“Honestly, any day is fine. Sydney works from home and I know I’ll be there for at least another week, so whatever works for you will be good.”
“Awesome.”
“If you need to talk to Sydney about it or need to arrange for payment…”
Sam held up a hand to stop him. “I’m donating my time and equipment, so she’s covered.”
Nodding, Kyle thanked him. “It’s been great how the whole community is helping out like this.”
“I only met Tracy once, but I worked with Daren on their backyard,” Sam said solemnly. “It was a shock when we heard about the accident. When my father-in-law mentioned how he was taking donations to help with the house so Sydney and Haley could live there without worrying about the condition it was in, I told him I’d take care of the property. Jake mentioned that it would be better to wait until most of the work was done on the inside.”
“We didn’t have a lot of heavy equipment come through, but there was definitely some, so your timing is perfect.”
They continued to talk about the work on the house until it was their turn at the counter. Kyle was getting anxious to get back to Sydney’s—not only because he was hungry but because he already missed her.
I am so screwed…
Only, it didn’t feel like a bad thing. The last time he felt like this was when they were together back in high school. Back then, he was so confident that she was it for him. There hadn’t been a doubt in his mind that they were going to get married, have a couple of kids, and just…do the forever thing. When Sydney had gotten serious about going away to school, he took it personally. Every insecurity he ever had came to the surface, and suddenly he wasn’t a man ready to take on the world; he was a boy from one of the poorest families in town who couldn’t afford to go away to college. And once that thought had taken root, everything sort of snowballed from there.
And damn if he didn’t regret it every day.
Once Sydney left, he became a serial dater and loved it because he never wanted to get serious with anyone ever again. It hurt too much to give your heart to someone and then have it broken.
Now he had a second chance and he wasn’t going to blow it.
“There’s the handsomest Jones,” Mrs. Henderson said from behind the glass case. “What can I get for you today?”
Grinning and doing his best to bat his eyes at the older woman, “Well, gorgeous, it smells like fresh-baked cinnamon rolls in here. Any chance I can snag some?”
“Hmm,” she preened. It was something she did with most of the male customers, and if she weren’t in her sixties, he’d probably have flirted with her a little more seriously over the years in hopes of getting free cakes. “There might be a warm tray of them with so much icing on there that is just melting beautifully. How many can I get you, baby boy?”
“Let me get four of them, please. And maybe a couple of those double fudge brownies.”
She gave him a very knowing smile. “You’re bringing them to Sydney and Haley, aren’t you?”
He felt his eyes go wide. “What makes you say that?”
“Kyle Jones, I know everything that goes on in this town. Now I know you have a deep love of my cinnamon rolls, but you’re not big on the brownies. No one in your family is. But Sydney Albright has always loved the double fudge brownies. I remember the two of you coming in here years ago and she always got one of them.” Then she winked. “And her niece loves them too.”
And now he felt himself blush. “Yeah, well…I’m doing the work on their house and…”
“Uh-huh. Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. I’ll be right back.”
Before he could comment, Sam walked over and clapped him on the back. “Have a good one, Kyle. I’ll see you sometime this week. Possibly as early as Tuesday.”
“Thanks, Sam. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and tell Shelby I say hello.”
“Will do!”
Within minutes, Kyle wished Mrs. Henderson a good day and was on his way back to Sydney’s. By the time he got back, he expected she would be done with her shower and hopefully wouldn’t mind getting a little dirty again.
Just the thought of it had him hitting the gas pedal a little harder.
By the time he was in the driveway, he envisioned taking some of the icing from a cinnamon roll and licking it off of her body.
And that thought had him sprinting up the front steps.
The front door was unlocked—something he planned on reprimanding her for—and when he stepped inside, he took a minute to catch his breath and reel himself in a bit. “Syd? I’m back!”
Sydney walked into the kitchen with a smile. She was dressed in a pair of cutoffs and a white t-shirt and definitely looked good enough to eat. Her hair was damp and she didn’t have on any makeup and yet she was still the most beautiful girl in the world to him.
Placing the pink bakery box on the counter, he stalked her around the kitchen island. “What time do you have to pick up Haley?”
She grinned. “She hasn’t let me know yet.” He caught her eyeing the box before looking at him. “You keep your distance, Kyle. At least until after I eat one of these cinnamon rolls.”
If it had been any other request, he might have argued, but he was kind of hungry too.
“Fine. But once you’re done eating, you can be damn sure I’m going to want to chase you around a little more.”
That seemed to please her. “I’m counting on it.”
Together they made their coffees and Kyle opened the sliding glass doors to the back deck. There was a small bistro set out there and he was ready to put his breakfast down on the table when Sydney called out to him.
“Would you mind if we ate in here? I’m seriously not comfortable sitting out on the deck until you look at it.”
With a shrug, he walked back inside but left the doors open to let some fresh air in. Placing his food down, he walked over and kissed her until she melted against him. When he lifted his head, he saw the dazed look on her face.
“Wow,” she whispered. “What was that for?”
“To help you relax.” Then, taking her by the hand, he led her to the kitchen table and held out a chair for her.
“Thanks. I know I’m probably being overdramatic, but…it’s getting a little too creaky for comfort.”
“I understand completely. All of my tools are here so I’ll check it out after we eat.”
She smiled at him before taking a bite of her cinnamon roll and moaning with pleasure.
It would be unreasonable to be jealous of a pastry, and yet…he was.
“Oh, that’s good,” she hummed. “I can’t believe you got them fresh out of the oven. Talk about perfect timing.”
“That’s what I thought too. Did you see the brownies?”
With an enthusiastic nod, she thanked him and took another bite of her breakfast. “Haley’s going to be sorry she missed these. I know she can reheat one later, but it’s not the same.” Another bite. “Was it busy in there?”
“Busier than I thought it would be.” He took a bite of his own and then remembered to tell her about Sam. “Sam Westbrook and Coleman Landscaping are going to be coming this week to work on the front yard.”