Maybe Someday(86)

And it took her a while to come around, espe-

cially knowing she would have to interact with

me. But things eventually worked themselves

out. She ended up with the right guy in the end,

thanks to Ridge’s persistence.”

I exhale. “Wow,” I say. “Talk about devotion.”

He turns his head toward mine, and our eyes

meet. “Exactly,” he says firmly, as if I just

summed up his whole point. “I have never in my

life met another human being with more devotion

than that man. He’s the best damn thing that’s

ever happened to me. The best thing that’s ever

happened to Maggie.”

He pulls his feet up onto the couch and faces

me full-on. “He’s gone through hell and back for

that girl, Sydney. All the hospital stays, driving

back and forth to take care of her, promising her

the world, and giving up so much of himself in

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return. And she deserves it. She’s one of the

purest, most selfless people I’ve ever met, and if

there are two people who deserve each other in

this world, it’s the two of them.

“So when I see how he looks at you, it pains

me. I saw the way the two of you watched each

other at the party the other night. I saw the jeal-

ousy in his eyes every time you spoke to Bren-

nan. I’ve never seen him struggle with his choice

or the sacrifices he’s made for Maggie until you

showed up. He’s falling in love with you,

Sydney, and I know you know that. However, I

also know his heart, and he’ll never leave Mag-

gie. He loves her. He would never do that to her.

So seeing him torn apart because of the way he

feels about you and knowing his life is with Mag-

gie, I just don’t understand why you’re still here.

I don’t understand why you’re putting him

through that much pain. Each day you’re still

here and I see him looking at you the same way

he used to look at Maggie, it makes me want to

shove you out the damn door and tell you to

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never come back. And I know that’s not your

fault. I know that. Hell, you didn’t even know the half of what he’s going through until tonight. But

now you do. And as much as I love you and think

you’re one of the coolest damn chicks I’ve ever

met, I also never want to see your face again.

Especially now that you know the truth about

Maggie. And forgive me if this is harsh, but I

don’t want you getting it into your head that the

love you have for Ridge will be enough to hold

you over until the day Maggie dies. Because

Maggie isn’t dying, Sydney. Maggie’s living.

She’ll be around a lot longer than Ridge’s heart

could ever survive you.”

My head rolls forward into my hands as the

sobs erupt from my chest. Warren’s arm folds

over my back, and he pulls me against him. I

don’t know who I’m crying for right now, but my

heart hurts so much I just want to rip it from my

f*cking chest and throw it over Ridge’s balcony,

because that’s where this whole mess began.

Ridge

Maggie has been asleep for a couple of hours

now, but I’ve yet to sleep. That’s usually how it

is when I’m with her in the hospital. After five

years of sporadic stays, I’ve learned it’s much

easier not to sleep at all than it is to get a half-ass couple of hours.

I open my laptop and pull up my messages to

Sydney, then send her a quick hello to see if

she’s online. We haven’t had a chance to discuss

the fact that I asked her to move out, and I hate

not knowing if she’s okay. I know it’s wrong to

be messaging her at this point, but it seems even

more wrong to leave things unsaid.

She returns my message almost immediately,

and the tone of it already relieves some of my

worry. I don’t know why I always expect she’ll

respond unreasonably, because she’s never once

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shown a lack of maturity or regard for my

situation.

Sydney: Yeah, I’m here. How’s Maggie?

Me: She’s good. She’ll be discharged this

afternoon.

Sydney: That’s good. I’ve been worried.

Me: Thank you, by the way. For your help

last night.

Sydney: I wasn’t much help. I felt like I

was in the way more than anything.

Me: You weren’t. There’s no telling what

could have happened if you hadn’t found

her.

I wait a moment for her to respond, but she

doesn’t. I guess we’ve reached the point in this

conversation where one of us needs to bring up

what we both know must be discussed. I feel

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responsible for this entire situation with her, so I