by Ali Parker
"Oh Lord, we got a dreamer." One of the older nurses stood up and stretched before giving me a warm grin. "But... I love that about you, kiddo. Don't let go of the thought that it's the small things in life that matter most."
"Thanks." I pulled the clipboard to my chest and turned to walk down the hall. It didn't matter what anyone else thought. Thelma was getting better and if I had any part to play in that, big or small, I was thrilled.
*
After finishing up my shift, I finally got over to the pound and picked up the bird in the nick of time. They'd lined up a buyer for the next day, and my luck couldn't have been better. I dropped him off at my apartment, not knowing where else to put him and I headed out to my mother’s.
Kendal hadn't returned the text I sent right after I got off of work asking him to come to dinner with me. I knew he was busy. I didn't expect him to join us, but damn if I didn't want him to. There was an old run-down hotel just a mile from my mother's place that we could stay at for the night if he was up for it. I just needed to feel him against me something desperate.
I pressed the button with his number on it and held my breath, half expecting him not to pick up. When he did, it took me a few seconds to find my voice.
"Dana?"
"Oh... Yeah. Hey. Sorry." I rolled my eyes and took a quick breath. "I wanted to see if you might be willing to come out to my mom's tonight for dinner. Nothing formal, but she lives in the suburbs near Plano. It's about a forty-minute drive north of the college, but we could eat and hang out. There's a hotel about a mile down the road we could-"
"Yes." The relief in his voice left my heart melting. Good. He wanted me as badly as I wanted him.
"Okay. I'll text you the address."
"You want me to bring anything with me? Dessert? Wine? Flowers for your mom?"
I smiled at the thought of him showing up with flowers for my mom. "Bring anything you want to bring. My father passed away a few years back, so it's just her now. My sister and brother might be joining us, but regardless, I want to see you."
"Me too, baby. It's been a rough start to the week."
"Agreed. Be safe and I'll see you soon." I dropped the call before it got awkward. I wanted to tell him that I loved him, but it seemed like a silly ending to our conversation, though it was true. He was all I could think about when I wasn't knee deep in the hustle and bustle of the hospital.
I needed to make some firm decisions about my schooling. The mini-mester started on Monday, and if I was going to transfer, I needed to do it soon. I'd wrap up my internship and take a round of winter classes to hopefully catch up. The tuition at Baylor was fifty percent more than UT, but I could handle taking out another loan. I'd figure it all out if it meant spending more time with Kendal.
"Shit." I pressed the gas, almost missing the turn to my mother's neighborhood. I backed up and turned the car to the right as someone honked loudly and drove by me a little too closely for comfort. "Jeez. Asshole."
A few minutes later I was sitting out in front of my mother's small two-bedroom house. She'd had a beautiful place back in Houston, but wanted to be up north where there was more opportunity. If it was there, she hadn't found it yet. She was still working two jobs, breaking her back in manual labor. I needed to consider her when I made all of the decisions I had coming up too. My brother was useless and my sister rarely came around anymore since my father died. She was a daddy's girl and for some reason she couldn't bear the thought of being around the rest of us.
She said it hurt too much.
"Well, so did losing you and dad," I grumbled and got out of the car. My brother's beat-up blue truck was up on cinder-blocks near the back of the house, which was never a good sign.
I walked in the side door that opened to the kitchen and smiled as my portly little mother turned from the stove and her face brightened.
"Oh! My baby is home." She motioned for me to come to her. "You look so beautiful, Dana. I love these scrubs. What is this... little hearts?" She pulled me into a tight hug and buried her face against the side of my neck.
I wrapped my arms around her and cradled her against me. I had to find a way to make her life better. She'd given everything she was to our family and had very little to show for it.
"Where's Brandon?" I kissed her on the cheek and released her.
"He's in the back... asleep. You know your brother is useless."
I glanced around at the small house and cringed on the inside. Did Kendal come from money? Were his parents wealthy before they died? Would he accept how laid back and down to earth my mom was? She was going to want to hug him. Fuck.
"What are we making for dinner?"
"Is your guest coming to join us?" My mom wiped her hands on her apron and walked back into her minuscule kitchen.
"Yes. He's bringing wine, I believe."
"He didn't have to do that. I just made a pitcher of sweet tea."
"He's a classy guy, Mom. I don't even know if he drinks sweet tea." I walked around her and squeezed my way into the far end of the kitchen to pour myself a glass of tea. She made the best of everything, and we were in for a treat by the various ingredients laid out on the countertops. "Please tell me you're making chicken fried steak."
"I am." She put her hands on her thick hips and wagged her eyebrows. "I figured if you really like this boy, then we should impress him with your momma’s cooking from the start."
I laughed and moved to sit down at one of the chairs around the dining room table. "Well, I'd offer to help, but-"
"There is not enough room in here, Mija." My mother was half Hispanic, half Caucasian, but you couldn't tell it by looking at her. Long black hair and beautifully tanned skin mixed with her thick accent left people believing she was full-blooded Hispanic. Either way, I loved that I resembled her more than my dad. It made me feel special. Unique.
"What's all the fuss in here?" My brother poked his head around the opening of the kitchen and gave me a big grin.
I laughed and got up to give him a hug. For just living forty miles away, I never really got to visit with any of them anymore. I needed to change that. After losing my dad, we all sort of crawled in our various holes and lived our lives in segregation of one another.
"What have you been up to?" I hugged him and pinched the spare tire around his waist.
"Hey. Get off the goods." He popped my hand and turned toward the back door. "We expecting someone else?"
"Yes. AnaMarie and your sister has a friend coming to join us tonight."
"Oh... like Olivia?" Brandon wagged his eyebrows and walked toward the back door. "It's a guy in a white Lexus. He must be lost."
I laughed and moved around my brother. "That's Kendal. He's my new boyfriend."
"Oh. Moving up in the world are we?" My brother tugged gently at my hair as I moved around him and walked out into the yard to greet Kendal. He was in a pair of slacks and a button down shirt, his black glasses perched on his regal nose and his eyes filled with a torrent of emotion.
I closed the door behind me and offered him a warm smile. "You look like you need a good meal and a long night of loving."
"Do I?" He moved toward me and reached out, pulling me in his arms and not stopping until I was pressed flush against him and his mouth was locked against mine.
I leaned into the kiss, giving myself over to him. Something was off about him, but I didn't care. He was there and he was mine. That was more than enough.
Chapter 20
Kendal
I kissed her a few more times, not really considering how inappropriate it might have been to make out with her in front of her family.
She pulled back and smiled up at me. "I've missed you."
"Me more." I leaned down and stole one more kiss. "I got flowers, dessert and a bottle of wine."
"Well, my mother made sweet tea, so even if you don't drink it, do yourself a favor and have a small glass." I turned and opened the door. "It's like a party in your mouth."
He chuckled so
ftly behind me. "I'm from Dallas, remember? I love sweet tea."
"Good." She moved to my side and took the bag from me as her mother turned around and paused. Something about her was so incredibly familiar. Had we met before?
"Mom... this is Kendal. Kendal, this is my mother." Dana wrapped her arm around the back of my waist and moved me toward the small portly woman. I could see where Dana got her looks from. The woman was stunning though she'd let herself go. Life had a way of doing that when loss showed up at your door. I could almost feel it in the house around me.
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Young." I extended my hand and shook hers.
"Have we met before? You look so familiar to me."
"Maybe. I'm not sure." I gave her a warm smile before turning and shaking Dana's brother's hand. The guy looked like a greaser from the seventies, but he was friendly or so it seemed.
"Here you go." Dana handed me a glass of tea and sat down at the table, her eyes locked on me as a smile played along her lips.
I'd started to tell her mother that I was a professor at UT, so maybe we'd somehow met when she was up there helping Dana register a few years back, but I stopped myself. Dana and I were still sneaking around for the moment, which meant I needed to remain guarded and anonymous as best as I could.
"Do you like chicken fried steak?" Dana reached out and took my hand into hers.
"I love it." I glanced over at her mother. "Ms. Young, do you need any help in the kitchen?"
"No, but thank you." Her tone was soft, but something was off. Dana seemed to notice it to by the way she got up and walked over to pull her mom into a hug from behind. Maybe I reminded her of her husband?
"Can I run to the restroom? Is that okay?" I got up and turned to face the women who would hopefully be a part of my family sooner than later.
"Yeah. It's the second door on the left down the hall." Dana winked at me before turning back to her mom.
I couldn't help but hope that I'd have a few minutes of her to myself before dinner. I needed to unload everything going on with Heather and Mark on someone, and other than Damon, she was the one I was willing to let into the deepest parts of my heart. For her, I'd open up my secrets and let her search around until she felt like she knew me.
"Everything all right?" Her brother glanced up from the couch and gave me a goofy grin.
"Oh yeah. I was just running to the bathroom."
"Second door on the left down the hall, man."
I nodded. "Thanks."
The events of the last few days rolled through my mind as I made my way down the tiny hall and found the bathroom. Dana's family was no better off than mine. I could see quickly why she'd decided on a profession that could help lift her mom out of poverty if done right. I wanted to help make that happen all of a sudden too.
Closing the door behind me, I let out a long sigh and turned on the water. Where did I know Dana's mom from? Why did it seem like whatever it was wasn't necessarily a good thing? Had Brandon been in one of my classes? Did Ms. Young work at the school?
I finished washing my hands and dried them off slowly. Something about figuring that one piece of the puzzle seemed intensely important. Why?
Dana was standing at the edge of the living room with her hands on her hips, yelling at someone in the kitchen when I walked out. I paused, not really sure if it was a good thing that I was there. Were they usually verbally violent with each other? Dana didn't seem like that kind of girl.
I hung out in the hallway, feeling a little awkward, but waiting for the minute when things calmed down so I could make my way back through the living room. Maybe coming out to see her wasn't a good idea at all. It seemed like her mother had gone from a little tense to upset.
The pictures on the wall were covered in dust, but I stopped by and ran my fingers over each of them, finding Dana in each and forcing myself to enjoy the moment instead of dreading whatever the hell was going down in the kitchen. My family never fought. Never. We rarely spoke unless it was me and Mandy.
Everything seemed to die down, and I took the opportunity to walk back toward the kitchen. The last picture on the wall before I stepped to the living room grabbed me by the throat, forcing me to stop.
I pulled it off the wall and swallowed hard before glancing up to see Dana standing beside me.
"Who is this?" I whispered roughly.
"My sister." She took the picture from me. "My mother is being ridiculous. I don't know where she thinks she knows you from, but whatever it was, she's highly agitated. Let's just grab something in town and get a hotel."
I stood in stony silence, letting my eyes move back up to the picture on the wall. The beautiful girl smiling back at me had stolen my heart in a million ways and left me a broken man.
"What's her name, Dana?" I called after her, but she didn't respond.
The kitchen door opened and I didn't need validation where Dana's mother knew me from or what her sister's name was. Every horrid memory from six years before swept through my vision as the beautiful woman from my past stepped into the kitchen and turned her head toward me. The shock on her face had to echo my own.
"Kendal?" she whispered, tearing me in two with nothing more than a word.
I nodded and walked toward her. I should have known from the beginning. These things never work out well for me. Everyone else deserves love, but not me. "Hello, Ana."
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About the Author
Ali Parker is a full-time contemporary romance writer who is looking to flood the market this year with lots of great, quick reads. She loves coffee, watching a great movie and hanging out with her hubs. By hanging out, she means making out. Hanging out is for those little creepy elves at Christmas. No tight green stockings for her.
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