Page 8 of Meant to Be
“Jenny, can you bring Mrs. Warner a couple of ibuprofen? She’s been having a hard time with the cramping. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Sure. I’ll take care of it now. I’ll see ya, Lex.”
“Bye, Jen.”
“Shall we move over here?” Sydney motioned to the empty waiting area.
“Why?” Lexie’s suspicious eyes narrowed.
“Because I know you have things you want to say to me, and I doubt they’re about your pregnancy.”
“Charlotte Tavern is not so big that people won’t eventually know who you are and what you did.”
Sydney didn’t respond. She moved to the empty waiting room and stared out the window, gathering her thoughts as she waited for Lexie to join her.
“What are you doing here?” Lexie went straight to the heart of the matter.
Sydney turned to Lexie. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.” In the few weeks Sydney had been in Charlotte Tavern, she’d learned everything was everyone’s business, but she didn’t have to make it easy for them to find out. Especially since this was a conversation she should be having with Mitch.
“I’m Mitch’s sister. That makes it my business.”
Sydney shook her head. “No. It makes you his sister. My business is my business. If I have business with Mitch, I’ll discuss it with him.”
Lexie snorted. “Honey, that juice ain’t worth the squeezin’. There’s no way Mitch is going to be in the same room with you, much less talk to you.”
Sydney bit her lower lip to keep from saying something rude. Since coming out of her shell, and especially after her work abroad where assertiveness, even aggressiveness, was required to get things done, she’d learned to speak her mind. But the south had a different form of communication. Southerners could be equally as snarky as northerners, but it was usually hidden in subtlety. During her first week in town, Sydney had discovered the term “Bless your heart” wasn’t always an expression of pity or sympathy. More often than not, it meant, “You’re an idiot.”
“That would be unfortunate.”
Lexie’s eyes narrowed and then softened. “So you are here to see him?”
Sydney opted to not reply. She’d already told Lexie where she stood on the subject.
“You hurt him. Seeing you again brings that all back. Why would you do that?”
Lexie’s switch from aggression to pleading softened Sydney’s stance. “I don’t want to hurt him, but there are things that need to be said.”
“Why now?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Lexie rolled her eyes. “Great day, youarecontrary. I could help you if I thought you were being sincere.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Because he’s broken and if you can fix him, I want to help you do that.”
Guilt stabbed at Sydney’s heart. Broken. Of course, she was broken too. Wasn’t that why she was here? “I don’t know if I can.”
“Would you if you could?”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
Lexie pursed her lips, suggesting she wasn’t convinced. “When do you get off?”
“What?”
“When are you done with work tonight?”
