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Scrubbing her body, she thought that Ted was right. Tomorrow she’d be sore, but she’d read that when you started exercising it took time to adjust.
She wanted this. Wanted to be strong in her body and her mind.
Drying, she dressed and hurried out to join her aunts.
“Morning, darling, I made your tea.”
“Thanks, Aunt Marla.”
Her aunts were sisters, both taller than her, and elegant. In their sixties, they always wore makeup and dressed immaculately. They were active in the community and had a social life many would envy.
The kitchen was painted in bright, sunny yellow, with plenty of herbs on the window ledge. Tea cups with large daisies hung on a rack, with rows of tea canisters beneath.
The house wasn’t big, and most of it crammed with her aunts’ knickknacks, but it was home, the first real one she’d had, and she loved it.
“You left the house early, Mandy.”
“I’ve decided to start exercising.” She wasn’t sure why she didn’t want her aunts to know where she’d been, but for now she decided to keep it a secret.
“Excellent, dear,” Aunt Sarah said.
The Robbins sisters had arrived to collect Mandy when her father had been murdered. She’d been nine years old, and never met them until that day.
They’d arrived in Detroit, walked into the facility she was in, and hugged her. From that day onward, she’d never left them. Mandy thought of them as her guardian angels.
“You’ll feel better for it, and perhaps you can come out with the Ryker Roadies soon?”
“Perhaps.” Mandy had no intention of going out with her aunts’ exercise group. They were ruthless.
They sat in the small bay window at the round table, as they had many times before. Homework, assignments, and knitting lessons. They’d shared so many meals and laughs at this table.
Her aunts understood her; others didn’t, and until lately Mandy was happy with that. Lately she’d felt the need for more. Until yesterday, she’d been unsure how to reach out and take it.
“You should bake your cinnamon and apple scones today, Mandy.”
“Yes, dear, they are a favorite.”
Aunt Sarah wore pink, and Aunt Marla, a blue sundress. Both had on wedged heels.
Aunt Sarah had married young and lost her husband in an accident; she had never fallen in love again. Aunt Marla had divorced her husband in her twenties after she’d found him cheating. They’d moved in together and decided to enjoy life; to their credit, both did exactly that.
“I told Mrs. Howard she was paying for the scones she asked me to make for the women’s league meeting this time.”
Her aunts clapped loudly.
“We’ve been telling you not to let her bully you for years, and now maybe she’ll understand.”
“Yes, well, we don’t want a repeat of last time you confronted her on my behalf, do we.”
“She didn’t speak to us for a month,” Aunt Marla crowed. “Was the most peaceful four weeks of our lives.”
“I need to stand up for myself now.”
“But we’re here if you need us,” Aunt Sarah said.
“You both know I love you. Know that without you in my life I would have been lost.”
Mandy knew by the surprise on their faces that she’d not said the words enough.
