At Wits' End - Kenzie Reed Page 0,42
my fanny pack. Yes, thanks to Donovan and this jogging madness, I had to buy a fanny pack for my phone, wallet and keys. He’s made me into a fanny-pack wearer. Before I can gripe any more, I spot a familiar car rolling up.
“Oh look, there’s my mother!” I say in surprise.
“She’s really pushing this ‘After twenty-nine years, I just remembered I have a child’ thing, isn’t she?” Dominic says sourly.
I glance at him in surprise.
“Sorry,” he sighs. “She’s your mother.”
“No, I mean, fair enough. She was around for maybe like ten percent of my childhood. She missed just about every major milestone in my life.” Birthdays, holidays, school events… “I just… It’s exhausting being resentful all the time.”
His eyes gleam with unexpected sympathy. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt. But I get it.”
His sympathy wraps around me like a blanket fresh from the dryer, all warm and huggy. My heart swells in my chest. I can’t get used to this. It’s Donovan. We have a business arrangement. I still don’t trust him. I still don’t know what his endgame is here, but I put great stock in the phrase “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me three times, just push me off a cliff already because I’m clearly too stupid to live.”
I wave at my mother, spin around, and walk over to the fence posts so I can start my calf stretches.
Linda strolls up. “Hey, sweetheart, how’s my girl?”
“Oh, you know.” I lower my voice. “Hitched to a Witlocke, forced to jog. Somehow, things could be worse. I could be in a Siberian gulag. So, you’re not working today?”
“Oh, I’m working the dinner shift. I’m going to start training for the relay too,” she says. “I might pair up with one of the other girls from the restaurant. That’s all right, isn’t it?”
“Of course.” I look at her in puzzlement. “You’re into jogging?”
She pats her flat stomach. “I’m into anything that lets me pretend I have the body of a twenty-year-old.”
“Is he hidden in your basement?” Donovan’s made his way over to us, and he flashes my mother a cool, unwelcoming look.
My mother throws back her head and laughs. “Oh, what a wit. He’s a keeper, this one!” she says much louder than necessary. She flashes a warning look off to our left.
Carrie and Tonya are there, in their coordinated jogging gear. They’re staring at us, but as soon as I catch their eye they turn away from me. I turn my back on them.
“They’re here. Did you look in a mirror and whisper their name three times?” I mutter to Donovan.
He leans down and kisses my forehead, and makes a big show of stroking a lock of hair from my forehead then caressing my cheek with his thumb. He’s laying it on pretty thick. I should stop him, but everywhere he touches turns all warm and tingly.
“Yes. There was also a pentagram and a goat sacrifice involved.”
At my look of alarm, he adds, “And I’m not telling you which one. You’ll just have to take count when we get home.”
I take a step back and scowl at him. “For the sake of your cojones, I will assume you’re joking.”
And I resume my stretching exercises.
“Can I talk to you just a minute?” my mother says. She glances at Donovan. “Alone?”
“Fine,” Donovan growls, and stalks off.
“What’s up?” God, I hope she doesn’t need to borrow money. My bank account is crying the blues.
“I just wanted you to know, I’m happy we’re both in the same place this summer, and I’m not going to waste the opportunity to get to know you better. Did you know I signed a year lease for my apartment? I’m not going to run from my problems this time. I’ve started therapy, and the therapist and I agreed that I am swearing off dating entirely for six months.”
“Mom! Seriously?” My eyes fly open wide with shock. “I mean, sorry. Linda.”
“No, call me Mom.” She smiles and pats my cheek. “You know how proud of you I am, right?”
“I guess?”
“You’re being hesitant, and that’s all right. I understand. I’ve let too much distance grow between us, and one of the main reasons I’m going to therapy is to understand why I’ve done that. Now, I’m going to leave you and Donovan to your jogging. I’ll call you later, okay?”
She walks off, leaving me stunned and hopeful and suspicious all at once. This is the first time she’s