Last Beautiful Girl Read online

  The drive to the YMCA took almost fifteen minutes, and when she parked and Haley got out, Sydney noticed she seemed anxious to get inside. If anything, she was leading the way. Her coach—Miss Sherry—spotted them and her eyes went wide as her smile grew. She walked over and introduced herself, and even though this was a completely new experience, Sydney was ready to embrace it.

  She sat with all the other moms and watched as Haley seemed to settle in with the rest of the group. The women all took turns introducing themselves and offering their condolences, and as much as she appreciated them, she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off her niece. She had no idea if Haley was genuinely talented in gymnastics or if this was just sort of a hobby. It was a side of her she hadn’t seen in far too long—the smiling girl who laughed with her friends—and it tugged at her heart.

  “It’s just so sad,” the woman beside her, Nina, was saying. “Tracy and I used to go to Pilates class together. It still hasn’t quite hit me that she’s not coming back.”

  All Sydney could do was nod because…yeah. That’s exactly how she felt. She kept wishing this was all some kind of terrible dream and she was going to wake up and call Tracy and make plans to get together sooner rather than later.

  When she focused on the mats again, Haley was up on the balance beam, and when she came to the end of her routine and dismounted, she looked over at Sydney and smiled.

  And then she wasn’t. Her expression fell and Sydney was instantly on her feet.

  “Uh-oh,” she murmured, standing up. She watched helplessly as Haley’s eyes scanned the group and she knew exactly what was happening.

  Maybe it wasn’t the right way to handle it, but she raced across the gym to her and immediately hugged her.

  “It’s not fair,” Haley cried, burying her face in Sydney’s shoulder. “Mom should be here, not you!” Shoving Sydney away, she ran out of the gym.

  It was so unexpected that she had no idea what to do. Glancing around, she saw all the sympathetic glances and realized she was entirely out of her element. All she could think of was getting out of there—out of this environment that was causing Haley so much pain. Clearly it was too soon.

  Or maybe she shouldn’t have come in and watched.

  She had no idea and quickly walked back over to the bleachers and grabbed her purse and didn’t even attempt to talk to anyone as she made her way out of the gym and out to the parking lot. There was no way of knowing how long she’d have to stay out there and wait, but…however long it was that Haley needed, she’d wait.

  “It’s okay,” she whispered to herself even as her heart raced and she felt like a big failure. “It’s going to be okay.”

  Maybe if I say it enough, I’ll start to believe it.

  It took an hour for Haley to come out and Sydney had no idea what she was supposed to do. Again. So she waited in the car and it wasn’t until her niece was sitting beside her and buckled in that she spoke. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Sorry.”

  Unable to help herself, she reached over and took one of Haley’s hands in hers. “There’s nothing to apologize for. I wish your mom were here too.”

  And that admission had them both crying.

  By the time they were done, neither wanted to go to the library or the beach. It was easier to just go home.

  The sight of Kyle’s truck in the driveway made Sydney want to pitch a fit of her own. The front stairs were halfway demolished, which meant they were going to have to either go in through the garage or around the back of the house.

  “Why did they have to start today?” Haley cried, shoving the car door open and running around to the back of the house.

  “It’s going to get better; it’s going to get better…” she quietly chanted. After a minute, Sydney slowly climbed from the car. Kyle stopped what he was doing and faced her. Clearly he could tell something was wrong and came jogging over. “You okay?”

  She shook her head. “First day back at gymnastics camp and she had a bit of a meltdown and only wanted Tracy.”

  He looked confused and then into the car. “Um…where is she?”

  Now it was her turn to be confused. “Didn’t you just see her bolt out of the car and into the house?”

  His eyes went wide. “That’s your niece? I thought she was little! Like a toddler!”

  Rolling her eyes, she asked, “Then who did you think ran into the house?”

  “I don’t know. The babysitter?”

  As much as she wanted to be annoyed, there were more important things for her to focus on. “Look, it’s been an emotional morning and I really need to go and make sure Haley’s okay.”

  “Damn. I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

  “Not unless you have any words of wisdom to help a grieving pre-teen.” She tried to make light of it and laugh, but deep down, she seriously wished someone had the answers.

  “Um...”

  She was about to say something more when Haley came stomping back over to the car.

  “I forgot my bag,” she murmured but stopped and stared at Kyle like he had two heads. “You’re the contractor?”

  He glanced nervously at Sydney before looking at Haley again. “Uh…yeah.”

  “Seriously? Isn’t your hair a little long for that?”

  His hand immediately reached up and started smoothing it back. “Not really.”

  She shrugged. “I would think it would be a liability around the power tools.”

  Sydney had to stifle a laugh.

  Kyle took a step toward her niece and as much as she wanted to stop him, she was mildly curious about what he was going to do or say.

  He nodded toward her duffle bag. “You into gymnastics?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “My future sister-in-law was one of the top gymnasts in the country. She almost went to the Olympics. You can see some of her routines on YouTube. Her name’s Violet Drake—

  soon to be Jones. You know, if you were interested.”

  Haley’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

  He casually shrugged. “Why would I make that up?”

  Haley mimicked his move. “How would I know? For all I know, you gave me the name of some weirdo with inappropriate videos on YouTube.”

  “Haley!” Sydney cried, but Kyle held up a hand to stop her.

  “Why would I want you to look at inappropriate videos?” he demanded lightly, staring at Haley as hard as she was staring at him. “You know, you’re kind of suspicious for a nine-year-old.”

  “Hey! I’m twelve!”

  “Really?” he said, his high-pitched tone showing his surprise. “Are you sure?”

  This time, Haley laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll be thirteen in January.”

  “Huh. I never would have guessed.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m not some little kid, you know.”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “Hey, what do I know? The only kids I’m around are my nephews. One of them is four and the other is barely one. You all look little to me.”

  Snorting, Haley crossed her arms over her chest. “Sure, like you’re Jack the Giant Killer.”

  Kyle looked over his shoulder at Sydney is disbelief. “You’re not going to step in here?”

  As much as she tried to keep a straight face, she couldn’t. “I don’t think she needs my help.”

  “Not her, me!” he cried. “She’s killing me here!”

  Shrugging, Sydney walked over to stand next to her niece. Placing her arm around her, she said, “Some guys don’t like to be called out on their…size,” she said with a smirk in his direction. “You should play nice.”

  Nodding, Haley smiled at him. “I’m going to go look up your sister-in-law, so you better be telling the truth.”

  “I never lie,” he said confidently, and this time Sydney was the one to snort.

  Loudly.

  Clearing her throat, she looked down at Haley. “Why don’t you go inside and see what you want for lunch? I’ll be right in.”

  Haley waved goodbye to Kyle and took off around the back of the house. Once they were alone again, Sydney studied him. “Is your sister-in-law really a gymnast?”

  “Future sister-in-law and yeah. It would be a weird thing to lie about.”

  She wasn’t about to open any cans of worms here over his lying, so instead, she simply nodded. “Well, thanks for distracting her. I honestly wasn’t looking forward to going inside and arguing with her.”

  “My brother Hunter is a fireman now and has a four-year-old and I’ve done a ton of babysitting. I learned quickly what it takes to distract a toddler mid-tantrum. Granted, it doesn’t always work, but I’ve got a pretty good success rate. I figured I’d try it with her and see if it worked.”

  “I had no idea what I was even going to do when we got back here. All I knew was that I needed to get her home.”

  “It’s going to get better,” he said, his voice soft and calm.

  And for some reason, a nervous laugh was her first response. “Are you sure? Because right now, it doesn’t feel that way.”

  He looked up at her and smiled and…damn. He had a really great smile. His sandy brown hair, gray eyes, and dimples made one very appealing package.

  Still.

  Down girl…

  “Um…I should go in and…you know…lunch.” She took one step back and then another. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “That would be great. Thanks.”

  With a smile of her own, she turned to walk away.

  “Thanks, Pixie!” he called out, and all the good feelings she had just seconds ago disappeared.

  3

  For the better part of the week, Kyle didn’t see Sydney.

  Well, he saw her, but she completely igno
red him.

  And that wasn’t easy to do considering he was all over the front of her house.

  He had talked to Jake about the front porch, and they decided to tackle that and replacing the garage doors before he would start anything inside the house. It seemed a little crazy considering how much needed to be done inside, but for safety reasons, getting in and out of the house had to take top priority.

  Hammering in one of the new spindles on the deck, he stopped when he heard a car door slamming shut. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Sydney getting out of the car. She stood and stared at the car for a solid minute and that piqued his curiosity. Was there something wrong with it? Was Haley okay? He was about to move when she did.

  Opening the trunk, she began pulling out grocery bags and he figured she could use a hand. He might have a habit of saying the wrong thing, but he certainly had manners. Jogging down to the car, he smiled. “Hey! Let me give you a hand.”

  She glared at him. “Thanks, but I’ve got this.”

  There were easily twenty bags and he knew it would take her several trips—which is what he said to her.

  “I can handle it,” she said, and Kyle could tell she was annoyed, but it didn’t stop him. He quickly scooped up half of the bags and began walking toward the house. “Hey! What the hell?”

  But he kept walking. Sydney caught up to him in the kitchen and he smiled at her and walked back down the stairs to the garage to get the rest. He knew she was going to follow, but he didn’t break stride or wait up for her. At the trunk of the car, however, she slammed her hand down.

  “I was talking to you,” she said, clearly pissed at him.

  “Where’s Haley?”

  “At a friend’s,” she snapped.

  “Look,” he said with an easy grin, “I’m just trying to help you out. Everyone can use an extra set of hands when they’re bringing in groceries. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, Pix.”

  If he thought she was pissed before, her expression turned positively furious.

  “Um…”

  Stepping in close, Sydney poked him in the chest. “You know what? I didn’t want your help, and I certainly didn’t ask for your help! And considering I’m the homeowner and this is my house, my car, my food, it’s my responsibility! You’re here to work on the house, got it? And if you can’t handle that without…without doing things no one asked you to, then I’ll call Jake and ask him to send somebody else! Got it?” She scooped up the rest of the bags, slammed the trunk shut, and stormed off.

  What the…?

  He was about to chase after her when Haley and her friend came whizzing down the driveway on their bikes. Forcing himself to relax, he turned and smiled at them. “Ladies.”

  And damn if they didn’t both giggle.

  “What are you up to today?” he asked.

  “We wanted to go up to the pier, but I promised Aunt Syd I wouldn’t go without talking to her first.”

  “Ah. Gotcha.” Nodding, he asked, “Did you check out Violet’s routines?”

  “Holy crap!” Haley said excitedly. “They were so cool! She’s amazing! And you’re related to her? Does she teach gymnastics now? Can she give lessons?”

  “Um…”

  “Oh, my God,” Haley’s friend chimed in. “Is she the one you sent the links to?”

  “Yeah! Did you see that triple flip thing she did? I would love to be able to do that!”

  “Me too!”

  He took a step back from all the chatter and looked toward the house and wondered if Sydney was going to come back out or if he should go in and try to talk to her. The girls ran into the house, so he opted to stay outside and tried not to even think about their conversation as he went back to work. He was working alone again today. Once the demolition of the steps was done and the new ones framed in, he had told Jake he was good to go solo. Now, with the steps completed and the work on the porch almost done, he felt like he was making good strides. He’d hate to have his boss pull him off this job, but if Sydney had that much animosity toward him—and clearly she did—there really wasn’t anything he could do about it.

  You could maybe be the bigger person and clear the air…

  Maybe. But he had a feeling her issues had more to do with her current situation and he was a convenient target.

  At least…he hoped that’s all it was.

  As he continued to work, his mind wandered to what he could have done to piss her off. It wasn’t possible that she was still mad at him after all this time, was it?

  When all the spindles were in place and secured, Kyle straightened and stretched. The entire area was going to need to be painted, but that would happen when the rest of the exterior was getting finished. For now, it might not look pretty with so much random bare wood showing, but at least he knew it was all sturdy and secure. He turned to pack up some of the tools when he saw Sydney step out the front door.

  Great. What’s going to be the problem now?

  With nothing more than a curt nod, he continued cleaning up his tools. If she had something to say, he’d listen, but he certainly wasn’t going to stand still while she balled him out.

  He heard her clear her throat and figured she was just gearing up.

  “So um…listen,” she began, her voice softer and a lot calmer than their last conversation, “I…this is all looking great. Really. And I can already feel that it’s sturdier than it was before.”

  He gave her another nod as he picked up his gear. When he started to walk away, she spoke again.

  “I don’t appreciate you taunting me,” she stated firmly, but he heard the slight tremor in her voice.

  Placing his tools back down, he slowly straightened and looked at her. “Excuse me?”

  Now her arms were folded across her chest, her hip was cocked, and she was definitely on the defensive. “The nickname. Say it one more time and your ass will be fired. Do we understand each other?”

  The nickname? What…?

  Oh, shit.

  Pixie.

  “Wait, that’s what you’re all pissed off about? A nickname? Seriously?”

  She nodded. “I am.”

  Kyle took a step toward her and then another. With each movement, her eyes went a little wider. It wasn’t until there was barely a foot between them that he spoke. “What is the big deal?”

  He knew it was the wrong thing to say even before her eyes narrowed at him and her spine stiffened.

  “The big deal,” she mocked, “is it’s unprofessional.”

  So many thoughts swirled around in his head and he knew it was time to just say what they were really dancing around.

  “I don’t think that’s the real reason you’re pissed off at me,” he began carefully.

  “Oh really?” And as much as she tried to sound bored, the tremor was still there.

  “Yeah, really.”

  Just say it!

  “You’re pissed because I’m the one here doing the work and you’d like nothing more than to have never seen me again,” he stated, proud of the fact his own voice didn’t tremble. “And me calling you by your nickname was just a bold reminder of a time in your life you’d clearly rather forget.”

  “I’d rather forget?” she asked incredulously. “Oh, that’s rich coming from you.”

  “Rich? Rich?” he repeated. “Although, I guess with your snooty college degree, that’s the way you talk now.” With a huff, he took a step back and frowned. “Personally, I don’t see what the big deal is. The name slipped out. It’s not a big deal. At least…not to me.”

  “That’s it! I knew I should have just called Jake and not even bothered trying to talk to you. Guys like you are too damn cocky and arrogant to even think about anyone else’s feelings!” When she turned to go back inside, Kyle reached out and grasped her arm and spun her around. “Take your damn hands off me!”

  He immediately released her, his hands going up in surrender. “Okay, I get it! I won’t use the nickname again. Can you just…you know…relax?”

  Again…wrong thing to say.

  “You know what? You are the worst,” she hissed. “The absolute worst. It’s like you don’t even care how offensive you are or what you even say!”

  Kyle knew he shouldn’t get angry; after all, she was telling the truth—partially. He knew he tended to speak first and think later, but there was something about this entire situation that just pushed all his buttons.