BETRAYAL~

When I described the scene I had walked in on to Kim, including the sight of Richard with his head tipped back, mouth agape, looking at me with a glassy, uncaring stare, unwanted tears had started to form in my eyes.

Kim patted my knee and said, "Honey, that's just the head face. They all get it when they're getting a blow job." Then she dropped her face into an exact replica of the blank look Richard had given me, and we both whooped with laughter.

The memory made me smile. The message I had left on Kim's mirror was perfect. She really does make everything better.

As I walked along the lakeshore, I noticed that tourists were starting to trickle into town. It was mid-April, still early for snowbirds and vacationers, but each year the tourism season seemed to be starting earlier and lasting later into the fall. For a small, quiet town like Colleen Shores, Nairobi, that was great news for the local businesses, like the trendy shop that had employed me since I moved here.

I decided to go see grandma Kris who also lives in the neighborhood. As soon as I opened the door she attacked me with questions. "How was it? Did you two hit it off? Was it love at first sight? Are you going out again? Why aren't you telling me all about it?"

"I was waiting for you to take a breath." I smiled at her. She looked lovely today with a sunshine yellow scarf tied in her unruly red curls and, a Bohemian skirt flowing around her. In typical Kris Black fashion, she was wearing turquoise Converse high-tops. The combination would not be flattering to most, but somehow she made it work.

She looked so hopeful that I hated to disappoint her by telling her about my less than stellar date with Lucas. I decided it would be best to rip the bandage off quickly. "It's a no-go," I said.

"Not even one more date?" she tried. To her credit, when I shook my head, she let it drop immediately. "No worries," she said as she breezed past me. "Plenty of sardines in the can."

I chuckled at the motto she had chosen, as unique as Kris herself. Kris has tried her best to be their for me since my parents passed away. She was there to help me through the complete devastation of the loss of my parents, and the crumbling of my marriage in a way that is much appreciated.

She knew that the money from my inheritance and company made it so that I didn't need to worry about financial freedom. I needed to work on my sanity and keep the company running. 

I began turning on the myriad of twinkling lights that dotted the store when Kris propped the bright purple front door open, jingling the bells on the handle and yelling down the sidewalk, "Tchotchkes! Get your one of a kind artsy fartsy treasures here!"

Dad opened a store for her before he passed, so that she doesn't stay all by herself everytime. At least she gets to interact with people. Grandma Kris so loved her job, people already knew her for it, they couldn't resist her magnetic charm, and it wasn't long until the store was bustling with activity. I liked being busy and helping people find the perfect gift for a loved one or a special souvenir. It was terrific getting to see people when they were at their most relaxed and happy.

I smiled as I watched Grandma open a huge cardboard box that contained the new teapot line we would be carrying. The ceramic teapots were animal shaped, and they were beautiful. Grandma exclaimed over each one like a child on Christmas morning. "Look at the giraffe! Oh, I think the dolphin is my favorite! Such beautiful colors on this parrot! Oh, Kylie, look. The cow has a calf." She bubbled with uninhibited joy as the crowd that had gathered around her leaned in to see what she would discover next.

Suddenly, I felt almost overwhelmed with gratitude. Kim and Grandma were two of the most wonderful people on Earth, and they are my only family now. My parents had left me a magnificent cottage within steps of the beach in a beautiful town, which I had been able to escape to after my divorce. I was an incredibly lucky lady.

The only thing missing was a man in my life, but who needed one of those, anyway? In my brief history with them, they seemed to be far more trouble than they were worth.