At the trunk of the car, however, she slammed her hand down.
“I was talking to you,” she said, clearly pissed at him.
“Where’s Haley?”
“At a friend’s,” she snapped.
“Look,” he said with an easy grin, “I’m just trying to help you out. Everyone can use an extra set of hands when they’re bringing in groceries. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, Pix.”
If he thought she was pissed before, her expression turned positively furious.
“Um…”
Stepping in close, Sydney poked him in the chest. “You know what? I didn’t want your help, and I certainly didn’t ask for your help! And considering I’m the homeowner and this is my house, my car, my food, it’s my responsibility! You’re here to work on the house, got it? And if you can’t handle that without…without doing things no one asked you to, then I’ll call Jake and ask him to send somebody else! Got it?” She scooped up the rest of the bags, slammed the trunk shut, and stormed off.
What the…?
He was about to chase after her when Haley and her friend came whizzing down the driveway on their bikes. Forcing himself to relax, he turned and smiled at them. “Ladies.”
And damn if they didn’t both giggle.
“What are you up to today?” he asked.
“We wanted to go up to the pier, but I promised Aunt Syd I wouldn’t go without talking to her first.”
“Ah. Gotcha.” Nodding, he asked, “Did you check out Violet’s routines?”
“Holy crap!” Haley said excitedly. “They were so cool! She’s amazing! And you’re related to her? Does she teach gymnastics now? Can she give lessons?”
“Um…”
“Oh, my God,” Haley’s friend chimed in. “Is she the one you sent the links to?”
“Yeah! Did you see that triple flip thing she did? I would love to be able to do that!”
“Me too!”
He took a step back from all the chatter and looked toward the house and wondered if Sydney was going to come back out or if he should go in and try to talk to her. The girls ran into the house, so he opted to stay outside and tried not to even think about their conversation as he went back to work. He was working alone again today. Once the demolition of the steps was done and the new ones framed in, he had told Jake he was good to go solo. Now, with the steps completed and the work on the porch almost done, he felt like he was making good strides. He’d hate to have his boss pull him off this job, but if Sydney had that much animosity toward him—and clearly she did—there really wasn’t anything he could do about it.
You could maybe be the bigger person and clear the air…
Maybe. But he had a feeling her issues had more to do with her current situation and he was a convenient target.
At least…he hoped that’s all it was.
As he continued to work, his mind wandered to what he could have done to piss her off. It wasn’t possible that she was still mad at him after all this time, was it?
When all the spindles were in place and secured, Kyle straightened and stretched. The entire area was going to need to be painted, but that would happen when the rest of the exterior was getting finished. For now, it might not look pretty with so much random bare wood showing, but at least he knew it was all sturdy and secure. He turned to pack up some of the tools when he saw Sydney step out the front door.
Great. What’s going to be the problem now?
With nothing more than a curt nod, he continued cleaning up his tools. If she had something to say, he’d listen, but he certainly wasn’t going to stand still while she balled him out.
He heard her clear her throat and figured she was just gearing up.
“So um…listen,” she began, her voice softer and a lot calmer than their last conversation, “I…this is all looking great. Really. And I can already feel that it’s sturdier than it was before.”
He gave her another nod as he picked up his gear. When he started to walk away, she spoke again.
“I don’t appreciate you taunting me,” she stated firmly, but he heard the slight tremor in her voice.
Placing his tools back down, he slowly straightened and looked at her. “Excuse me?”
Now her arms were folded across her chest, her hip was cocked, and she was definitely on the defensive. “The nickname. Say it one more time and