“I try not to think about it, but this whole thing literally started because of him.”
“He only gets the power you give him,” Hallie said sagely. “Does she make you happy?”
Sydney nodded, a smile blooming across her face when she thought about how much she looked forward to seeing Reese. Talking to her. Getting lost in her touch. “Ecstatic.”
“And does she treat you right?”
“Yeah, she does,” Sydney said wistfully, thinking about how attentive and supportive Reese had been since they’d met. “Even from the start, when she agreed to go along with the fake dating to make Grant mad.”
Hallie held her hands under her chin and batted her eyes at Sydney. “And look how far you’ve come. Is it serious?”
“I—” Sydney knew she was falling for Reese. Knew it in her bones, could hear it in her own voice when she said, “I want it to be.”
“Man. Your mom’s going to lose her mind.”
Sydney groaned. “I know. She saw me at my worst, when I threw myself into tennis to get over what Grant had done. Getting over Grant himself didn’t take mucheffort.”
“Yeah, because he’s a doofus. You were always too good for that nepo baby,” Hallie said with conviction.
Now, it was Sydney’s turn to lift her brows.
“They are not the same! Reese is hardworking and built her own life. Yeah, she’s had the advantage of privilege, but she didn’t spend her life riding her father’s coattails.”
“Wow, Hallie. Tell me how you really feel,” Sydney said sardonically.
“It wasn’t my place to tell you that I thought that you could do better than Grant. You seemed happy, and if you were happy, then I was going to be happy for you.” Hallie flashed her a cheesy smile.
Sydney knew, in retrospect, how she’d gotten into this situation. “I liked that he didn’t put pressure on me when my career needed to come first but also that I had a plan already lined up for what came after it.”
Hallie fake-swooned. “How romantic.”
Sydney pointedly ignored her comment, which Hallie had to see coming. “But this thing with Reese, it’s like a live wire. I want her and I’m drawn to her and she makes me feel like a better version of myself. And it’s still so new, but I want to talk to her about the decisions I’m making and to have her be on board with them. Is that crazy?” Sydney asked, genuinely wanting an answer.
Because she’d started feeling a little crazy the past few weeks.
“No crazier than your last month,” Hallie batted back before her stare softened, probably because she saw the genuinely stricken look on Sydney’s face. “Look, you were so focused on your career for so long, and that’s okay. Now, if you want to focus on other things, that’s okay, too.”
“She encouraged me to accept the interview for the commentator position.”
Sydney had told Hallie about it when she’d gotten the offer, though they hadn’t gotten into what she’d been planning to do. Hell, when Sydney had told her, she hadn’tknownwhat she was going to do.
“Seems like she doesn’t want you to have any regrets either.”
Sydney cocked her head to the side. “Explain.”
“I’m sure she doesn’t want Stoneport to be the place you stay—even if it’s with her—because you’re too afraid to put yourself back out there.”
Hallie stood up then and walked over to the coffeepot to pour another cup. “It seems like she has your best interests at heart, and I think that, whether she and Grant are related or not, –is what sets them apart. At least from where I stand.”
“You know what, Hallie? I need to run an errand,” Sydney said, popping into a standing position and bouncing in place.
Reese had been looking out for her every step of the way since they’d met, and now, she needed to do the same.
“I didn’t know you were coming by today.” Rachel King looked up from her newspaper, the reading glasses she’d only started wearing in the last few years perched low on the bridge of her nose.
It was a startling reminder to Sydney that her mom wouldn’t always be around. That while Sydney was getting older, so were her parents.
Still, it didn’t change why she was here. She wanted to make sure that she could share with them the best parts of the new life she was building.
