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“Are you going to babysit for us?” Gareth asked.
“You might be able to convince me to.” Kayleigh had done some babysitting in her day. And though it wasn’t something she’d do for just anyone now as an adult, she was willing to help her siblings out.
As others came to congratulate them, Kayleigh went to get a piece of cake, then sat down next to Charli.
“How’s it going, Lottie?”
“Don’t call me that,” Charli said as she took a bite of the half-eaten cream puff on her plate. “If you hadn’t brought me these, I’d have beaten you up.”
“You’d have to catch me first.”
“I think I could get Layla to catch you and hold you down until I got there.”
“And you’ll never get cream puffs again,” Kayleigh warned her.
“You have always have such mean threats.”
“I’ve had to learn in order to survive all you crazies.”
“How is work?” Charli asked.
“Good.” But Kayleigh didn’t want to discuss the resort. “I bet you’re glad that school is almost out.”
Charli nodded and let out a sigh. “Yessss. I’m ready for summer.”
“Are you and Layla doing anything special?”
“I don’t think so. Layla has her heart set on going to day camp with Peyton this year, plus the church has VBS, so we’ll be involved in that. Are you going on vacation?”
“I haven’t planned anything yet.” And she probably wouldn’t since work was her distraction at the moment.
“You can always come help at VBS.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Kayleigh said. “You’re much better with kids than I am.”
“We all have our strengths.”
When Layla came over and distracted Charli, Kayleigh got up and began to clean away the empty dessert plates.
And after she felt like she’d hung out long enough, she made the rounds to say goodnight. Being among the first to leave was the norm for her, so no one tried to stop her.
“Love you, darling,” her mom said. “Sleep well.”
“Love you too.” She gave both parents a hug, then made her way through the house and out the front door to where she’d parked earlier.
She drove home exhausted. Though she loved her family to death, they could be tiring when everyone got together, even when four were missing.
It was a relief to get home and go through her nighttime routine. As she removed her makeup and applied her skincare products, her thoughts were caught up in her siblings’ lives and the discontent she felt with her own life. She hated it, but she wasn’t surprised, given her state of mind.
Also weighing on her was that the next day was the start of yet another week.
Would this be the week when she finally stopped thinking about Hudson every single day?
Please, God, let that be the case.
The next morning, Kayleigh went to the gym at her usual time, though she wasn’t all that interested in working out. She’d stopped going for awhile, given that the gym was yet one more place filled with memories of the time she and Hudson had enjoyed together.
It seemed the only places where they hadn’t forged memories were her home and the church. Even Janessa and Charli’s house and the high school gym held memories of him and the time they’d spent together.
