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“I’ve never seen two people more in love with each other. Your mom was devastated when he died. I know people were thinking that she would never recover. It hurt when she took off with you, but I don’t think she knew what else to do. Everything here was tainted with memories of your father.”
She keeps asking questions about Dave as we put on some music and cook dinner. As we eat I tell her more about the days we spent together in high school and some of the wild things her father got up to.
By the time the sun is setting, our dinner is long gone and her favorite song is playing.
I get up from my chair and hold out my hand. “Dance with me?”
Her cheeks tinge a light shade of pink as she smiles, her hand in mine. When she stands, I spin her before pulling her into my embrace as the stars start to wink overhead.
“You know,” she says softly as she leans her head on my shoulder, “there are times when this all feels like a dream. Sometimes I think that tomorrow I’m going to wake up and it will all be over.”
“Is that one of the things that my mom told you?”
She shrugs and loops her arms around my neck as we sway to the music. “It might be. I was feeling that way before she ever said it to me though. None of this seems real.”
I take her hand and put it on my chest, just above my heart. Her fingers curl slightly as she looks up at me.
“If this wasn’t real, you couldn’t feel the fact that my heart only beats for you.”
She smiles and the world around me slows down. One song blends into the next as we dance beneath the stars, entirely lost in each other.
21
KENDALL
Momsmilesassheleans back, bracing herself on her forearms and tilting her face to the sun. Her eyes close and she looks more at peace than I’ve ever seen her.
It’s almost as if being back in her hometown has been good for her.
We’ve seen each other a bit in the last week since she’s been here, and each time it’s less awkward than the last.
It’s odd how much can change with just a little time.
“I’m going to miss you when you go back home,” I say, looking over at her from where I sit on the other side of our picnic blanket. “It’s been nice getting caught up with each other.”
“We’re never going to go that long without seeing each other again,” Mom says, opening her eyes and glancing at me.
“No. I don’t know when I’m going to be able to come back and visit. With what I made from working and my severance package, I can afford to live through the next year of law school, and the baby is going to be here. But I’m going to have to spend the summer preparing for all that.”
Mom shrugs. “I can come back. And you know that you’re always welcome to come for a visit.”
I bite my bottom lip and look at the children running around the park with their parents chasing after them. There’s a group of older kids playing soccer. I watch as a mother pushes her daughter on the swing.
“What do you think about coming back around the baby’s due date? I could really use someone around who’s been through it.”
Mom’s eyes get misty as she nods. “I would love to be there.”
“I don’t know if Evan’s mom will be around much yet or not.” I haven’t seen her since the debacle in the kitchen and I hope that I won’t see her again for awhile.
Every single time his mother is around me, she makes me feel tiny. Like I’m a bug that she could crush with one step.
Mom makes a face. “That woman is horrible. She might have changed since we were younger but whenever I hung out with your dad and Evan at Evan’s house, she had a way of making me feel like shit.”
“She did?” I ask, glad to know that I’m not alone.
“I was the girl from the wrong side of the tracks hanging around Dave and her precious Evan. She thought that I was nothing but trouble.”
“You never told me that Dad came from money.” I knew things were tight when I was younger, but I also never wanted for anything either.
