“Any fun stories from the hospital?” Ailsa asks.
“Ah, well …” I search my brain for anything out of the ordinary this week. “Oh! I pulled a LEGO minifigure head from an eight-year-old’s nose. Then I learned that it had been wearing a helmet when it went in, so I had to go back for that.”
“I’ll never understand the need to see if something will go up your nose,” Isla says.
“Me neither,” Aisla agrees.”
Silence descends again. I look around the table as my family eat and glance around at each other. I narrow my eyes at Fiona, who looks down at her plate. It dawns on me that she hasn’t asked me about Makenna all weekend. And despite it being an obvious topic of conversation, she hasn’t been mentioned tonight either.
They all talked about it and decided it was best not to bring her up.
I’m honestly not sure if it would feel good to talk about her, or just pretend things are back to normal. They know about the two weeks of darkness, but we haven’t spoken about it since.
“You guys don’t have to avoid talking about the Makenna situation. I’m sure you’re all curious how things are going. Not that I really have anything to report.”
“Oh good,” Ailsa says. “I told you guys he would be fine if we asked.”
I shake my head. “I appreciate the thoughtfulness, and I wouldn’t want it to be all we talked about, but I’m fine and I’m okay talking about her. I’m confident things aren’t over for us, I’m just ready for the time to be up.”
“You should show up at her house on the last day,” Isla suggests.
“That would be making a huge assumption on his part,” Ailsa says. “What if he gets there and she’s changed her mind?”
“He’s already made the assumption,” Fiona argues.
“Starting on the phone would be more prudent,” Mam counters. “Nothing would be worse than showing up there to get rejected in person.”
Well, that feels bad to hear, even if I don’t believe it would happen.
“I’m not going to show up on the last day. I’d love to see her in person, but I’m planning to start easy and see how things go.”
“Would you really move there, ya think?” Fiona asks, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
“It would be a tough decision, but I would consider it. If she really wanted to make a go of things, we’d need to live in the same area. It’s hard to decide if you want to marry someone if they live across the ocean.”
“I suppose you’re right,” she says, resigned.
And with that, I think I’ve had enough of talk about my hypothetical future. As much as I like to dwell on it, imagining all the possible positive outcomes, I don’t like the reality my family is sprinkling in.
“So…” I say. “Isla and Rory?”
49
Makenna
It’sbeenninedayssince I saw Malcolm, and I’m at mom’s where I’ve been every day when she’s gotten off work. I decided that since I’m free, I might as well make dinner for us.
I’m stirring parmesan shavings into my spaghetti sauce when the door opens.
“Honey! I’m hooooooome!” Mom calls in her typical fashion. At least typical since I’ve been back from my trip and unemployed. She says I’m spoiling her, that when I move to Scotland she won’t know how to feed herself. That is until she moves herself.
I know she’s joking, but all this talk of moving has me itching to do just that. I miss him something fierce. He doesn’t feel like a passing flame, in fact the fire in me has only burnedstronger since I left.
“It smells fantastic in here,” Mom says, taking her typical chair at the kitchen table.
“I thought you’d like it, since it’s your recipe and all.”
“You know who else would like it?”
