8. Sydney
8
SYDNEY
Sydney followed Katie onto a cement bench row halfway up the amphitheater on the other side of the levee. They sat down, the bench freezing through Sydney’s jeans, but it was absolutely worth the inconvenience.
“This is gorgeous,” Sydney said, a little breathless. “I’ve never been here before.”
She’d never had much reason to take the bridge over to Westbank. She knew there were a lot of historical sites and local events in the area, but she didn’t even know about this place.
“They have events here and bands play sometimes,” Katie said, pointing at the stage in front of the cement bleachers. “I didn’t know much about Gretna either until I moved here.”
“I can see why you did.” Sydney took in the city's view across the river. “This must be breathtaking at night.”
The sun was setting, but it would be another hour before it was dark enough to see New Orleans all lit up on the other side of the Mississippi.
“To be fair, the view isn’t why I moved here,” Katie said. “I’m here for the cheaper cost of living with a not-so-terrible drive to work.”
“Makes sense.” Sydney was listening to Katie, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the spectacular scene before her. Not even to spare a glance at the spectacular woman beside her.
She’d been having trouble looking at anything else until then. Katie’s thick, dark hair framed her pale skin beautifully, and the slight redness the cold air brought to her nose and cheeks was downright adorable. All of that equaled trouble keeping in mind that this was a one-off situation. Katie was not an option.
Even if Sydney moved back here—and Katie’s little tour made that a more enticing proposition—Katie would still be off limits. Sydney wasn’t about to jump into a serious relationship with the first woman she kissed. And she didn’t think she could maintain anything casual with Katie without making that scenario more likely.
“I had a feeling you’d like it here,” Katie said. “It’s not San Diego, but this is pretty nice, too.”
“It’s more than nice.” Sydney finally took her gaze from the skyline to Katie. They were just inches away, their fingers and hands lightly touching on the bench. Sydney was overcome with gratitude and the urge to kiss her again.
She snapped out of that thought and looked into Katie’s rich brown eyes. “Thank you. For showing me this. And for everything today.”
It really was a perfect day. That morning, they’d slipped into a used bookshop and lazily browsed the offerings. They also enjoyed the shop’s cat, which looked a lot like Katie’s cat, minus the injuries.
Then Katie had taken her for lunch at a little neighborhood restaurant that had the best red beans and rice Sydney had ever eaten. And that was saying a lot because her mom’s was pretty damn good.
After lunch, they’d spent a large chunk of the afternoon walking around City Park. Even though the lights weren’t on, it was nice to stroll through the holiday decorations.
Once they crossed the bridge into Westbank, Katie took Sydney into a blacksmith shop nearby in Gretna that was a historical spot where they held demonstrations and classes and were famous for hosting weddings, of all things.
But this stop had to be the best of the day. By far.
Sydney felt warmth and glanced down to see Katie’s hand covering hers. It sent heat up Sydney’s arm, and despite the bitter cold of the wind over the river, Sydney didn’t want to move from that spot.
“You’re welcome.” Katie held Sydney’s gaze and smiled brightly. “Today was nice. I’ll have to thank Stephen for forcing us into this.”
Sydney laughed. “Don’t encourage him. He’ll never stop setting things up.”
“Well, I’m grateful for today’s setup.”
Sydney looked back at the skyline and thought about how she didn’t want to leave. How she loved San Diego, but this place would always be home.
“They have some great New Year’s Eve stuff here, too,” Katie said. “I’m guessing you’ll be gone by then, though. Stephen said you were only here for the week.”
Sydney’s gaze remained fixed on the river as she decided to let Katie in on her dilemma.
“I’m actually considering staying.”
“Through the new year?”
“Yeah. Maybe longer than the week,” she said. Then she took a deep breath and said the thing she hadn’t told anyone. “I’m thinking about moving back here.”
“Oh.”
Katie sounded surprised, and Sydney couldn’t tell if it was a hopeful surprise or an oh-no-now-I-have-to-see-you-again surprise.
“I’m not settled on the decision yet. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Today and the last few days being here reminded me of all the reasons I love this place. I’m running out of reasons to stay in San Diego.”
“Is this another thing you’re keeping from Stephen?” There wasn’t annoyance in her question. Only exasperation. “I just don’t know how many secrets I can keep track of. I’m not morally opposed to your plans or you having secrets or anything. It’s more that my brain isn’t real good at juggling too much. That’s kind of why I like having lists and planners and all of that stuff.”
“It won’t be a secret long. Not by the end of this week, at least.” Sydney sighed with the weight of her choice lessening slightly from telling one person. “I just haven’t decided yet, and like the other thing, I don’t want my family’s enthusiasm to influence my decision. I’ll tell them as soon as I know for sure.”
She was leaning more towards a decision with every passing minute.
“Yeah, Stephen’s great. But he does make his opinion known on matters. And, like with today, he tends to have a way of making what he wants happen.”
“Exactly. I just want to get straight in my head what I want to do before his voice is in the mix.”
Katie suddenly looked horrified. “Did that happen with your divorce? Stephen mentioned it, but none of the details.”
“No, not at all.” Sydney shook her head adamantly. “I was very careful to keep that between me and Doug until we were sure we were splitting for good. I had a couple of coworkers I’m close to back in San Diego that I confided in along the way, but I didn’t tell Stephen until it was a done deal.”
“I’m sure he loved being the last to know.”
“He wasn’t exactly the last to know, but yeah. He was surprised and hurt that I didn’t tell him earlier. Eventually, he got over it and was fully supportive.” Sydney warmed at how much he had supported her through her divorce. He even flew out for a weekend to help her move. “He’s a great brother, really. I just want to be certain before I tell him. I have to do this part on my own.”
Katie removed her hand from Sydney’s. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to do that either. But I’m glad you told me.”
There was no hint of fear in that. No hesitation.
Sydney fought the urge to ask how Katie might feel about her moving back.
No.
Katie’s opinion wasn’t a factor either.
Especially since neither one of them wanted to take this further. Sydney couldn’t jump into something serious, and Katie was clear she didn’t want anything but a committed relationship.
“I’d be a horrible best friend if I didn’t point out the fact that your brother has a great shoulder to cry on, and he’ll be supportive of any decision you make.” Katie gave a compassionate smile. “And about the other stuff, too.”
Sydney looked away from that smile before she made the terrible mistake of moving toward those lips.
“I know,” she said. “But I didn’t need to cry on anyone.”
“So the divorce wasn’t tough?”
There was a weird edge to Katie’s voice. Sydney couldn’t quite figure out what that meant. She also couldn’t forget that earlier comment about not kissing like an accountant. She’d been trying not to think about kissing Katie all day, but that one line kept coming back and dragging the memories up with it.
“No, not really.” Sydney pulled her coat tighter against a cutting gust of wind. “But to be clear, I’m bisexual. I know I haven’t told Stephen, but this was something I’d already figured out, and that didn’t have anything to do with the divorce. I loved Doug. We just weren’t right.”
Katie put her hands up. “You don’t owe me an explanation.”
“I know. But I want to be up front on that.”
She didn’t know why exactly, but it was important to her that Katie knew all of this. She wanted everything between them to be clear, even though this wasn’t the start of anything. At the very least, she’d probably see Katie again from time to time when she came home. Or maybe even more often than that if she moved back.
Either way, she wanted Katie to know everything.
“So then, why didn’t it work out? If it’s okay for me to be nosy.”
“Not nosy at all. I brought it up, and I’m fine talking about it,” Sydney said. “Basically, I didn’t feel seen. He was great, and he loved me, too. But I think he loved the idea of me. I don’t know if he ever really understood me.”
Sydney thought about how Doug would never have taken her to any of the places she and Katie had visited that day. It was as if Katie instinctively knew what she would like, even though they only met a couple of times and never had any real deep conversations.
Until now.
Sydney shivered against the cold. This was a delightful stop, and she would have loved to stay out there all evening and watch the sunset with Katie. But that would be a terrible idea.
Today had to remain just today.
Katie patted her leg, sending tingles up Sydney’s thigh. “Come on. Let’s get you warmed up.”
Sydney stood with her. “I’m going to need to crank my heater up in the car.”
“We have one last stop.”
“Oh,” Sydney said, fighting the urge to sound too excited about the prospect of spending even more time with Katie. “Where are we going next?”
It had been so enjoyable to sit back and allow someone else to plan things for once. And she’d felt completely at ease handing the reins over to Katie. It had been a near-perfect day, and she’d just been along for the ride. It was kind of nice to let go.
“I’m not far from here,” Katie said. “It’s pizza with Benjamin time.”