Summer to Winter

Chapter Sixteen

Syden had a little over a week to get all four trailers moved in a ready before production started. She didn't want to waste any time and she didn't get a wink of sleep, so she went back to the lot early to get started. Brian had given her id card 24-hour access to the production office as well as the key to the supply closet to stock up. It was too early for anyone else to be there, so she had the place to herself. She put on her headphones and got to work. She collected her supplies and loaded it on the golf cart. A few hours had passed, and she was almost finished loading up the last trailer. She had been alone and still listening to music, singing her way through the soundtrack to Moana. She was in the middle of "How Far I'll Go" when she turned around to throw something away and jumped when she saw Henry inside the trailer with Kal, leaning against the door frame with his eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.

"AAAAHH! Good lord, you scared the ever-living poop out of me!"

Henry couldn't stop laughing, she looked so cute. He was on his way out of the gym on the lot when he thought he would see if she happened to be at work already. To his pleasant surprise, he heard her singing and stepped into the open door when he saw her singing and dancing with her headphones on while she worked. He must have been there for at least five minutes before she turned around and he enjoyed every second of it. "Sorry, you looked very busy." He winked, "Plus Kal didn't want to interrupt. He was enjoying the concert as well."

She looked down at his happy little face and all was forgiven. She went over to Kal, bent down and gave him a kiss on the snout. "Only for you buddy... I'll sing whenever you want, as long as you don't tell anyone how off key I am."

"What are you up to today, Moana?" He walked over to the couch and plopped down.

She went back to her organizing, "I'll be finishing this up in the next hour or so, then I was thinking about taking a hike before my free time during the day becomes non-existent."

"Kal just finished watching me work out for the last hour, he could use some time outside if you feel like some company... unless you were going with someone else?" For all he knew, she was going with her boyfriend. Why did he always feel so compelled to be with her?

"Sure! I could always use a hiking buddy." That last word stung him a little bit, but she continued. "Adam is always lecturing me about hiking alone."

Alone. Why would her boyfriend let her hike alone? What kind of dummy would not want to spend all his free time with this lady?

"I need to run home when I'm done here. Grab a bite and change. Do you want to meet up somewhere?"

He replied, "Why don't Kal and I help you finish up here and we can follow you home?"

She snorted, "This is your trailer... isn't that a little weird if you helped me?"

He picked up box, put it on the table and started to unpack it. "I'm just making sure you don't put anything in the wrong place... think of it as 'supervising.' You just want to be alone so that you can sing by yourself, hmm?"

She faked sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine... you win. This time."

When they were done, he followed her home and realized that she only lived a few minutes away from his place. "Come in! I'll make us some lunch before we head out." Kal followed her into a beautiful modern craftsman and immediately made himself at home on the couch.

Henry couldn't help but laugh at his pup, "Hey! This isn't our house!"

Sy just laughed "He probably still smells my little bear on there... don't be mad at him." She walked over and gave him a kiss on the nose. "You can lay down wherever you want to, big guy."

Henry smiled, "I'm starting to think you're only friends with me for Kal."

She laughed "Would you blame me?" She started pulling things out of the fridge. "I was just going to make myself a salad, are you interested? We can always grab something on the way back as well, I'm just not that hungry at the moment."

Henry looked around the house and noticed the little touches that made it feel like a home. The main floor was basically one large living space that was open and airy with a living room, kitchen and entertainment area that all flowed together. While she was working in the kitchen, he took the opportunity to look around at all the photos that were scattered throughout the living room. He pointed at a photo of Sy with a handsome man wearing New Year's Eve hats, cheek to cheek, blowing party horns. "Is this your boyfriend?"

"What?! No way! That's Eric and I last New Years Eve. We have a tradition to spend it with each other every year, with or without significant others. It started when we were young, and we don't plan on giving it up." She continued to work on the cutting board, "If you look around, you'll see a lot of photos of us when we were younger. Eric used to have photos with his last girlfriend up as well... but those were burned a while ago. I'm not joking..."

Her permission for him to look further made him take longer looks at the photos. There wasn't one photo that she wasn't smiling from ear to ear in. They were all candid photos, but you could tell that someone with an eye for portraits were taking them or at least the ones with Eric and his family. He noticed one in particular was breathtakingly beautiful. It was taken of her and that happy ginger dog on a beach during the magic hour right before sunset. She was sitting relaxed on the sand in a turquoise bikini looking over at the dog and it was hard to tell who had the bigger smile. "Do Kal and I ever get to meet this pretty girl? Or is she with Eric?"

He turned away from the photo to look at Sy and saw her eyes start to glisten, "That was my little bear. She was diagnosed with liver cancer and passed away last year..." Her voice cracked as she smiled sadly, "My heart is still mending, but I'm getting better every day."

She wiped a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand. His heart could feel the pain that she had in hers and before he knew it, he had his arms around her as she softly sobbed. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me." She started to pull away, "I should be over it by now."

He held onto her shoulders and looked determinedly into her eyes "Don't apologize for feeling this way. I would be devastated if anything happened to Kal, it's okay to mourn your best friend, no matter how long it takes. How long was she with you?"

"I had her for sixteen years. I adopted her when I was just a kid myself, when she and Eric were the only ones who knew the pain I was going through at the time. It's hard to tell who rescued whom." Sy sniffed, "That's enough crying for one day. What kind of dressing do you want?"

Henry wanted to hold her in his arms longer, she fit so perfectly, and she smelled like his mother's lavender garden back home. She felt and smelled like home. This thought resonated in his brain. "Um. Whatever you are having is fine with me." His will power was waning with every second in her presence.