***
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.