Get You Good (20 page)

S
ydney pulled the knee-length fitted sweater dress carefully over her head, then adjusted the huge loose turtleneck until it sat elegantly on her shoulders. The rust color picked up the golden highlights in her dark-colored hair, which she had curled and pinned up for the night for Hayden's benefit. She knew how much he loved any hairstyle that gave him a full view of her neck. She was in the process of applying mascara to her lashes when Lissandra came into the room.

“Look at you, all dressed up to meet the parents.” She slipped onto Sydney's bed to watch her get ready. “Guess I'll be the only one at home tonight.”

“Really?” Sydney capped the mascara and reached for lip gloss. “I'm almost sure I heard JJ moving around downstairs.”

“Yeah, she was,” Lissandra said, curling her lip. “And then she went to ‘bed.' ”

Sydney laughed as Lissandra put air quotes around the word
bed
.

“You think we should ask her where she goes when she sneaks out?” Sydney asked.

“And force Saint Judith to add lying to whatever sin she's committing when she leaves the house at ten o'clock at night? No, thanks,” Lissandra said dryly. “If she can't even tell us, it must be really bad.”

Sydney rubbed her lips together. “I don't know. This is JJ we're talking about. It's probably some guy.”

“Yeah.” Lissandra lay back on the bed. “Some married guy.”

“Speaking of men, where's Mario?” Sydney asked, glancing back at her sister.

“Men's ministry meeting at his church.”

Sydney didn't miss the disdain in her sister's voice. “Has he invited you to church yet?”

“Tries every week.” Lissandra sounded like she had indigestion. “I swear, being with this man is doing something to me. Last week he asked me something, and I was about to lie, when I get this weird sensation in my chest. What is that?”

Sydney laughed out loud. “It's called ‘guilt.' ”

Lissandra shuddered. “How do you deal with that all the time?”

“By not doing things that make you feel that way.” Sydney shook her head. “I still can't believe you've lasted this long with a church boy.”

“Look who's talking!” Lissandra said. “You might have everyone else fooled with your going to church every week, but I know you are nowhere near that man's level of commitment.”

Normally Sydney would have been offended by Lissandra's comment. But her sister had spoken truth.

“I know,” Sydney conceded with a sigh. “I've been thinking about that lately.”

“What do you mean?”

Sydney sat down on the bed beside Lissandra as she tried to explain how she had been feeling.

“Do you believe everything happens for a reason?”

Lissandra squinted. “You mean like Karma?”

“No.” Sydney bit her lip. “Like everything that has happened to us in the past few weeks, to me. Losing the shop, losing the money I had saved, Dean in the hospital, even meeting Hayden and finding out that he's gotten all religious. What if all these things I didn't plan, and can't control, happened for a reason?”

“What reason could that be?”

Sydney shrugged. “What if God wants to get my attention?”

Lissandra wrinkled her nose. “Why would he want to do that?”

“I don't know.” Sydney sighed as she caught her own reflection in the mirror. “I don't know much of anything anymore. Especially this thing with Sheree.”

Lissandra sat up. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don't feel right tapping my man's phone.” Sydney got up. “It's been a week, and Essie says there's been no contact between him and Sheree.”

“So? He still lied to you when he didn't tell you about her voice message,” Lissandra said.

“Look, all I'm saying is it's getting harder and harder for me to look him in the eye, knowing that I have an ear in on his conversations.”

“I'm sorry. Is this the same woman who got us the cake job for the Raptors opening season party by helping me release a colony of ants into Samantha's cake shop?” Lissandra asked in disbelief.

“Yes! And look how that worked out,” Sydney said, throwing up her hands. “The health department shuts her down for a week. She buys our shop and shuts us down for eternity.”

“So you're saying that we brought all this on ourselves?” Lissandra asked.

Sydney sighed and tossed the lip gloss into her purse. “I'm saying that I'm not sure that we've been going about this the right way.”

“Oh, God.” Lissandra sounded as if she was about to hurl. “You are becoming like the Bible thumpers.”

“I never said all of that,” Sydney protested. “I just said it doesn't feel right. That's all.”

Lissandra rolled her eyes. “You're gonna tell Essie to stop listening in, aren't you.”

“I'm gonna see how tonight goes first.” Sydney headed toward the bedroom door. “But yes, that's what I'm leaning toward.”

By the time Sydney rang Hayden's doorbell, she had pretty much made up her mind. No more spying on Hayden. If they were going to find Sheree, they were going to do it without him.

The door swung open and the tension in her body melted away as her eyes met Hayden's.

“Hey.” His eyes lit up as his gaze swept over her.

“Hey, yourself,” she said with a smile equal to his own. She already felt lighter now that she had made her decision, and that left her free to enjoy every moment as he whisked her into his arms and parted her lips with his for a kiss that made her toes curl.

“Well,” Sydney said, slightly breathless. “I hope that's not the welcome you give all your visitors.”

“You'll have to ask them yourself.”

Sydney slapped his arm playfully, before letting him take her coat and hang it in the closet. Her eyes eagerly drank in everything in Hayden's townhouse. Though he had been to her home on several occasions, this was the first time she had opportunity to be in his. Before she had even gotten through the door, she had been impressed with the contemporary architecture of brick, stone, and stucco façades. But the inside was just as modern, with its dark-stained hardwood floors and high ceilings. He had kept the decor fairly neutral with tan walls, a brown shag rug in the living room, and a dark-stained wood entertainment center. But pops of deep red throughout gave life to the rooms.

“Mom, Dad, look who's here.”

Sydney followed Hayden into the kitchen, where she found Dalton Windsor and his wife, Staffine, at the island counter.

“Sydney, girl, come here.” Sydney got lost in his arms as the six foot, two-hundred-fifty-pound man pulled her into a huge bear hug. He may have been much older than the last time she saw him, but there was no absence of strength in his arms as he embraced her.

“Look at you.” He held her back from him, his crinkled brown eyes looking her over. “It's been more than a decade since I've seen you.”

“I know,” Sydney said. “Whose fault is that, though? You never stop by anymore.”

“I know,” he said apologetically. “I'm an old man now, but they keep me busy over at Lakeshore Holdings.”

“Mhmm.” Sydney pursed her lips in mock disapproval. “I think you keep yourself busy, Uncle Dalton.”

Dalton rolled his eyes as Hayden and Staffine began clearing their throats.

“You don't listen to them,” he said with a shake of his head as he sat down on one of the chairs by the island. “If it was up to them, I wouldn't do anything.”

“Please, as if you ever listen to anything we have to say,” Hayden muttered as he went back to the stove.

“Sydney, it's nice to finally meet you.” Staffine pulled Sydney into a more delicate embrace than her husband's. “I've heard so much about you from your father when he was alive, and from Hayden over the past few weeks, that I feel like I know you already.”

“We also heard about your brother,” Dalton said, his tone taking on a serious quality. “He's been in our prayers every day. How is he doing?”

“A little better,” Sydney said, appreciating their concern. “They were able to take him off the ventilator a couple days ago and he's breathing on his own. It's a good sign.”

“God be praised,” Staffine said. “I just know God is going to bring him to a full recovery.”

“Thank you for all your prayers and concern,” Sydney said. “It means a lot. Now I know why Dub speaks so glowingly about you. It's great to finally put a face to the name.”

“So tell me, Sydney, did you cook all this and then sneak out to make it look like Dub did it?” Dalton asked. “You don't have to lie to me. I know my son.”

Sydney chuckled. “Then you should know that he's an excellent cook. He doesn't need me.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Hayden said. They both smiled as their eyes met. “But I do need you. Would you grab the potatoes out of the oven for me?”

Just as Sydney was pulling the oven open, the doorbell rang. “That must be Christian and Jennifer,” Hayden said as he set the salad on the countertop.

“Don't worry, I'll get it,” Dalton said, heading toward the door.

“Is that the gravy?” Sydney asked, resting a hand on Hayden's back as she peered around him to see what he was stirring on the stove top.

“Yeah,” he said. “Want to taste?”

He dipped a spoon into the pot, then held it close to Sydney's lips.

“Mhmm, babe, that's good.”

“I know, right?”

Staffine chuckled and they both turned to look at her.

“What?” Hayden asked curiously.

“Nothing,” she said with a smile. “Just young love.”

Sydney's eyes met Hayden's and she couldn't help but smile. Is that what this feeling was?

“Sydney, I don't think you've met my other son before, have you.”

“I've heard lots about him, but I don't think I have met him,” Sydney said, wiping her hands on a towel.

“This is Dub's younger brother, Christian, and his fiancée, Jennifer,” Dalton said. “Christian and Jennifer, this is Sydney.”

“Hey, are you the girl who wanted to marry my brother?” Christian teased.

Why did everyone remember that? Oh yeah, because her dad and Dalton had kept telling the story.

“I was seven!”

That started a round of laughter, but it didn't make Sydney feel out of place. In fact, it made her feel like she was part of them—like they had already accepted her into their family. That feeling stayed with her the rest of the night as she talked and laughed with Hayden and his family. And when Hayden grabbed her hand under the table and intertwined his fingers with hers, she knew that he felt like she was part of them, too.

They had just cleared the table and were about to bring out the apple and rhubarb crumble that Sydney had brought for dessert, when Hayden's phone rang. He excused himself to take the call as Sydney and Jennifer finished carrying the last of the dishes to the kitchen.

“I've got to tell you, I've heard nothing but amazing things about the desserts from your shop,” Jennifer said. “Last time Dub came over, he brought your red velvet cake. Girl, it was gone in two days.”

Sydney laughed. “I bet he ate most of it. That man does love some red velvet cake.”

By the time Hayden returned to the room, the crumble as well as the dessert plates were already on the table.

“Don't let me keep you waiting,” he said, taking his seat beside Sydney. “Dig in.”

The conversation started up again as the dessert moved around the table, but something was different.

“Everything OK?” she whispered to Hayden when no one else was looking.

“Fine.” He kissed her briefly on the forehead, but didn't meet her eyes. “Everything's fine.”

Everything was not fine. But she would get to that later.

She was about to take the first bite out of her dessert when her own phone started ringing.

“So sorry,” she apologized, as she scrambled to get to it. “I thought it was on vibrate.”

“You young people and your twenty-four-hour access,” Dalton said. “In my day, if they didn't catch us from nine to five, they didn't catch us at all.”

Sydney was about to end the call and turn off the ringer when she saw who it was from. With a glance behind her at the table, she took the phone to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. “What's going on?” she whispered.

“She just called him.” Essie's voice came with an urgency that caused Sydney's muscles to immediately tense. Even though her breaking heart already knew the answer, she still had to ask.

“Who called him?”

“Sheree.”

T
he temperature in Hayden's guest bathroom felt like it went up a notch as Essie began to give Sydney the details of Sheree's call to Hayden.

“It was less than five minutes ago,” Essie said. “And it doesn't sound good. It sounds like she's getting ready to move, but she left something important at her brother's house that she needs to get first. Why are you whispering? Where are you?”

“At his house. I'm having dinner with his family. Did she say what she left?”

“No, but it was important enough that she wasn't willing to leave it behind.”

Sydney sat down on the closed toilet lid and tried to think. Through the door she could hear the sound of Hayden's family laughing and talking. It wouldn't be long before they started wondering where she was.

“Look, she didn't say when she was coming,” Essie continued. “But she said it would be sometime this week. It sounded like she was mad about your boy Hayden changing his locks so the key she had wouldn't work. She's planning to come by one day when he's there, but she wouldn't say when. Sounded like she didn't trust him to not turn her in.”

“Did you get the number she called from?”

“Phone booth.”

Sydney scraped her fingernail against the ribbed fabric of her dress. “That doesn't give me much to work with. What should I do?”

“Find out what she's coming back for before she comes back for it. If it's that important, maybe you can use it to bargain with her.”

Sydney squeezed her eyes shut. How was she supposed to do that?

The sound of footsteps in the hallway raised the urgency.

“Gotta go, call you later.”

Sydney ended the call, then flushed the toilet and washed her hands in the sink.

When she opened the bathroom door, Jennifer was standing on the other side.

“You OK?” she asked looking at Sydney curiously. “I thought I heard you whispering in there.”

“Yeah,” Sydney said. “Just on the phone with one of my sisters. Everything's an emergency with them.”

Conversation swirled around Sydney once she reclaimed her seat at the dining table, but she barely heard any of it above the noise of the questions in her mind. What had Sheree left behind? Money? Travel documents? Information about where she might be headed? Where would she have put it? Did Hayden know what it was? Was he hiding it for Sheree?

Out of the corner of her eye, Sydney watched him as he chatted with his family. Other than the kiss on the forehead, he hadn't touched her since he had come back to the table. She wondered if he remembered the promise he had made to her, and whether he planned to tell her about the call.

At Dalton's suggestion, the group moved to the living room, but Sydney stayed behind to help clean up the table with Hayden.

“Hey, you go ahead and sit with your family,” she said. “I'll put these in the dishwasher for you.”

“I can't let you do that,” he said. “You're a guest.”

“And you spent all day preparing this.” She took the dish from his hand. “Let me do this for you.”

He looked at her a long moment, then removed the dish from her hands and replaced it with his hands. They were so warm and strong and welcoming. She wanted to trust them. She wanted to trust him.

“Syd, there's something I have to tell you.” His brow had furrowed and he stared at her with such intensity that she felt a chill run through her.

Her heart beat faster. She prayed that he was going to tell her about Sheree. She didn't want to believe that he was lying to her. And if he told her now, then they could do this together. Sydney wouldn't have to go to the plan that her mind was already formulating.

“What is it, babe?” She squeezed his hands in encouragement. “You can tell me.”

He let out a deep breath. “It's about . . .”

“Dub, come talk some sense into your brother,” Dalton's voice came from the living room. “You believe this boy really thinks that Boston will make it to the play-offs this year?”

Hayden glanced up at the hallway to the living room, then back at Sydney as he debated what to do next.

“Come on, Dub, tell him that Boston is the best defensive team in the league,” Christian shot back.

“I'm coming,” Hayden threw over his shoulder.

“Dub . . .”

“We'll talk later,” he said, squeezing her hands.

“Dub, wait,” she pressed. “What do you need to tell me?”

He gave a forced smile. “You know what? It's not even important.”

Then, before she could protest, he kissed her forehead and made his way to the living room. As she watched him walk away, the truth sank into her. He wasn't ever going to tell her.

Her phone buzzed again. This time it was Lissandra.

“Essie told me about the call,” Lissandra said. “Did he tell you about it?”

“No,” Sydney said with a sigh.

“Can you talk?”

Sydney glanced at the hallway. “Not really.”

“Then I'll make this quick,” Lissandra said. “You need to take a photograph of his key.”

“What?”

“Use your phone and make sure you get in close. It needs to be clear, so use the Macro focus function. You have to take the picture beside something with a scale. Check the kitchen or bathroom; there must be something in one of those rooms with a ruler on it.”

“How are we gonna get a copy from a photograph?” Sydney whispered, not believing that she was even having this conversation with her sister.

“Don't worry, I know a guy.”

“I can't believe I am even considering this,” Sydney said as she began loading dishes into the washer.

“You better consider it. If Sheree gets what she needs from that house, we may never be able to find her again. This is our only window,” Lissandra said. “Look, just get the picture. You can decide later if you want to actually use it.”

Sydney hung up the phone and finished loading the washer, then began her search for the keys. She found them hanging on a hook near the kitchen cupboards. There were three bunches: one for his car and the other two she guessed were for the house and the clinic. She was about to panic when she noticed that one set of keys had an East York Athletic Clinic key ring attached, and the three keys were labelled “office,” “Exam Rm,” and “Main.” That only left the last bunch of two keys. It was almost too easy. With her heart pounding, she rummaged quickly through the kitchen drawers until she found millimeter markings on the back of a box of nails. Grabbing the box of nails and the keys, she slipped into the bathroom once more and took pictures of both keys and forwarded them to Lissandra.

She had just put the keys back on the hook and placed the nails in the drawer when Hayden walked back into the kitchen.

“Hey, what's taking you so long?”

Sydney gripped the edge of the counter to steady herself. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought it would explode out of her chest.

“What were you looking for in there?” He pointed to the open drawer.

“Oh, just some Saran wrap to cover the rest of the crumble,” Sydney lied.

“Oh. It's in the bottom drawer.” He paused. “You could have just asked.”

Sydney closed the drawer and opened the bottom one. “I didn't want to bother you.”

She pulled out the box of plastic wrap, but when she straightened to set it on the counter she found Hayden watching her. The temperature in the room seemed to drop a degree as they stared at each other, and an odd sensation began to creep through Sydney. A sadness she couldn't describe began to fill her, so much so that she was almost sure she saw it reflected in his eyes.

He stayed with her as she covered the crumble and put it into the refrigerator. Then they joined the others in the living room. She was sure no one else noticed it, but something had changed between her and Hayden. Though he was sitting with his arm around her, she had never felt more far away from him. And as she thought about the moment in the kitchen, the moment when they seemed to see right into each other, she couldn't shake a single disturbing thought:

She was losing him.