Page 6 of Succeeding Love

Ex:| says who?

Me:| you, every time I made it.

Ex:| I kind of miss it now.

I sighed, not wanting to argue further. I know he hates lasagna. He would complain every time I made anything with tomato sauce in the past.

Seconds later, he texted me again.

Ex:| Jessie mentioned wanting all of us to eat dinner as a family again like we used to. I just want to make her happy. I haven’t been able to hold a conversation with Preston lately, either. Please.

I couldn’t say no to that.

Me:| okay. Dinner should be done by 6.

~

Kevin

I watched the pretty young neighbor woman walk back to her house and into the garage; her smile turning more and more sad with every step. She was far too small to be carrying so much weight on those slim shoulders of hers. It made a man want to reach out and comfort her, but in the brief conversation we had, I don’t think the woman is the kind to cry on the shoulder of a stranger.

I’ve been through divorce. It was a long ass time ago, but I can still remember the sting of every reminder that you failed at the one thing you’re supposed to fight for harder than anything else. I’ve been there and understood her pain. All of it. The darkest time in my life was coming home from a sixteen month-long tour to another man moved into my house, sleeping in my bed next to my wife. That was twelve years ago, but the memory still drives a stake through my heart when I least expect it.

“Mom, it might not be best to bring up other people’s relationship troubles like that. You could hurt them.”

Mom looked puzzled for a second. “Relationship troubles? Are you having relationship troubles again? Is it Mindy?”

There it is. The dull stabbing pain at the mention of that woman’s name. Mom’s mind seems to be stuck in the past more than it’s not lately and she sometimes thinks I’m still in my marriage.

“No, mom. Your neighbor. The one with the dog named Kevin,” I smiled at the dog’s name. That woman seemed soapologetic about naming her dog the same name as me, but I really didn’t mind. It was flattering.

Mom still looked confused.

“I think her name is Feighlynn.”

“Oh! Have you met Feighlynn?! Sweet woman. Her and her kids are so helpful to me. It’s too bad that the scoundrel of a husband left her for another woman. A colleague, no less.” My mom sighed, shaking her head while staring at that woman’s house. “Bless her heart. Left her on her birthday too. It was the talk of the neighborhood, seeing him leaving their house with a suitcase and that guilty look on his face. I would have just died.”

“Mom, that’s what I’m talking about,” I groaned, rubbing my hand up and down my face, then cringing when it smelled like a dog. A dog named Kevin. Kevin needs a bath.

“Talking about what, dear?” mom strained herself, bending down over the flower bed to pick out a few yellow leaves at the bottom.

“Nothing, mom. I’m going to finish unpacking.”

Her mind must be taking a turn again. She was fine most of the day, but I think the stress of me moving in is getting to her.

When I got a call from her months ago when she was having a moment of clarity, she told me she might have to move soon because she was getting too forgetful to live on her own. She had mortgaged her home a few years ago to do some major repairs, and had been forgetting to make the payments. Her house was going into foreclosure, and she didn’t know what to do.

Since I was already leaving the Army and trying to figure out my next steps, I bought the house from her and startedpreparing to move after I left the military. It took several months to sort out all her banking shit, and to get to where I could purchase the house, but it’s now officially in my name, and I can stay here and take care of my mom until I figure out what to do next.

By the time I finished unpacking the sparse belongings I brought, it was already getting dark outside. I got my old childhood room as livable as I could for now. I just needed to buy a better, bigger bed in the next few days. Right now, I needed to lock up the uhaul for the night. I’ll unload all my army shit into the attack tomorrow before taking it to be dropped off.

“Oh, Kevin! Just the person I want to see,” mom sang out, clapping her hands when I finished with the truck and walked into the kitchen. She had a pretty bouquet made from her greenhouse flowers arranged in a vase with a ribbon around the curve of the glass. The ribbon had a ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ pattern. “It’s my neighbor’s birthday today, and I always give her a little something just to say thanks for all the help she gives me. Would you mind running this over for me? I would hate to trip in the dark and ruin her gift.”

She may be forgetful, but the flickers of the sweet woman that raised me still shine through often, which is why I could never put her in a home or leave her on her own during the last years of her life.

I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze. “Sure, mom. I’ll take it for you.”

The Dinner

---