Chapter 20
Kurt knew he was overdue for a visit with Sara even before his grandfather attempted to prod him into it. But with all the work that needed to be done, it was too easy to stick with a quick phone call most days. He’d visited her twice since the surgery, and she’d been to the house once as well.
So, he probably shouldn’t have been surprised when William walked over to him the day after their dinner with Ida and reached for the shovel Kurt had been using in his trench digging.
“Your mother could use some company for lunch.” William nodded as he said it, as if the added confirmation was what Kurt needed.
“With nothing more than me to keep her company, she’ll be getting soured on Crawfords for sure.
And you could use a breath of air that doesn’t smell like dog or a pretty blond.
” His gaze flicked to the other side of the yard where Kelsey was finishing work on the compost pile she was creating.
“I can dig a trench,” William continued.
“I’ll finish up. Adam and Eve’s paradise won’t suffer. ”
Using the shovel, Kurt’s grandfather highlighted the trajectory of the curve Kurt had been cutting into the ground to bury a new downspout extension to replace the old, disintegrated one. The downspout was flooding out the dog runs every time it rained. “You want it dumping out over there, right?”
Kurt nodded, wiping his hands on the hips of his soiled jeans.
William had made the Adam and Eve comment once before.
Kurt didn’t find it particularly funny, and since as his grandfather had next to no sense of humor, Kurt suspected he didn’t either.
“I’ll go if you’ll sit down for lunch with Kelsey. Ten minutes, minimum.”
Kurt knew it wasn’t that his grandfather didn’t like Kelsey. There wasn’t anything about her not to like. He suspected their lack of communication to date was because William’s conversation skills were highly inadequate, especially when it came to conversing with women.
“I hardly ever take lunch,” William said, trading places with Kurt in front of the trench and beginning to dig.
“I’d like it if you got to know her. Since you’re here and it’s nothing but convenient, I’m hoping it won’t put you out.” Kurt hadn’t asked anything close to this in twenty-eight years. He suspected the significance wasn’t lost.
William sank the shovel just as deeply into the earth as Kurt had. “If it’s important to you.”
Kurt thanked him and headed inside. He showered and yanked on a fresh set of clothes.
He was zipping on a clean hoodie when he noticed that Kelsey was in the kitchen.
She was kneeling on the floor as she attempted to brush Mr. Longtail.
The cat seemed to be putting up with it, though his lengthy tail twitched determinedly every few seconds.
“That’s brave of you. Let’s hope he’s up to date on shots.” Kurt hovered in the doorway, watching.
“I’m keeping an eye out for flashing teeth, that’s for sure. But his long fur has gotten so nappy the last few months that it needs to be done. I guess it isn’t surprising, considering the amount of time he spends outside.”
“Why don’t you put it off for later and I’ll help you?” Kurt crossed the floor and pressed his lips against her temple.
“When you’re free, there’re more important items on the to-do list.” She blushed as soon as she said it. Kurt suspected she was remembering those few minutes in the kitchen yesterday afternoon. “That’s not what I meant,” she said, shaking her head as she picked up on his smile.
“But it’s true.” He knelt, resting his elbows on his thighs, and leaned in to kiss her for real. “Unfortunately, I’ve got to run,” he said, pulling away before his arousal took hold. “I promised my grandfather I’d bring my mom some lunch. To hear him tell it, she’s William-Crawforded out.”
“Is she? Maybe he talked her ear off.”
Kurt chuckled. “Speaking of which, don’t be surprised if he accepts when you offer him lunch today.”
“What if he does? Without you here, it would be like scraping nails to come up with something more to say than ‘nice weather, eh?’”
“You’ll think of something.” He placed a hand confidently on Mr. Longtail’s belly and slid him close to rub underneath his chin. “You won me over fine.”
Kelsey pressed her lips tightly together, failing to subdue her smile. “That’s nice to hear.”
“I won’t be long. Text me if things get hairy.”
He took off, knowing it was terrible that he was more excited about the half hour he’d spend in his Mustang picking up lunch and driving to visit his mother than he was to spend the hour with her. Nana was gone. His mother and grandfather were his family. He needed to embrace them.
Kurt called, took his mother’s lunch order, and promised himself he was going to do his best to let his resentment go. Like Nana had said, for the most part, people did their best. Some people’s best was just better than others’.
Sara answered the door wearing a pair of Victoria’s Secret lounge pants and a baggy zip-up hoodie. The thick wrap of bandages she’d worn over the lumpectomy had been off for a few days, and she was moving her arms naturally, though she was still visibly favoring the right one.
She brushed the fingers of her left hand through his hair. “Look at that mop of yours. It still makes me blink to see you with something other than a buzz cut. It’s growing out nice.”
“Thanks.” He held up the bag of Chipotle. “Steak burrito, white rice, hold the beans. Just like you asked.”
She took the bag and pressed a light kiss against his cheek.
“Come on in. I can’t tell you how badly I’ve been craving one of these, but today’s the first day I feel like I can stomach it.
It’s too cold to sit on the deck and stare out into the back parking lot, and the kitchen is as drab as the inside of a paper bag.
So, let’s sit on the couch and get crumbs on it to annoy William later. What do you say?”
Kurt chuckled softly. “Sounds all right with me.”
“We’ve got soda and Gatorade in the fridge. Milk too.”
“Water’s fine. I’ll get it. You sit down. What’ll you have?”
“A Coke, I guess. I’m sick of Gatorade—and chicken soup and mashed potatoes, which means I’m getting that anesthesia out of my system.”
He headed to the small kitchen and grabbed a soda and a glass of water, then joined her in the living room.
The whole place was about seven hundred square feet, but it felt even smaller to him after having gotten used to the high ceilings at the Sabrina Raven estate.
“How are you feeling? Ready to start radiation next week?”
She shrugged, her left shoulder rising higher than her right one. “Ready as I’ll ever be. We Crawfords jump in and don’t waste time thinking about it, don’t we?”
“I guess so.”
The TV was muted, but she’d been watching the Food Channel. A baking show was on, giving Kurt an immediate craving for cupcakes, something he hadn’t had in years. He unwrapped his burrito, also steak, though he hadn’t opted out of the beans.
She thanked him again for coming and moaned over how delicious her burrito was.
After she’d eaten about a third of it, she sat the rest on the wrapper on the coffee table and scooted sideways, facing him and crossing her legs.
“Did William have to twist your arm to get you away from that girlfriend and those dogs of yours?”
Kurt smiled through his mouthful of burrito. “He offered to finish digging a trench.”
Sara laughed and made an imaginary check mark in the air. “Score one for motherhood. Sara Crawford out-rates trench digging.”
“I’d have come anyway.”
“Yeah, well, when he left, I told him you needed to come today. Between now and never, if it went any longer, I’m pretty sure I’d choose never. For part of this, at least.”
Kurt swallowed hard. “What’s going on?” He set his burrito on the coffee table and twisted to face her. “I thought everything was on track.”
“I’m fine, if that’s what you’re thinking. At least, I’m right where a woman my age with stage zero breast cancer should be.”
“Then what’s going on?”
Sara pointed toward the kitchen. “There’s a cardboard box on the table. I’ll let you grab it.”
Kurt wasted no time retrieving the box. It was lighter than he’d expected. It was folded closed but not taped. “What’s in it?”
“Some closure for one thing, I hope. Who knows what’ll come of the rest.”
Kurt scooted his burrito toward his mother’s, then sat the box on the coffee table. “Sara, in case you’ve forgotten, I’m not much for surprises and even less for suspense.”
“Then open it.”
Clenching his jaw, Kurt pulled free one of the corners.
He blinked at the contents. They were both familiar and foreign.
There was a framed picture of the four of them: Nana, William, Sara, and him.
He’d seen it before, but it had been years earlier.
Kurt was maybe five, which put Sara at just over twenty.
It had been taken at Epcot. They were standing in front of Spaceship Earth.
It was the one perfectly normal, all-American thing they’d done together, though Kurt scarcely remembered any of the vacation.
Nana looked radiant, Sara was posing as if her crush had been taking the picture, Kurt looked two steps away from a grandiose meltdown, and William was looking grimly at the camera.
Next to the picture frame was the sock monkey that Nana had stitched out of honest-to-God worn socks.
It had been on Kurt’s bed next to his pillow every day until fourth grade when a buddy came over and made fun of it.
There were also a few toy cars, including a classic Mustang that looked a lot like the one he was driving now, except that it was black.
His grandmother’s favorite rosary was in there too.
“She’d want you to have it,” Sara said as he brushed his fingertips over it.