Page 4 of The Rebound Play
“Don’t get up. Relax. I got this.”
She slumps back on the sofa. “You’re too good to me.”
I place the bags of groceries on the coffee table and pull the blanket up over her chest. “I’m just doing what anyone would. Can I get you anything before I go? I picked up some supplies. We were running low.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’ve been an absolute saint since Dwayne left.”
“Don’t mention that jerk,” I say softly, referring to her ex who decided the best course of action to deal with his wife’s illness was to skip town. Oh, and run off with Clara’s best friend, too.
I’m certain there’s a special place in hell for people like him.
Clara’s eyes brim with tears. “I wish I’d never married him.”
“But without Dwayne, you’d never have had my beautiful niece and nephew.”
Her lips lift into a soft smile. “You say that every time.”
“That’s because it’s the truth. Where are they, by the way? It’s way too quiet in here.”
“They’re outside in the tree house.”
“I’ll go get them. But first, I’m going to make you a cup of herbal tea. Chamomile or peppermint?”
“Coffee?” she asks with her nose scrunched up, ever hopeful.
I shake my head. “You know the caffeine is not good for you.”
She sighs. “I know, but I thought I’d try anyway. See if I could catch you off guard.”
I busy myself with putting the groceries away in the kitchen as I make a cup of tea. Spotting the kids out the window, I see that Hannah is already in her figure skating outfit, and when I wave at them, they rush back into the house with excited squeals, almost bowling me over with their enthusiasm.
“I’m the captain and you’re my prisoner!” Benny exclaims.
“You’re not going to make me walk the plank again, are you?” I ask.
“The plank! The plank!” he chants in response.
“Let me get my swimsuit first,” I tell him as I tickle him under his arm, and he falls down giggling.
I notice a tear in Hannah’s tights. “Honey, how did this happen?”
“It got caught on a twig,” she replies, placing her hand over the tear. “It’s not my fault.”
“Do you have another pair you could go change into?”
She shakes her head mournfully, and I make a mental note to buy her a new pair next time I’m in town.
“We don’t have time to sew it up now, but I’ll fix it tonight and get it back to you before your next lesson, okay?”
“Thanks, Aunt Kiki,” she replies dutifully, although I’m sure she doesn’t want to wear patched up tights when some kids in her class have brand new everything.
We’ve got to make do with what we can afford. With Clara not being able to work and her idiot of a husband not only out of the picture, but only providing erratic child support and alimony, it’s up to me to hold this family together—and more than just by making tea and hand-sewing up tears in tights.
Supporting my sister and her two kids might not be the way I saw my life turning out, but you do what you’ve got to do for the people you love.
“I’m going to deliver this drink to your mom, and then we’re ready to go. Go get your warm clothes. Layers are our friends on the ice,” I tell her. That and cinnamon rolls. I stuff three into a paper bag to take with us to the arena.
Hannah dashes from the kitchen in a blur of excitement, trailed by Pirate Benny, still ha-haring as he goes. Hannah loves her figure skating class, and I’m so lucky my friend and ice-skating teacher extraordinaire, Ellie Butler, gives us a hefty discount on both the classes and her skates. Figure skating is an expensive sport, and with Benny chomping at the bit to try ice hockey, I’ll take whatever discounts my fellow townsfolk are willing to offer.