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“I’ve never stayed longer than a year in one place.”
“And I think I filed that away, knowing how bad of an idea it would be to actually fall for you, but it’s happened anyway.”
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere,” Natalie said, gulping hard, holding back her own tears. “And if you want to keep this low key, until you see where you land with your music, I’m okay with that. We’ll figure it out.”
As Natalie waited for Sienna to say something, the only thought that was running through her head was, ‘How long have I been in love with her?’
Sienna shook her head. “I’m not hiding this from anyone,” she murmured as she encircled her arms around Natalie’s waist, leaning in to kiss her, neither of them holding anything back, and Natalie melted into her, into the warmth of Sienna’s body and the intensity of her kiss.
EPILOGUE
Sienna leaned against the deck railing, her hoody keeping her warm as she surveyed her parents’ backyard and the long shadows stretching out from the trees, the sun casting a golden-orange hue across the lawn as dusk quickly approached.
She turned when she heard soft footsteps on wooden planks. Natalie had gone back inside to get her jacket, and the scent of the cookies that Sienna had put in the oven a few minutes ago drifted outside.
“I’m so full,” Natalie said as she joined her, her hair falling across her eye as she gazed out at the two deer that had appeared at the edge of the woods. “But I need to try these famous cookies. Why am I only hearing about them now?”
“Because I only make them when I’m here?” Sienna said without really knowing why that was the case. “I don’t know. I don’t bake in my apartment, and I like to help my mom out with the cooking, so it’s just something small when she’s always taking care of the turkey and everything else.”
“That dinner was amazing,” Natalie said with a contented sigh.
“And what did you tell me about coming here for Thanksgiving? That time you wanted to stop this before it even started?” Sienna teased.
“I said…” Natalie propped her elbow up on the flat wooden railing. “That since your mother threw out my CDs and called me a home wrecker that I didn’t think I’d be welcome here for Thanksgiving dinner.”
“And?”
“And it turns out I was completely wrong,” Natalie said with a smile as she turned to meet Sienna’s eyes. “Your mother even apologized.”
“Really?”
“Hm.” Natalie nodded.
“And my dad has no idea who you are, so I don’t know if that’s a great or disappointing,” Sienna said with a laugh.
“It’s great. As is he.” Natalie’s eyes held her own. “You’re lucky, Sienna.”
She nodded, knowing how true it was. She never could have anticipated how well things had gone with her parents after she’d come out. And then even after that, she’d been nervous about introducing Natalie to them today, but it had gone really well.
“Do you think your dad would have accepted you?” Sienna asked softly.
“I’d like to think so, but…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. My mother didn’t. Doesn’t.”
Sienna’s phone chimed in her pocket. “That’s the cookies.”
Natalie followed her inside, and Sienna wrapped her arm around her shoulder. “You’ve got this family now,” Sienna said as they entered the kitchen, the sweet aroma of melted chocolate filling the room, and through the oven door the golden-browned dough looked delicious. “No more Thanksgivings alone.”
Pauline nodded as she refilled her glass of wine. “Yes. Absolutely. You’re stuck with us Natalie.”
Sienna glanced over her shoulder as she pulled the tray out of the oven, Natalie and her mother still not entirely believing that this was her life. How did she have a girlfriend like Natalie?
Sienna hadn’t said those three words out loud yet, but they’d been on the tip of her tongue so many times since they got back from Nashville. Those two nights away with Natalie had been a turning point for them. It wasn’t until Sienna saw Amelia with Natalie that she realized how hard she’d fallen.
Once the cookies were out of the oven, the heavenly scent brought her father in from the living room.
“They’re hot,” Sienna warned. “They just came out.”
“They look good,” her father said, hands on the counter top, trying to be patient.
