Laura smiled at her. “I love you, Cassidy.”

Cassidy’s expression turned serious and she nodded. “I love you too.”

Laura nodded back at her. “We’re going to have so much fun together.” She took her hand and tugged on it. “Come on. Pool.”

Chapter Fifty-Three

“Why am I doing all the work, Laura Sue?”

“I’m helping,” she said as she kicked her legs in the water.

“You are not! You’re weighing me down!” her mother complained.

“Well, this is your therapy, not mine. I’m just along for the ride.”

“I’ll say.”

Laura laughed. They were draped across the float on their stomachs, using their legs to propel them over the water and to the other side of the pool. Well, mostly her mother was.

“You’ve gotten so much better, Mom. You hardly use the walker at all anymore. Doesn’t it feel great?”

“Yes, it does. Thank you for talking me into this all those months ago.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Now that you’ve given me my independence back, does that mean you’re ready to move on? Leave me on my own?”

“If I moved on anywhere, it would be over here, you know. I’d still be here for you every day.”

“You practically live here now.”

Yes, Cassidy had taken to working from home on most Mondays and nearly every Friday. And yes, Laura stayed with her when she was here. But she still saw her mother every day and still cooked some meals for her. Of course, since she was getting along better and could make it to Cassidy’s without the walker now, she joined them for dinner a lot of nights…unless it was one of her TV nights. Despite her newfound independence, she was still hooked on her TV shows.

“I’m a little nervous about meeting her parents,” Laura admitted.

“Why?”

“Maybe they won’t think I’m good enough.”

“Oh, Laura Sue…that’s ridiculous. Cassidy is head over heels in love with you. Anyone can see that. They’ll love you just as much.”

“You’re still coming, right?” she asked, referring to the Labor Day party Cassidy was having. Tanya and Derrick would be there, as well as Dave, Cassidy’s brother. Laura had met him once, when his family came out to see Cassidy’s house. He was much like Cassidy in personality although perhaps a little more serious and a little less playful. Still, he had been very friendly to her. His wife was down-to-earth and so like Tanya that Laura had taken an instant liking to her. She was looking forward to seeing them again. And of course Tanya too. They’d become friends and she and Derrick had been out on several Saturdays over the summer.

“You don’t think I’ll get in the way.”