Mama’s mouth twitched. She turned to face Kenya fully, shaking her head. “Now, you know that’s not what I meant.”
“I know, I know, but Mama, did you really have to go and have this man drive us to the hospital? Couldn’t you manage by yourself or let Daddy come?”
“I am quite capable of driving you, but you are the one who wanted your daddy to stay, and I wanted to be able to focus on you. That young man came out of nowhere but acted like he knew you fromsomewhere.” She pursed her lips, silencing the rest of the thoughts that were caught up in her eyes. “I mean, would you rather I called an ambulance?”
Maybe.
“I didn’t know for sure what was wrong. The way everyone gasped and the unwomanly word you let roll from your lips alerted me to the fact that you were more injured than I thought.”
Kenya’s grimace wasn’t just from the pain. “Sorry about that. A few words left over from high school.”
“Hmm-hmm, you know how many times I’ve told you to expand your vocabulary. Sometimes you say things that are rude or downright inappropriate.”
Kenya wanted to say that she learned from the best because her mother could give someone a piece of her mind on the flip of a dime. The Stewart clan was not fooled by her outward professional demeanor.
But what she really wanted to say was swallowed up by the stinging truth of her mother’s words. An expanded vocabulary was easier said than done. She knew that more than most. Plus, with a mind full of creative methods and ideas for events, who needed to meditate on the dictionary? Wowing her clients wasbetter than worrying about a few unpolished words slipping out every now and then.
God knew her heart. And since he’d made her the inadequate way she was, surely he had mercy on her struggling soul.
“I just wish you would think through your actions a little better at times. Not put yourself up in the limelight so often. At least not so much that you fall hard.”
Kenya grinned, willing herself to focus on the pain in her ankle that seemed easier to bear than the weight of her mother’s disappointment. “Mama, you know I like to have fun. I may not be able to dance that well, but at least I try.”
“No Stewart child is born without rhythm.”
ThisStewart child was born without a lot. “I can move to a beat, but I—” Oh, how to explain what her mother should already know after all these years? Ah, maybe that was why she fussed, because shedidknow. Kenya sighed, leaning farther back into the pillows on the bed. “I just get a little mixed up with directions sometimes.” Something else to put to memory, another pathway to form.
Her mother paused. For a moment, compassion flitted across her gaze, as if a memory danced through her mind. Before Kenya could linger there, her mother blinked it away, resuming her I-love-you-but-I-need-to-finish-fussing-at-you face.
“Well, it’s already done now. We just have to see what all is involved in your recovery. What are you going to do since you just moved into your apartment?”
“I’ll be fine. There are elevators, remember?”
“I do. And if it wasn’t for me pushing you toward that newer rental, you’d be lugging your sore foot and everything else up some outside stairs.”
“Go ahead and say I told you so. I know you want to.”
Her mother smirked, eyes sparkling in a mischievously triumphant way. “You should be grateful that I did tell you so. Now you don’t have to take your little sprained foot up those dangerous steps. And you can let yourself heal before the next time.”
The next time. Her mother already expected her to fall again. What was even the point of her disappointment when she knew her oldest daughter would do something foolish to get herself in some kind of mess again? Even this apartment move was because she’d initially signed the lease on a rental that she hadn’t fully vetted. One too many issues later, and she had to call in some favors to get out of her lease.
So, like the responsible older daughter she tried her best to be, she’d moved into one of the more newly built apartments popping up all over town.
Kenya released a breath, her muscle memory settling her lips back into a self-deprecating grin. “I didn’t expect to end up with a sprained ankle when I started looking for apartments. I just wanted something that would give me a little bit more movement, built-in exercise. I call it multitasking.”
“Hmm, I call it a complication. But we’re not gonna argue over this right now. I just want to make sure we discharge well, get this foot wrapped up, and then I can see what’s left to be done after the wedding.”
Oh yes, the wedding. Thankfully, Kenya had a great team to help, but the leads of that team included herself and the woman sitting next to her in the chair, trying her best not to be annoyed with the daughter she seemed to always need an extra dose of patience for.
“Mama, I’m sorry, I didn’t intend to leave you with so much work to do. I’m sure that after another dose of pain meds, we can both go back over and make sure everything is where it needs to be.”
Her mother crossed her arms, her face steeled with determination. “Don’t you apologize. You were running around enough getting things ready, you might as well have the opportunity to lie down for a little bit. Maybe this will be good for you.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“Between your sisters and the others, it’s going to be okay. Ijust want to make sure your cousin and John are headed to their honeymoon without a worry. Who knows, maybe sometime soon you’ll finally be the one off to yours.” She winked.
That would be easier said than done. If she could so easily frustrate her mother, what in the world would she do to a man? She was trouble waiting to happen for anyone who got too close. Because that’s what she liked, a little bit of trouble to get her off and running. And that seemed to make men run in the other direction.
