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“I was thinking of that,” she said. “And I talked to Erika and Phil. They are happy staying there for now. They are still young. They’ve been so good checking on my mom at times for me.”
“Your mom is doing great. Nothing has changed much for her, Kendra.”
“I know. I take her to the store weekly when she needs it. And all her appointments. It doesn’t seem like her life has changed and neither has mine. At least when it comes to caring for her. I suppose I need to cut those apron strings more than her.”
It’d been hard, but the more she stayed at Ivan’s the more she realized she didn’t spend that much time with her mother because she had to, but because she wanted to. Or felt she needed to.
The truth was, her mother was happy having the time to herself or being with her friends.
“Your mother can stay there if you’d like,” he said. “That is for you to work out with her. But I also found out that I can put a small dwelling in the backyard. An in-law suite for lack of a better word. Or we could attach it to the side of the garage if you don’t want it completely separated. I talked to my father; we can get plans drawn up, but he told me what he thought would work if you decide it’s for the best.”
“What?” she asked.
“You heard me,” he said. “I’m okay with it. It’s not like your mother is going to be all that interfering like my aunt or my mother at times.”
She giggled. “No. She actually won’t. I don’t know if she would want to do it, but I suppose we could talk about it. I could sell the house and then we could use that money if you want to. The cost and all.”
“Stop,” he said. “I don’t care about that. Keep the house. It’s an investment. It’d be nuts to get rid of it. But your mother is your world and I want to do what is best for both of you. I’m giving you options. That’s it.”
Kendra hugged him one more time. “Thank you for understanding and being so accepting.”
“I understand because we are just so much alike.”
“We are,” she said. “I suppose we should tell your aunt?”
“We should,” he said.
She picked her phone up and snapped a picture of her ring, then sent it to Jolene. “There. Let her stew on that.”
It wasn’t five seconds later her phone was buzzing and they looked down to see a text from Jolene. Then another and another.
“Are you going to reply to her?” he asked at the same time his phone went off.
“Are you?” she asked.
“Nah. You’re right. She can stew on it, but I’m sure she’s happy.”
“Not as happy as me!”
* * *
“Ivan finally got engaged,”Jolene yelled into the phone once she got Carolyn and Diane on with her.
“You didn’t think that was ever going to happen,” Carolyn said.
“Tell me about it,” she said. “I’ll send you a picture of the ring when we hang up. Boy, he outdid himself. I bet it took him forever to find the right deal.”
“Stop,” Diane said, laughing. “We know you’re picking on him.”
“I am,” she said. “It’s hard not to.”
“So how did he propose?” Diane asked.
She frowned. “I have no idea. I haven’t talked to either of them. It’s been over an hour. I got a picture of the ring and they aren’t replying, but I know they are reading the messages. I tried to call my sister and she’s not answering either. She’s seeing my texts too. I think they are all in on making me wait.”
She heard the laughter from her two sisters-in-law. “Might be payback for you getting on their case over the past few holidays.”
“Well,” she said. “He was dragging his feet forever. I couldn’t figure out what was going on.”
