Kim shivered in the unseasonably cold weather as she hurried into her parents' home. She still could not believe how quickly the weather had turned and, according to the weatherman, the temperature was supposed to drop to near-freezing during the night.
It's so strange coming back here, she thought as she climbed the porch steps. When she woke that morning, she had told herself that she was finally at home, at her and Shane's house. And now, she was back at her parents.
Don't think about that. Kim silently chastised herself. She had spent almost the entire day thinking about Shane. The elation she had felt the night before was still so close and she could almost feel Shane's touch as he made love to her. But she also could still feel the crushing pain as he destroyed all of her hopes. That pain had threatened to drown her all day, and she had no idea how she would get through the night with no work to distract her and the likelihood that her mother would spend the evening hovering and trying to convince Kim to try to fix things yet again.
Sorry, Mama, but this isn't fixable.
Kim shoved opened the front door and slipped inside the warm house. Quickly closing the door behind her, Kim turned to find Kayla sitting at the kitchen table with her mother. Kayla had Stephanie perched on her lap, while Caroline held Jeannie.
"Mama, Kayla." Kim set her purse on the counter.
"Hi, Kim," Caroline replied, as Kayla gave Kim a soft smile.
Kim walked over, took Jeannie from Caroline, and gave her daughter a kiss. She glanced around. "Where's Andrew?"
"He's downstairs helping your father close up the Market." Caroline apparently caught Kim's worried look as she quickly added, "Don't worry. Mike's down there with them."
Kim relaxed, then joked, "Papa probably has the best security in all of Salem in the shop now." Nobody really laughed, so Kim changed the subject. She looked at Kayla. "I can't believe how big Stephanie is getting."
Kayla smiled and brushed her hand across her daughter's hair. "I know. It always seems to surprise me too - and I see her every day. I realized this morning that she had nearly outgrown the coat I bought her before we went to England."
Kim nodded in agreement as she sat down at the table. "I know what you mean. I tried to put coats on Andrew and Jeannie this morning, and neither one of them had one that fit. This cold spell caught me off-guard, I guess."
"I think it caught everybody off-guard," Caroline chimed in. "Mrs. McDowell was in the Market this afternoon and said that the stores had almost no winter coats in stock. She said she had to go to the mall in Brookville to find one."
"I guess I'm going to have to go over there and get one for Stephanie if this cold snap is going to stick around for a while," Kayla said.
Me too, Kim thought to herself. Then she got an idea. "Why don't we go over there tonight?" She looked at Kayla. "It's still early and the stores are open until 9:00pm. If we go tonight, we might still find a few to choose from." And I can avoid Mama for the evening.
Kayla's eyes appeared to widen in surprise at the invitation. Hesitantly, she said, "I don't know."
"Oh," Kim said, unable to hide her disappointment. "I suppose you need to get home to Steve."
"Actually, I don't," Kayla responded with a shrug. "He . . . uh . . . had something he had to do this evening and he won't be home for awhile."
"Then you should go shopping with Kimmie." Caroline gave Kayla a look. "It will be good for the two of you to do some shopping together - just like when you were kids."
Kim saw Kayla flinch a little at Caroline's remark and knew her sister was thinking the same thing that Kim was - after their fight the other night, a reminder of "when they were kids" was probably not the best encouragement their mother could have given. But Kim figured her mother was right. Having some time together to do something normal, for a change, might do them both some good.
"What do you say, Kay?" Kim asked, giving Kayla an encouraging smile. "Things have been so crazy for so long, it's been forever since we did something as boring as shopping. It would be fun to do it together."
Kayla gave a little chuckle at that. "You're right. A little trip to the mall in Brookville seems attractively unadventurous right now." She gave Kim a warm smile. "And I always love going shopping with my sister. Let's do it."
"Great," Kim said with her own smile. Turning to Caroline, she asked, "Are you okay keeping the kids a little longer?"
"Of course, dear." Caroline grinned broadly at her daughters. "Your father and I will be glad to have some more play-time with our grandchildren."
"Thanks, Mama," Kim said, gratefully, as she handed Jeannie back to Caroline. Kayla put Stephanie down with her toys. Kim watched as Kayla walked to the phone and left a short message for Steve telling him about their plans.
When Kayla was finished, she walked to the door where Kim stood with their purses. Kim had just opened the door when Andrew burst in from downstairs.
"Mommy!" he yelled, barreling into the room.
"Hi, honey," Kim said. She knelt and gave Andrew a hug.
Andrew looked from Kim to Kayla. "Where are you going?"
"Your Aunt Kayla and I are going to do some shopping for new coats for you and Jeannie and Stephanie."
"I wanna go," Andrew said determinedly. "I wanna pick my own coat."
Kim's first instinct was to say "no." The shopping trip would be easier without a five-year-old along, not to mention that there was still the issue of Andrew's safety. But Andrew had been so upset lately, and the move from Shane's house had been yet another upheaval in his life. If he wanted to go shopping with them, Kim did not want to deny him.
Kim glanced at Kayla, who smiled softly and nodded in agreement to Kim's unspoken question. Kim then turned to Mike. "Do you mind tagging along on a shopping trip?"
"Of course not, Ms. Brady," he replied in his usual, neutral tone.
Kim gave Mike a grateful smile and turned back to Andrew. "All right, Andrew. You can come along, but you had better be on your best behavior."
"I will, Mommy," he said with a serious expression. He looked so much like Shane in that moment, it made Kim's heart clinch. Don't think about him, she reminded herself.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed Shane from her thoughts and stood up. She helped Andrew into his too small coat, knowing he would remove it as soon as they got in the car, and took his hand. Then she followed Mike out the front door and grinned back at Kayla. "Okay, Kay, let's get this show on the road."