She hit play on some old school U2 just as Everleigh yanked open the door.
“This is such a fun car,” she exclaimed.
“That’s one word for it. My sister’s…um…eclectic. Prefers to recycle and reuse rather than buy new.” Which meant Sydney, for the duration of her stay, was stuck tootling around town in a 1989 Cadillac Eldorado in bubble gum pink with a black rag top. Kim had gotten it when the Mary Kay saleswoman who won it died. Of embarrassment? Maybe. Apparently her family had been eager to give it away for a song.
Everleigh settled her water bottle in the cup holder. Took off her gloves and stuffed them in her pockets. Fluffed her hair. Pulled down the mirror and re-fluffed while looking at it. By the time she actually got around to fastening her seat belt, U2 had moved on to the next song.
She wouldn’t last a day in Sydney’s world, with the breakneck travel schedules and constant—and often literal—running.
But was it really so bad to sit here for a whole extra three minutes? Slowing down her pace a notch so that her new friend could feel…comfortable…wouldn’t steer Sydney’s day off track.
So Sydney rejected her knee-jerk impatience. Looked at the snow-dusted bushes and admired how they reminded her of a sugared fruit centerpiece at a Christmas tea in London, oh, a dozen years ago. A good memory that wouldn’t have popped up without this brief pause.
She was still relieved when the other woman patted her lap and gave her an expectant raise of the eyebrows.
Sydney gunned it down the path so fast that snow fanned up and out in a crystalline train behind them.
“This car—I feel like it needs a name—certainly stands out.” Everleigh patted the top of the gear shift, which was also Pepto pink.
“Yeah, if I want to be the main attraction in the Memorial Day parade.” Sydney was grateful Kim had left her the keys. Grateful she didn’t have to rent, or juggle borrowing her dad’s. But geez, it was not what she’d been craving to get behind the wheel of after using taxis to get everywhere.
“Do they have one of those here?”
“If it’s a holiday, we throw a parade. Same people every time, more or less. Only the decorations change. There’s even a lit boat parade down the river in December.”
Everleigh sucked in a breath so deep it was a miracle the vents didn’t reverse direction. “Every year?”
“Yep.”
“Down our river?”
Sydney waved an arm in the direction of the Chester. “If you mean the one that goes behind the inn, yes.”
“That’s spectacular. We can plan a whole special weekend around it. I mean, how many people get to see lit boats in winter?”
“In Maryland?” Sydney chuckled. “A ton. You know we have more coastline than any other state. Than even the big, obvious ones like Florida and California.”
“That’s a sneaky bit of trivia.” Everleigh dug in her bag for a notebook and pen. “This will fill the inn during a down month. We’ll line up the Adirondack chairs along the river’s edge. Provide blankets for everyone, and spiked cocoa, and mulled wine. Maybe even do a dinner afterward.”
“You guys have a cook?” Alex hadn’t mentioned that addition to her. Plus, Sydney happened to know that it wasn’t on his list for another month. Because they’d absolutely gone over his list together.
She’d thought it would skyrocket his stress every night, to see how much still loomed to get done. But it soothed him, making sure that every last detail was accounted for. Sydney enjoyed sharing it with him. Enjoyed hearing how his mind worked through the puzzles and problems, and bouncing ideas back and forth.
Everleigh made a raspberry. “No. Not yet. But we will long before December. Oh, this is marketing gold. Thanks, Sydney.”
“Happy to share. Especially when all I really did was snark about my sister’s car.”
“Look on the bright side. You’ll have no trouble finding it in the parking lot of the retirement village.” Everleigh beamed at her as Sydney pulled away from the inn. “Thank you so much for taking me.”
“Can you explain why our visit had to be today? I mean, I mentioned it to you a while ago. And I had to swap shifts with my dad to do it. Not a big deal,” she rushed to clarify. “I’m just curious as to your sudden need to make it happen.”
“Today marks exactly one month since we arrived.”
Ah. Was Everleigh one of those people who celebrated random, unremarkable