Chapter 13
Thirteen
Sydney had been practically skipping through the house since she’d returned to Florida on Friday morning. Unfortunately, the skipping wasn’t easily hidden, and it was starting to lead to questions.
She bounced down the staircase before heading through the hallway and depositing herself in a seat at the kitchen island. By the time she’d hit the first floor, she’d tried to slow her steps, making sure her pace was leisurely and didn’t earn her any more raised eyebrows.
“You used to bounce through the house like that after you’d won a match,” her mom said from where she stood at the stove, stirring a pot of something that smelled delicious.
Rachel King was far less of a pushover than Sydney’s father, who’d simply given her a kiss on the head after clocking her noticeably upbeat attitude since returning home, telling her that, “Stoneport seemed to have done her wonders.”
In the three days she’d been home, she hadn’t quite come up with an easy way to explain her newfound carefree nature, let alone the con—or whatever it had become—that she was running with Reese.
Sydney was now an active participant in all of Grant’s wedding events, something she knew her mom wouldn’t approve of.
Which was fair, even if it meant she was constantly dodging questions.
Still, she was on cloud nine, and even a little subterfuge couldn’t dampen her mood.
“What are you making?” Sydney asked, trying to change the subject.
“Gator gumbo,” her mom supplied, stirring the pot before taking a deep inhale of the aroma.
Sydney blanched. “You’re kidding me.” She wouldn’t call herself a picky eater, but she drew the line at anything that would be able to eat her back if they had the chance.
Her mom turned around, wiping her hands on a dish towel on the kitchen island.
She had Sydney’s green eyes and blonde hair, though her mom’s face was sharper, a sort of ‘no nonsense’ look that had served her well in her previous life as a middle school teacher.
“I thought we were all just saying whatever we wanted in this house now, regardless of whether it was the truth.”
“Mom,” Sydney whined, transported back to her childhood and the zero things she’d ever been away to get away with. That was why she and Hallie had always caused a ruckus at The Stone’s Throw: Hallie’s parents were much busier and less likely to catch onto their schemes until it was too late.
Rachel held her hands up. “I’m just saying.
I’ve played good cop for the last couple of days, giving you space, but you left for Stoneport like a kicked puppy and now you’re back, walking around with stars in your eyes.
As a mother, am I wrong for being curious as to what’s caused this sudden change in attitude? ”
“Dad is ‘good cop,’” Sydney argued. “You’ve been giving me those looks since I walked in the door.”
“Because you didn’t walk. You floated ,” her mom batted back.
“Have you gotten a hobby? Because I told you that hobbies would do you wonders. Great to keep the mind active and sharp.”
“There are only so many games of pickleball a woman can play, my dear. Not all of us have your zest for professional athletics.”
Sydney tapped her finger on her chin, trying to remember what her mom had been up to lately. “How was that book club you joined?”
“A guise for afternoon drinking.”
“Are we… against that?” Sydney asked, clocking the glass of wine her mom was now sipping.
“The cookbook said a South African shiraz paired nicely.”
Sydney eyed the gumbo pot warily. “Have you tried it yet?”
“They could have at least bothered to read the book,” her mom lamented, placing her wineglass back on the counter.
Sydney cocked her head to the side. “I thought you liked Florida.”
Sydney had moved down to Florida four years ago.
After her first two years of serious play on the pro circuit, knowing that she’d be living here for the foreseeable future, her parents had transitioned down to live with her full-time.
Her mom had already retired, and her dad had gone remote for the bank he worked for in New England.
It seemed like the perfect solution. She got roommates when she was home, and they got beautiful weather—with the occasional hurricane—and an idyllic way to spend their retirement.
“I like that you are in Florida, my darling daughter. Even when you are intentionally trying to change the subject at every turn.”
“I’m not trying to change the subject. I was just checking in on how things have been going in my absence.”
“Your father likes it here, though I have a suspicion that he could be happy anywhere,” Rachel said with a loving smile. After the last few weeks Sydney had spent with the Devereux family, she didn’t take a look like that for granted anymore.
“And you?” Sydney pushed again. She’d thought that her parents would like retiring to Florida. Everyone wanted that, didn’t they?
“I’ve been… adjusting,” her mom said after an uncomfortable si lence. “Not having seasons is strange. Feels like Christmas in July every year.”
“No shoveling, though. That’s a plus.”
“In your father’s column,” her mom said with a laugh.
“If you weren’t happy here, why didn’t you say something?” Sydney asked seriously. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
Did her parents not think that she could survive down here on her own?
She used to be a professional athlete. She traversed the world to play in tournaments that required extensive physical and mental training, and as far as she knew, her living habits were up to acceptable standards, with the exception of her absolute refusal to separate lights and darks in the washing machine.
That was just propaganda by Big Laundry to convince her to do more loads.
“I know you’re perfectly capable of handling your life, Sydney. I’m sorry if I implied otherwise.”
Still, her mom wouldn’t make eye contact with her.
“I don’t believe you.” Sydney picked up a banana off the counter and began unpeeling it, looking for something to do with her hands.
“It’s not gator gumbo,” her mom admitted. “You don’t need to eat a banana. I promise you’ll like it.”
“Bananas are good for potassium intake,” Sydney said before taking a bite. “And now who’s trying to change the subject?”
“It’s just not anything I want you to worry about.”
Sydney’s elation from only minutes ago had started to deflate, and she put her banana down on the table. She felt like a balloon inside of her had been punctured and was slowly leaking out as she flattened herself back against the chair.
“But you’re okay, right?” What Reese had gone through with her own mother last week was a stark reminder of how quickly things could change.
“I promise I’m fine. You’ve just had such a rough run of things the last year, and I didn’t want to add anything to it. And we’ve loved that we could be here for you with everything going on. Grant. Your career. I would have never forgiven myself if we weren’t able to be by your side.”
Sydney’s shoulders softened, and for a moment, all she wanted was to be held again like she had been when she was little.
Between her fanatical post-breakup focus on tennis and her injury and recovery, followed by her retirement from tennis, she hadn’t given her mom and dad many bright spots in the last year.
“I really appreciate that, Mom. I should have said that before.”
“So,” her mom said, meeting her stare, familiar eyes looking back at her. “I’m being so nosy because I see how much better you’re doing, that there’s a happiness in you that I haven’t seen in a very long time.”
Sydney rolled her eyes, mostly to temper the swell of teenage-level embarrassment she felt at being called out for her behavior. “It hasn’t been that long,” she said, picking her banana up again and taking a large bite.
Her mom studied her, watching Sydney thoughtfully chew her banana like it was a Michelin-starred meal. “Maybe since even before you and Grant broke up.”
“Since he cheated on me,” Sydney corrected once she’d swallowed, though there was no venom in her words.
To her own surprise, he was barely more than a footnote in her thoughts these days, and she wouldn’t have been thinking about him at all if not for all the time she was spending with Reese.
“And, in retrospect, I don’t know that I was all that happy with Grant anyway.
It seems like things really worked out the way they should. ”
The look her mom was giving her was the same one she used to give her students when they were having a breakthrough.
Sydney should have known; her mom had been her homeroom teacher.
“That’s an amazing outlook, Sydney. Any chance you’re going to tell me what’s helped you see things that way?
Just some good old-fashioned bonding time with Hallie? How is she, by the way?”
Hallie, with her unflappable zeal for life, had gotten up at the crack of dawn, insistently, to drive Sydney to the airport. “Still raising a ruckus. She’s been doing really well in spite of her parents selling the inn.”
She realized her mistake after she was already careening down a slippery slope. Her mom looked at her in surprise. “The Thatchers sold the inn? Are you still staying there?”
Sydney nodded, trying to think around anything that could trip her up as they traversed this conversation, namely a serious brunette who’d thrown her whole life into the best kind of chaos over the last few weeks.
“Her parents moved to Colorado. They wanted to spend more time with their grandkids, and Hallie agreed to stay on for at least six months to help with the transition,” she said carefully.
Still, her mom looked at her in confusion.
She studied her mother closely, but she could see no clear trap on the imminent horizon. “I told you that Mason and Claire had their twins last year.”