“Oh, yeah, that’s right.”
It was hard not to laugh at the despairing looks on both Marlene’s and Caitlyn’s faces. Amy had seen the same expression on her own mother’s face more often than she could count, back when her four brothers all lived at home. It must come from having all those competitive males living under the same roof.
“It’s nice meeting you, Caitlyn. I appreciate all the help Jack and Ricky have given me, working on the fence and building my greenhouse.”
“I’d love to hear more about the greenhouse and how you plan to use it.”
While his sister-in-law was still talking, Mikhail tugged Amy another couple of steps toward the door. “I guess we need to be going, but I’d love to talk to you about the greenhouse when we get back.”
Outside, she jerked her hand free from Mikhail’s grasp. “That was a bit rude, don’t you think? We were talking.”
He didn’t look the least bit apologetic. “And you can talk some more when we get back.”
“What’s with the big hurry?”
“I wouldn’t put it past Jack to order the pizza as soon as we pull out of the driveway. If we’re not back in time to get our fair share, we’ll end up living off ice cream and beer.”
She laughed. “I don’t know about the beer part, but you know I could live quite happily on ice cream. In fact, just to be safe, let’s get the makings for banana splits. If we don’t get pizza, we can pig out on those. Considering they’ve got fruit, nuts, and dairy, they pretty much cover the entire food pyramid all by themselves.”
“Not sure my mom will buy that rationalization, but it works for me.”
Amy tugged on her helmet and started her bike. As they headed for home, she found herself smiling. Mikhail’s mom and the others had instantly accepted her as one of them. She suspected that they thought she and Mikhail were more than friendly neighbors, and maybe they weren’t wrong about that. Her feelings for him got more tangled all the time, and she was pretty sure he had the same problem.
Regardless, it felt good to spend time with a big, boisterous family. She missed her own sometimes so much that it hurt, but the reasons for why she’d moved away hadn’t changed. They’d all needed the time and distance to gain a new perspective when it came to her and the health problems that had plagued her for years.
One of these days she’d have to tell Mikhail her story. If their relationship ever evolved into something more than friends with no benefits, he’d see the scars that she’d picked up along the way. She could only hope that they wouldn’t be too much of a turn-off for him.
There was no reason to hurry with that explanation, though. Thanks to modern medicine, she was no longer in imminent danger of dying.
Someday maybe her family might even believe that. Until they did, she would stay right where she was and enjoy being around people who didn’t constantly try to protect her from all of life’s adventures by wrapping her in a thick layer of bubble wrap.
With that happy thought, she caught up with Mikhail just as the stoplight ahead of them changed back to green. Together, they gunned their engines and tore off down the road with matching grins on their faces.
