“I know,” I tell her. “But Mom, you’re making him uncomfortable.”
“Nonsense,” Lachlan says, throwing his shoulders back, making him look bigger than big and taller than tall next to my tiny mother. “I have no problem hearing how I’ve exceeded expectations.”
I smirk at him and grab his hand. “Let’s go inside before your ego gets too big to fit through the door.”
We step in the house and my mother insists on giving Lachlan the grand tour. She takes him by the hand and he follows her, ever gracious, hanging on to her every word, smiling when she smiles. It brings actual tears to my eyes, tears I have to quickly blink away. Even Kyle hadn’t been that way, so attentive, so involved, and he was about to marry me.
While they go explore the rest of the house, I take in a deep breath, trying to steady the race in my chest, and head into the kitchen to see what I can make for dinner. I can hear them walking upstairs. Their footsteps, Lachlan’s heavy, long strides and my mother’s short, quick ones, go down the hall, to my brothers’ rooms, then to my bedroom, where I’m sure my mother is filling Lachlan in about all sorts of embarrassing anecdotes about me.
Then they go into my parents’ bedroom, and I don’t know what my mother is saying to him, but it must be about my dad and suddenly it hurts. It hurts. Sharp pains stab my chest, enough that I have to lean against the fridge and try to breathe for a few minutes.
“Kayla?” I hear Lachlan say, and then he’s at my side, fingers running down the sides of my face, hands curling around my forearms. “What happened?”
I shake my head, keeping my eyes shut. “It’s fine,” I say.
“Kayla,” my mother cries out, and I can hear the terror. This is the last thing I want, for her to worry about me when there’s nothing wrong, just my own damn worry, my own damn demons creeping up on me.
“I’m fine,” I say again, sharper now, taking in another breath through my teeth. “Really. It’s just a cramp. A stitch in my side.”
“Maybe you should let me cook,” my mother says. I open my eyes to see both her and Lachlan peering at me, and it’s only this sight, borderline comical, that gives me the strength to push past it all.
“No, no, no,” Lachlan says, straightening up but not letting go of my arm. “Mrs. Moore, you go sit down. Kayla, you sit down with your mum. I’ll cook.”
I stare at him dumbly. “You’d do that?”
“Of course, love,” he says, kissing me quickly on the forehead. When he pulls away though, his eyes are sharp and delivering a message. “Go be with your mum,” he tells me quietly.
I nod, stupefied by him. “What are you going to make?” I ask him feebly as my mom heads into the living room, looking at me over her shoulder.
“Go and be with your mum,” he repeats, and I sense some weird urgency in his voice that makes my heart do a couple more somersaults in the wrong direction. “I’ve got this, aye?”
I turn and head out into the living room, sitting on the couch as my mom settles down in her armchair, reaching for her knitting needles. She’s in good spirits though, stealing glances at me as I flip on the television and scroll through the channels to find something she might like. The Big Bang Theory it is.
But she’s not paying attention. She’s watching me fully. “Are you okay?” she asks me.
“Yes, yes.” I wave her away. “Are you okay?”
She sighs lightly, looking down at her needles and seeming to be lost in her own little world for a moment. Finally she says, “I was…not feeling well today. Tired. Dizzy.”
I swallow a lump in my throat. “Mom. When you feel like that, you know you need to call your doctor.”