“I love you too, Ivan. Hope it didn’t take me dressing like this for you to say it because I don’t own any other skirts to get it said again.”
He laughed and hugged her tight. “No. I’ve felt it for a while, but this was a nice way to knock it out of me.”
“Then I’m glad I worked up the courage to do it.”
He sighed. “I don’t want you to have to work up the courage to do anything with me. If you want to do or say something, then do it.”
“Just like you’ve felt like you’ve loved me for a while but just said it now?”
She got him there. “Okay, you win. We both need to do it then.”
“That’s right,” she said. “And we can.”
25
Like A Burden
Just when everything in life seemed to be going so well was when Kendra realized it would catch up with you like the bully wanting your lunch money even though you’d been avoiding him for weeks while you ate in a dark corner.
It’d been two weeks since she and Ivan had said they loved each other.
Their relationship was great.
Work was wonderful.
Ella was checking in daily but not doing much more than that.
She felt in control in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time.
Until she opened the door late Sunday morning to return home from spending the weekend at Ivan’s. Something she’d been doing for weeks now.
“Kendra,” her mother said before she could climb the stairs. “Can you come look at something for me?”
“Of course,” she said, turning and going to her mother’s apartment. “What’s wrong?”
“How bad does my finger look? It hurts and I think it’s swollen but can’t tell too much.”
Her heart started to race and she looked down at her mother’s hand. The left pinky was puffy and swollen at the knuckle.
“What happened? Why didn’t you call me?” she said in a frantic voice.
“Relax,” her mother said calmly. “I didn’t call you because it’s a long way from my heart.”
“But you could have some infection or something. Maybe it’s in your blood and it can go to your heart.”
Her mother laughed at her. “Hardly that. I know what I did to it.”
“What?” she asked. She should have been home for her mother.
“I was doing yoga yesterday afternoon. I braced myself on my left hand and went to turn to look up. I must not have had my hand planted well or something and felt a sharp pain. Good thing no one was watching me or they’d see me land on my side.”
“How can you laugh at this?” she asked. “Did you hurt any other part of your body?”
“I’m laughing because it’s embarrassing.”
The laughter slowed her pulse from fear to annoyance enough for her to realize what her mother said. “Yoga? Since when do you do yoga?”
She’d never known her mother to do it. How would she learn? It’s not like she could watch it on TV or that she went to a class that she was aware of.
