AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I blinked twice as I processed what he said. “Oh, I… Uh, I didn’t plan on…”
Every coherent thought disappeared from my brain. It wasn’t like I hadn’t turned guys down before. But how could I do it to my mom’s best friend’s son?
Kenny’s cheeks flared red. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. You don’t have to. I just thought… She just said…”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. My mom and your mom seem to be conspiring. But the truth is, I’m just in town for a little while. And as much as my mom would love for me to stick around, it’s really not something I plan on doing.”
He nodded quickly. “Sure. That makes sense. I’ll just work on these steps and get out of your hair. Preferably forget this ever happened.”
My heart went out to him. Despite his awkward demeanor, I knew Kenny was a nice man. I appreciated that he hadn’t pushed the date issue. “How can I help? Do you need a step stool?”
He reached up and easily grabbed the pull cord from the hatch. “I think I’m good.” I watched as he caught the weight of the fold-out ladder with a slight grunt. “Hmm. Despite our mothers’ conspiratorial plans, your mom wasn’t joking about this.” He lowered them down to the ground. “I’ll just replace this bracket and it should come down more controlled. I’ve got to run to the hardware store for the part.”
“Thanks, Kenny. Are they safe? Can I go up there while you’re gone?” I might as well grab the Easter tree Mom wanted so desperately. If she hadn’t been exaggerating the issue with the steps, perhaps she wasn’t exaggerating the importance of her holiday tradition.
“Yeah. Perfectly safe.” Kenny grabbed a ruler and snapped a photo of the loose bracket. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
I climbed up the wooden attic steps and looked around at the dusty space. Totes and cardboard boxes labeled “Christmas” were stacked in one corner. An old trunk sat against one wall. I knew what was inside that one–my mom’s wedding dress and other formal dresses from decades past. I remembered my friend and I playing dress-up for hours in those. The satin gloves and enormous puffed sleeves in royal blue made us feel beyond elegant.
A few boxes in the corner with my name on them caught my eye. I didn’t realize any of my things were stashed up here. I took a step in that direction.
“Did you find the tree?” The sound of my mom’s voice at the bottom of the ladder stopped me.
“Not yet. Is it with the Christmas stuff?” I moved toward the Christmas decorations and found a small tote labeled “Easter” as my mom yelled the description of the rubber container.
“Found it!” I yelled.
I carried the tote back to the steps and carefully turned to navigate back down the ladder with the box in one hand. Mom was waiting in the hallway and held her hands out, as though to take the container. As if I were going to have her carry it. She needed to focus on walking without a walker, let alone while carrying something.
“I’ve got it. You just go sit down.” Her face sagged and I regretted my sharp tone. “I’m sorry, Mom. Why don’t you sit at the kitchen table and we can unpack it together and set up the tree?”
She nodded and turned her walker toward the kitchen. “You’re right, sweetie. I’m just tired of not being able to help.”
Poor Mom. She’d been on her own for ten years. It had to be hard to be so independent and then suddenly have to rely on your daughter for everything. I searched my mind for something she could do to help. “Would you turn the kettle on for tea?”
When Kenny returned, he waved and told us not to get up. He went back to the hallway. Mom and I were halfway through the Easter decorations box, laughing at the very disturbing plastic bunny I had apparently made in elementary school.
“Why on earth would you keep this?” It was like a haunted, very traumatized Easter bunny, with patchy fuzz and creepy fake eyes I’d apparently stolen from an old teddy bear.
“You loved this bunny. The entire month of Easter in the first grade, you carried it everywhere. The only way I got you to agree to stop was by promising I would put it in the Easter decoration box.” She laughed. “For a few years, you insisted we get it out, and it watched us from the mantle until it got packed away again. Eventually, one year, you didn’t ask about it, and I just left it in the box.”
I covered my face with my hands. “And every year since then?”
She shrugged. “It makes me smile. Even if it’s ugly as sin and I don’t want it on the mantle.”
I laughed. “Oh my goodness. So we can toss it now, right?” I reached for the bunny in my mom’s hands and she jerked it back to her chest.
“Not Donny!”
I softened. “Aw, I named him Donny?”
Her smile grew sheepish. “Well, not exactly. Your father started calling him that a few years before he died. You know how he liked all those weird movies.”
My eyes widened and my mouth fell open. “Dad named my bunny after Donny Darko?”
A snicker of laughter came from the hallway. I had forgotten Kenny was here.
“Can it, Kenny!” I yelled with a laugh. I looked back at the bunny. It really was hideous.
Honestly, Donny was probably a fitting name.
I shook my head at my mom. “I can’t believe you kept that thing all these years.”
She smiled. “I kept a lot of things. Probably too many. But while you are out in California, it’s nice to have a few pieces of you. They bring back memories.”
I laid my hand on hers. “You know I love you, right?”
“I love you, too, sweetie.” She nodded her head toward the hallway. “Now be a dear and buy Kenny dinner for fixing my ladder.”
Walked right into that one, Daughtry. I closed my eyes so she wouldn’t see me roll them. “Fine. But just as friends. This is not a date,” I added firmly.
