was dozing in a chair by Dean’s bedside when Sydney slipped inside the quiet room. Jackie had all but shut down the dress shop she ran with JJ since Dean had been hospitalized. Not once in Sydney’s hospital visits had she found her mother absent.
Instead of waking her, Sydney sat down in the chair on the other side of Dean’s bed. He looked a lot better than that first night. The swelling around his face had gone down, and the bruises looked less gruesome than before. A little hair had begun to grow back where they had shaved his head for the initial surgery and he was finally starting to look like the Dean she knew.
She took his hand in hers and squeezed it.
“Dean, it’s me,” she said quietly, hoping not to wake her mom. “I know you can hear me, so you can quit it with the silent treatment.”
She smiled, knowing that if her brother was awake, he would have given some smart-aleck response followed by the handsome grin that he had inherited from their father. Dean had always been carefree like that. He did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. Though it often drove Sydney crazy, sometimes she envied him for it. Maybe it had to do with being the younger of several siblings. He always knew that there would be someone to take care of him in case anything happened.
“I’m sorry for the way things ended between us,” Sydney said, still holding her brother’s hand. “You know you drive me crazy, but it’s only because I love you. I guess I just took it for granted that you would always be there.”
Sydney sighed. “You have so much life ahead of you. I didn’t always get your music thing, but I know how talented and passionate you are about it. The world needs to see that. So, whenever you’re ready to come out of this, we’re here.”
“Glad to hear it,” Jackie said with her eyes still closed.
“Mom!” Sydney scolded. “I was having a private conversation with my brother. Were you awake the whole time?”
“Of course I was,” Jackie said. “Just because my eyes were closed doesn’t mean I was sleeping.”
“Yeah, OK. Guess that snore was just you clearing your throat.”
“Hush now,” her mother said, straightening up in her chair. “Don’t spoil this good day. You know they took him off the ventilator today? He breathed on his own for a few hours.”
Sydney’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yes.” Jackie smiled. “They want to watch his vitals some more and then tomorrow they might take him off it for good.”
“That’s great.” Excitement filled her voice. “That means he’s recovering.”
“That it does.” Jackie squeezed her son’s other hand lovingly. “They keep telling me to not get too excited, that he has a long way to go. But they don’t know my God. I’ve been talking to him and he told me my boy is going to be all right.”
Sydney watched her mother, a bit envious of her certainty.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Jackie said. “If you knew God like I know him, you would be sure, too.”
Sydney was starting to wonder if the people in her life had had a meeting about her.
“If you say it’s so, Mom, then that’s good enough for me,” Sydney said.
“You can’t survive on someone else’s relationship, Sydney,” Jackie said, getting up and walking toward the door. “You have to have your own.”
“Where are you going?” Sydney asked, watching her mother.
“Cafeteria,” Jackie said, wrinkling her nose. “I’m not a fan of their food, but I haven’t eaten all day.”
Sydney frowned. “I can run out and get you something. . . .”
“Don’t trouble yourself,” Jackie said, waving a hand at Sydney. “I just need a little snack to hold me over until Zelia brings me something later. You spend some time with your brother.”
Sydney had only spent a few minutes with Dean when she felt her phone vibrate. When she dug through her purse, however, she realized that it wasn’t her phone but Hayden’s. She had called him at work and then on his house phone and left messages earlier that afternoon, but he still hadn’t gotten in touch with her about his missing cell phone. She was beginning to get concerned that he might be missing important calls, and so she left the room briefly to try calling again.
She listened to his line at the clinic ring as she walked to a quiet spot near the end of the hallway where she could still keep an eye on Dean’s room. After what seemed like forever, the line finally picked up.
“East York Athletic Clinic.”
“Dub! Finally,” Sydney said, relieved.
“Nini.” The warmth in his voice made Sydney melt. “I got your messages, but I’ve been backed up all evening. I had a last-minute client and then I had to run over to the ACC for an evening meeting with the boys.”
“No, it’s fine,” Sydney said. “It’s just that your phone rang a couple times and I was worried that it might be important.”
Hayden laughed. “Baby, that phone rings off the hook. I probably got more done not having it than having it.”
“Mhmm,” Sydney murmured distractedly, as she noticed the door to Dean’s room swinging closed. She hadn’t seen who had gone in, but it must have been a nurse. Her mother couldn’t have made it back that fast.
“So I know this
might put you out of your way, but can you bring it to me?” he asked.
“Uh, sure,” Sydney said, taking a few steps closer to Dean’s room. “Where will you be?”
“I’ll probably be at the ACC until ten tonight. I’ll let Robby know that you’re coming by and he’ll send you up when you get here.”
“Yeah, OK, I’ll try to make it by that time,” Sydney said. “Have you eaten? Do you need me to bring you anything?”
“No, they’re ordering us dinner,” Hayden said. “Just bring yourself. That will be good enough for me.”
Sydney smiled. “OK, baby, I’ll see you later.”
“See you,” Hayden echoed before ending the call.
Sydney was about to slip the phone into her pocket when she saw Dean’s door open and a woman with dark hair step out. Sydney frowned. That wasn’t a nurse. She knew all the nurses on the floor, and none of them wore their hair out like that. Besides, the woman wasn’t wearing a uniform.
Sydney walked faster to see if she could catch up with the person.
“Excuse me, ma’am?”
The woman turned around, caught sight of Sydney, and started running. Without thinking, Sydney took off after her down the hall, barely dodging a food cart and skirting around a group of nurses headed in the opposite direction.
“Wait!” Sydney called out. But the woman kept running down the halls, into the stairway. By the time Sydney got to the stairs, the woman was already two floors down. All Sydney could see was the top of what she now recognized to be a wig.
She went as fast as she could, but even taking the steps two at a time she couldn’t catch up with her. The woman finally reached the bottom and burst through the doors to the exit. By the time Sydney made it out the doors, she was gone, swallowed up in the night.
Sydney leaned against the rail of the outside landing and fought to catch her breath as she searched the dark night for any trace of Dean’s mystery visitor. There was nothing. Sydney leaned back against the door, more confused than ever, until her eyes caught a figure in the distance standing under a street light. The wig was gone and Sydney was too far to distinguish any features, but she knew it was her. There was no mistaking that short blond hair under the streetlight. Sydney stared at the woman who stood staring back at her and immediately understood why Sheree hadn’t left town.
She was staying for Dean.
Chapter 22
Sydney pulled the knee-length fitted sweater dress carefully over her head, then adjusted the huge loose turtleneck until it sat elegantly on her shoulders. The rust color picked up the golden highlights in her dark-colored hair, which she had curled and pinned up for the night for Hayden’s benefit. She knew how much he loved any hairstyle that gave him a full view of her neck. She was in the process of applying mascara to her lashes when Lissandra came into the room.
“Look at you, all dressed up to meet the parents.” She slipped onto Sydney’s bed to watch her get ready. “Guess I’ll be the only one at home tonight.”
“Really?” Sydney capped the mascara and reached for lip gloss. “I’m almost sure I heard JJ moving around downstairs.”
“Yeah, she was,” Lissandra said, curling her lip. “And then she went to ‘bed.’ ”
Sydney laughed as Lissandra put air quotes around the word bed.
“You think we should ask her where she goes when she sneaks out?” Sydney asked.
“And force Saint Judith to add lying to whatever sin she’s committing when she leaves the house at ten o’clock at night? No, thanks,” Lissandra said dryly. “If she can’t even tell us, it must be really bad.”
Sydney rubbed her lips together. “I don’t know. This is JJ we’re talking about. It’s probably some guy.”
“Yeah.” Lissandra lay back on the bed. “Some married guy.”
“Speaking of men, where’s Mario?” Sydney asked, glancing back at her sister.
“Men’s ministry meeting at his church.”
Sydney didn’t miss the disdain in her sister’s voice. “Has he invited you to church yet?”
“Tries every week.” Lissandra sounded like she had indigestion. “I swear, being with this man is doing something to me. Last week he asked me something, and I was about to lie, when I get this weird sensation in my chest. What is that?”
Sydney laughed out loud. “It’s called ‘guilt.’ ”
Lissandra shuddered. “How do you deal with that all the time?”
“By not doing things that make you feel that way.” Sydney shook her head. “I still can’t believe you’ve lasted this long with a church boy.”
“Look who’s talking!” Lissandra said. “You might have everyone else fooled with your going to church every week, but I know you are nowhere near that man’s level of commitment.”
Normally Sydney would have been offended by Lissandra’s comment. But her sister had spoken truth.
“I know,” Sydney conceded with a sigh. “I’ve been thinking about that lately.”
“What do you mean?”
Sydney sat down on the bed beside Lissandra as she tried to explain how she had been feeling.
“Do you believe everything happens for a reason?”
Lissandra squinted. “You mean like Karma?”
“No.” Sydney bit her lip. “Like everything that has happened to us in the past few weeks, to me. Losing the shop, losing the money I had saved, Dean in the hospital, even meeting Hayden and finding out that he’s gotten all religious. What if all these things I didn’t plan, and can’t control, happened for a reason?”
“What reason could that be?”
Sydney shrugged. “What if God wants to get my attention?”
Lissandra wrinkled her nose. “Why would he want to do that?”
“I don’t know.” Sydney sighed as she caught her own reflection in the mirror. “I don’t know much of anything anymore. Especially this thing with Sheree.”
Lissandra sat up. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t feel right tapping my man’s phone.” Sydney got up. “It’s been a week, and Essie says there’s been no contact between him and Sheree.”
“So? He still lied to you when he didn’t tell you about her voice message,” Lissandra said.
“Look, all I’m saying is it’s getting harder and harder for me to look him in the eye, knowing that I have an ear in on his conversations.”
“I’m sorry. Is this the same woman who got us the cake job for the Raptors opening season party by helping me release a colony of ants into Samantha’s cake shop?” Lissandra asked in disbelief.
“Yes! And look how that worked out,” Sydney said, throwing up her hands. “The health department shuts her down for a week. She buys our shop and shuts us down for eternity.”
“So you’re saying that we brought all this on ourselves?” Lissandra asked.
Sydney sighed and tossed the lip gloss into her purse. “I’m saying that I’m not sure that we’ve been going about this the right way.”
“Oh, God.” Lissandra sounded as if she was about to hurl. “You are becoming like the Bible thumpers.”
“I never said all of that,” Sydney protested. “I just said it doesn’t feel right. That’s all.”
Lissandra rolled her eyes. “You’re gonna tell Essie to stop listening in, aren’t you.”
“I’m gonna see how tonight goes first.” Sydney headed toward the bedroom door. “But yes, that’s what I’m leaning toward.”
By the time Sydney rang Hayden’s doorbell, she had pretty much made up her mind. No more spying on Hayden. If they were going to find Sheree, they were going to do it without him.
The door swung open and the tension in her body melted away as her eyes met Hayden’s.
“Hey.” His eyes lit up as his gaze swept over her.
“Hey, yourself,” she said with a smile equal to his own. She already felt lighter now that she had made her decision, and that left her free to enjoy every moment as he whisked her into his arms and parted her
lips with his for a kiss that made her toes curl.
“Well,” Sydney said, slightly breathless. “I hope that’s not the welcome you give all your visitors.”
“You’ll have to ask them yourself.”
Sydney slapped his arm playfully, before letting him take her coat and hang it in the closet. Her eyes eagerly drank in everything in Hayden’s townhouse. Though he had been to her home on several occasions, this was the first time she had opportunity to be in his. Before she had even gotten through the door, she had been impressed with the contemporary architecture of brick, stone, and stucco façades. But the inside was just as modern, with its dark-stained hardwood floors and high ceilings. He had kept the decor fairly neutral with tan walls, a brown shag rug in the living room, and a dark-stained wood entertainment center. But pops of deep red throughout gave life to the rooms.
“Mom, Dad, look who’s here.”
Sydney followed Hayden into the kitchen, where she found Dalton Windsor and his wife, Staffine, at the island counter.
“Sydney, girl, come here.” Sydney got lost in his arms as the six foot, two-hundred-fifty-pound man pulled her into a huge bear hug. He may have been much older than the last time she saw him, but there was no absence of strength in his arms as he embraced her.
“Look at you.” He held her back from him, his crinkled brown eyes looking her over. “It’s been more than a decade since I’ve seen you.”
“I know,” Sydney said. “Whose fault is that, though? You never stop by anymore.”
“I know,” he said apologetically. “I’m an old man now, but they keep me busy over at Lakeshore Holdings.”
“Mhmm.” Sydney pursed her lips in mock disapproval. “I think you keep yourself busy, Uncle Dalton.”
Dalton rolled his eyes as Hayden and Staffine began clearing their throats.
“You don’t listen to them,” he said with a shake of his head as he sat down on one of the chairs by the island. “If it was up to them, I wouldn’t do anything.”
