“Come in, come in. Would you like a slice of cake? I just finished one with raspberries and pistachios.”
“Okay…” This wasn’t the response to her homecoming that Kendra had expected. It was like any other Sunday when she stopped by her parents’ house.
“Thomas!” Ruth called as they crossed the foyer to the kitchen. “Kendra’s home!”
There was the sound of footsteps, and Kendra’s father appeared. He beamed at his daughter, closed the distance between them, and hugged her tightly.
“How are you?” he asked when he released her.
“I’m okay,” Kendra said.
“Come on. Let’s get a slice of your mother’s cake.”
They went into the kitchen, where they sat in the breakfast nook while Ruth cut thick slices of cake for each of them. Kendra watched her bustle around the kitchen, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sooner or later, her parents would tell her how disappointed they were. Finally, when her mother sat down and slid her a plate of cake, Kendra couldn’t keep it in any longer.
“Aren’t you mad at me?”
Ruth’s face crumpled as she shook her head. “Not at all, honey. We’re worried thatyou’remad atus.”
“Why would I be mad at you?”
“We pushed you to marry… that boy.” Thomas said “that boy” as though it were a horrible swear word. “And then he left you. We feel terrible.”
“His parents have been very apologetic,” Ruth added. “And we’ve tried to talk to you about it, but we haven’t been able to reach you.”
“I’m sorry.” Kendra fiddled with her paper napkin. “I should have talked to you. I… I felt like I let you down by running off like that.”
“Not at all.” Thomas shook his head. “We’re the ones who letyoudown.”
“And we’re sorry, honey.” Ruth nudged Kendra’s plate closer. “Have some cake.”
“All right.” Kendra couldn’t help smiling as she lifted her fork.
“Now, listen, we’re ready to make this right,” Thomas said. “If you still want to marry Aaron, we can get the wedding back on track.”
“He doesn’t want to marry me,” Kendra pointed out.
“He was scared and overwhelmed,” Ruth said. “He’s apologized since. Apparently, it all got too real, but he does want to settle down and get married, if you’ll forgive him.”
Kendra hesitated. A few weeks ago, she would have said yes without thinking about it, but now, it wasn’t so easy. She’d never felt the spark with Aaron that she’d felt with Lucas. And the thought of being married to someone who didn’t make her heart flutter wasn’t appealing.
“I…” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to even think about getting married right now.”
“Are you too heartbroken?” Ruth asked, biting her lip.
“Yes,” Kendra admitted. “It’s hard to stop thinking about Luc—him.”
Her parents exchanged a glance. “Did you just say?—”
“It was a slip of the tongue.” Kendra shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m tired and hurt, and I need time to think about whatIwant. Is that okay?”
“Of course, it is,” Ruth said. “The only thing we want is for you to be happy. We were happy in our arranged marriage, so we thought we could make you happy in the same way. But you were never quite like me.” She smiled. “You have your own mind and your own heart. You need a different kind of love story.”
Kendra wasn’t ready foranylove story, not when her heart was still shattered. Still, she smiled at her mother’s words.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Did you have a nice honeymoon?” Thomas asked. Ruth glared at him across the table, but he shrugged as he took a bite of his own cake. “She did go on the honeymoon, dear.”
