be able to handle all the ooh-ing and aah-ing you’d both be doing because of how awesome I am.” He grinned at her and Sydney wanted to kiss him for making light of the conversation. “Although, I’m still open to hearing a little praise when we get back. You know…in case you were wondering.”
Now Haley tilted her head to study him. “Anyone ever tell you that you have a huge ego?”
Kyle’s smile was slow and sweet before turning a little bit cocky. “Hales, everyone tells me.” Winking at her, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick hug. “Like it or not, kiddo, I enjoy hanging out with you. And whether you believe it or not, I’m actually the fun uncle. Ask my nephews.”
“Isn’t one of them a baby?”
Sydney quietly groaned at her niece’s sarcasm, but luckily Kyle just laughed.
“Yeah, Asher’s only one, but I’m still his favorite uncle.” He paused and then leaned on the dash. “The thing here is that no one’s looking to ditch you. I mean, do I enjoy having some time alone with your aunt? Of course. Am I disappointed that we’re out here sailing and hanging out with you? No. So quit being so dramatic and volunteering to get out of our way because that’s not what either of us want.”
Haley looked over her shoulder at Sydney as if to ask, “Is this guy for real?” and all Sydney could do was smile and nod.
“Yeah, well…I’m not a baby, you know. There’s going to be times when you don’t want me around.”
Again, Sydney was ready to speak up, but Kyle was one step ahead of her.
With a careless shrug, he replied, “And there are going to be times when you don’t want us around. You’re going to want to hang out with your friends rather than the two of us, and you know what? That’s all okay. Our wanting to be alone doesn’t mean we don’t want to be with you, Haley. You need to remember that.”
Standing, Sydney walked over and joined them. “Okay, since we’re all in agreement that we want to be together here on the boat, why don’t we drop anchor or turn off the boat or whatever it is that you have to do so we can have something to eat. What do you say?”
“Did you bring dessert?” Haley asked.
Kyle laughed out loud. “Like your aunt would pack a picnic and not bring dessert.” He gently nudged Haley aside and showed her how to slow the boat down to an idle so they could step away and eat. “The water’s too deep for us to drop an anchor, so this is what we do.” He looked out at the horizon for a moment. “Once we’re done eating, I think we should turn around and start heading back. You know, while we eat our dessert.”
“Sounds like a plan!”
Two weeks later, Sydney was driving home from therapy and she felt more than a little emotionally drained. It was exactly what she was expecting and yet…not. Apparently, she had a lot of issues that she hadn’t been dealing with and being forced to sit and talk in a one-on-one setting brought it all to the surface.
And she wasn’t loving it.
The first session she and Haley went to together had been rough. There was lots of crying—on both of their parts—and their counselor Teresa assured them that it was completely normal. She also said they should get used to being comfortable crying in front of her. At the time, Sydney thought she was exaggerating, but sure enough, she cried in every session so far.
It had to get better, right?
There was no way she could continue like this where every time she sat down on Teresa’s couch, she would instantly feel the sting of tears. It just wasn’t possible. And what was worse was that it was seriously starting to mess with the times when she wasn’t in a session. Normally she was so drained by the end of her time that it was all she could do to go home and function. She hadn’t seen much of Kyle because she just wasn’t feeling up to it, and that was starting to become an issue as well.
Wasn’t this all supposed to help me move forward? What is wrong with me?
That had been her big question to Teresa today, at the end of their session.
Her response? There wasn’t anything wrong. Everyone handles grief differently and maybe she should try to focus on