by Lindsey Hart
She’d never had any reason to call him though.
So, when he answered the number he didn’t recognize, he was so shocked to hear that it was Bobby Anne, that he had to sit the hell down on his kitchen floor. Actually, he missed the chair he’d tried to go for, and literally fallen on his ass.
“I know this is probably a bit of a surprise…” You could say that again. “But I needed to call. For Sydney’s sake, because she’s my daughter and I love her. I hope it’s okay that I got your number from your mom. They still have their landline phone and I still remembered it.”
“Y-yeah,” he stammered, aware that the silence stretching on made everything that much more awkward. “It’s- fine.” He closed his eyes and purposely didn’t think about how much his ass bones hurt at the moment.
“Are you sure? Because I really need you to listen to what I have to say.”
“I’m…”
“Don’t hang up on me you little punk.”
A grin split his face. “It’s alright. I won’t.” Heaven forbid if his cell dropped the call. He imagined Syd’s mom coming after him with a kitchen butcher block, brandishing different knives of choice.
“It just so happens that I realized that you’re opening up a new office in Houston.”
“Yes. Well, I’m not- but the company is- we put out the ads two weeks ago, so you’re not wrong.”
“Good. Just so happens that Sydney up and quit her job.”
“She what?” Jesse realized that not only was he flat on his ass, but his mouth was also probably hanging open in some absurd position. He did a mental check and yup. Sure was. He closed it and swallowed hard past his dry throat.
“I wasn’t any less shocked. Apparently, she wasn’t happy there. I mean, I knew that. I just didn’t realize how much. I came to San Fran just to be with her since it’s always been us. It’s expensive here and she’s said she wants to relocate. If I just happen to give her the job application for the marketing department, since that’s basically what she was doing at her last place… would you just happen to come on down and interview her?”
Jesse blinked, confused. “I’m not sure that I have any idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about not giving up on you as a son-in-law just yet.”
Cut his jaw slamming into the ground for real. “W-what?” he stammered. “I- last time I checked… Sydney wasn’t in on that plan.”
“What if she is, she just doesn’t know it yet?”
His fingers tightened on the phone. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for her to maybe get in on that. Jump aboard. Hasn’t happened yet. We were close a couple of times, but she just doesn’t… she just doesn’t want it.”
“That’s not what she told me.”
Okaaaaaaayyyy what? He blinked a few times, trying to figure out if any of this conversation was actually real. He debated about pinching himself then decided against it. His radiating pain up into his spine was enough to convince him he wasn’t asleep.
“What did she tell you then? Because I know what she told me and there seems to be a slight conflict of interest here.”
“I’m not going to repeat everything she said to me, but I know that she let you go because she’s afraid that she’ll disappoint everyone. She’s afraid of hurting you. She loves you so much that she thought letting you go was the right thing. Letting you be happy the way she thinks she can’t make you.”
“Why would she think that? It hasn’t exactly worked out yet.”
“Yes, well, in my experience, love isn’t usually rational, and neither is fear. She’s afraid of disappointing me. Of hurting your parents too. She knows how badly they want this. She’s afraid that things will go too fast and then it will all come crashing down. Over the years, Jesse, I’ve realized what a stabilizing force you’ve been in Sydney’s life. You and your family. Raising a daughter alone is hard and your family was always there for both of us. It meant the world to me watching her grow up and blossom into this beautiful young woman. At first, I was worried about her having a guy as her best friend. I thought nothing good would come of that, but I watched you two and I realized that I was wrong. You were exactly what she needed. You always have been. You made Syd a better person. You took her wild spirit and you treasured it and let it grow, but you were also always that other side to her passion, the sweeter, gentler side that she needed. I’ve watched her love for you change. From the love of a child to the love of a best friend to the love of a woman and into romantic love. She thought I didn’t know, but of course, I did. I watched you both and I always hoped that things would work out, because parents want the best for their children, no matter what their own experiences were. She’s scared and she’s stubborn, though, and she’s going to keep on running unless someone finally stops her.”
“I did try and stop her. A few times now,” he deadpanned.
“She’s ready, honey. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
Jesse sighed right into the phone. This wasn’t how he’d seen his day going. His heart squeezed, hammering hard in his chest. No matter how many years he lived, he was going to love Syd with the passing of every one of them. He was never going to just forget her. Move on. He’d tried that. Okay, so he’d half-assed tried it, but he knew it wasn’t going to work. She was the only one he’d ever wanted. That didn’t change, just because she’d given him all the hope in the world and brought it crashing down around him. Or because she’d walked out and never looked back over ten years ago.
He realized that he could have gone after her. She might have left, but he could have gone and brought her back. He didn’t, because maybe fear was a two-way street and they were both stumbling down it.
Technically, he still had another strike.
He filled his lungs with a deep breath that rattled into the phone. “What do you want me to do?”
CHAPTER 18
Sydney
Houston was nice. She’d been there for two days, and while she wasn’t completely sold, especially on the prices of stuff, the job opportunity her mom magically procured for her like a damn rabbit out of a hat- well… it was impressive. If she landed that job, a job that she’d maybe even be decently happy doing, since it was marketing a new line of shoes made out of recycled plastic and other materials and that was pretty cool in itself, she wouldn’t need to worry about finding a decent place. The starting salary bracket for the position was impressive.
The whole thing basically sounded too good to be true.
Especially since the company was willing to fly her down there to interview for the position.
When she’d sent her resume in, she was sure no one would call her back. She was shocked when her phone rang and the lady on the other end, with the honeyed smooth voice that somehow made her think of glitter and sunshine and giggling babies, told her that they believed in face to face interactions. When she’d confessed that she didn’t have enough money for a last-minute plane ticket, the lady, Sandra, told her that it wasn’t a problem. They were serious about hiring her and they’d pay for the flight.
So currently, she was a basket of nerves. Like a literal, overflowing basket. Her entire body felt like someone had taken out her insides and replaced them with a storm of angry birds battling to get out.
As Sydney’s fingers curled around an impressive glass door in an even more impressive modern looking two story building made of glass and steel with wood accents, those birds fought their way up into her throat.
She swallowed convulsively as she walked through the lobby, up to the massive steel desk. The woman behind it was gorgeous, six feet tall, slim, with long flowing blonde hair. When she turned around and found Sydney standing there though, her smile was immediately genuine.
“I’m Sydney,” she choked out. “I’m here for an interview.”
“Right.” The blonde nodded. “That’s great. Sandra is expecting you. I’ll just take you back to our boardroom, if you want to follow me?”
“Sure.” S
ydney gripped her purse tight as she trailed behind the woman.
She glanced around and was relieved to see that the building was a maze of hallways and offices, and while some were smaller than others, they all appeared nice and no one was sitting in the middle of the room in a horrible little cubicle.
The boardroom was impressive. Sleek paneling on the walls matched the exterior and metal accents brought everything together. It was kind of a strange place, ultra-modern. She wasn’t used to anything so new. In her experience, offices were horrible, decrepit buildings filled with even worse people sometimes doing even worse things.
The blonde indicated a high backed, fancy looking office chair. If Sydney was going to guess, and she did guess, she figured that it was ergonomically correct. Which meant that her back and arms wouldn’t ache after a day at work. She loved yoga, but she’d started it up because she couldn’t deal with the pain of sitting in her terrible office chair every single day.
“I’ll go get Sandra for you. Just have a seat. Do you want some coffee or tea? Some water?”
“Oh.” Sydney sunk into the chair like she had no bones to hold her up. “Water. Yeah, sure, that would be great.”
The blonde flashes another smile. She was pretty, but kind of gave off the impression that she didn’t actually know it and hadn’t been one of those snotty, mean kind of girls in high school, even though she looked like she could have been cheer captain.
The blonde shut the door behind her, and Sydney was left alone in the room. It was quiet. The place smelled new, and, while she realized that the office was a new one, for a new product branching off from a main parent company or something- honestly she hadn’t done that much research because she didn’t think she’d actually get the job- she didn’t realize just how new everything was.
When the door creaked open, Sydney whipped her head around, even though she told herself to remain composed. She was kind of excited to meet the woman she’d talked to on the phone and see if her face matched her voice. Although she wasn’t really sure what she was expecting, considering most people didn’t have voices that sounded like they belonged in a magical forest filled up with unicorns.
She wasn’t sure what she expected, but she didn’t expect Sandra to be a man.
And not that man.
Because it wasn’t Sandra standing there at the closed door at all.
It was Jesse.
Sydney was sure as shit glad for that ergonomic chair at the moment, because if she wasn’t sitting down, she’d have been on the floor.
“What- uh- Jesse… what’s- what’s going on?” She was amazed she had the capacity to even form language at the moment, her shock was so great. “What are you doing here?” She wasn’t sure whose eyes were bigger. Hers probably looked like two baseballs sticking out of her head.
He stood there, his face a mask, giving nothing away, but then he smiled softly, and that smile did things to her chest that she couldn’t even begin to describe. It felt like she was caving in or being crushed, but it wasn’t a bad feeling despite the panic that crawled up her throat at the same time, nearly choking her.
Jesse walked over casually and pulled out a chair across from her. He sunk down into it and spread out a big black object that she hadn’t even seen tucked under his arm.
A photo album.
“What- seriously… what are you doing here?”
That shadow of a smile turned into a full-on grin. He looked so happy, so beautiful, so freaking… so freaking Jesse, that she nearly smiled. Or laughed. Or cried. She wasn’t actually sure which emotion was going to come out, so she did her best to blink hard against her burning eyes and keep her face from giving any of it away.
“Well…” he folded his hands on the smooth white quartz tabletop. “I guess that I’m here because your mom called me.”
“What? My mom?” Again, she was glad for the chair she was seated in, because that was shock number two, and it wasn’t even actually nine in the morning yet.
“Yup. She got my number from my parents. She said she was pretty sure that you and I should be together.”
“No, she did not say that!” Her voice came out as baffled sounding as she was.
Jesse nodded emphatically. He was dressed in black slacks and a black dress shirt that made him look good enough to eat, literally, knock down and lick from head to toe, but she purposely did not try and think about any of those things. Or how her bone-dry mouth was suddenly salivating.
“She did actually. She said a lot of other stuff that I happen to agree with. Things that make perfect sense.”
“What? What things? What did she say?”
He kept right on grinning like she hadn’t even spoken. “That’s not important at the moment. What is important is this.” He indicated a huge black book in front of him and she finally clued in on the fact that it was a photo album. Who used those anymore?
His hand, a hand she knew and loved, flipped open the cover to the first page, to reveal them together in diapers, each holding a cake beater, icing smeared all over their faces. She remembered that one. God, she loved that photo. They couldn’t have been more than two.
“Here’s us. At two.”
“How did you get these?”
“Your mom. My mom. They got together and helped me with it.”
“What?”
“Don’t ask questions. Just look.”
She ignored his smug tone for the moment and watched as his hands deftly flipped through the photos. There was photo after photo, some aged, some warped, some crinkled and worn, like they’d been handled too many times over the years. Them in a paddling pool in their bathing suits, them on the trampoline, the trampoline again with the sprinkler underneath, them eating popsicles, wearing snowsuits, skating at the rink, birthdays, her sports events, his math and science competitions. The photos went on and on. She watched them as they changed, getting older as he turned the pages. The last pages held pictures from their grad and a few from college. They stopped there and Jesse closed the album with a gentle thud.
“So?” Sydney blinked, not quite sure what the heck was going on? Why was Jesse even there? With a photo album? It wasn’t like she didn’t remember those things. It was a sweet gesture, but she was supposed to be at a job interview so… seriously. What the hell? “Seriously, Jesse, you’re going to have to help me out here. I’m not quite sure why you’re sitting here when I’m supposed to be having an interview or what this is.” She waved a hand over the album.
“Okay. I get that you’re confused. First of all, this is my company you’re interviewing for. We decided to branch off from underwear into shoes. It’s been in the works for a long time. Our HR department put out the hiring ads for the Houston office that we’re opening, a few weeks ago and your mom saw one. She called me. We came up with this together. I can’t take credit for all of it.”
“That’s funny. It seems crazy enough to have been all your idea. You never did things like this when we were kids, but wow. The money must have cooked your brain because seriously, first you send your butler to kidnap me, then you fly me across the country in your private jet, twice- and now you’re here?”
“Yes. I’m here.” That grin was back, splitting his handsome face. He leaned across the table, somehow too close and too far away. Close enough to make her breath hitch. Far enough away to make her wish he was close enough for her to feel the heat of his skin next to hers.
Even if she shouldn’t wish things like that.
“And yes, it’s crazy,” he went on. “The album is proof, photographic evidence, that we’ve spent almost our entire lives together, and managed not to kill each other. We grew up. We changed over a whole lifetime. We had a lot of firsts together. Got into a lot of scrapes. Had some pretty wild adventures. And we still didn’t kill each other. It worked. We worked.”
His hand rested on the table and she had to resist the urge to curl her fingers around his stronger, blunter ones. Just when she was getting choked up, the tears s
tinging her eyes big time, he went and continued.
“I’ve loved you for a long time now. As more than just my best friend. The thing is, I’m pretty sure that you did too. And it still worked. We loved each other. We just didn’t say it out loud. It worked. Just as we were. It can still work. Please, Syd.” He implored her with his shining eyes and her stomach cramped. “We can go slow. We just both have to try. It will work, Syd. You and me. And if it doesn’t, and we gave it an honest shot, then maybe we can both finally move on. Because neither of us is moving on with how we left things. I didn’t. You didn’t. It’s been ten years. I don’t want to spend another ten years like that, and I know you don’t either. Working all the time. Doing anything we can to not think about the one thing that we want most and can’t have. Denying it doesn’t make any sense.”
Sydney could honestly say she was struck speechless. All of this- her mom- his mom- him. They’d put so much time and thought into getting her there. So that she and Jesse could have one last chance. She never would have reached out on her own, no matter how badly she wanted to, but she was there now. There with him.
And he was looking at her with those soft eyes, a sheen of emotion sparkling in their depths, looking at her like she was his entire world.
“I- I don’t know if adding the physical element will work. I mean, we never did that.”
“We kind of did,” he protested, his lips turning up again.
God, even if his grin was a little dorky, it was sexy as hell, and she’d do anything to see it. Because it was his. Jesse. Her best friend and honestly, the man of her dreams.
“Jesse… I don’t… seriously- I don’t know if it would work.”
She wanted it to work. She wanted it to work so damn badly. She’d missed him. Not just for the past ten years, but over the past month. It was torture, waking up, every single day without him. Leaving him behind again had been the hardest thing she’d ever done. She knew, right down to her soul, that if she ever got another chance, she knew she wouldn’t make the same mistake again. She’d man up, grow a set of balls, and stop running. She’d said the exact opposite- to her mom and to herself- a thousand times, but the hard truth was that she loved Jesse. She’d always loved him, and she always would. Maybe it was better to take a chance on being miserable with him than it was to take a chance on being miserable alone.