I took her hand and she stiffened. I ignored her reaction. For all she knew, I was married. And throughout our friendship, we had never been the touchy-feely type. But I wanted nothing more than to touch more than just her hand.
I found a little alcove off the main hallway and pulled Sienna inside with me. I positioned myself in front of the entrance. I wasn’t forcing myself on her, but I needed her to listen and not run like she always did.
“I couldn’t marry Rachel,” I said, getting it all out on the table.
“What?” she asked, shaking her head.
I barked out a hysterical laugh. “You were right.” It felt good to see the smile on Sienna’s face again. I knew I had a lot of work to do to get her back to the place she was in when she confessed her love for me, but this was a good start.
She crossed her arms. “You need to explain a lot more than that.”
“I should have believed you when you told me about that guy on her vacation. Like a dumbass, I waited until our wedding day to ask her. Your voice was in the back of my mind for two days. And when I finally did, she never gave me a straight answer.”
“Parker,” she said. “It wasn’t my intention to hurt you.”
“I know. And
that’s the thing. I’m not hurt. At all, really. I feel a little foolish, but I actually feel free without her.”
“Good for you,” she said with a tight-lipped smile.
I really wasn’t explaining myself well enough. “I only feel this way because of you, Sienna. I spent so many years thinking that me and you could never be together. Whether it was because I didn’t want to risk our friendship or I was afraid of taking that leap of faith. But in the back of my mind, it was always you that I imagined spending the rest of my life with. And you brought that part of me out when you told me how you felt. With your honesty, I could express my own. And when Rachel started walking down the aisle toward me, all I saw was you in that white dress, and I was complete. I’m so sorry for waiting this long to tell you. Let me try and make this up to you. I want to take you to dinner tonight, on a proper date, and spend the rest of tonight and the rest of my life making up for the mistakes I’ve made.”
Her sparkling eyes danced across my face. “Okay.”
I took her hand and brought it up to my lips. I brushed her knuckles over my mouth. There was a lightness in my limbs that I hadn’t felt before. I held onto her hand and we went back into the hallway.
She didn’t say much as we reentered the small room where Kenneth’s service had taken place.
Sienna didn’t let go of my hand the entire time we said goodbye to Harriet and Tony. Harriet beamed at us with bleary eyes. “Thank you so much for being here for Kenneth.”
I caught Tony giving Sienna a look after seeing our entwined hands, but he said nothing about it in front of Harriet. At that moment, it was about Kenneth, not our fledgling relationship.
“We’ll see you this week at the diner?” Sienna asked Harriet.
“Yes,” Harriet said.
Sienna kissed the older woman’s cheek, and she, Tony, and I left the room. Harriet was on her way to the cemetery next, and I had a date to get ready for.
“So, I’m assuming you two worked out your problems?” Tony asked, indicating our hands when we exited the building.
Sienna looked up at me. “We’re working them out.”
I nodded. I wasn’t a fool. I knew she wouldn’t forgive me that easily. I had to work for it. And I intended to.
I picked Sienna up for our dinner later that night. I wore slacks and a nice jacket, indicating my seriousness about the date. And even though I’d known Sienna forever, I found my palms were sweating when I arrived at her home.
I went up to her front walk, but before I could open the door, it opened for me.
I stepped back and took in my date.
Sienna wore tight black leather pants with a long, flowing white shirt. The white shirt made her tanned skin look richer. Her hair was down in soft waves. I had the urge to push her back inside the house and do very naughty things with her. I imagined grabbing her soft hair and making her mine.
When she spoke, I snapped out of my own head. “Where are we headed?”
I smiled and offered her my arm. “That’s a surprise.”
When we arrived at Valencia’s, Sienna’s face broke out into a smile. “I’ve been dying to eat here again.”