“What if you wanted to be a doctor or an engineer? Or an artist?” She smiled slyly.
I chuckled. “I don’t think my dad would have gone for that.” I stretched one leg out over the pier boards. “I never asked. I never thought about doing something else.”
“I guess that’s like ballet and me. I started dancing when I was three and it was in my soul.” She squeezed my hand. “I can’t imagine being anything else either.”
“Do you like Texas now that you’ve been here?” I wondered if she felt the same homesickness her mother did.
“It’s not Paris, that’s for sure.” She giggled. “And when we moved, I was a senior in high school. There’s no worse time to have to change schools. Everyone already knew each other and they were applying for colleges. I didn’t even know what the SAT was. It was a miserable year. I missed my friends. I missed Madame Collette. I missed my studio. I missed my dad, even though he was a complete asshole.” She stopped to drink her coffee.
“What was so different when you moved?”
“I don’t know if it was all the big trucks. Or the hats. Or maybe it was how everyone said hey and y’all. It took a long time to adjust. Everyone was welcoming, much warmer than my friends in France, but it didn’t mean I understood it right away. Texans are unique. And my mom always seemed French to me. I never saw her in her home element until we moved to take care of my grandmother. Now I know she’s really a southerner at heart. She either changed a lot for my dad or changed when we moved back. I don’t know. But there’s a huge difference between living in Paris and Dallas.”
“I can see that. But I’ve never been to Paris. Hard to compare.”
“You should go.” Her eyes lit up.
“Maybe some day.” I wondered what it would be like to walk through the streets with Natalia. She could show me where she lived and went to school. Maybe I’d pick up some of that dirty French she always whispered in my ear. I shook my head. I was getting ahead of myself.
“All right, so you moved, and what changed things for you? Why haven’t you moved back?” For all I knew that could be her plan. Maybe she was saving up to get back to France.
“My mom made sure I went to the School of the Arts and once I was there for college, I found my place. I made friends. It made Texas feel like home. Plus, she lives in Dallas, and I don’t want to leave her here with no family. It wouldn’t seem right after everything she’s done for me.”
I didn’t think about my parents like that. I never felt as if I owed them a damn thing. I loved them—that wasn’t it. But my success was their success. I carried on the legacy of my dad’s name every time I hit the field. I didn’t owe him for that. Sometimes I thought it was the other way around.
“What do you say we take a walk around the lake before we drive out of here?” I suggested.
“Sounds good.” She stood and folded the blanket. It was starting to warm up now that the sun was off the horizon. “I’ll get this when we come back.”
We left our coffee cups with the blanket.
I felt her hand slide into mine as we started on the small boardwalk that lined the property. It only wrapped part way around the lake before it turned into a state park area that was all natural.
The sun glistened on Natalia’s hair. I pulled my phone from my back pocket.
“I have to get a picture of this.” I held the camera toward her and she smiled. The lake was bright blue behind her. “You look sexy as hell right now.”
I looked at the picture I had taken. She’d never looked more gorgeous than she did like this.
“What about one of us together?” she suggested. “We’ve never taken one. Is it okay, you think?
“Of course.” I didn’t have any pictures of us together. I held my phone out and took a few snaps. She kissed me on the cheek in one and we were laughing in another.
She pointed at my phone. “Guard those with your life,” she instructed.
“Worried I’m going to post them somewhere?” I teased.
“No. I trust you. But really, don’t email them to your parents.” Her arched eyebrows rose in perfect symmetry.
“Yeah, I’m not bringing them into this yet. My mom would want to take you shopping and show you my baby book along with every damn football trophy I have. Besides, they’re in east Texas at a very safe distance.”
“I like shopping and I like baby books.” She laughed.
“Come on.” I tugged on her hand. “We have to get going.”
Her lips pinched together in a pouty frown. “We do?”
“I’m afraid so, baby.” I pulled her to my chest. I felt her curves align against my body. I leaned to brush my lips against her mouth.