Chapter 23

It shouldn’t be so hard to find one man.

Sydney burst into the kitchen through the back door, out of breath from jogging to the barn and then to the treehouse and back again. And that was after having stopped at the hospital first.

“Not . . . cut out . . . for this.”

“Uh, Syd? You okay?” Lilian walked in, coat and gloves on. Was she leaving or just arriving? Had she come in the front door just as Sydney had barreled in the back?

And those other voices . . . maybe . . . “I’m fine. Um, is everyone with you?”

“Indi’s here. And Wilder, of course. Because he’s apparently never not with us. We just grabbed lunch in town and then stopped here to change. We’re heading back in to the hospital. Have you been to see Maggie yet? I mean, since she’s been awake.”

She shook her head, still trying to catch her breath. Oh, she had to look ridiculous. Her old coat was unbuttoned, her shirt underneath wrinkled from being in her suitcase all night, and somewhere on her run, she’d lost a glove. And she didn’t have one single doubt the sea salt air had wreaked havoc on her hair.

“But . . . but Neil’s not with you?”

“Oh, he’s here. He came back separately. Skipped lunch so he could do chores.”

Which meant he’d probably been out at the barn when she’d been here and then . . . why hadn’t they crossed paths?

“He’s upstairs?”

Lilian nodded and Sydney hurried past her, but the woman’s footsteps followed. “Is everything okay? Weren’t you picking up Micah this morning?”

“Oh yeah. He—”

“Sydney’s here?” Indi came into the hallway from the dining room, Wilder behind her.

“Maggie’s been asking about you,” Wilder said. “You can ride with Lil and me if you—”

“No.” She blurted it louder than she meant to and three pairs of eyes stared at her. “I mean . . . I mean, yes, I definitely want to see Maggie. Again, that is. I did see her this morning but she wasn’t awake yet. But you already know that.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lil asked.

“Y-yes. I just need to talk to your brother. But I’ll come to the hospital. Later. Promise.” She squeezed past the crowd in the hallway and rushed to the staircase, clambering up. Then stopping halfway.

With a grin, she scrambled back down, reaching for the coat still draped over the banister. Neil’s coat, left there the night before when she’d been sure—so sure—she had to leave.

But that’d been before she knew what she knew now.

That there was one thing Nikola hadn’t had right. She’d realized it as she’d run all over the farm looking for Neil. It had never been about the happy ending at all. But a new beginning.