“I texted Sydney earlier and they’re discharging her at some point this morning.”
Staring down into his coffee, he nodded. “Good. That’s good. And Sydney’s okay?”
“Her nerves are a little frazzled, but that’s to be expected. I’m sure once she gets Haley home and they have a chance to talk, they’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.”
At some point he knew he’d call and check on her himself, but for now, it was enough. So he changed the subject to the wedding, and that kept Violet talking until he was ready to faceplant on the table. She took pity on him and cleaned up their breakfast dishes and helped him to bed before she left. He was asleep before she was even out of the room.
Some time later, he rolled over, and the pounding in his head seemed crazy loud.
Then he realized it wasn’t his head, but someone actually knocking on his door.
As much as he wanted to ignore it, they seemed fairly persistent.
Rising, he stretched and padded across the room. Luckily he was still dressed in a pair of athletic shorts and a t-shirt because he didn’t have the strength to change into anything else. Whoever was knocking, they’d just have to deal with it.
Yanking open the door, he froze.
Haley was standing there holding a giant teddy bear and looking very uncertain.
And behind her stood Sydney looking even more so.
“Hey,” he said gruffly. “They cut you loose already, huh?”
The smile Haley gave him was a little shy as she nodded. “I, um…I wanted to come by and give you this.” She held out the bear. “As a way to say thank you.”
It would be rude to leave them standing on his front porch, so he stepped aside and motioned for them to come in. They both thanked him before coming in and standing in the middle of his living room. Haley was still holding out the bear, so he took it.
“Thanks,” he said, examining it. It was about the size of his nephew Asher and it was wearing a t-shirt and cape that said “Super Bear.” Smiling, he turned and put it on the couch. “So how are you feeling, Hales? You look much better than you did yesterday.”
“I’m tired,” she told him. “But the doctor said that was normal. It’s going to take a few days for me to feel better.”
“Yeah. Me too.” Pointing to the couch, he said, “C’mon. Have a seat. Can I get you something? Violet brought me a box of goodies from Henderson’s…”
Haley looked at Sydney before she replied. “I’m not really hungry. Um…”
This time, Sydney spoke. “We came here because Haley wanted to thank you for rescuing her, but she also felt it was important to talk to you about some other things.”
The last thing he wanted to do was sit here and listen to more reasons why Haley didn’t want him in their lives, but at the moment, he really didn’t have a choice. So with a small nod, he sat down in the oversized chair that was opposite the sofa and listened.
“When my mom and dad died, I felt totally numb,” she began somberly. “Aunt Syd and my grandparents were there trying to help me and cheer me up, but I swore I was never going to be happy again. But after a little while, I started to feel better. I still was missing them so much, but I started to see that I could go out with my friends or do something fun and it would be okay.”
He nodded and kept his focus on her.
“Then you started coming around, and you were like…encouraging me with gymnastics and taking me and Aunt Syd out and doing things with us like I used to do with my parents. It felt kind of weird at first, but I didn’t think too much about it. But then…” Her voice started to shake and she looked at Sydney who encouraged her to keep going.
“Haley, you don’t have to explain yourself,” he interrupted, more for himself than for her.
“No, I need to do this. I need you to understand.”
So he waited patiently for her to continue.
“Then I started to feel like…happy. I looked forward to us doing things together, and I started to think of us as a family. And then I felt so guilty because I wasn’t thinking about my parents and I hated myself for it.” She looked at him helplessly. “The day we went to Hunter and Violet’s, you told me you took a video of my gymnastics meet and your whole family was so excited for me and it freaked me out because there I was having all this fun and I shouldn’t be. I should have been thinking about my parents and I felt like I was being disrespectful to them by having fun with your family.”
“Hales, I don’t even know what to say…”
“So I was freaking out inside and then Scarlett called you a proud parent.” She paused and sighed. “It made me mad because…because it was like I replaced my parents so fast and it wasn’t right. So I had to do something to make it stop. I had to make you go away because if you weren’t there, then Aunt Syd would be alone and sad like we were supposed to be.”
Kyle hung his head and sighed, unsure of how he was supposed to respond.
There was no way he could argue his case or beg her to change her mind when it was obvious she was already struggling with so much.
When he looked up, he realized both of them looked just as miserable as he did.
“When I ran away,” she went on, “I just wanted to leave. I was going to go to my grandparents’ house and thought the boat would get me there faster. I’m sorry that I stole it and then wrecked it. I know I can’t repay you for it right away, but I promise I’ll work it off in babysitting or any other kind of chore you and your siblings think is fair.”
“We don’t care about the boat, Hales. We’re just all relieved that you’re safe.”
“No,” she said, her voice getting stronger. “What I did was wrong.” Then she frowned. “Everything I’ve been doing lately is wrong.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself,” he told her. “You’ve had a lot to deal with, and you’re entitled to feel the way you want to.”
Now she sighed dramatically. “Ugh…you’re not getting this.” Straightening, she looked him right in the eye. “I was a brat, Kyle. I threw a temper tantrum to make myself feel better and it was completely selfish. Every night I’d hear Aunt Syd cry and I knew you were upset too. I figured you hated me. Then you showed up yesterday and jumped into the water to save me, even though I was so awful to you.” She frowned. “Why would you do that?”
“Hales, like it or not, I care about you,” he explained. “Do you know how many times my brothers and I would scream how much we hated each other one day and would have each other’s backs the next?” He paused and chuckled. “And don’t even get me started on Scarlett. She is the queen of saying and doing all kinds of mean things, but when you need her, she’s there.” Leaning forward, he smiled at her. “That’s what family does. We get mad, we say stupid things, and in the end, we forgive. It’s as simple as that.”
“But…I’m not…I mean, we’re not…”
“Yeah, we are.” His voice was gruff and he was feeling emotional. “And it doesn’t matter if I’m dating your aunt or not. You and me, Hales? Family.”