Chapter 16 #2
“Department of highways has already been informed,” Jake told him. “When you didn’t come home on Saturday, we drove out the next morning to see if it you’d had truck issues. The road’s washed out a good distance from the homestead, so we went home.”
“Your truck is stuck for a while,” Aiden informed him.
“I can deal with that.”
Petra had the door open to Aiden’s truck and was handing out offerings of water and sandwiches. “If you guys need anything other than this, let me know. Tansy packed an entire picnic. She might think you’re not capable of cooking for yourself.”
“We’re fine,” Sydney insisted. “Declan took good care of us on the hike out.” She wiggled her shoulders. “I am looking forward to a hot shower.”
“Hop in. It was slow going for a bit, but the roads are in decent shape from here all the way home,” Jake assured her.
Petra opened the back door for Sydney to crawl in, and Jake pressed on Declan’s shoulder to guide him to his truck.
Before anyone could take a step, Sydney caught Declan’s hand. She stared up at him with those bright eyes and such a hopeful expression on her face. “I’ll ride with you.”
The other three froze for a moment, then Petra offered up a wicked grin, nodding happily. “Hop in with Jake. We’ll meet you guys at home.”
“Wait. Really?” Aiden headed to the truck, Petra pushing him on his back. He pivoted his head to glance behind him, confusion clearing as realization sunk in. “Oh. Okay.”
Jake had also connected the dots. He grinned widely as he dipped his chin and gestured to his truck. “Other than I’m not giving up the driver’s seat, pick your place.”
When Declan offered Sydney the front passenger seat, she rolled her eyes. “Right. Because that makes so much sense. My legs are half the length of yours.”
Declan debated crawling into the back with her anyway, but she bumped him in the side and then crawled into the back seat before he could protest.
He closed the door behind her, settling in the front beside his smirking brother. “Watch what you say,” Declan warned.
“Me? I’m a pillar of society.” Jake peered in the rearview mirror and winked. “I’m glad to see you two looking so…well.”
“Thank you,” Sydney offered primly. “And I’ll just repeat what Declan said. Watch what you say right now.”
“Absolutely,” Jake offered, laughter in his voice.
The rest of the way home he told them about everything that had been damaged in town from the storm. There were a few outbuildings at High Water that needed to be repaired, but other than that, their newer construction had all held up well.
“The community center isn’t looking so great,” Jake said. “Bunch of roofing tiles are gone, and one section of the siding is banged up to hell where a tree branch swung into it.”
“Is the hall still structurally sound?” Sydney asked. “I have a babysitting course to teach there in a week or so.”
“As far as I know, it’s fine to still use.”
For the rest of the story, they waited until they actually got home, and Declan motioned for everyone to join them in the house. “We’ve got something to talk to you about.”
Jake’s eyes widened, but he held back until Sydney and Petra were gone into the house ahead of them. “I assume things went well, but did they go so well you have an announcement to make already?”
“If it were up to me, we would,” Declan admitted. “But while we’re now together, Sydney is still skittish. She’s got good reasons, so careful with the teasing.”
“Petra said the same thing,” Aiden offered softly. “But good for you, bro. Sydney is a wonderful woman.”
The spot of warmth inside his chest was damn fine, and Declan vowed to work even harder to make this thing between him and Sydney work.
“Thanks, but first we all need your help to solve a problem.”
Gathered in the living room, Declan met each of his family’s gaze in turn.
Tansy and Jake had left Jeffrey with Kevin in the barn before returning and claiming one of the couches.
Aiden and Petra settled on the other, and Sydney pulled the oversized ottoman into a triangle with the other two seats so she and Declan could sit together and face them.
“Remember that thing we found out about Lexie?” Sydney began.
“About your grandfather being an interfering interferer?” Tansy suggested.
Sydney nodded. “He’s got a long history of that, and he’s messed me up as well. I need your help to find a way out.”
The other four listened carefully as Sydney explained the rules for the financial aid that her grandfather could pull at any time.
Aiden made a face. “He doesn’t sound like a very supportive man when it comes down to it.”
“No, that’s the problem,” Sydney said softly.
“He’s very supportive, but in all the wrong ways.
Support with requirements isn’t really help.
It’s ownership. And it hasn’t helped that for nearly the last nearly fifteen years I’ve heard a steady stream of how wrong it would be to give up my autonomy and my career to be with a man. ” Sydney shook her head.
“But now that you and Declan are—” Tansy hesitated, examining them closely. “Please, tell me you’re no longer trying to pretend that you’re not aware of each other every single second you’re in the same room?”
Sydney’s jaw fell open. “You knew Declan and I were seeing each other?”
Tansy’s grin widened. “Well, I suspected, but you just admitted to it, so thanks for the confirmation.”
“Oldest trick in the book,” Petra said sadly, shaking her head sorrowfully at Sydney. “You need to learn not to trust her.”
“Please. I was so out of it regarding my sister Fern’s romance, I’m trying to be more alert these days.” Tansy smirked. “Also, na-na-na-boo-boo. I gotcha.”
Sydney threw a pillow at Tansy. “Fine. Yes, Declan and I are trying to be together. I have hang-ups, so don’t tease him for us moving forward at a molasses-in-winter pace.
I did some math on the side while we were stuck in the mountains, and I’ve got enough in savings that I can run the clinic without Grandpa Nate’s help for three months at the most.”
“The options are?” Jake had his notebook at the ready. “You don’t tell him that you’re together?”
“Not an option.” Declan and Sydney said it at the exact same time. Her lips quirked and she squeezed his knee.
“Option two,” Aiden chimed in, scratching the back of his neck. “You tell him, he sees reason, and things work out—”
Tansy snorted. “Aiden, you’re such an eternal optimist. The man’s been running his family like a corporation since forever. You think reason is in his playbook?”
“Option three. I tell him, and he pulls his support. Which means I could maybe keep the clinic open until the end of the year.” Sydney swallowed hard.
“That would mean disappointing a lot of people here in Heart Falls because having a local clinic has made a difference in their lives. It means a lot of old-timers will go back to not getting any care because they’re not about to do the drive into town for some silly medical advice.
And it means that I would have to take a job at the hospital in Diamond Valley. ”
“That’s an hour and a half away,” Tansy protested. “You can’t drive that on a daily basis, especially in the winter.”
“You’re right, I can’t.” Hopelessness coloured her tone. “I’d have to move.”
“If that’s what it comes down to, then that’s what we’ll do.” Declan linked his fingers with hers, ready to offer it all. “If the clinic has to close, then you and I will move.”