“Well,” she murmured to herself. “Might as well strike while the motivation’s hot.”
She pulled out her phone and scrolled to her doctor’s office number. Peanut would surely approve of this kind of productive multitasking.
After a couple of rings, the receptionist picked up. “Greenway Internal Medicine, this is Karen. How can I help you today?”
“Hi, Karen. This is Cece Davenport. I was hoping to schedule a physical, whenever you have availability.”
“Do you have any health concerns or is it just a yearly?”
“Just a yearly.”
Karen clicked her keyboard rapidly. Cece could almost visualize the screen being scanned. “Let me check…our next opening is…hmm…we actually just had a cancellation.”
Cece perked up. “Oh?”
“Yes. Tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. I know it’s short notice, but if you can make the appointment, it’s yours.”
Eight a.m. wasn’t Cece’s most favorite hour, but this felt like the universe nudging her forward. A sign she was doing the right thing. If she wanted to stay on track with this fitness thing, this seemed like a good step to take.
“I’ll take it,” she said immediately.
“Great. We’ll see you then. Please arrive ten minutes early to update paperwork.”
“Will do.” Cece thanked her and hung up, leaning back in her chair with a little satisfied hum.
She hadn’t expected to get an appointment so quickly, but this was good. It felt like a commitment to these lifestyle changes. And she was a few months overdue, anyway.
She looked down at her legs stretched out in front of her, at the shorts that had been hiding in her drawer for far too long.
“This is good,” she whispered under her breath. “Gotta keep this momentum going.”
She was actually looking forward to hitting Walmart next, just to see what she might fit into. Funny how something like that could change a person’s whole mood. Maybe she’d find something cute to wear to book club.
She pulled out her ereader and disappeared into her book.
It felt like she’d only been reading for a few minutes when one of the mechanics poked his head into the waiting area. “Ms. Davenport? Your car’s ready.”
Cece stood, smoothing her top and feeling lighter than when she’d arrived. She wondered if Joe would notice the next time he saw her.
After leaving the oil change place, Cece found herself driving straight toward Walmart. It felt right. Easy. Practical. And, frankly, she wasn’t ready to spend good money on clothes she hoped would be too big for her soon.
The sliding glass doors whooshed open as she stepped inside, instantly greeted by the who-knows-what scent that might havebeen from the store’s air freshener aisle. Cece grabbed a cart, though she wasn’t sure she’d need one, and made a beeline for the women’s section.
“Just one or two things,” she told herself as she passed a rack of bright summer tops. Those were cute, but did she really need more tops? No really, but these were just T-shirts. One in a good color wouldn’t hurt. She picked a hot pink. “Temporary reinforcements. That’s it.”
Then she saw the shorts.
Not the tiny ones the high school girls wore, bless them and the elasticity of youth, but a pair of tailored khaki shorts that looked like they would hit mid-thigh in a classy, coastal sort of way.
She took them off the rack and held them up. “Cute,” she whispered. “These could be very book-clubby. Possibly date-worthy.”
Next, she spotted a lightweight blouse in a soft sea-glass green that made her forget she didn’t need more tops. It had flutter sleeves, which she thought were subtly flirty and helped hide the flabbiness there that she was working on. Plus, it had a delicate neckline she could dress up with jewelry. She tossed it into the cart.
A few racks later, she found a white eyelet cotton top she immediately imagined pairing with dark jeans and wedge sandals that she did not yet own but could look on Amazon for. Maybe for her next night out with Joe. No plunging neckline, nothing too trendy or crazy. Just simple, pretty, and flattering.
Cece paused, noticing how easily she’d reached for the smaller sizes this time. She double-checked the tags, half expecting a mistake. But no, she was picking clothes for the body she was becoming, not the one she’d felt stuck with for years.
That might be overly ambitious. She went back and got the larger size in each one, just as a backup.
