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.She d have to swing by the post office to get some more, and she made a notation on thepad by the phone before remembering that  swinging by had taken on a whole new meaning.Ifit wasn t so pathetic, she would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.A bicycle.Lord have mercy. Trying to look on the bright side, she told herself that at least she d get in shape.Within a fewmonths she might even be a little thankful for the extra fitness. Look at those legs, sheimagined people saying,  why, they re just like steel.However did you get them? I ride my bike.This time she couldn t help but giggle.She was twenty-nine years old and she d be tellingpeople about her bike.Lord have mercy.Denise shook off the giggles, knowing they were simply a reaction to stress, and left the kitchento check on Kyle.Sleeping soundly.After adjusting the covers and a quick kiss on his cheek, sheheaded outside and sat on the back porch, wondering yet again if she d made the right decisionto move here.Even though she knew that it was impossible, she found herself wishing she dbeen able to stay in Atlanta.It would have been nice sometimes to have someone to talk to,someone she d known for years.She supposed she could use the phone, but this month itwouldn t be possible, and there was no way she was going to call collect.Even though herfriends probably wouldn t care, it wasn t something she was comfortable doing.Still, she wanted to talk to someone.But who?With the exception of Rhonda at the diner (who was twenty and single)-and Judy McAden-Denise didn t know anyone in town.It was one thing to lose her mother a few years back, it wasa completely different situation to lose everyone she knew.Nor did it help to realize that it washer own fault.She d chosen to move, she d chosen to leave her job, she d chosen to devote herlife to her son.Living this way had a simplicity to it-as well as a necessity-but sometimes shecouldn t help thinking that the other parts of her life were slipping by without her even knowingit.Her loneliness, though, couldn t simply be blamed on the move.In retrospect, she knew thateven while she was in Atlanta, things had begun to change.Most of her friends were marriednow, a few had kids of their own.Some had stayed single.None, however, had anything incommon with her anymore.Her married friends enjoyed spending time with other marriedcouples, her single friends enjoyed the same life they had in college.She didn t fit into eitherworld.Even those who had children-well, it was hard to hear how wonderful their kids weredoing.And talking about Kyle? They were supportive, but they would never really understandwhat it was like.Then, of course, there was the whole man thing.Brett-good old Brett-was the last man she ddated, and in reality it hadn t even been a date.A roll in the sack, perhaps, but not a date.What aroll, though, huh? Twenty minutes and boom-her whole life changed.What would her life belike now if it hadn t happened? True, Kyle wouldn t be here.but.But what? Maybe she dbe married, maybe she d have a couple of kids, maybe she d even have a house with a whitepicket fence around the yard.She d drive a Volvo or minivan and spend every vacation atDisney World.It sounded good, it definitely sounded easier, but would her life be any better?Kyle.Sweet Kyle.Simply thinking about him made her smile.No, she decided, it wouldn t be better.If there was one bright spot in her life, he was it.Funnyhow he could drive her crazy and still make her love him for it.Sighing, Denise left the porch and walked to the bedroom.Undressing in the bathroom, shestood in front of the mirror.The bruises on her cheek were still visible, but only slightly.Thegash on her forehead had been closed neatly with stitches, and though she would always have ascar, it was near the hairline and wouldn t be too obvious.Other than that, she was pleased with how she looked.Because money was always such aconcern, she never kept cookies or chips in the house.And since Kyle didn t eat meat, sheseldom had that, either.She was thinner now than she was before Kyle had been born-hell, shewas thinner than she was in college.Without her even trying, fifteen pounds had simply meltedaway.If she had the time, she d write a book and title it Stress and Poverty: The GuaranteedWay to Lose Inches Fast! She d probably sell a million copies and retire.She giggled again.Yeah, right. As Judy had mentioned in the hospital, Denise did resemble her mother.She had the same dark,wavy hair and hazel eyes, they were roughly the same height.Like her mother, she was agingwell-a few crow s-feet in the corners of her eyes, but otherwise smooth skin.All in all, she didn tlook too bad.In fact, she looked pretty good, if she did say so herself.At least something was going right.Deciding to end on that note, Denise put on a pair of pajamas, set the oscillating fan on low,and crawled under the sheets before turning out the lights.The whir and rattle was rhythmic, andshe fell asleep within minutes.With early morning sunlight slanting through the windows, Kyle padded through the bedroomand crawled into bed with Denise, ready to start the day.He whispered,  Wake up, Money, wakeup, and when she rolled over with a groan, he climbed over her and used his little fingers to tryto lift her eyelids.Though he wasn t successful, he thought it was hilarious, and his laugh wascontagious. Open your eyes, Money, he kept saying, and despite the ungodly hour, shecouldn t help but laugh as well.To make the morning even better, Judy called a little after nine to see if they were still on fortheir visit.After gabbing a little while-Judy would be coming over the following afternoon,hurray!-Denise hung up the phone, thinking about her mood from the night before and thedifference a good night s sleep could make.She chalked it up to PMS.A little later, after breakfast, Denise got the bikes ready.Kyle s was ready to go; hers wasdraped with cobwebs she had to wipe off.The tires on both bikes, she noticed, were low but hadenough air to get into town.After she d helped Kyle put on his helmet, they started toward town under a blue and cloudlesssky, Kyle riding out in front [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]