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She smiles politely and follows me inside.
It’s all very un-Kayla.
I wave my arm over the snack spread. “Cheese and crackers, fruit, and raw vegetables if we’re feeling responsible. But between you and me, there are caramel ice cream cones in the freezer for when we start feeling irresponsible later.”
She folds her hand on the countertop. “Sounds good.”
I nod. She nods. The tension between us is like one of those inflatable men in front of a car dealership. It’s flapping around, begging for someone to point it out, but neither of us want to.
“We could go swimming,” I suggest.
“I didn’t bring my suit.”
“I have one you can borrow if?—”
“And I might have to cut out early.”
“Oh.” I sound as disappointed as I feel.
This is the first time I’ve had to spend with Kayla in weeks. Aside from a few text exchanges and one brief phone call, we haven’t had any time to catch up. I expected us to hug and jump and cry in the driveway, gorge ourselves on ice cream, and talk nonstop for hours.
I guess not.
“Where’s Yakov?” Kayla asks, looking around like he might be lurking under the dining room table. “His text was pretty vague. I thought he might be around.”
“He’s around. Just not around around.”
She frowns.
“He’s working,” I clarify. “In his office. I think he wanted to give us time alone together.”
“Oh.”
More tension. More inflatable men flapping between us.
I sigh. “Actually, I think I scared Yakov off by telling him he should talk to his mother about his brother, who is still in the ICU and might not make it. I stepped into his family business and made things weird. Almost as weird as things are between us.”
Kayla sags against the counter. “That’s rough. Because things are really weird between us, Loon. What in the hell is happening here?”
Just like that, the tension disappears.
Tears well in my eyes. Kayla’s lower lip trembles. And then we crash together in a hug so tight I have to beg Kayla to let me go so I can breathe.
“I’ve missed you.” She squeezes me, swaying us both from right to left. “I’ve barely heard from you and it has been so scary. There was stuff in the news about Yakov’s brother, but nothing about you. I didn’t know where you were and you weren’t answering your phone and?—”
“I should have called you more. Everything was so crazy that I lost track of time. But that’s no excuse.”
She pulls back to look at me. “It’s kind of an excuse. I mean, you were in the hospital. What even happened with that? Was it about the baby or…?”
I wince. “You’re gonna want to grab a snack. We have a lot to cover.”
As quickly and efficiently as I can with Kayla interrupting me every other word to gasp and curse, I tell her what happened with Akim.
“It was scary, but I was only there for one night. Yakov got me out of there as soon as he could.”
Kayla drops the carrot stick she’s been nibbling on and grabs my hand. “You were fucking kidnapped, Loon. That’s insane. That one night had a lifetime’s worth of trauma. Goodbye to assuming the best in people. Hello to decades of therapy.”
I chew on my lower lip. “It’s not that bad. I’m okay.”
