her glass with water from the pitcher on the counter and turned to find her dad watching her. “What?”
“You love that beer.”
“Sometimes.” She busied herself with drinking the water. “Hey, what’s up with the Dawson account? Is that still happening?”
“It is. I texted you earlier about it. Didn’t you see it?”
“I saw it,” Ruby said. “Of course I did.”
Diane’s teeth clenched. No one said anything for a long moment. Once Ruby went back to flipping through her coloring book, Trevor spoke up.
“It would be nice if you responded to messages sooner,” he said. “I know that I’m probably selling the business, but right now we still have to remain as professional as we always have.”
Diane’s fingers curled around her water glass. The daughter in her wanted to retort, but the employee in her knew he was right and felt deeply shameful.
“I know,” she said. “And I’m sorry. I was busy and didn’t see it.”
He cocked his head, and Diane knew right then she’d taken a wrong step.
“I thought you said you weren’t busy today,” he said.
“Did I?” She shrugged. “I don’t know, Dad. I was preoccupied, but the day flew by. Maybe that’s it. Why are you grilling me?”
“I’m not grilling you,” he said in that nonchalant voice that was only meant to hide the fact that he was intensely interested in something. “You’re a grown woman. You don’t have to tell me where you were this afternoon. I’m just curious, is all.”
Diane got to work setting the table. “Okay.”
She could come up with any number of excuses, ranging from being at the dentist to visiting a friend who needed her.
Problem was, anything she offered up would be another lie, and she was tired of lying.
The table set, they took their places. Ruby had put away the coloring book and was staring off into space.
“You want anything to drink, Mom?” Diane asked.
Ruby blinked her eyes into focus. “Oh. Um, yes.”
“Water?”
“Okay.”
“I have it.” Trevor pushed his chair out and got the water.
Diane bit her lip. She was closest to the water pitcher. It would have made more sense for her to do it.
Taking a deep breath, she sat a little straighter. “Actually, I…I do have something to tell you.”
Her heart beat faster. Time to own her life decisions.
Not only own them, but own them with pride.
“What’s that?”
Her father returned to the table, where Ruby was having trouble cutting up her lasagna.
“Damn this,” Ruby seethed. “Damn knife doesn’t work!”
She threw the knife to the floor, which caused Diane to inhale sharply and Trevor to close his eyes.
“I have it,” Diane whispered. She picked the knife up, put it in the sink, and drew a clean one from the silverware drawer.
“It’s okay, Mom,” she said. “These knives can be tricky.”
Her mother’s hands shook, and her head was down.
“Here, dollface,” Trevor said. “I have it.” He leaned over and, taking her knife and fork in hand, did the work for her. “Here we go,” he said softly. “And don’t forget about your salad.”
Tears filled Diane’s eyes, and she had to look away. It was like watching her dad with a little kid, not a woman who was his partner.
Because she wasn’t his partner anymore. She was his dependent.
With a shock, Diane realized she hadn’t spent near enough time dwelling on that. So many people got married, thinking they had found someone who would be by their side till the end. An equal, someone to share all the highs and lows of life with.
Her parents had been robbed of one of the best parts of their golden years. They had each other, sure, but life was no longer about intimacy. It had become about survival.
After only a minute, her mother calmed down and began eating.
“Where were we?” Diane’s dad turned to her. “What were you telling me?”
“Um, nothing.” She forced a smile. “It’s not important.”
Chapter 13
Kai
The sushi restaurant’s back room was quiet, all of the hubbub confined to the front part of the building. Kai’s assistants had booked the private room for the afternoon’s meeting with some Hong Kong clients, and the talk had gone on for hours.
At nearly three o’clock, the last client finally left. Only Brie, Kai, and his assistant Oren remained in the room.
“Set me a reminder to follow up with everyone who was here today,” Kai told Oren.
The eager young man nodded and tapped away on his phone. “Anything else?”
Brie jiggled the sake bottle on the table. “There’s still some of this left.”
“Have a car wait for us,” Kai told Oren.