my
feet.
“Thank you Kai for
being so willing to befriend me with no questions asked. I’m sure Jack will be
really happy to know that he could count on you. I’ll tell Stacie to ask you
over for dinner soon,” I said, my heart racing.
“Oh...okay,” he said.
Kai took a step back
and looked at me inquisitively. I stood motionless, not quite sure what my next
move should be.
Why did he look
so…disappointed?
I had just invited him
to hang out at my family dinners, he should be thrilled!
“ Have a good evening,
Tori. Please say goodbye to your sister for me.” He turned and walked to his
truck. His back faced me as I watched him grip the handle of his door.
Then, he stopped.
My heart stopped, too.
In that second I wished
more than anything that I could be unbroken . I envied all those normal,
carefree girls that knew nothing about shame, or loss, or heartache. The girls
that wouldn’t think twice about saying yes to spending more time with a
guy like Kai.
“Tori?”
Kai stared at me, a
look of confident determination on his face.
“Yes?”
“For the record, Jack
never asked me to befriend you. That was all my doing. Have a good weekend.”
He winked at me before closing
his door and driving away.
For once my mind was
blank. No thoughts, no sarcasm, no witty banter. Kai had pursued me all on his
own, and I had just pushed him away.
A teeny, tiny shred of
a feeling that I hadn’t known in quite some time was pushing its way up through
the cracks of my past.
Please don’t let me go so easily, Kai.
TWELVE
“It’s so nice to hear
from you Victoria, what did you decide?” Dr. Crane asked.
I was surprised when
she answered her phone on a Saturday afternoon, until she explained that she’d
given me her cell number. She told me I was welcome to call her anytime a need
arose.
Do I have Dr. Bradley
to thank for that courtesy?
“I would like to
schedule an appointment,” I said.
“Okay...how does ten
o’clock work for you next Wednesday morning?
“That would be fine.
I’m only scheduled to work Wednesday and then the weekend of next week, so I’d
like to pick up some on call hours once you sign off,” I said, reminding her of
the bargain she’d made.
“Sounds good. I’ll have
your paperwork ready for you Wednesday morning. Take care…and Victoria? Your
first homework assignment is to connect . Try to connect with at least
one person and we’ll discuss how it went at your appointment,” she said.
After hanging up the
phone I replayed her words in my head.
Connect?
So pretty much the
opposite of what happened today with Kai, then.
Awesome. Just awesome.
I slumped back on my
bed. It
would be a long week if I didn’t pick up any extra hours. Wednesday couldn’t
come soon enough. I needed that paperwork ASAP.
I was exhausted both
mentally and physically from my time at the lake. I heard Stacie pass by my
open door while talking on the phone. She paused, as if wanting me to overhear
her conversation. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep; too bad she knew
my trick.
“…Yes, I’ll ask her.
She just needs some time," Stacie said.
I could guess what was
being said on the other end of that call. I chose instead to picture the calm
of the lake, the blue of the sky and the beautiful Samoan I had just watched
drive away.
You’ll have to deal
with her sometime; You can’t ignore her forever.
I heard Stacie come in
my room. I peeked out through one eye and saw her standing with her hands on
her hips.
“So that was Mom on the
phone. I was trying to help her understand that pushing you isn’t going to
work...”
I hope she heard you,
‘cause she never seems to hear me.
“Thanks,” I said,
opening my eyes fully. “What does she want?”
“She wants me to ask
you if you’ll go shopping with us this evening…for the baby. We are going to
narrow down our choices for both boy and girl—for the nursery. That way after
the ultrasound we can get to work. I would
feet.
“Thank you Kai for
being so willing to befriend me with no questions asked. I’m sure Jack will be
really happy to know that he could count on you. I’ll tell Stacie to ask you
over for dinner soon,” I said, my heart racing.
“Oh...okay,” he said.
Kai took a step back
and looked at me inquisitively. I stood motionless, not quite sure what my next
move should be.
Why did he look
so…disappointed?
I had just invited him
to hang out at my family dinners, he should be thrilled!
“ Have a good evening,
Tori. Please say goodbye to your sister for me.” He turned and walked to his
truck. His back faced me as I watched him grip the handle of his door.
Then, he stopped.
My heart stopped, too.
In that second I wished
more than anything that I could be unbroken . I envied all those normal,
carefree girls that knew nothing about shame, or loss, or heartache. The girls
that wouldn’t think twice about saying yes to spending more time with a
guy like Kai.
“Tori?”
Kai stared at me, a
look of confident determination on his face.
“Yes?”
“For the record, Jack
never asked me to befriend you. That was all my doing. Have a good weekend.”
He winked at me before closing
his door and driving away.
For once my mind was
blank. No thoughts, no sarcasm, no witty banter. Kai had pursued me all on his
own, and I had just pushed him away.
A teeny, tiny shred of
a feeling that I hadn’t known in quite some time was pushing its way up through
the cracks of my past.
Please don’t let me go so easily, Kai.
TWELVE
“It’s so nice to hear
from you Victoria, what did you decide?” Dr. Crane asked.
I was surprised when
she answered her phone on a Saturday afternoon, until she explained that she’d
given me her cell number. She told me I was welcome to call her anytime a need
arose.
Do I have Dr. Bradley
to thank for that courtesy?
“I would like to
schedule an appointment,” I said.
“Okay...how does ten
o’clock work for you next Wednesday morning?
“That would be fine.
I’m only scheduled to work Wednesday and then the weekend of next week, so I’d
like to pick up some on call hours once you sign off,” I said, reminding her of
the bargain she’d made.
“Sounds good. I’ll have
your paperwork ready for you Wednesday morning. Take care…and Victoria? Your
first homework assignment is to connect . Try to connect with at least
one person and we’ll discuss how it went at your appointment,” she said.
After hanging up the
phone I replayed her words in my head.
Connect?
So pretty much the
opposite of what happened today with Kai, then.
Awesome. Just awesome.
I slumped back on my
bed. It
would be a long week if I didn’t pick up any extra hours. Wednesday couldn’t
come soon enough. I needed that paperwork ASAP.
I was exhausted both
mentally and physically from my time at the lake. I heard Stacie pass by my
open door while talking on the phone. She paused, as if wanting me to overhear
her conversation. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep; too bad she knew
my trick.
“…Yes, I’ll ask her.
She just needs some time," Stacie said.
I could guess what was
being said on the other end of that call. I chose instead to picture the calm
of the lake, the blue of the sky and the beautiful Samoan I had just watched
drive away.
You’ll have to deal
with her sometime; You can’t ignore her forever.
I heard Stacie come in
my room. I peeked out through one eye and saw her standing with her hands on
her hips.
“So that was Mom on the
phone. I was trying to help her understand that pushing you isn’t going to
work...”
I hope she heard you,
‘cause she never seems to hear me.
“Thanks,” I said,
opening my eyes fully. “What does she want?”
“She wants me to ask
you if you’ll go shopping with us this evening…for the baby. We are going to
narrow down our choices for both boy and girl—for the nursery. That way after
the ultrasound we can get to work. I would
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