Page 119 of Totally Shipped
balmy summer evenings, we often hear her voice bellow across the valley, whipping her new recruits into shape.
The academy is going great; a mile-long waiting list and a huge viewership on Netflix. Brooke has created a slick business.
Slick, unlike our wedding. Daisy wanted it DIY and low-key—and that absolutely suits me. Though I still want the floral arch to be just perfect.
I tug on a peony, and Killian puts a hand on my back.
“It’s good, babe.”
I straighten up and lean back into his chest. Killian puts his arms around me, and we take a moment to just…be.
There has been so much change, chaos, and construction over the last year. Building the barn, helping Brooke with her center, repairs at Meemaw’s for Nanda and Nikau…Rex and I have found our thing is construction. And there is a never-ending amount of work for us.
Leander has been working with Daisy, running the children’s literacy program. He’s brilliant with kids, probably because he’s just a big kid himself.
I turn and gently kiss Killian.
He’s back doing sound for film and TV. He’ll sometimes be away for weeks at a time, but that just means we get to have a lot of make up sex when he returns.
Yeah, the last year has been A LOT.
But this wedding is simple. It’s about us, it’s about family, it’s about joy.
Mary and Patrick, aka Mam and Da Lonergan, have been such a great help. So has Killian’s sister, Molly. Killian definitely lucked out in the family department. Rex also kinda got lucky in the end. Sure, I just wish Meemaw and Pops were here.
But Meemaw asked me to do what I thought was best, so Rex does have a parent here.
Linda.
LindaKaminski.
Aka, Rex’s Mom.
After a lot of thought, I decided to write to her. I met her for a coffee and got all the details. Tough Love was a total bastard of a boyfriend—no surprise there. He hadn’t physically abused Linda, but the psychological abuse was real. And mostly hidden from Meemaw and Pops. Linda knew she would never be strong enough to stand up to Thomas Malone, so she ran.
And regretted it for the last thirty years.
She’d reached out to Rex’s dad several times, and each time he’d told her:
“Keep away. Rex wants nothing to do with you.”
Linda is a timid woman; scared of her own shadow.
But now, she and Rex are getting to know each other. And she’s so happy to be here. Rex wanted her directly involved in the wedding prep, but clever Daisy knew it would be too stressful for poor little Linda.
So Daisy, when learning about some of Linda’s interests, which are mostly needlecraft, asked if she would be so kind as to embroider a cloth to lay in Keyara’s flower girl basket.
Linda has not only gained a son, and a baby grandchild, but a grand-niece in Keyara.
She’s over the moon. Or at least we think she is. Linda is very shy and prone to blushing.
The idea of her being crushed by that bully, Tough Love, makes my fucking blood boil.
And yeah, he wasn’t invited.
DAISY
Iwalk down the aisle on my own.
