Her eyes went wide. “Really? That’s awesome. I had completely forgotten about that.” Placing the pastry back on her plate, she sighed. “I hate sounding ungrateful, but I kind of wish all the work was over.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “It’s all just so much more than I imagined. When Pastor Steve first mentioned that he was organizing this, I figured it would be some cosmetic fixes—some coats of paint and fixing the plumbing and electric. I’ve basically got a new house out of it and I feel…well…guilty.”
“Sydney…”
“Kyle, we’ve talked about this. People have been far too generous and I’ll never be able to repay anyone for all of this.” She shook her head even as she rested it in her hands. “It’s all wonderful, and the house is so much more than I ever thought it could be, but it’s also a reminder—like everywhere I look, I know something’s here because my sister isn’t.”
He was about to comment when the doorbell rang. Sydney’s eyes went wide and he noticed a hint of panic that seemed a little odd. She quickly wiped her mouth and excused herself and Kyle was left sitting there wondering what put that look on her face. Who could possibly be ringing the bell that would freak her out?
“Oh, hey, Jake!” she said loudly.
His boss.
Just great.
“Hey, Sydney,” Jake Summerford said with a relaxed smile. “I’m sorry to drop in unannounced, but I was on the block doing a bid on another house and spotted Kyle’s truck here. He doesn’t normally work the weekends, so I wanted to make sure there weren’t any problems that he hasn’t told me about.”
It seemed like an odd way to word things, but she wasn’t sure what to say.
He looked beyond her and spotted Kyle. “Everything okay here?”
“Hey, Jake,” Kyle said as he came up behind her and shook his boss’s hand. “Come on in. Can I interest you in a cinnamon roll?”
Jake stepped around her and followed Kyle to the kitchen, and again, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do or say. Kyle seemed a little tense, but then again, so did she.
It wasn’t like they were hiding their relationship; they just hadn’t talked about letting everyone know about it either.
Especially his boss.
If Sydney had to take a guess, she’d say it would be awkward if Jake knew the true extent of their relationship. After all, he was paying Kyle to be here.
Well, not like he was last night, but if Jake knew what was going on between the two of them, he would definitely think they were fooling around while Kyle was supposed to be working. Hell, she was surprised they weren’t doing more of that sort of thing, but the truth was, they weren’t.
But would anyone really believe that?
“Sydney had mentioned to me the other day how the back deck seemed a little creaky,” Kyle was saying when she finally got out of her own head. “So I figured I’d swing by and check it out.”
Jake spotted their breakfast and simply nodded. “Have you checked it out yet?”
“No,” Kyle said smoothly. “I figured since I was showing up on a Sunday morning, I should bring some breakfast.” He nodded to the bakery box and Sydney realized he had just lied to his boss about them.
And she didn’t know if she was relieved or offended.
“I may have mentioned my love of anything from Henderson’s,” Sydney said to add some validity to the situation.
Again, Jake nodded. “Why don’t I take a look at the deck with you? I know Daren built it himself, but we had looked it over before we started any of the work here. Chances are something just needs a little more support or additional bracing. We had a similar issue with my mother-in-law’s B&B.”
“That’s what I was thinking too,” Kyle said, and the two of them walked out onto the deck and then down the stairs to the yard.
Sydney fought the urge to follow them, but after another quick bite of her breakfast, that’s exactly what she did. Her curiosity got the better of her, and as she neared the bottom of the stairs, she had to admit, it all seemed pretty anticlimactic.
“There’s a couple of screws popping over here,” Jake was saying. “Chances are he just didn’t use ones that were long enough. I’ve got some out in my truck. You got a drill handy?”
“Yeah. I’ve got some of my tools set up in the guest room from when we installed the new upper cabinets on