“Thank you, daddy. I’m glad I’m here, too.”
She turned and softly walked from the room, taking Danny’s hand and leading him upstairs. His little gasps of shock as he absorbed his surroundings made her smile. It was odd, because now that she was back here after being at Stephen’s, this grand house seemed much too excessive. It was large and perfect, like a museum. Much too perfect to actually live in.
She ran a bubble bath for Danny in a guest bathroom and left him to bathe while she went to soak in a hot bath of her own. Her bedroom was perfectly clean. Stella had picked up every article of clothing that Sydney had left strewn about when she had left in such a hurry. Everything was hanging neatly in the closet now. Sydney felt a twinge of guilt for being so spoiled back then. She had caused Stella quite a bit of unnecessary work.
She passed through her room and ran a bubble bath in the sunken marble tub. She quickly washed her hair under the faucet and then slathered conditioning balm on it, twisting it up on top of her head to keep it out of the water as she soaked. She lay back until she was chin deep in bubbles and closed her eyes. The feeling of washing away the grime of the past few weeks was heavenly.
After she had soaked for a good twenty minutes, she sat up again and scrubbed every inch of her body with a loofah. She felt the compulsive need to get rid of every trace of that little house. She rinsed her hair and then stepped out of the tub onto the thick bath mat. Her fingers looked like wrinkled prunes, but she didn’t care. She was clean.
Her favorite skin care products were still lined up on the bathroom counter, so she liberally applied lotion to her arms and legs before she stepped into her closet to find something to wear. She opted for jeans and a simple t-shirt.
She only wanted to wear one piece of jewelry. A silver Tiffany bracelet that her father had given her once. The heart was engraved, “Princess.” It was still in one of her massive jewelry boxes. She found it quickly and snapped it onto her wrist.
She used to think that her father didn’t think the she was important enough to spend time with. But she had watched his face closely earlier. He was really upset by everything that had happened… and he did love her. Maybe it wasn’t exactly the way she wanted it to be, but who really had exactly the relationship that they wanted with their parents?
A soft knock on her bedroom door interrupted her thoughts. Before she could get to the door to open it, her dad stuck his head in. She couldn’t even remember the last time her father had come into her room, it had been so long.
“Sydney? Are you alright?” He asked in concern. “You’ve been up here a while.”
“I’m fine. Now.” She smiled warmly at him. “It feels so good to be clean and safe. Daddy, I really am sorry…. About everything. I’ve missed you.”
As she spoke, she twisted her bracelet absently around her wrist.
“Sweetheart, I’ve missed you too.”
Sydney’s head snapped up in surprise. Her father had used an endearment. Had she completely misunderstood him all along?
He crossed her room and perched on the edge of her sofa, which made her smile. He looked completely out of place in her ultra-feminine room. Even though he was elegant for a man, his large frame looked a little like the Incredible Hulk sitting on her delicate couch.
“I’ve contacted the FBI. They’re sending someone here and as soon as they arrive, we’ll call for medical help for Deidre. We don’t want to chance the ambulance calling in to the police until the FBI arrives. But Syd, while we wait, there’s a couple of things I want to get off of my chest. Do you mind? It will only take a few minutes.”
“Of course, Daddy.”
Sydney situated herself so that she was squarely facing him, curiously waiting for him to continue speaking. Her leg bounced nervously. She hadn’t been able to truly calm herself down yet. Her nerves didn’t seem to realize that she was safe.
“I’m so sorry about not waiting to see you at the hospital. I let myself become influenced and went against my better judgment. But that is no excuse. I should have realized that even if you didn’t think you wanted to see us, you still needed your parents during such a difficult time.” He stared at her earnestly, with genuine regret in his voice.
Sydney gaped at him in confusion and shock.
“Why would you think that I didn’t want to see you? I cried for months because I thought you didn’t care. You never even contacted me to see where I was. For all you knew, I was in a homeless shelter. And if it weren’t for Stephen, I would have been. When I left, mom closed my bank accounts. I had no money. You wouldn’t even have known if I had starved to death!”
Randall stared at her in shock.
“Sydney, what are you talking about? Your mom didn’t close your bank accounts. And you spoke with your mother several times. We knew where you were. You told your mother that you hated us and didn’t want to see us.”
Even though he stated it as a fact, his voice was suddenly unsure.
“Didn’t you?”
“Um, no. And yes, mom most certainly did close my bank accounts. I left with $85 dollars in my pocket and that was all I had. She told me that if I took my car with me, she would report it as stolen. And I didn’t hear a word from either one of you until mom came to see me at the cafe and told me to come home. You know… after the text incident.”
Sydney realized that her voice had gradually crept up a couple of octaves and made a conscious effort to calm down.
“What text incident?” Randall’s brow was wrinkled and he seemed as confused as Sydney felt.
“The text that you accidentally sent to me instead of to Paul Hayes. Surely you remember.”
“Sydney, I have no idea what you are talking about.” Her father’s voice was firm. “I haven’t texted you in months. Accidentally or otherwise. Your mother felt that we should respect your wishes and not contact you until you had gotten all of your resentment out of your system. She thought that would be for the best.”
“My mother. Okay, things aren’t making sense here.”
The wheels were spinning in Sydney’s head and she couldn’t quite put the puzzle pieces together.