“At the time, we were excited to downsize,” her mother said, fluffing one of the sofa cushions. “And it really is the perfect size for just the two of us. We didn’t think about the possibility of anyone moving back in with us.”
“No one’s moving in with you,” Sydney replied wearily. Seriously, they’d had this discussion so many times, she could practically recite it. “The community has been wonderful and Haley and I are going to be just fine.” She paused. “There are going to be days where it’s going to be harder than others, but…we’ll make it work.”
“I spoke to Pastor Steve,” her father said. “And he said that if there are times when the work here is too much, he can always make arrangements for you and Haley to stay with some people from the church.”
She smiled and tried to remember that he thought he was being helpful. “Dad, I’m hardly a stranger here. I grew up in this town and still have a lot of friends who live here. I’m telling you, it’s going to be fine.”
And maybe if she kept saying it out loud, she’d eventually believe it.
“Still, if you can’t find a place to stay with a friend in a pinch, don’t forget to call the church,” he commented.
Rather than argue how it wasn’t going to be necessary, she simply nodded. “I won’t forget. Thanks, Dad.” Reaching over, she hugged him. All around them, lights came back on and appliances began to hum. “Oh, thank God.” Pulling back, she smiled. “See that? One thing fixed!”
“Sydney, it’s not just the power…”
But she wasn’t willing to listen to another lecture. “If we don’t get moving, you’re going to miss your flight. Is everything in the car?”
Within minutes, she was standing in the driveway with her arm around her niece and waving goodbye. Haley rested her head on her shoulder and she could hear her sniffling. She had cried as her parents had gotten into the car and said goodbye. She had been expecting it. Doing everything she could to comfort her, she had let her cry, and it had nearly killed her to see her parents crying as well. The whole damn situation wasn’t fair, and unfortunately, there wasn’t anything any of them could do to change it. Hell, most days Sydney either woke up and cried or would cry herself to sleep. It was all she could do, and she prayed that one day it would start to get better.
But clearly today wasn’t that day.
“Hey,” she said softly. “How about we go inside and have some lunch?”
“I’m not hungry,” Haley murmured before turning and running back inside, slamming the door behind her.
Turning toward the house, Sydney looked up at it and sighed. This was her life now. This was her home. It wasn’t a place she would have chosen, but…she would stay here for at least a couple of years and make it the kind of place Tracy wanted for her daughter. It was the least she could do.
She made it all of two steps before the electrician came out and told her he was done for the day and all the work was completed. Thanking him, she walked up the front steps and paused.
One down, one to go…
Walking inside, she found Haley sitting on the couch, staring at her phone. Pasting a smile on her face, she said, “How about some mac and cheese?”
Haley shook her head.
O-kay…
“How about some chicken salad? Grandma made a batch this morning.”
Another small head shake.
Walking over to the couch, she sat down on the coffee table in front of her niece. “How about you tell me what you want to eat?”
“I already said I wasn’t hungry.”
“Yeah, I know, but you also didn’t eat breakfast and you really need to have some lunch. So…come on. How about I make us my super-thin-crust pepperoni pizzas? I know you like them.”
“Aunt Syd…”
“Please? Just…do this for me. You know I hate eating alone.” Eventually, Sydney knew she was going to have to stop letting Haley call the shots, but for right now, it seemed like the best way to handle things.
“Fine,” her niece said with a loud huff.
“You got it,” she said softly, thankful the power was restored. Standing, she kissed the top of Haley’s blond head before heading to the kitchen.
The freezer was stocked with casseroles and all kinds of food that friends and neighbors had been bringing over, but she was dying for something that wasn’t microwaved. Honestly, she would have preferred calling and having a pizza delivered, but she was learning to be a bit more frugal with her money.
The move back to Magnolia and leaving her job meant her income had severely dwindled. She’d sold off most of her furniture and managed to maintain half of her savings. Then she had gotten the life insurance money from Tracy and Daren. The money meant she could raise Haley, but she knew it was going to take a lot more than that to do it. She had to work–had to find a job. And on top of that, she put a large portion of that money into a college fund for her niece–something her sister and brother-in-law had never done.
“I should probably focus more on how we’re going to survive right now,” she murmured as she pulled out the ingredients to make their lunch. Once everything was in the oven, she looked into the living room and saw Haley was exactly where she left her.
With her laptop sitting on the kitchen counter, she opened it and decided to job hunt while she waited for their pizza to bake. Her eyes widened when she saw an email from her friend Mia with the subject “Job for you!”
Quickly opening it, she felt the first wave of excitement.
The job was actually…working for Mia. Her friend had recently published her fourth book–she was a phenomenal mystery writer–and was currently in need of an assistant.
A virtual assistant.
“Oh, Mia,” she whispered. “Please don’t be messing with me.”
The job description pretty much fit Sydney to a tee: handle all correspondence, schedule and coordinate signings and events, social media marketing, graphic design for promos…
Back in Boston, she had been a digital executive producer of a local news station. It had taken her years to work her way up to the position. Before that, she had been an administrative assistant to an anchorwoman of the local news. She had worked at the television station and had done everything from fetching coffee to being on-site at events to assist the “talent.” But she had worked hard and did everything she could to gain experience and had finally gotten the promotion six months ago.
Before the accident.
Behind her, she turned and checked on the pizzas to make sure they were cooking properly. Then, unable to help herself, she quickly pulled out her phone and called Mia.
“I take it you got my email?” Mia asked when she answered.
“I did! Are you serious? I mean, is this job for real or are you just throwing me a bone?”
Laughing, Mia said, “Girl, don’t even. Both my agent and editor have been telling me how I need an assistant, but I thought they were crazy. Now that the new book is out and my schedule is starting to get crazy, I realized I really needed help. And you are the queen of keeping things organized.”
It was true. Sydney did have a knack for keeping things neat and orderly, and it was just one of the reasons this whole house project was killing her.