Kenzie fell quiet for a moment before speaking softly.
"My mom and I used to go to the state fair every year, and a lot of my family would come. One year – I think I was seven or eight – one of my cousins and I went on the Tilt-a-Whirl, which was – and still is, if I'm being honest – my favorite ride. Unfortunately, I had just eaten a lot of cheese curds. Add that to spinning fast, you get a very sick child who throws up as soon as she steps off the ride." She chuckled as she remembered. "My mom took me home and let me eat ice cream and soup while watching whatever movies I wanted for the rest of the day…" She trailed off, the fond memory making her miss her mom more than ever.
Hunter walked over to Kenzie and sat down next to her, rubbing a cat that crawled onto his leg.
“Your mother sounds wonderful,” he murmured. “I wish I could have met her.”
"She was," Kenzie said softly, stroking the cat in her lap. "I wish you could have met her, too."
Hunter said nothing, only putting his arm around Kenzie’s shoulder and pulling her towards him.
“I wish I could take away your pain,” he murmured. “Hide you from the world so no one could ever hurt you again…”
Kenzie sighed shakily, leaning closer to Hunter.
"Yeah… Too bad you can't," she whispered.
“We’ve been here for a while now,” Hunter said. “Do you want to go home?”
"Home sounds good," Kenzie agreed with a slight nod. She grimaced, remembering something. "But I still have to visit Jacob and my dad…"
“You have to, yeah,” Hunter agreed. “And I think you should now, no delays.”
Kenzie groaned.
"I don't want to," she grumbled. "Jacob's gonna try to hug me, and I'll just stand there awkwardly. And my dad is going to get mad, which won't be fun."
“Kenzie,” Hunter sighed. “You know Jacob needs his stepdaughter right now. He’s suffering. He just lost his wife. You need to be there for him.”
"I know," Kenzie sighed. "It's just that… it'll be really hard…"
“It will be,” Hunter agreed. “But, that doesn’t mean you can’t try. It’s hard, but it’ll get better once you actually see them.”
Kenzie hummed in response. She really, really didn't want to see anyone, but she knew she had to. So she would, for her mom.
“All right then, I’ll let Lynn know that we’re done here,” Hunter stood up slowly. “You can go back to the reception. I’ll meet you there, okay?”
(Sorry! I was busy all weekend. Ugh.)
"All right," Kenzie sighed, gently pushing the cat off her lap as she stood.
(It’s all good!)
Hunter went out to tell Lynn that they were leaving, and after a quick goodbye, Hunter made his way towards Kenzie. She looked really sad that it broke his heart, but he knew that Kenzie would make it. She was strong, he knew it. He just had to make sure she didn’t falter.
“Come on, let’s go,”
"Okay," Kenzie said softly. She gently took Hunter's hand in her own, just needing to simply be held.
Hunter squeezed her hand lightly, and soon, they were driving off towards her father.
Fear, pain, heartache, and nervousness all raced through Kenzie as she stared out the window. Too many things were going on, too many things had yet to happen. Everything was just too much.
She cleared her throat a couple of times and tried to blink back the tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes. Why must life be so hard, so cruel?
“Hey,” Hunter murmured. “You’ll get through this. You just have to be strong. Life can suck, but everything depends on how you deal with your situation.”
"Mm-hm," Kenzie hummed in response, still staring out the window. She was thankful that Hunter was there for her, especially now, when she needed him most. He would keep her sane through all of this, make sure she got back up when she fell. She knew he would.
“You wanna listen to music?” Hunter asked. “I’ve got Bluetooth set up, so you can play whatever music you want.”
Kenzie finally turned to face Hunter.
"Is it connected to your phone, or can I connect it to mine?" she asked, her voice soft from the thoughts raging through her mind.
(Pages 33-38 are too cute, honestly.
And page 64 is just… Ugh! XD)
“It can connect to yours, too,” Hunter replied, feeling Kenzie’s eyes on him. “I’ll tolerate your sappy love songs for today.”
(Pages 33-38 are too cute, honestly.
And page 64 is just… Ugh! XD)
(I’ll read them again!)
(Lol. I reread my favorite scenes when I'm bored.)
