Perfect Contradiction Read Free

told Beth I was going in today. I didn’t need her worrying about me going by myself when she was on her honeymoon in the Bahamas. Sighing, I sat down at my kitchen table and sorted through the shoe box of bills. They were really beginning to pile up. I’d used a good portion of my momma’s life insurance on the funeral and paying off medical bills. I wasn’t exactly hurting for cash, but I didn’t want to get to that point either. My momma had floated most of the bills when she was healthy by working two jobs when I was growing up. I was going to have to figure out what I wanted to do for income. I’d taken care of my momma for so long that I hadn’t really put much thought into what I would do when she was gone.
    I glanced around my kitchen and smiled to myself. My momma had been toying around with an idea several months before she got really bad. She’d thought about getting a small loan, then putting a bit of money into the house and renting out rooms. Turning our family home into a small, country bed-and-breakfast was one of her dreams. I thought about it as I stared out of the kitchen window with my chin in my hand. It would be a lot of work. It’d take some money. I did have five extra bedrooms and a ton of extra square footage. I could even do the baking, which I loved, for the boarders. Maybe even set up a small room in the house to sell baked goods. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. Glancing up at the clock, I sighed. I’d have to think about it later; I didn’t want to run late for my appointment.

    Hurrying out of the house, I jumped in my little car and drove out of town, thoughts of the bed-and-breakfast spinning around in my mind as I went. When I got to the doctor’s office, I had to remind myself several times that I wasn’t here to hear any bad news—I was just here to run some simple blood tests and get a physical. I’d never been to the office by myself, and it was more difficult than I thought it would be. I took a deep breath and got out of my car. I could do this .
    The staff all knew me by name, and I really did like every one of them, it was just hard seeing them, knowing I’d been there with Momma so many times when she was sick. The office was a difficult place for me to visit.
    “Jennifer Collins?” I rose from my chair in the waiting room and followed the nurse to the back. She made small talk as she wrote a few notes down and weighed me. I’d gained four pounds since the last time I’d been to see them with Beth almost six weeks ago. She was happy to see me put on a few pounds. I hadn’t even noticed, but I guess my clothes were starting to fit me again. They had started getting a bit loose when my momma died. She took my blood pressure, asked me how I was feeling, and then took a few vials of blood.
    “Here ya go, Jennifer. There’s a bathroom a few doors down. Just leave the cup inside when you’re done, and I’ll meet ya back in this room with the doctor when you’re finished.” I nodded and took my little cup to do my business. When I came back, I sat down in a chair and flipped through Time magazine. After twenty minutes passed, I glanced over at the door. The doctor was usually very prompt. I’d just begun to get concerned when the doctor and the nurse came back into the room.
    “I was just about to go looking for y’all,” I said. The doctor smiled at me and asked me how I’d been since I last saw him. I told him that I was doing well, but I was still battling fatigue since the funeral.
    “Jen, when was the last time you had a cycle?” he asked as he made some notes on my chart.
    “Cycle?” I asked in confusion.
    “Yes, your menstrual cycle, I mean.” I blushed and glanced over at the nurse. She smiled at me in encouragement.
    “Ah, let me think.” I felt like such an idiot. Of course he meant menstrual cycle. I thought for a few seconds, trying to remember my last. So much had happened in the past two months, with my mom being