Kate & Kylie - Part 4

 Good morning and happy Friday!

Yes, Friday. Again. The 26th of August to be exact. How it can possibly be almost the end of August is still a puzzlement to me. I mean I am looking forward to fall and stuff, but everything is moving way too quickly. I've hardly written a thing all month! I blame part of that on Little League. :) But that's okay. It wasn't all the fault of Little League. There were some other things going on this month that made my brain feel like it couldn't create, but now it's getting back into the creative mood.

I got Lawrence & Lenexa corrected and will start formatting it soon. I still have to get a synopsis and design a cover for it. Not sure when either of those will happen, but hopefully I can publish this book within a few months if not sooner.

Things are going to be busy today and tomorrow.

Today Dad and I are going to repaint one wall in the living room because when we redid the room next to it last year, we widened the doorway, which meant we had to take all the trim off. We also had some other things that scratched up or messed up the wall. We had painted over those but it was with a satin paint instead of a flat, so we have shiny spots on the wall. But once we get it repainted, Dad can finally get the trim up. Then I'm hoping to maybe get the rest of the spackling done in the hall and on the trim pieces that get put up in the living room. I don't know if I'll get to paint over all the nail holes I filled in or not since I have to wait until Dad caulks some places that are too wide for spackling.

Tomorrow there are a lot of volleyball games that my oldest niece and four oldest nephews are playing in. I don't know how many my mom and sister will be at, and if any of the younger nieces and nephews will come over here to hang out and play or take naps. (We live a few blocks away from where the games are played.) So Saturday is going to be a we'll-see-what-happens sort of day. 

Well, I hope you enjoy this next part of this story. I need to figure out what else I should post on here since I can't give you all of Kate & Kylie. Anyway, enjoy!

 

 Kate & Kylie

Part 4

The moment Mitch disappeared, several of the girls from Kylie’s group rushed over.
    “Are you okay, Miss Kylie?”
    “I can’t believe Jeff had that potato gun in the restaurant!”
    “Does it hurt really bad?”
    “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
    “Do you have to go to the hospital?”
    Somehow Kylie managed to smile and reassure them that besides having a headache, she was fine and hungry. “Go back and eat lunch. Your parents will be around to pick you all up in a little while.”

*

    “Kylie? Earth to Kylie.”
    With a blush, Kylie brought her mind back to the present. “Sorry. Just remembering another time.”
    “Like our first lunch together? I’m not sure we could call it a date since there was a room full of kids.”
    “Yeah, kids with potato guns that we somehow didn’t know about.” Kylie rubbed her head as though she still felt the throbbing headache. “I still can’t believe someone was crazy or dumb enough to mess around with one of those in a restaurant of all places.”
    “Somehow,” Mitch said, “I don’t think they ever tried that again. Giving you a concussion scared everyone. Even me.”
    Kylie glanced around the room and then back to Mitch. “I was thankful you were there. I did not want to be hauled off to a hospital instead of going home.”
    “Crazy how accidents keep bringing us together. First the potato gun, then the little girl at the fireworks.”
    “Actually, you were already sitting at my table before that potato hit me,” Kylie retorted.
    “True.”
    Their lunch was brought out, and after Mitch had asked a quiet blessing over their meal, they began to eat.
    “So,” Mitch said into the momentary lull of talk brought on by both beginning to eat, “what have you been doing for two years?”
    That was the question Kylie had secretly been dreading. She had hoped to ask him first and get him talking. She shrugged. “Not much. What about you?”
    Placing one elbow on the table as though settling in for a debate, Mitch narrowed his twinkling eyes at her. “Oh, no, you don’t. That answer is not an answer.”
    “It is so,” Kylie retorted.
    “Details, Kys.”
    In an effort to buy more time, Kylie took a bite of her meal. Mitch did the same, his eyes never leaving her face. Kylie dropped her gaze and began playing with her fork. The last two years were empty as far as anything interesting went.
    “Come on, Kys, I know you must have done something in the two years since we’ve been in contact.”
    She shook her head. “Not really. I kept living with my aunt and took care of her until she passed away last year. Then I house sat for some friends who were going to be gone for six months. After that I came to live with Kate and Joe since he was often gone for training and she was pregnant.” She gave a shrug and prepared to take another bite. “Your turn.”
    “If all we’re giving are the bare minimum, my two years are even more boring than yours,” Mitch teased. “I took that internship in Geneva, Switzerland, and then finished my internship here in the States. I got my license, and now I’m working here at the hospital as a doctor.”
    “What was it like in Switzerland?”
    “I’ll answer if you promise to answer my questions.”
    Wondering if she’d regret it later, Kylie agreed. She hoped she could just keep Mitch busy or that Kate would call, for she wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about her two boring years.
    For several minutes Mitch shared stories about his time in Geneva working in a hospital, and Kylie listened with interest. She used to dream of traveling, but life wasn’t going the way she had thought it would.
    “Your turn.”
    “Um, okay.” Kylie took a bite.
    “Why don’t you want to talk about what you’ve been doing?”
    Startled by Mitch’s question, Kylie choked on her chicken and started coughing.
    “You okay?”
    Taking a drink, she nodded. “Fine.” She coughed a few more times and then wiped away the tears that had come. “Sorry.”
    “So? Why don’t you want to talk about what you’ve been doing?”
    She drew a quick breath. Might as well tell him. “I haven’t done anything, Mitch. My life was dull, boring and–well, all those things we used to talk about didn’t happen. I didn’t change anyone’s life or make the world a better place because of something I did. I just lived with my aunt, took care of a house, and then came to live with my sister and her husband. It was pretty pathetic as far as making a difference goes.”
    “Did your aunt need your help?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Then her life was better because of the help and care you gave her. Did you attend church, meet anyone new, interact with anyone when you house-sat.–It’s rather strange to think of house-sitting, like it needed you to feed it or something–” He paused and chuckled. “Anyway, did you become involved at all with anything?”
    “Yeah, I kept going to the same church we attended, and I met the neighbors. But they didn’t need me. I didn’t change anything by staying at that house.”
    Mitch had finished eating and now pushed his plate away. Folding his arms on the table, he leaned forward. “So you kept teaching and helping with the youth events at church?”
    Kylie nodded.
    “Then you have no idea what will happen to the seeds you planted in the minds of those kids.”
    “Anyone could have done that, or taken care of Aunt Luan, or mowed Mr. Gressup’s yard, or done any of those things, Mitch. I wanted to do something different–special. I–” She looked down at her phone and checked the time. “I should probably go.”
    “Kys,” Mitch’s voice was quiet. “Are you running away, or does Kate need you?” 

 

What is your favorite season?

Have you ever traveled to another country?

Do you have a busy or quiet weekend planned?