Page 25 of Kinsey (Pennington Family #1)

“May I walk with you, Kinsey?” He’d been walking the house since he’d been able to get out of the bed.

It hurt those first few days, and he didn’t think he was ever going to get better.

But here he was walking with just a cane and doing pretty good if he did say so himself.

“I’ve been wondering something since you got home.

Did the doctors tell you why you were so bruised up?

I mean, you seemed to be in fit shape before all this, and you were black and blue all over yourself. ”

“He said it was because I was tense when it happened. And so tense afterwards that my body couldn’t handle anymore strain put on it.

So everything that touched me or people touched me, it left a bruise.

He said that was the only thing he could think of for me, looking like I did.

It was that or I was rolled under the tire a few times and someone didn’t tell me.

” He watched himself carefully when he went up the little stair that led to the dining room.

“I have to be careful about everything until I get used to things. A tiny stair like that could send me to the hospital again. Not really, but I am careful of everything. But I promise you I’m getting better every day. ”

“I know you are, son. I can see it on you.” She walked with him from the dining room through the living room into the den.

It was his routine to do it three times a day until he was able to do it without thinking about every little dust bunny.

“Meggie is working today, I take it. She’s usually with you on these long ventures of yours.

It’s like a treat from me to get to do it with you. ”

“She only goes in two days a week now. As soon as I’m better, she’ll drop down to one.

So we can get to know one another again.

It’s been physical therapy on top of physical therapy since I’ve been home.

” Alice said that he was getting better about that, too.

“Yeah, well, Meggie had a talk with me, and she scared me a bit. Not physically, but I’m not going to complain as much when they come to make me stretch out. ”

They both laughed, and he thought it was funny that he really had been afraid of Meggie a bit.

When she started telling him that if he didn’t want to get better, why did he save himself for her, he took it more seriously.

He didn’t know what he’d do without her in his life right now.

Or anytime for that matter. While he was down too, she’d been teaching him how to invest with his money.

Christ, every time he thought of how much money he had, it would give him the willies.

“Our house is coming along nicely. I noticed that your brothers are doing well, too.” Wylie had built him a house, but the others had purchased one.

And they’d all gotten themselves something to drive around in that while wasn’t brand new, but it was newer than the one they’d been using on the farm.

He shivered whenever he thought of that old truck.

“Have you and Meggie decided what you want to do yet? I know it’s not been that long since you’ve been looking, but I thought that you guys were set to live in her house. ”

“We’ve decided that we want children someday, and if we live in her house, it will cost us more for upgrades than it will to just get something new.

And that includes building. There are only two bathrooms in her old house, and that’s not enough with kids in the house.

At least that’s what she tells me. The old house we lived in only had one, and there were eight of us living there at one time with my grandparents.

So I’m leaving that part up to her knowledge.

” He sat back down in the chair that had been purchased for him to use in the living room.

It was a workout chair that he could do leg lifts with, as well as tone up his arms. “May I ask you why you’re building such a big house?

I thought you’d be downsizing instead of building bigger. ”

“Me too. I thought a lot of things, but David wants to entertain again. We’ve not done that in years.

So when he gets a burr up his bottom, I let him have his way.

It’s that or he does that pouty thing with his lip, and I can’t stand that.

” Kinsey laughed when she did. He’d noticed that pouty thing too.

“But the house does have things in it that are going to make it easier for us when we get older. The master bedroom is on the lower floor, and there is a spa just off the master that will be nice for old bones and tired muscles. I’m not saying that I’m old, but I’m going to be using that room a great deal when we get moved in. ”

“Sounds nice. The house that we had been looking at had one of those spa pools that is big enough to swim in, and the current is whatever you want to set it at. But the rest of the house needed major work, and we passed up on that one.” He lifted his legs up with the weights on them and did that ten times before he upped the amount of weights.

“Have you decided what to do with this house? David seemed like he wasn’t going to be happy selling it off. ”

“That’s something that I wanted to talk to you and Meggie about.

We’d like for you two to live in this house for us.

” He nearly dropped the weight he was using on his foot.

“I know that it’s a big house. Lord, I can’t believe how big this house is at times, but it would be perfect for your growing family someday, and it’s perfectly situated between where your brothers are living.

I think it’s less than ten miles from Wylie’s home.

And only a few minutes more until you get to Gleason’s home. We love for you to have it.”

“It’s a wonderful home and I love it here. But that’s something that I’d have to talk over with Meggie. Do you think that it’s in our budget?” She said that they’d make sure that it was. “We wouldn’t want you to take a loss on the house just for us. You can’t stay rich doing things like that.”

“I know for a fact that it’s in your budget, and we’ll all talk when you talk to Meggie.

” She looked up when one of the housemaids came into the room.

There was a phone call for her. “Well, I should get that. You two talk it over and let us know. David will be back this evening for dinner, and we can answer any of your questions then.” She stood up, and he had to fight hard not to do the same when she stood.

“I love you, Kinsey. Both you and Meggie so very much.”

Then she was gone. Glancing at the clock, he knew that Meggie would be home in another hour, and he still had two hours of exercise to do yet.

Another thing that he had to be careful with was overdoing it.

He had the first couple of days, and that set him back for a week.

So he did what he was supposed to in the allotted time that he set up for himself, and that was all.

No more thinking that he was Superman and could leap over small or large buildings simply because he wanted to by now.

After he was finished and Meggie was home, she helped him with the arm weights, and the two of them talked about the house.

She said that she thought that was what David had planned the other night when he was hinting about it, but of course, he’d not gotten that.

Sometimes he thought he was dense on top of being hurt.

He never caught the little hints that David and Alice would hint to him about things, like the pool.

He’d been able to use the pool, but hadn’t because a pool sounded like it was something personal to a person, like hot bath water.

He’d never get into the bath before his brothers did, just because that was gross.

He didn’t want to gross up another family’s pool.

But David had told him that he had a lift put on the pool so that people with injuries could easily get in and out of it.

There were other hints, too, but he’d not gotten those either.

So he asked David straight up if he could use the pool.

The man looked at him like he was crazy and told him that was why he’d had the lift put in.

Just for him to use. And now there were the house hints that he’d never got.

He supposed that was why Alice came straight out and told him about it.

He never seemed to understand when people were doing things for him.

“I want to talk to you about sex, too.” He looked around to see if anyone was around.

He was embarrassed that Meggie was so free with what she said at times, not at her but for himself.

Kinsey supposed that had to do with being around his grandparents most of his life.

They never talked about anything like that or even hinted.

Not that he ever got any hints that was.

“What are you going to do when one of our kids wants to get advice about sex?”

“Oh, that’s easy, I’m going to tell them to go ask Mom.” She smacked him on the arm and laughed with him. “It’s just that I don’t want anyone to think that we’re having sex in their home.”

“I’m pretty sure when they said we could have the same bedroom, they knew that eventually we’d be having sex.

I’ve spoken to your doctor like you asked me to do, and he said so long as you don’t try to do any barrel rolls or swing from the light fixtures, we should be all right.

We just have to be careful not to do anything too fast or strenuous.

” He said that having sex with her was strenuous.

“Good. I was hoping you were up to this. I miss you.”