“Oh?Oh.” Her features soften as she leans against me. “I absolutely love the sound of that.” She gives a single nod, her eyes never straying from mine. “I can’t wait for the proposal.”
“I wouldn’t let you miss it.”
I scoop her into my arms and carry her back to bed. Kennedy and I practice for our honeymoon with a renewed vigor. This is what we have to look forward to. Our time has come, and we have seized the day with both hands.
Dear God, I love this woman.
And thank God this woman loves me.
On Tuesday, Kennedy has us drive down to South Lux to ambush my mother for a lunch date. Kennedy is up to something, and I’m not entirely sure what. That’s the best thing about Kennedy—she’s a surprise waiting to happen. A lifetime of loving her will never be enough. She’ll keep me on the edge of my seat, and I hope to keep her right there with me. There is nothing better than being with someone who has the genuine capability to challenge you.
“So I’ve been thinking.” She leans over her salad as if she has no intention of taking a bite.
We’ve come right back to the same dive we took my mother to the first time. I think Kennedy appreciates the fact my mother needs a certain amount of consistency in her life.
“I think it’s time we help you clean up a little.” She dips her chin. Her entire demeanor tries to lure my mother out of the clutter-filled cave she’s trapped in.
Perhaps Kennedy doesn’t quite appreciate the fact my mother demands a certain level of consistency in her life after all. I give a warm smile at the woman I couldn’t live without. Kennedy has a heart the size of this entire damn state.
“I don’t know about this.” My mother raises both hands in protest as if she’s about to get combative.
“Hear me out,” Kennedy pleads. “Your son did a very wonderful thing for me. He helped me clean upmylife, and I want to return the favor by helping you clean up yours. It’s the least I can do. He won’t let me pay him. He’s stubborn that way.”
Kennedy makes it a point to let me know she’s paying me with her body, each and every night, but I’m too much of a gentleman to call her on it. Instead, I offer a tiny wink, my silent thank you for her grand gesture.
“I have an army of friends who are willing to help out. And all of the things you’re ready to part with, we’ll simply sell.”
“No way, no how!” Mom’s face ignites like a bulb, and I’m half afraid a major meltdown is on the way. “Nobody is touching my stuff!”
“All of the proceeds can go to your favorite charity,” Kennedy offers.
A few stunted moments of silence drift by. Easily this can go south very quickly.
“The veterinary hospital!” Mom beams. “They’ve helped Boonsborough more than I can tell you. If I didn’t have the money for all of those expensive surgeries, I would have been forced to put him down ages ago.”
Kennedy points with her fork. “You can allocate funds for people who can’t afford lifesaving surgeries.”
My mother claps at the brilliance—but, best of all, my mother smiles. It’s the first ear-to-ear grin she’s shed in almost eleven years.
She and Kennedy talk for hours as if they were old friends. My mother has gone from fastidious hoarder to willing to part with her entire clutter collection just to help the unfortunate mutts of the universe. I do believe Kennedy has a gift for negotiations.
And the next day, Kennedy makes good on her word. An army of her sorority sisters show up in South Lux and help haul and organize, trash and stash a mountain of sundries, clothes, overall general crap until you cannot only walk freely into the living room, but you can spin in circles with your arms set wide. That’s exactly what I do with Kennedy. I spin her, twirl her in the air like a ballerina with her arms spread wide.
At the end of the day, two dumpsters and eighty exhausted sorority girls later, it’s done, and my mother collapses in my arms and sobs.
“You found a keeper.”
“Don’t I know it. Are you going to be okay here tonight?” I’m not exactly sure what happens to a person when you shovel out a lifetime worth of chaos.
“Are you kidding? I’m going to be great. I’m heading into town tomorrow to pick up a couple of new things. I’ve been wearing the same three outfits for years because I couldn’t get to the closet—and I gave most of it away.” She holds her hand up like a Girl Scout. “And I promise to put everything in its place. Heck—now that this house has been spit-shined, I think it might be time to spit-shine myself! I might even find me a man.”
“Whoa.” I pull Kennedy into our huddle. “Now look what we’ve done.”
“We’ve done a good thing.” Kennedy tugs at my chin, her doe eyes looking lovingly up at me. “Love is the best gift you can give someone.
Kennedyand I hit my father’s office before we head back to Loveless.
My father comes at us like a brick wall, tall, on the heavier side, with a jaw and heart set in granite.
