Tower Bridge
After dinner, they walked in the misty night, following a concrete pathway up the levee. It merged onto a ribbon of asphalt running on top of packed earth berms that contained the Sacramento River.
“Oh, it feels great out here!” Katie opened her sweater to the bracing coolness. The fog hid the pleasure boats along the river. Snippets of conversation and laughter floated through the air. A loud horn broke the background noise and drew their attention to the Tower Bridge lights. A large ship waited to continue its voyage along the Sacramento River, and the bridge had to open for it.
The ship’s horn asked again
The bridge responded with warning sirens; flashing yellow lights whirled at both ends of the bridge to tell the cars to stop. Traffic gates came down, and the bridge began its ascent, rising foot-by-foot, parallel with the river until the whole roadway was hanging at the top of the two towers.
The waves from the big ship sloshed against the shoreline. Katie loved the sound. “It reminds me of the ocean. Do tides come up probably this far?”
“What, from the San Francisco Bay?” Rory said. “I don’t know.
Katie snuggled closer to him. Tom and Paula started off in the direction of his car.
“See you guys later,” Rory said. He wrapped his arm around Katie’s shoulder, and they ambled back to his Toyota.
When Rory pulled up to Katie’s house, he got out and walked around the to open her door. On her front patio, Katie reached for his hands.
“Thank you for a beautiful evening, Rory. I had a perfect time.”
She kissed him on the cheek, disappeared inside, and wondered if he’d heard the surprise in her voice.
***
***
***
Audiobook coming soon
***
***
