Meant to Be: Southern Heat Series (7 page)

“Don’t wait too long. She’ll eat up all the fried Oreos.”

Chelsea beamed. “Isn’t it exciting about the baby?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Chelsea headed out and Mitch found a booth in the corner.

“Hey Mitch.”

He looked up from the menu to Missy Clements’s assets nearly in his face. She was leaning over the table, as if she was offering them to him. There was a time he’d have taken her up on the offer. In fact, he had once or twice.

“Missy.” He scooted further in to the booth, not to invite her in, but to get her breasts out of his face. She was a nice woman, and he’d enjoyed the few times they’d spent together, but he’d lost interest, and despite her sensuality, he wasn’t even tempted.

“What’cha up to?”

“Having some dinner.” Mitch caught movement behind her and saw Jagger moving to a table near him. “With a friend. Jagger!” Mitch waved a hand. “Over here.”

Jagger turned to his name, his gaze assessed the situation and then he turned a curious look at Mitch.

“Well, I’ll see ya around.” Her smiled dropped into disappointment.

Mitch nodded. “Take care, Missy.”

Jagger watched Missy saunter off and then sat across from Mitch, his brows pulled together in disbelief.

“Don’t ask.”

Jagger shook his head. “Dinner? It’s not even two yet. You’re older than you look if you’re having dinner in the middle of the afternoon.”

Mitch smirked. “Yankee. Lunch then. But after
lunch
, I’m having supper, not dinner.”

Jagger laughed, lifting his arms in surrender.

The waitress approached. Deciding he was hungry for more than dessert, Mitch ordered barbecue and a beer.

Jagger ordered the same. “We have some of the best food in New York, but nowhere else does barbecue like the south.”

“Of course.”

The waitress brought their beer. “And the service can’t be beat.” Jagger grinned.

“You settling into the house?” Mitch took a long gulp of his beer, happy for the distraction Jagger brought from thoughts of Sydney.

“It’s getting there.”

“Do you think you’ll be able survive slow country living?”

“So far so good. I think you’re just worried I’ll take away from your action.”

Mitch laughed. “I suppose that’s a possibility. I’m more charming and better looking, but you’re—”

“Richer.” Jagger lifted his beer in salute.

“Women do like a man with money.”

“No worries, Mitch. My oat sowing days are coming to an end.”

“The pigs flew and I missed it?” Mitch looked out the window and then back at Jagger with a smirk.

“You laugh, but there comes a time in every man’s life when he’s got to settle down.”

Mitch frowned. “I don’t think that’s an actual rule.” God, he hoped not. He may not feel the need to sow his oats with every woman in town, but he had no plans to settle down either.

Jagger laughed. “You’ve been to war and faced down criminals, but I don’t think anything scares you more than the idea of getting married.”

Mitch took another swallow of his beer.

“Speaking of settling down, what’s the deal with you and Sydney Preston?”

Mitch nearly spit out his beer. “No deal.”

“I was thinking, a new, beautiful, smart woman in town. She’s not the type Mitch McKenna would pass up.”

The waitress set two plates of pulled pork barbecue sandwiches in front of them, giving Mitch time to gather his thoughts. After all, the whole purpose of hiding in the diner was to get Sydney off his mind and out of his system. “I knew her from college.”

“Oh, that’s right. You went to Princeton too.” When Jagger didn’t say more, Mitch looked up. “So, you and Sydney…”

“Me and Sydney nothing.”

Jagger stopped mid-bite of a fry and studied Mitch. “Are you sure about that?”

“I’m sure.” Mitch took a bite of his sandwich, trying to ignore the voice in his head calling him a liar.

“So, you wouldn’t mind if I asked her out?” Jagger popped the fry into his mouth.

Hell yeah, I’d mind.
The thought of Jagger and Sydney together pissed Mitch off even more. It proved that time and distance hadn’t wiped away whatever part of Sydney had bore into his soul. It was the only explanation for the yearning, even though he wanted nothing to do with her.

Mitch shrugged and poked at a fry on his plate, hoping he was coming off as nonchalant. “You can try.”

“You don’t think I have a chance?” Jagger sat back. “I usually have pretty good luck with the ladies. Maybe not as good as you, if the rumors are true.”

Jagger was poking at him and, normally, Mitch would have poked back. But he wasn’t in the mood.

“Sydney is no ordinary lady.”

“No. But it’s time for me to stop playing around. Settle down.”

The barbecue in Mitch’s stomach soured at the thought of Sydney marrying Jagger. Making love with him. Having his children. He remembered what Sydney had said about Jagger, how she might be interested in Jagger if he hadn’t dated her friend. Apparently the guys’ rules of dating a friend’s ex were different.

“She’s loyal to her friend Julia.” Mitch enjoyed seeing the wince on Jagger’s face.

Jagger let out a breath. “That was a mistake.”

Mitch pushed his plate away, his appetite gone. What would Jagger think if he knew about the kiss in the star grove? How receptive she was to his kiss. How she clutched at him and opened for him. Mitch shook his head, trying to rid the memory that no doubt tormented him more than it would bother Jagger.

“I think she and I would make a good pair. We come from similar backgrounds, and yet, we’re seeking a life away from that.”

“I thought she was here for a year-long sabbatical.” The fact that Sydney wasn’t in Charlotte Tavern to stay was part of what was helping him keep his resolve to not touch her.

“Plans change. Mine did.”

“What about her parents? They hold a lot of influence on her.”

Jagger’s brows pulled together, but Mitch couldn’t tell if it was in curiosity or annoyance. “You seem to know a lot about her.”

Mitch shrugged, taking a sip of beer instead of explaining his past with her.

“I think she was sheltered, but she’s come into her own. Any woman who volunteers at a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan must be strong and determined.”

Mitch sat back, annoyed that Jagger would know something about Sydney that he didn’t. Sydney was in Jordan? The woman he’d known in college would have never taken on a challenge like that. Not that he didn’t think Sydney cared about the world, but he never would have imagined her leaving the safety of her family. Back in college, she’d been protected from the hardships of life, sheltered and somewhat ignorant of the plight of people around the world.

“Fortunately, now she’s focused on helping needy people closer to home,” Jagger said.

Mitch gathered his wits. “Well, it’s true. You are needy.”

Jagger scowled and then smiled. “I wouldn’t mind Sydney taking care of my needs.”

It was Mitch’s turn to scowl.

S
ydney scooped
up the cherry tomatoes and threw them in the bowl. Two caught the rim, bounced out, and rolled into the sink.

“Just great.” She ignored the lost tomatoes, remembering reading somewhere that the sink was the most germ-filled place in the house. Even more so than the toilet. She picked up the knife to cut the green onions.

“Hey.” Patrick pushed a tendril of her hair back behind her ear. The gesture was comforting, and yet, at the same time, Sydney worried Patrick’s actions were an attempt to rekindle an intimacy she wasn’t interested in setting aflame. “Why don’t you let me finish the salad and entertain Julia while you call your mom about those letters?”

Sydney rested both palms on the counter, one still gripping the knife she’d used to cut vegetables. She turned her head to look at Patrick. “You’re not here for very long. I don’t want to take up our visiting time by dealing with that.”

“Go call your mom,” Julia called from the couch, where she was supposedly recovering from a sugar-infused coma after eating several deep fried Oreos. “You won’t be any fun until you do.”

“She’s right.” Patrick took the knife from Sydney. “Call your mom.”

They were right. The idea that her mom would have done something so awful as to purposefully keep her and Mitch apart would eat at her until she confronted it

“I won’t be long.” Sydney grabbed her phone from her purse and retreated to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Her mother picked up after the second ring. “Sydney! What a surprise. I just finished lunch with Mrs. Andres. She said Julia and Patrick are visiting you.”

“Did you take letters Mitch sent me?” Sydney was too mad for small talk.

The line was quiet until her mother sighed. “Yes.”

“Why would you do that?” For the second time that day, Sydney’s world tilted. She sat on the edge of the bed, not sure her legs would hold her.

“You know why, honey.”

Sydney shook her head and swallowed back tears. “I couldn’t understand why he was so angry, even hurtful. I believed he left me. But he didn’t. He wrote. God, Mom, he even tried to call and e-mail. That means you broke into my e-mail and blocked him. And I guess that’s why we got a new phone plan.”

“Sydney. I know it was awful of me.”

“Did dad know?”

There was a pause. “He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t talk me out of it.”

Her gut burned and swelled with anger. How could her own parents have done this?

“I’ve feared the day you’d discover my actions—”

“That’s why you didn’t want me to come to Virginia. Because you knew I’d find out what you did.” She flopped back on her bed in a huff. Sydney felt like she was twenty-one again, trying to convince her mom she was old enough to make her own decisions.

“No. I always knew you’d find out someday. Secrets have a way of coming out. Even if I’d burned the letters.”

Sydney lurched upright. “You still have them?”

Her mother sighed. “Yes. Guilt wouldn’t let me destroy them. If you want them, I’ll send them to you.”

“Yes, I want them!” Her mind reeled at her mother’s interference. “Never in a million years would I have thought you’d do something like this.”

“I know. Me too. But I did. And I’d do it again, Sydney. You were so young. I know you thought you could go to medical school and still marry Mitch — when you’re young and in love, anything is possible — but enough time has passed that you know now that life is messier, harder. You spent most of your life wanting to be a doctor. I didn’t want you to give that up.”

“I had no intension of giving it up. And Mitch supported me all the way.”

“Yes, I know. But the reality of trying to go school while married to a man in the military who moved a lot would have eventually forced you to make a decision. What if he ended up stationed in a place that didn’t have medical school or he was required to move before you were done earning your degree or finishing your residency? What would you do? Live apart? Married people need to put their marriage first, which means you’d have to follow him. I didn’t raise you to be one of those women who gives up her hopes and dreams to make a man happy.”

Intellectually, Sydney knew her mother had a point. But she’d always thought she and Mitch were different. “He thinks you did it because he wasn’t rich enough to impress you.”

“You know that’s not true. Your dad and I aren’t like that.”

“I didn’t think so, but how can I be so sure? You and Mrs. Andres are still trying to marry me off to Patrick.”

“Now, just a minute, Sydney. I was wrong to keep Mitch away from you, but I never put you and Patrick together. That was your plan before you met Mitch. I didn’t want you to go to Virginia because I worried you were seeking something that’s long gone. You need to look forward, sweetheart, not back.”

“Send me the letters.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll put them in the mail Monday.”

“I’ve gotta go. Julia and Patrick are holding lunch for me.”

“I love you, Sydney. You have every right to be angry, but remember, I did it because I wanted you to achieve your goals.”

“I love you too.” Sydney ended the call, flopping back onto her bed. Mitch was right to be angry and to suspect her parents of thinking he wasn’t good enough. Before learning about his attempts to contact her, she’d been upset with him for not calling. Guilt rose. He
had
tried to reach her, but she hadn’t tried to contact him. She was the one who’d failed him. Failed them.

Sydney took a moment to compose herself before joining her friends. She entered the living room to find Julia poking at her phone and Patrick standing at the back patio door, looking outside.

He turned. “You have tulips.”

“I’ve always loved them.”

“Is it time to eat?” Julia asked.

“It’s ready. I poured you some wine. I know it’s early in the day, but you looked like you could use it. ” Patrick handed her a glass.

“It’s that obvious?”

He reached out, took Sydney’s empty hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “No matter what, you have me.”

“And me. Can we eat now?” Childlike impatience laced Julia’s tone as she slumped into her chair at the table.

Sydney laughed, grateful to have her friends. “Absolutely.”

“So, what did she say?” Julia asked after they’d all been served.

“She said she kept him from contacting me.”

“Really?” Patrick’s surprise matched her own. “I didn’t think your mom would be the type.”

“I didn’t either. She didn’t even try to deny it. She said she’d do it again.” Sydney put down her fork, the pain and frustration whirling in her stomach.

“Did she say why?” Julia chased a tomato with her fork.

“We were young. I still had medical school and he was going away with the military. She was afraid I’d give up med school to follow him.”

“Well, if you were married, you’d sort of have to, wouldn’t you?” Julia gave up on the tomato and stabbed some lettuce.

“We figured he’d be deployed to fight in Iraq, where I wouldn’t be able to go.”

“But he wouldn’t be deployed all four years that you were in medical school?” Julia looked to her brother for confirmation.

“Plus, you had another four years of residency after school, and it’s doubtful that he would have been stationed near New York. Eight years is a long time to be apart.”

Sydney drew in a calming breath. She knew they were right, but her immediate impulse was to talk about how much she and Mitch had loved each other and would have worked it out — the things an in-love but unworldly twenty-one year old would say. And yet, attaining any goal in life required work, sacrifice, and commitment. That was how she’d gotten through medical school. Why would sustaining a relationship be any different?

“I guess when you’re in love, anything is possible.” Julia squeezed Sydney’s hand.

Because tears threatened, Sydney simply gave her friend a grateful smile.

“Real life has shown otherwise,” Patrick said.

Sydney jerked her gaze to Patrick. “You don’t believe in love?”

He stared at her for a moment, and Sydney regretted her question. Patrick wiped his mouth with his napkin, as if he needed a moment to gather his thoughts. “I believe in love, but not in fairy tales, and that’s what twenty-one-year-old kids think love is.”

“Maybe it was different for them,” Julia said.

Sydney smiled at Julia, appreciating her support.

“You’re not the same now as you were when you were twenty-one.”

“Most people say I am. It seems to be a problem for them.” Julia’s eyes challenged Patrick.

“Touché. But Sydney isn’t the same. And from what you say, Syd, neither is Mitch. Imagine if you’d married, spent all that time apart, and one day woken up where you are now, not knowing who your husband is.”

“Except, if we’d married, we would have grown and changed together. My mother took that option away.”

“The chemistry is still there.” Julia took a sip of her wine. “I never saw you two together when we were younger, but if it was anything like I saw today, I’d put my money on your making it.”

“Thank you.”

Patrick sighed.

Julia’s eyes softened in concern. “But even seeing that connection, you could tell he didn’t want to go down that road with you again, Sydney. I’m sorry to say it, but what’s done is done, and I worry about you trying to get something back that you can’t.”

“Thank you.” Patrick lifted his wineglass in a toast to his sister.

Sydney looked down, trying to manage the dueling feelings of hope that Mitch’s kiss meant there was something still there and grief that it wouldn’t matter because Mitch was lost to her.

“It’s too bad you have to spend the next ten months stuck here.” Julia refocused her efforts on the rogue tomato.

“I like it here.” Sydney wished her phone would ring, calling her in to deliver a baby. She was tired of this conversation. Of having her and Mitch’s love doubted or brushed off as puppy love. It had been real.

“I guess a year of moonshine and fried Oreos while helping the poor isn’t a bad way to spend your time. And when you come back to New York, we’ll be there, like always. Won’t we, Patrick?” Julia’s eyes implored him to be supportive.

“Of course.” But the flatness with which he said the words hinted at annoyance or maybe disapproval. It was as if he could read her mind and knew she wasn’t quite ready to let Mitch go.

Until that moment, she hadn’t known, or at least admitted to herself, how much she still cared for Mitch. Rationally, it was ridiculous to think that after ten years there could still be something between them. But now that she understood the circumstances, she still didn’t have the closure she needed.

S
ydney woke
Sunday morning and dressed in her running clothes without waking Julia, who would probably sleep for another few hours. The sun was up, but just barely. Patrick would likely be sleeping too. It was the perfect time to take a run, clear her mind, and deal with how significantly her mother had altered her life. And Mitch’s. No wonder he was so bitter and resentful. And yet, he’d kissed her. Thoroughly and well. Even though, it was clear he hadn’t wanted to. There was something still there. A thin, tenuous thread. Could it be strengthened?

Mitch wasn’t the same man she’d left ten years earlier, but looking into his green eyes, she knew that man was still there. But he’d need to forgive her, and she wasn’t sure he would. The Mitch she remembered had been an easygoing, affable man. Today, he was guarded. He had gone to war after all. She couldn’t imagine anyone going into war and not being affected to the point of changing. She’d seen the physical scars from his service. Had she also seen the emotional ones? The question was, had he changed so much that he’d never let her in?

Sydney extended her route, running up the oak-lined street filled with large brick homes. It looked like a movie set. Ten years earlier, when she and Mitch had been making plans to spend their lives together, she thought she’d end up in a home like these, filled with love and children. How quickly that dream had slipped away.

But as she ran along the street with the large climbable trees and family cars parked in the driveway, the ache in her heart grew. Sydney had achieved everything she’d set her mind to. She’d worked with at-risk women at home and abroad. She was currently helping build up the services in a rural town’s free clinic. But, for all her achievements, one of the most important things she’d wanted still eluded her: a man to share it with.

Sydney turned the corner and headed back toward her home, wondering if she was wasting time on fairy tales. On Mitch. Deep down, the unsettled feeling that had made her impulsively pack up and come to Charlotte Tavern lingered. The problem was, Mitch had clearly moved on, or at least didn’t want to look back. That would mean finding closure and seeking a new dream with someone else. Sydney wasn’t sure that was something she could do.

As she made her way to her apartment building, she noticed Jagger leaning against a sleek, black luxury sedan.

He smiled and stood to meet her on the walkway as she approached. “Good stride there, Syd.”