“You got that right,” her sister admitted. “I like being able to go out to pick up the paper on Christmas morning in a T-shirt, thanks.” She kicked a rock out ahead of her as they moved away from the house and onto the path that would take them up towards the lake. “Dar was telling me the funniest stories of the first time she had to drive in snow and ice. She ended up almost getting stuck in a washout gully.”
Angela laughed. “I can imagine. Heck, I almost did that when I first started driving. And if I recall, you did some pretty horrible things yourself.”
She prodded Kerry’s shoulder. “Remember the time you hit that cow?”
Kerry covered her eyes. “Oh, god, don’t remind me of that. Those pathetic brown eyes. It took half the debating team to get the car out of that field and lift her up.” She sighed and rocked her head from side to side to loosen the muscles of her neck. “I needed a walk, I’m stuffed.”
Her sister chuckled. “Did you do that just to piss Mom off?” she queried.
“I thought she was going to have a coronary—watching you chow down like that.”
That surprised a laugh out of Kerry. “No, I didn’t really. I was just hungry. We didn’t get anything on the plane except for peanuts, and I was too nervous to eat this morning.” Actually, she reflected, she’d traded breakfast time with snuggling time and hadn’t regretted it. “I should have thought about that, about Mom, I mean, but…” She sighed. “I’ve guess I’ve gotten out of the habit of denying myself in the past month.” It was always tiny portions at her mother’s table, she remembered belatedly. No seconds, and tiny bites.
390 Melissa Good Oh well. “One more nail in my coffin, right?”
Angela laughed. “I thought it was great, I haven’t seen you eat like that since we were kids. And to be honest, sis, I thought the last time I saw you, on the Fourth, that you were really too thin.”
“Mmm, that’s what Dar said,” Kerry acknowledged soberly. “And, that’s what all my friends were telling me. I think I knew that, deep down, but…I kept hearing that harping. I didn’t think it was worth fighting about,” she admitted with a sigh.
“I told Mom that. She’s got that weird Spartan mentality, though,”
Angela commented wryly. “So, how did Dar manage to convince you?”
Kerry smiled. “Convince me? She subverted me.” She laughed. “After I started working up in her building, I would find these cookies and god only knows what else on my desk all the time. I finally cornered her on it, saying, like, what is up with this, Dar?” She reached down and picked up a rock, then tossed it to one side. “Then she told me she was worried I’d blow out the window if they opened the storm doors upstairs. I mean, she was really kind of cute about it, all embarrassed and everything. So…” Kerry shrugged. “I kind of chilled out about it,” she reflected. “It was…harder than I thought at first, I kept wanting to do stupid things…like come back after we’d had dinner and make myself throw up…but my brain took over, and I didn’t. And then we went to Disney World, where I couldn’t have gotten away with that if I tried, since Dar was with me every single minute practically, and after that…”
She chuckled softly. “And besides, I had so much more energy. I mean, before, I would go to work, come home, maybe one night or two I’d go out skating with Colleen, but mostly I’d just crash, because I was so tired. Now it’s different, I either go to the gym, or go ’Blading, or I’m out with Dar…or…I’m hardly ever tired.”
“In case I hadn’t said this before, by the way…” Angela glanced at her.
“…you really do look fantastic, Sis.” She watched Kerry hop from rock to rock down the path. “It’s like you’re a different person. Or maybe one I remember from a long time ago.”
Kerry stopped and faced her. “I’m pretty sure that’s not all chocolate chip cookies,” she commented wryly as she hopped off the last rock and trotted over to Angela. “For the last few weeks, I’ve felt better than I have in my entire life.” She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath of the cold air, then let it out in a satisfied puff, watching the cloud gather around her head.
Angela shook her head a little. “I always knew when you finally fell in love, it’d be a doozy.” She gazed at her sister. “That’s what it is, isn’t it?”
Kerry spread her arms wide and threw her head back, drinking in the stars hungrily. “Yes.” She breathed. “And it’s wonderful.” She let her arms drop and cocked her head at her sister. “It was like I was waiting for this to happen all my life. And it was so strange, because the minute I saw her, I could feel it.” She had to laugh. “And it was the most horrible of circumstances, too. But…oh my god, Angela, I had no idea it was possible to feel this strongly about anything or anyone, but I do.”
Her sister put an arm around her shoulders. “I’m really glad to hear that, it makes what I have to tell you a lot easier.”
Kerry slid an arm around her waist and cocked her head. “What’s that?”
Tropical Storm 391
A wry, half-embarrassed smile crossed her younger sister’s face. “The baby’s father…” She rested a hand on her still-flat stomach. “It’s Brian.”
Kerry’s jaw dropped, and she stared at her in amazement. “Holy cow!” It was a moment of shock, a moment of almost betrayal, and then she laughed.
“No wonder he hasn’t called me since August.”
Angela peeked at her. “You’re not mad?”
Her sister sighed. “How could I be? You know how I feel about Brian.
He’s sweet, he’s one of my best friends, I love him like a brother.” A pause.
“Period.”
“He was so scared you weren’t ever going to talk to him again,” her sister told her. “That’s why he’s not over here tonight. We made it up so that I would kinda, um…”
“Break the news?” Kerry hazarded.
“Eyah, something like that.” Angela nodded. “And if it looked like you were going to go ballistic, he was going to find some way to be recalled to college for the week.”
“Chicken.” Her sister laughed. “Not that I blame him, talk about awkward situations.” She paused and glanced at the path they were still walking on. “What are you going to do?”
Angela steered them towards a bench overlooking the somber lake, and they sat down side by side. A light wind rustled the dead leaves around them and whispered through the bare branches overhead. “I don’t know,” she finally answered. “You know I never wanted to marry Richard.”
Kerry nodded. “I know. Dad bullied you into it, just like he was doing with me and Brian. But I got lucky.”
Hazel eyes turned and regarded her. “It’s not luck. You’re smart, Kerry, really sharp, and you had a chance to go places. I never did.” Angela’s college degree was in Literature. “Oh, I could teach, you know, but still.” She sighed.
“There wasn’t any reason for me to go anywhere, and it wasn’t so bad. I mean Richard’s not a bad guy, you know?”
“I know.” Kerry gazed at her in quiet compassion. “And there’s Sally.”
Her two-year-old niece.
“Yeah, she really loves her daddy.” Angela sighed. “I sure wish I did.”
She turned her eyes to Kerry. “Brian makes me feel so special. He listens to me, and it’s like…” She stopped and blinked. “He really likes you, Ker. He doesn’t want to lose you as a friend.”
Kerry smiled. “How could he?” She rubbed her sister’s back in gentle compassion. “He’s just saved me from a task I’ve been really, really dreading.”
Angela looked up. “Telling him?”