“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 thatyouare 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 silence. “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 Laundryto 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 goingon. 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 beenthatlong,” 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. “Stillraising 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.
