I Love You Again by Kate Sweeney Page A

sighed and put her head back while she rocked. “There is a certain peaceful feeling here.”
    “Which you will ruin,” Kit said.
    “Does Dale know about Roz?” Bess asked.
    “Nope.” Kit gazed straight ahead.
    “You’ve never told her?” Helen asked.
    “Nope.”
    “Why not?” Bess leaned against the porch railing to look at Kit.
    “The topic never came up. And I don’t see why my past is any of her business or anyone’s, for that matter. It’s between me and Roz.”
    “As it should be,” Helen said simply.
    “Roz has her life. She’s happy.”
    “As she should be.”
    “And I have mine, and I’m happy.”
    “As you’re not.”
    Kit hung her head once again. “Mother, please…”
    “I would leave you alone in a New York minute, whatever that means, if I thought you were happy and content. But you’re not, and you know it. And if Roz were honest, she would admit the same thing. That ridiculous argument over her retirement was just that—ridiculous.”
    Kit turned around. “And I suppose what I wanted was ridiculous?”
    “Yes, quite frankly, it was.” Helen stopped rocking and looked down at Kit. “You were scared of growing old. Good Lord, Kathleen.” She angrily shook her head. “Skydiving, running with bulls. You’re a grown woman who still has the occasional hot flash, and you have menopausal weight gain. Well, join the club. We all have it. You cannot have the body of your youth.” She lifted her cane and pointed to the lodge, “which is what that young woman wants. She wants eye cookies.”
    “Candy,” Kit said miserably, ignoring the childish giggle from Bess.
    “What?”
    “It’s eye candy, Mother.”
    “Oh. That does make better sense.” Helen laughed in spite of her anger. “Darling, if you want to be healthy, I’m all for it. Who wouldn’t want to be? But for heaven’s sake, do it for the right reasons. You’re making up this bucket list for yourself, and it offends those who truly need a bucket list. You’re young and healthy, and you’ll live a long life…”
    “Uncle Bill died young,” she said over her shoulder.
    “He was hit by a car, for heaven’s sake,” Helen said.
    “Well then, Aunt Dot…”
    “Oh, good Lord.” Helen took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “And now I have heartburn.” She poked the end of her cane against Kit’s back. “Look at me.”
    Kit groaned and turned around to her. Her anger softened when she saw the tears well in Kit’s blue eyes. “My darling little fool. We’re all going to die. Unless this cryogenic thing actually works… My point is, sweetie, knock it off. I mean it. You were afraid that Roz and you were going to get old and die. Well, news flash, you are. So am I. So is Bess…”
    “I am not. I’m holding out for that cryogenic idea.”
    Helen laughed, and to her delight, so did Kit.  
    “Let’s get off the death talk. Don’t you think you should at least tell Dale about Roz?” Bess asked.
    “Yes. Unfortunately, now I have no choice.” Kit glared at her mother. “This wasn’t a nice thing to do to her, Mother. Dale may be superficial—”
    “At best.”
    “And I know it was a surprise, but I wish you would have told me about this weekend.”
    “Would you have gone?” Bess asked softly.
    Kit sighed. “I don’t know.”
    “Would you have gone away for the weekend with Dale?”
    “No. For heaven’s sake, we’ve only been dating a couple of weeks.”
    Helen let out a sarcastic snort. “It took less time for you and Rosalind.”
    “That’s what I said,” Bess said.
    Helen continued while Kit just shook her head. “If I remember correctly, you two were rolling naked in the clover—”
    Kit covered her ears then and started humming.
    Helen laughed along with Bess. “You know we’re right.” She then prodded Kit with the end of her cane once again. “All right, all right. I’ll behave. Oh, what’s the surprise Dale spoke of?”
    Kit looked to the heavens. Why? Why is this