Page 13 of Reckless
4
Kelly
The next morning, I spent far too long getting ready for work. My style was practical, easy, and on a normal morning, it took me ten minutes to get ready, including a shower. I barely ever bothered to put on makeup because it’d be gone halfway into a shift.
But today I brushed on some pale blue eyeshadow to make my eyes sparkle and pop. Then a hint of mascara, a little blush on my cheeks, a swipe of gloss on my lips. Just a little bit. I couldn’t help myself, knowing that I could run into Gage again.
Maybe he’s gone.Perhaps he’s already left to go back on tour.
But I knew better. Before he’d moved to New York, he and his mom had been really close. He would never leave her with this kind of diagnosis. At least I didn’t think he would.
Well, we would see. He’d certainly left New Hope behind fast enough when he got his chance. Not that I could blame him. Plus, famous people like him didn’t have the time for a personal life. Or maybe preferred not to look back.
I was going to be late, but I went through my morning task of feeding Snow White, a fluffy Persian cat who’d been unlucky enough to have a run-in with a kid out to do some target practice. She recovered from the arrow but still had a limp from the unfortunate entry near her hip. That didn’t stop her from primping herself both before and after her morning meal. After all, she had Prince Charming to impress, an Australian Shepherd mix whose only affliction was a severe lack of smarts.
After dishing out their breakfast, I let Prince out in the large backyard that was the best feature of my tiny two-bedroom house. There were the rabbits to feed in their pen, seven of them, luckily, or I would have had to be more creative. Doc, Dopey, Bashful, Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy, and Happy all perked up their noses when they heard the screen door slap behind me. Out of their hutch hopped Queen, the golden-colored chicken with one leg. The rabbits followed her like she was royalty, and who deigned to allow them to surround her in a rabbit snuggle for naps.
I doled out their kibble and corn, stroked their silky heads, then left Prince out to guard them as I left to make my daily stop at Mom’s. I was going to be late now thanks to my primping, but I needed to check in on her and drop off the paper I picked up for her on my way.
“How are you?” Her sharp, worried eyes assessed me from the kitchen table where she blew on a steaming mug of coffee. Her words were like a punch to the gut. She knew he was here. We never asked each other how the other fared, because after losing half your family, how good could you be? “I heard the rock star returns.”
The sole of my foot caught on the tile floor, but I recovered. “His mom is ill.”
“Yes, I know. Maybe you should take the day off.” She frowned, having noticed the makeup.
“It’s fine, Mom. He’s here for Babs and will be gone as soon as he can get out.” I turned for the side door. “I have to get to work.”
“He would have taken you with him.”
My hand froze on the doorknob, and it took me a second to be able to breathe after my heart lurched into my throat. “I wouldn’t have gone,” I lied.
I opened the door, stopping again when she said, “Thank you for bringing me the paper, Kelly, but it isn’t necessary.”
“Mom, your place is on the way to the hospital. It’s fine. It’s no trouble.”
I forced a smile and looked back at her as she nodded slowly. “Well, it gives me something to do…”
Once upon a time, in the land ofbefore, Mom had a job she loved working at the local YMCA at the reception desk. By the time she got to a place where she felt like she could go back to work—not that I was convinced of her recovery—her position had been filled, and there really wasn’t anything else that sparked her interest.
Thankfully, Dad had left enough life insurance money to keep her going, but her days were long and lonely. It was my job now, as her only surviving child, to ensure she had what she needed to get her through. Even if it was only the local newspaper.
“Is Babs bad off?”
I wanted so badly to tell her, but privacy laws must be upheld. “I-I can’t really talk about it. You should go see her. Soon.”
Mom’s eyes zeroed in on me, and she let out a little airy, “Oh.” Her expression took on a faraway look, and I wondered if she could handle Babs passing on. They’d been pretty good friends when they were younger. “I’ll try to do that. And I’ll take her something to do while she’s in the hospital.”
“Okay, that’s nice.” I smiled, encouraged to know that the news had spurred her into action instead of depression. “I’ll see you soon.”
“See you, Kelly. Oh, and you look really nice today.”
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as a strange sense of self-consciousness shot through me. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll try to stop by and see you later on.”
“If you have other plans, that’s okay,” she hollered after me as I went out the door.
I tried to keep my focus on the road, to not let my mind drift back to yesterday and Gage. I swear my heart hadn’t stopped racing, my hands hadn’t stopped shaking since I ran into him in the ER. I was the woman who was the coolest in the room during an emergency, the one who could detach herself from the pain and misery of a patient and do what needed to be done in the moment. I didn’t have trembling hands, ever.
I had trembling hands now.
