The Road to Rose Bend, Naima Simone [jenna bush book club .TXT] 📗

take her for mani-pedis. And teach her that women rule the world!”

“Oh Lord.” Sydney groaned, even as she smiled. Several people passed by her and smiled, even waving hello, but none appeared scandalized. “Can she get here first before you plan global domination?”

“It’s never too early to think big, sweetie. And she’s going to love her Aunt Leo. I’m going to be the cool one,” her friend boasted. Then, her voice lowered, softened. “I’m so happy for you, Sydney. And it’s so good to hear you sounding happy. Or at the very least, content.”

“I am content. Or getting there, I guess.” Sydney paused and stepped aside, out of the way of the foot traffic on the sidewalk. Briefly closing her eyes, she sighed. “This place is different than what I was expecting when I came back. I can’t say that everything is great, because I’m still...feeling my way. But for my baby...” She thought of Cole holding her hand in the exam room. Her father’s teary smile as he stared at his granddaughter’s image on the sonogram screen. Leo’s unconditional love and friendship. “For her, I’ve made the right decision.”

“Good.” Leo released a shaky breath. “Well, dammit. Something’s happening with my eyes. They’re fucking leaking. And all over my planner.”

Sydney threw her head back, laughing. “You’re crazy, woman.”

“Another reason Arwen is going to adore me.” Leo hesitated. “Have you told Daniel yet?”

Sydney grimaced, shards of guilt lodging in her chest. In truth, she hadn’t been able to extricate them since she got off the phone with her ex-husband thirty minutes earlier. “Yes.”

“Oh God,” Leo snarled. “What? What did the Great American Joy Snatcher do now?”

In spite of the shame and remorse swirling inside her like a cesspool, she huffed out a dry laugh. “No, this was all on me. I promised to record the sonogram for him since he couldn’t be at the appointment. And caught up in my nerves and excitement, I forgot. I sent him pictures of the images, but that wasn’t enough. He was furious, and you know how he gets when he’s angry. Ice cold. And I can’t blame him. He’s missing these milestones in his baby’s growth, and I forgot to do this small thing.”

“Okay, you messed up,” Leo conceded. “But you can’t beat yourself up over this. And please don’t let him steal your joy.”

“I know. You’re right. But I need to make sure he doesn’t feel excluded.” She sighed and, glancing around, stiffened. For the first time, noticing where she stood.

Right next to the crafts store. One door down was her mother’s boutique. Her heart thudded against her sternum. Nerves crowded into her throat, throbbing in her pulse. But underneath the nerves lurked something precarious, something fragile—hope. Maybe it had been ignited when her father had walked into that examination room. Or when he’d whispered, “A granddaughter,” with an almost reverent note in his voice.

Or it could’ve been neither of those things. But memories assailed her as she stared at her mom’s store—the place where she used to spend her afternoons reading behind the counter or hiding under the racks pretending they were the many rooms of her fairy-tale castle. Memories of a time before Carlin’s death when her mother had been her heroine, her rock, her everything.

She sucked in a breath and crossed an arm under her breasts. God, what she wouldn’t give to have that mother back. To have that closeness and respect back.

“Sydney? You still there?” Leo asked, worry threading through her voice.

“Yes,” she said. “Hey, I need to take care of something. I’ll hit you back later tonight.”

“Sure thing.” Leo paused. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s good.” She nodded, even though her friend couldn’t see the gesture. “Talk to you later?”

“Absolutely. Love you, Sydney.”

“Love you, too.”

Sydney ended the call, clutching the phone to her chest for a long moment before exhaling. Before she could talk herself out of this, she tucked the cell away in her purse and strode toward Elegant Occasions, the boutique that her mother had owned since before Sydney was born. Its pink-and-light-gray awning with the graceful scrollwork was as familiar to her as her childhood home. It starred in some of her best memories...and her worst. Including the last argument she and her mother had engaged in before Sydney hightailed it out of town.

Squaring her shoulders, she grabbed the handle and pulled open the door. The same bell that she remembered tinkled above her, announcing her entry. Her mother, standing behind the front counter, looked up, wearing a welcoming smile. A smile that dipped and trembled when she met Sydney’s gaze. That shouldn’t have sent pain shooting through her—Sydney should be accustomed to the trepidation and hesitation that wavered in her mother’s eyes—but, it did.

If Carlin was alive, would you be happy to see me? If I’d been willing to give blood, tissue, hell, even a kidney, to save your first daughter, would you still love me?

The questions howled in her head like a furious storm. She glanced away from her mother on the pretense of surveying the store. Truthfully? She was afraid she might find the answers to those questions in Patricia’s dark gaze.

“Hi, Mom,” she greeted softly. “I hope I’m not disturbing your day.”

“No, it’s been pretty quiet around here,” Patricia murmured.

“That’ll change in the next week with the motorcycle rally approaching.”

“I’m sure it will.”

Polite. They were so painfully polite with each other. If not for sharing the same eyes, facial features and curvy build, a passerby might’ve mistaken them for strangers. Proprietress of a boutique and her customer.

“I’m sorry to just drop in without...” A call? A text? A warning? Sydney shook her head. “Well, I should’ve called first.”

“Why?” her mother asked, rounding the counter and striding forward, crossing the space that separated them. Like it was a war-torn no-man’s-land. Sydney didn’t like to think of her and her mother as enemies, but it’d been so long since they’d been allies. “You’re my daughter. You don’t need to call or make an appointment. I’m