Chapter 39

I sat out on the end of Sidney’s dock, dangling my feet in the lake water with a blanket wrapped around me and a mug of hot chocolate in my hands. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the stars were out in full force. It was a beautiful night and I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to be inside during a night like this.

I turned to look back at the house and could see a light on in one of the upstairs windows. Every once in a while Sidney’s form would pass by the window with something in his hand. I scrunched up my nose and made a face as I watched. He was leaving tomorrow for Pittsburgh. Even though it was only for two days, it didn’t mean I had to like it.

I watched the light in the room go out and figured that he was done packing. I turned back to look out over the lake. As I took another sip of my hot chocolate I heard footsteps walking out onto the dock behind me. I smiled as I felt Sid’s arms wrap around me from behind while he placed a kiss on the top of my head.

“There you are.” I turned my head and smiled.

“No one should be inside on a night like this,” I replied. He sat down next to me and pulled me into his side.

“I agree.” He took the mug from my hand and took a sip. “I was expecting coffee.”

“We ran out of the hazelnut. You know I don’t do regular. I settled for hot chocolate.” He laughed as he handed the mug back to me.

“So, I talked to my parents and they said you can stay over there until I get back,” he told me. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

“I can be home by myself for one night, you know.” It was his turn to sigh.

“I know that. I just want you to be around people that care about you when I can’t be here. I worry you know.”

“Really? You worry? Never,” I joked. He gave me a small shove and chuckled.

We sat outside in silence for a while just gazing at the reflection of the stars in the lake. I’d been in Cole Harbour for a month at this point and I almost didn’t want to ever leave. When I thought about what the perfect life would be I imagined it would be this, sitting on a dock in a beautiful place with the person you loved. A while later I yawned and Sidney smiled over at me.

“Let’s get to bed,” he suggested. I nodded and he helped me up, holding my hand the entire way to the bedroom.

The peacefulness of the night before was shattered when I woke up at dawn and had to rush into the bathroom to get sick. Sidney followed me in and sat with me, rubbing my back until I was done. I stayed there on the floor for a while with my head in Sid’s lap until I felt the nausea disappear.

“This is why I want you to stay with my parents,” he said as he helped me up and back to bed. I glared over at him.

“It’s way too early and I’m feeling way too shitty for you to be saying things you know will piss me off right now,” I growled at him. I watched him shake his head and sigh.

“I’m going for a run,” he told me. I rolled my eyes and pulled the blankets up over my head while turning my back on him. I was cranky and it was probably best for him to let me cool down.

While he was out for his run I thought of 1,000 things I could say to him when he got back about being insensitive to my feelings, implying that I couldn’t take care of myself for even one night, and doing it all at 6 am. Eventually I calmed down enough that I knew I wouldn’t mention a single one of them to him when he got back. He just cared about me, and I knew it.

“I’m sorry,” I heard him say when he walked back into the bedroom a little later. I popped my head out from under the blankets and gave him a small smile.

“Me too.” He walked over and gave me a long kiss before getting into the shower.

“Are you ready?” he asked a couple hours later.

“No,” I replied as I got up from my spot on the couch and turned off the TV.

He gave me one of his looks. It was the one that told me he was acting annoyed but really wasn’t. I stuck my tongue out at him as he picked up my bag. We drove to his parents’ house and he carried my bag inside as his family greeted me.

“Thanks for taking me in,” I said to them. Trina dismissed what I’d said with a wave of her hand.

“It’s not a problem at all,” she replied.

“Okay, I have to go,” Sidney told me. I turned and looked at him sadly.

“Call me when you land and tell Mario, Nathalie, and the kids I say hi.” He pulled me into a hug.

“I will and I’ll tell them.” He pulled away and saw my pouty face. “It’s one night. I’ll be back for dinner tomorrow.”

“Doesn’t mean I won’t miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” He kissed me before following his father to the car. I waved as the car drove off.

“Hey, at least after tomorrow, you two can say you’re homeowners,” Trina told me when I walked inside. I smiled. That was why Sidney was flying into Pittsburgh. He had to sign a few papers and the house was officially ours.

“Yes, we can.”

I spent most of the day lying on the couch watching TV with Trina and Taylor. Sidney called when he landed just like he’d promised. I ate about two bites of the dinner Trina had made and was really upset about it. Everything Trina made was delicious. I went to bed early that night, waking up only to talk to Sidney for a few minutes before he fell asleep himself. I woke up the next morning to the smell of hazelnut coffee and waffles.

“This smells amazing,” I said to Trina when I walked into the kitchen. She looked over at me and smiled while pouring me a mug.

I sat down across from Troy at the table and grabbed a waffle, topping it with the sliced strawberries sitting out. Taylor came in a few minutes later and sat down next to me. Trina joined us and we all chatted a bit while eating breakfast. Troy left for work not long after and the three of us that were left retired to the living room.

Later in the morning I developed the mother of all headaches and headed to Sidney’s old room where I was staying to lie down. About 20 minutes later I heard a knock on the door and looked up to see Taylor standing in the doorway.

“Can I get you anything?” she asked.

“Oh, no thanks, Taylor. I just needed to lie down. Thank you though.” She smiled and turned to walk away. She began to pull the door shut behind her, but paused in the process. It looked like she wanted to say something else, but wasn’t sure how.

“Did you want to come in and hang out for a bit?” I asked her. It had dawned on me that while I’d spent a lot of time with Sidney’s family, Taylor and I had never hung out just the two of us.

“I don’t want to bother you,” she declined with a shake of her head.

“You wouldn’t be. I could definitely use some company,” I assured her. She smiled and stepped in, sitting down at the end of the bed, tucking her legs under her.

“What’s it like?” she asked. I wasn’t sure what she was getting at.

“What’s what like?” I questioned.

“Cancer.” I sighed and thought for a moment.

“Well, it’s not fun, that’s for sure. I guess the best way I can explain it is just to say that I’m always tired, I’m almost always in some kind of pain, I’m usually feeling sick, having to go back and forth to the hospital for appointments and treatment is completely obnoxious, and there's nothing I can do about any of it.”

“I’m really sorry that you have to go through that.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m over the whole ‘poor me’ part. Just another two months of chemo to go and they’ll hopefully tell me I’m healthy and will live a long time. Then I can chalk it up to another life experience to grow from.” We were quiet for a while but based on the way Taylor was fidgeting I could tell there was something else.

“Sidney’s different with you,” she finally blurted out. My eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“How so?” She thought for a few moments.

“He’s happy and sad at the same time. I can’t remember a time when he was as happy as he has been since he met you. Even so, I can see how sad he is when he looks at you. He’s worried about you. I can see that he’s scared to lose you.”

“Well,we’ve been through a lot since we met. I love him and I don’t know what I’d do without him. One thing is for sure. I don’t plan on going anywhere,” I told her. She smiled over at me.

“My family watched the interview you did with him. My mom was crying at the end and my dad had a smile on his face. It’s funny because mom always worried he’d never find the right person as long as he was playing because of all the girls that would want him just for the status and money while my dad always thought a girl would distract him. I just wanted him to be happy. Somehow you’ve managed to make the whole family happy. That just doesn’t happen with us,” she said with a giggle.

“Thank you, Taylor, for saying that. It really means a lot. And for the record, I really like all of you too.”

“Well, I have to go. I have a skate soon. You and Sidney are staying for dinner when he gets back, right?” she asked as she got up from the bed.

“I think that’s the plan,” I replied.

“Good. I’ll see you later.” She gave me a hug before walking to the door. She turned once again before pulling the door shut behind her. “I can’t wait for the day I can call you my sister.”

She closed the door before I had a chance to respond. While I was completely touched by our conversation, her last words had me stunned. Was she just saying that she hoped Sidney and I stayed together, or had he said something? He couldn’t possibly be thinking about proposing, could he? I couldn’t say yes if he did, could I? Was I ready? The phone rang, interrupting my thoughts, and I saw it was Sidney.

“We own a house,” he said through the receiver. I smiled and tried to push what Taylor had said out of my mind.

“Did it look as amazing as it did last time we saw it?” I asked. He laughed.

“Better now that it’s ours,” he answered.

“I can’t wait to move in!” I exclaimed. He laughed at me again.

We talked for a few more minutes while he headed to the airport. The flight was on time and he got back to his parents’ just in time for dinner. We didn’t stay long after dinner was over, instead heading back to his place and curling up in bed.

“Taylor said something to me today,” I started.

“Oh yeah? What was it?” I panicked at the last second and couldn’t bring up her comment.

“Just that she could see how much you loved me and that your whole family did too.” He turned and smiled at me.

“It would be impossible for anyone that met you not to love you,” he replied and kissed me. I smiled and buried my head into his neck. I tried to forget about what Taylor had said. I didn’t want anything to ruin this moment.