It was late, but I knew my parents would still be awake. They went to bed early during the week, but Friday was their night to sit up most of the night and watch late-night TV together. They sat with a giant bowl of popcorn and ate their way through it in the dark, curled up like teenagers. It had been their tradition for as long as I could remember and one of the reasons they hated when there were Friday night races. I sent the picture to them and just as I expected to, got an instant response. It was just a long string of exclamation points, which made me laugh.
Bring her to dinner on Sunday, Mom texted me. With all the nesting going on over at Quentin’s, we’re going to do it at our place.
I’ll try, I told her.
I didn’t want to obligate Kelly to anything without talking to her. She did really well at Quentin’s house the Sunday before, but I could tell she felt tense and a little uncomfortable. Especially with the dinner being held at my parents’ house, I didn’t know how she was going to feel about going. Mom was still acting a bit cold toward her, and it might take some time for the two women to really get to know each other in this new way and be comfortable with each other again. But I wanted both of them to be happy, and I definitely wanted my mother to get to see Willa more often.
Taking one more look at Willa, I went looking for Kelly. I found her in the kitchen, leaning against the sink and sipping a cup of hot tea. She smiled at me.
“I had a really good night,” she said. “I like Colby and Caroline.”
“I hope things work out between them,” I told her. “He’s been wanting her for a long time, and they seem really good together.”
“She’s sweet. I think they’ll be happy,” she said.
“I know I am.”
I leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.
38 Kelly
I didn’t think I would ever get enough of those kisses. No matter how many Darren gave me, I would always want more. I leaned toward him to catch another before he stepped up beside me to stand against the counter. He took the teacup from my hand and stole a sip. He nodded as he looked down into the cup.
“That’s good,” he said.
“Peppermint,” I told him. “It’s my favorite.”
“You know, I’ve always thought peppermint was very specifically seasonal to Christmas, but I might rethink that,” he said.
I looked at him strangely. “Peppermint is only for Christmas?”
“Yes.”
“What about toothpaste?”
“Spearmint.”
“Ah. Well, there you go. Now, do you have a lot of these seasonal food rules that I need to get familiar with? I’d hate to offend you by serving you a Thanksgiving food in March or a Fourth of July dessert in December,” I teased.
“Well, I would hope you aren’t the type of woman who would ever do something like that,” Darren said.
He was teasing back now, and I took another sip of the tea before offering him the cup for the final sip.
“Let’s hope,” I said.
“I just talked to Mom. She wants us to bring Willa to dinner on Sunday,” he said.
“Sure,” she said. “Quentin’s house is beautiful, and I’ll probably be more comfortable this time.”
“Actually, it’s at their house this time. Merry is getting close to the baby being born, and nobody wants to get in her way,” Darren said.
I stopped to think about this for a second. It was definitely intimidating thinking about going to Minnie and Gus’s house for dinner. Gus and I were in a great place. He was kind to me and never made me feel like any less than he’d ever seen me. The same couldn’t be said about Minnie. Not that she was mean or judgmental in any way. In fact, she was polite and kind to me. But it was not the same type of kindness she’d shown before she found out about Willa. It was like there was a wall between us, something preventing us from getting closer. I didn’t want it to feel that way. I knew how close Darren’s family was, and I couldn’t stand the thought of creating any type of tension or putting a wedge between him and his parents.
I thought more about going over to their house. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity. I would like to see where he grew up and get some more insight into who he was and what his life was like before I met him. And maybe this would be a chance for me to clear the air a bit with Minnie. A little bit of time had passed, and we would be in her home environment, so maybe she would be more willing to warm up to me this time. It was possible. It was also possible she would never forgive me. I hated that thought and didn’t want to face the possibility, but I needed to do whatever I could to keep it from happening.
“Okay,” I told him. “That sounds like fun. Is there something I could bring?”
He shrugged. “Anything, I guess. Probably not anything baked, though. Mom has been in bakery mode recently, and there’s no telling what she’ll have made. Maybe some of that awesome pasta salad you have for lunch sometimes.”
“I’ll ask Pam for the recipe. I probably should be making it for myself, anyway. She doesn’t need to be making me lunch all the time,” I said.
“She likes taking care of you,” Darren pointed out. “I don’t think she’d want you to take
