Page 102 of Love What's Left
Phee rocks on her heels with expectation.
Sydney carefully separates the tape and opens the paper without tearing it, then lifts a crocheted olive-green blob with two braided yarn strings hanging from it. “Oh, how cute. Thank you so much! I love it!”
Phee beams at her. “I worked on it for three weeks.”
Sydney passes me the wrapping paper and holds it up to examine it more closely. It looks like a hat. Maybe. A sadly misshapen, too-small-to fit-a-person head covering with two unfortunate holes in it.
“That’s really . . . thoughtful, Phee,” I say.
She nods. “Do you think Rufus will like it?”
I make eye contact with Sydney and cover my grin with the back of my hand. It’s a hat for the cat. Rufus is going to fucking hate it.
“He’ll be so cute. How could he not love it? I’ll make sure I send you a picture of him wearing it,” Sydney says.
Rory races over to peek around his sister. “Aunt Syddie, knock-knock!”
“Who’s there?”
“Impatient cow,” Rory says, his dark hair flopping over his brow.
Sydney’s lips twitch. “Impatient cow, wh—”
“MOOOO!” Rory yells. Then, he takes off back into the crowd.
Phee chases after him. “You have to run in the yard, not Grandma’s house!”
Sydney’s co-workers arrive, gifts in hand. I’m still not convinced I did the right thing when I didn’t ask Dad to fire Rob Sennett, but Sydney has been his staunch supporter in the past. When she remembers her lab, eventually, the last thing I want is her thinking I overstepped her authority while she was vulnerable. Even if the guy is a dickhead. Sydney can fire him.
Amelia Webster follows after Rob, a giant snake plant in her arms. But where the man appears to wish he were anywhere else, the blonde looks around the marble foyer with delighted eyes, as though she’s studying for a pop a quizlater. When the crowd clears, she trundles over to us with her armload. “Happy birthday!”
Sydney laughs, and I take the plant from Amelia before she drops it. Immediately, Amelia hugs Sydney and bounces in her arms squealing, then breaks into a loud and jazzy version of the birthday song. I place the plant on the floor in the corner, then return quickly to my wife, rubbing my eye with the palm of my hand and feeling like an ass that the woman annoys me so much. I swear to God she didn’t used to be this bad.
“Wait, there’smore,”Amelia singsongs and holds out a hand to Rob where he stands with irritation written all over his face. A slight man with a blond combover, glasses, and of slightly less than average height for a man, he makes up for his less than imposing presence with what Sydney used to affectionately call a “Grumpy Gus” attitude. He passes over a black gift bag to Amelia, who, in turn, gives it to Sydney.
“You can open it now. It’s nothingtoobig. I promise. It’s from Rob,” Amelia says.
Sydney’s mouth quirks into a sardonic smile. “Thank you.”
When Sydney passes me the yellow tissue paper and pulls out a Pittsburgh Steelers ball cap, her mouth falls open. “How?”
Amelia nods. “I know you lost your lucky hat. When everything happened, I mean. You always kept it in your locker at the lab for good luck. Rob wanted to get you another one,” she gushes.
Rob shoots Amelia another annoyed glance. I never imagined relating to Rob about anything, but here we are.
“It was Amelia’s idea. She didn’t like that I was bringing a gift card,” Rob says.
Amelia props her hands on her hips and scowls. “You just ruined the whole point of me saving you from giving a generic gift.”
“Thankyou, Amelia. This is so thoughtful. How in the world did you find an exact copy of a 2006 Super Bowl hat?”
“eBay,” she sings with a wobble of her head.
Sydney shakes her head. “It looks the same. It feels the same. Thank you so much.”
Amelia’s cheeks turn pink, and she gives Sydney a pleased smile. “It has a little cut on the brim there, and a little more wear than yours did, but I’m glad you like it.”
When Amelia and Rob head for the kitchen, Sydney affixes the hat on top of her head and feeds her thick ponytail through the hole in the back with a look of concentration. “I was wearing my lucky hat in the security footage the night I vandalized the lab.”
