Page 24 of The Summer Club
Hugh raised his hand and ordered a beer. “Look, Syd. I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’ll stay until the wedding. I just need a little time to figure this out.”
Sydney wiped her nose. “I know, and I get it. Really. But I also worry that you guys are mad at me too.”
“Because of the house?” Andi asked.
Sydney looked away. “I had no idea. You need to know I never wanted it for myself.”
“Well, let’s talk about that,” Hugh said. “Now that you bring it up.”
Andi felt the air about them shift.
Sure, Riptide was dear to each of them. But it wasn’t like it was being sold to a stranger or torn down. It was still in the family… something she wasn’t so sure could be said about her and Hugh’s relationship with their father. “Listen, we all just agreed we’d get through the wedding. I don’t think it makes sense to get into the weeds right now.”
“What?” Hugh said. Sydney brought up the house. I have a question about what she said.”
Sydney shrugged. “Shoot.” But Andi could tell she didn’t really mean it. Hugh could be imposing, especially to Sydney. She was ten years his junior, and the two had never been particularly close. “What do you want to know?”
“Riptide. What is your plan for it?”
Sydney blinked. “I don’t have a plan. I just told you—I never wanted it for myself.”
“Right. But now you have it. And you’re about to marry a guy who works in commercial real estate, who I imagine will have all kinds of plans for it. So do we not get to ask about that?”
Martin, who was seated on the other side of Hugh, rested his hand on his arm. “She said she doesn’t know. Let’s leave this alone for now.”
But Hugh could not. It was eating him up, and now that Sydney had mentioned it he saw it as fair game.
“Hugh, what do you expect her to do?” Andi asked. “She’s focused on her wedding. Shouldn’t we let her enjoy that?”
“This has nothing to do with the wedding. Let’s be honest here, people. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Syd was just handed the deed to a million-dollar property that belongs to the whole family.” He looked pointedly down the bar at his sisters. “If we’re still calling ourselves that.”
Andi turned to Syd. “You don’t have to answer him.”
“No, I want to.” Sydney leaned around Andi, both elbows planted on the bar. “Since you’re burning to know, I’ll tell you. James and I did talk about Riptide.”
“And?”
“He couldn’t believe it.”
Hugh laughed sharply. “I bet he couldn’t.”
“Just as I couldn’t,” Sydney went on. “At first, he was shocked. The more we talked about it, the more we thought about how unfair it seems.”
Hugh nodded. “It is unfair.”
“Sure it is,” Sydney said. “But then I thought more about it.”
She hesitated and, in the moment’s pause, Andi tensed. Like Hugh, it worried her that James was in commercial real estate. For her family, Riptide held more emotional value than anything else. To an outsider, it was a gold mine. Sure, James was a sweet guy who adored Syd. But Andi was pretty sure he’d not gotten so successful in his career by being sentimental.
Sydney grew pensive. “I may not have asked for Riptide. Hell, it may not even be fair. But you’re all right—I was given it.”
Andi didn’t like the shift in Sydney’s thinking. “What are you saying exactly?”
“Riptide doesn’t really belong to our family. Not even to Mom and Dad. It has always been Tish’s house.”
“But she never went there. Not once in all the years we’ve grown up. She hates it,” Hugh reminded them.
Sydney shrugged. “We don’t know that for sure, and it doesn’t matter anyway. It’s hers. And if Tish wants me to have Riptide, why shouldn’t I keep it?” Her eyes were bright with determination, even if her voice wavered.