got another two weeks here tops, and then I’ll be on some other site that Jake assigns me to. It’s going to be weird not seeing the two of you every day.”
“I know. This was all such an unusual set of circumstances.” Pausing, she didn’t even think before her next words were out. “Who knows if we would have reconnected if it hadn’t been for this whole house thing.”
But there it was.
A hard truth.
“You don’t think we would have…I don’t know…run into each other?” he asked, sounding slightly hurt.
“I don’t know. It’s not like it happened any time I came back to visit my folks or when I was here helping Tracy and Daren when they moved in.” Hating the direction of the conversation, Sydney opted to wiggle a little closer and place some more kisses on his chest.
“I went to the funeral,” he said flatly, effectively ending her kissing.
“Um…what?” Looking up at him, she shook her head as if she didn’t believe him. He couldn’t have been there. She would have seen him.
“Yeah, so I was there. At the church.”
Lifting up a bit, she stared at him because it still didn’t seem possible. “But…I didn’t see you.”
“I know,” he said quietly, reaching up to caress her cheek. “I didn’t think you’d want to see me so I stayed in the back of the church and paid my respects. Tracy was always nice to me back when you and I dated and I had to go and say goodbye.”
“I don’t even know what to say to that, Kyle. I mean…thank you. That was very nice of you.” Frowning, she didn’t know what else to say and seriously wanted to change the subject.
“It wasn’t until Jake told me about the house that I knew you’d moved back. I didn’t really know anything about Haley or that you were her guardian. It was all too much to take in that the accident even happened.” Another pause as his eyes scanned her face. “But whether there was this job or not, if I had known you were living in Magnolia again, I would have sought you out.”
Was it wrong that her heart did a little skip at his words?
In a perfect world, she’d like to believe him. Maybe he would have reached out to her, but she had a feeling she would have been just as hostile toward him as she was when he first started working on the house, and it would have taken them months to get where they were right now.
If they ever did.
Carefully, Kyle guided her back down so her head was resting on his shoulder and they lay in companionable silence for several long moments. She felt him kiss the top of her head before he said, “I hate like hell the circumstances that brought you back here, Syd. And I hate saying I’m thankful for us to get a second chance because it makes it sound like…like I’m grateful for something so heinous, and…”
“Don’t,” she said quietly. “I know what you’re saying and I understand. Don’t you think I’ve felt the same way?” She couldn’t even look at him. “I’m living in their house, sleeping in their room, raising their daughter…sometimes it’s all just too much.”
“I know I’ve said it before and everyone looked at me like I was a horrible person, but…you know you can sell this place, right? Maybe a fresh start someplace new would be good for the two of you. There’s a lot of memories here, I get that, but…they’re not all good ones.”
“I know.” Her eyes stung with the threat of tears and this so wasn’t the kind of conversation she envisioned them having after their sexcapades. “I can’t just sell the house, Kyle. I know it sounds simple enough, but not after all the work we just did on it. So many people donated a lot of money to help us fix up the place. It would be wrong to turn around and sell it right away.” She sighed and knew they needed to lighten the mood because this was not how she wanted their night to end. “Besides, you did such a great job customizing all the spaces for us and then we just went around the house and christened so many spots that I think I’ve put my stamp on this place.”
Then she held her breath and hoped he noticed a change of subject when he heard one.
His arms tightened gently around her and he kissed her again. “Well,