let go of it after twelve years. Give me the details so I can grovel and mea culpa to your heart’s content. What the hell is making you so upset?”
The plate of brownies fell to the ground as Nora whirled around to finally face her. “Everything!” she yelled. And then she crumpled over, sobbing.
Oh boy.
Sydney was suddenly quite sure that this wasn’t about her at all.
Alex exchanged a look with her. Because he was an utter gentleman, he put an arm around Nora and hustled her out of the room before too many people noticed her meltdown. The door he pushed through led to the staircase. It was colder out here, but at least empty.
Sydney took her from Alex like a rag doll and gently settled Nora on the steps. Instinct was to sit next to her, try to provide comfort. As a fellow woman, if nothing else.
But Nora was prickly, if she remembered right. Getting her away from the view of an entire town that lived on gossip should be comfort enough. She’d probably prefer to sulk without anyone infiltrating her space. Instead, Sydney sought her own comfort in the crook of Alex’s arm.
Nora pressed her impeccable manicure to her forehead. “You can go.” The sobs had cut off pretty fast to just sniffles.
Tempting, but no. “I’m not taking orders from you. I’m also not abandoning anyone who is clearly not okay.”
“I’m getting used to it. To nothing being okay.”
That sounded ominous. Dramatic, but with a bitter tinge. Clearly Sydney’s grandmother had forgotten to pass on a major story.
It also sounded sad. Sydney realized the woman had been standing alone at the brownie table. No squad with her, and no husband.
No wonder she was willing to spill her guts to a stranger and a nemesis.
Alex cleared his throat. “Would you like me to leave, Nora?”
“No.” Her head dropped even lower as she circled her knees with her arms. “I mean, you don’t have to stay, but you don’t have to go, either. This isn’t a shocking reveal. You’re the only ones who don’t know about me.”
Yep. She kept tiptoeing up to the edge of sharing, and then stopping. Like when a sneeze got to the bridge of your nose and then just melted away.
That was a horrible feeling. “I don’t want to pry. But I think you need to let something out. Let’s call a truce. Just talk. No sniping, no judgment.”
“Everyone judges.”
Ouch. Her pain was a palpable cloud hovering a layer just above her perfume. Sydney did give in and perch next to her, then. Took her hand. “I won’t. I promise.”
Fat tears still hovered along her lash line when Nora raised her head. “Bill left me.”
“Who’s Bill?” Alex asked.
Thank goodness. Sydney didn’t want to come off as insensitive for not remembering every random man in town and their connection to her.
“My husband.” Then her head snapped to the right, with quite a bit of the usual heat in her eyes. “Sydney’s ex.”
Aha! She wanted to do a fist pump at the discovery. Finally, the cause of the bad blood revealed. Only… “Bill? Bill the, um, defender on the lacrosse team? We only dated for a month.”
“He took you to prom.”
“It was a group thing. With the girls’ and boys’ lacrosse teams.”
The ancient accusations kept spewing out. “You only broke up because you left for college early. He pined for you.”
Sydney’s not-stellar memory of Bill was of a guy who lived and breathed lacrosse, and basically only dated for the, um, physical perks of it. They’d had fun. They’d been nowhere close to serious. She doubted he’d know what pining was.
“Well, Nora, you say he’s your husband, so obviously you won. Sorry if I was a speed bump on your path to the aisle.”
Alex wiped a hand across his mouth, clearly hiding a smirk. Whoops.
Could she have been more sympathetic? Maybe. But this was sooo not her fault.
“It doesn’t matter. Bill left me. My therapist says I lashed out at you because I can’t lash out at the little skank who stole my husband. Transference? Something.”
The missing pieces were starting to fill in. Sydney didn’t need the details to know that it takes two to cheat. Bill obviously bore the blame, too. Too bad Nora hadn’t moved through the grief to the anger stage against him yet.
“I’m sorry he hurt you. This has to be a horribly hard time.”
“I’m reeling. Did you see how many brownies I piled on my plate? But eating my pain is safer than