“I’m leaving, Dad. You got more out of me than I think most would have done. I’m sorry you fell down the stairs and broke your leg, but you’re going to heal. You’ve got a neighbor that seems nice enough and I’m sure he’d be more than willing to come to check in on you. I remember years ago you had a ton of friends that you’d rather spend more time with than your wife and daughter, so I’m betting they’d be there for you too. You’re not alone. And even if you were, I’m not the one to care for you.”
She turned and left and cried all the way back home.
She was going to go to work and realized she couldn’t. It was close to when she’d be leaving and she was an emotional wreck on top of it.
She had to pull herself together before she reached out to Ivan later. She knew her mother would want to talk too.
But when she pulled into her driveway, Ivan’s car was there. She shouldn’t have been surprised.
When Kendra opened her car door to get out, he had the front door open and her mother was standing there too. There was no hiding the tears and she didn’t try.
Ivan pulled her into his arms and held her and she let everything that had been locked up inside of her for years loose on her boyfriend’s shoulders.
She wasn’t sure there’d ever been a time in her life she cried on a man’s shoulders and wasn’t sure how she felt about it now.
35
Needed Her Space
The next morning, Kendra went into work bright and early.
Ivan had ordered food and picked it up and she ate with him and her mother last night. She didn’t tell them everything that had happened and wasn’t going to.
First, her mother didn’t have to hear it.
Second, she didn’t want Ivan to think poorly of her and what she’d said to her father.
The dinner was tense and quiet and Ivan tried to talk to her, but she wasn’t in the mood.
She thought before she had a crazy amount of drama in her life and this just added to it.
Her father bought up how she still lived with her mother and cared for her. Then she got thinking…what if her mother broke her leg? This accident could have happened more easily to Karen and then she would need to care for her mother more.
Though she had to admit her mother would find a way to get around the house and do things.
Her mother didn’t like to be dependent on anyone, yet there wasn’t much of a choice at times.
She was so confused, but she needed her space and told Ivan that.
He wasn’t happy, she knew, but she didn’t have the mental energy to deal with anyone.
The last person she expected to see in her office this morning was Jolene Fierce. Though honestly, that woman seemed to be everywhere and she shouldn’t have been surprised.
“Morning, Kendra,” Jolene said with a smile on her face and a “kiss me I’m Irish” T-shirt on. She couldn’t help but grin back.
“Good morning, Jolene.”
Jolene shut her office door. “How are you feeling this morning?”
There was no way Ivan would have told his aunt what was going on. She was positive Ivan wouldn’t have even told his mother this soon.
So that meant Jolene found out from Cade.
“Did Cade tell you?”
“Does it matter?” Jolene asked.
“Actually, it does,” she said.
