the kitchen.
They were still on the floor, right where they’d landed after Diane threw them at him.
A hot soup of anger and pain bubbled in his core. Snatching up the flowers, he stalked across the kitchen and shoved them into the garbage disposal.
The mechanisms coughed against the strain of the thick vines, but eventually the whole bouquet disappeared. Clutching the sides of the counter, Kai hung his head.
Talk about being a fool.
He was so careful in everything he did. So astute in business and personal relationships. Until her.
The moment Diane came along, everything changed. Now he couldn’t wait for life to change back to the way it had been.
Unfortunately, he got the sense that shift wouldn’t be immediate. And maybe he’d never be the exact man he was before Diane. For better or worse, he’d been changed forever in ways he hadn’t yet begun to fathom.
The ringing of his phone made him spin around, heart leaping into his throat. A second ago he’d told himself he was done with Diane, yet here he was hoping that was her calling.
It wasn’t, though. It was his mom.
Kai frowned down at the phone, debating whether or not he should answer. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, but he’d been pretty scarce the last couple of weeks and his parents deserved more than that.
“Hi, Mom,” he answered, pressing the phone to his ear and walking into the living room.
“There you are! I called you the other day. Did you see it?”
He only then remembered the two missed calls from his mother. He’d meant to return them but had forgotten all about them almost right away.
“Right. Sorry. It’s been a busy week.” He took a seat on the sofa that faced the floor-to-ceiling windows and stared at the city outside.
It was always a busy week. So while that wasn’t a lie, it wasn’t exactly the truth either.
“That’s okay,” she said. “How was your trip?”
“It was okay.” He closed his eyes. God, he couldn’t even carry a simple conversation. He needed to make up some excuse and get off the phone before his mother realized something was wrong and began a maternal interrogation.
“Just okay?” She made a humming noise. “Kai, what’s wrong, honey?”
He sighed and opened his eyes. “It’s nothing, Mom. Just…life.”
“You mean work?”
“There’s more to life than that one thing.” He chuckled dryly.
“Oh, I know. But I’m not so sure you do.”
That hit home pretty hard.
“Or is this about that nice girl you’ve been seeing?” his mom asked. “Diane.”
Kai ran his palm over his mouth. That’s right. He’d told his parents all about Diane, back when things were going great between them and he’d felt like he was on top of the world.
“Diane and I aren’t seeing each other anymore,” he said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. When did that happen?”
“Er…”
Multiple times in recent weeks.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it,” his mom said. “It happens. You know, your father and I probably broke up half a dozen times until we became serious. We were never in the same place.”
Kai was sure her intention with that story was to make him feel better, but it only did the polar opposite. After nearly forty years together, his parents were still in love. They looked at one another like their partner had hung the moon.
It was hard to imagine himself and Diane ever getting to that place. Mostly because he was exhausted after holding out so much hope. He was ready to throw in the towel and wake up to a new day.
“Thanks, Mom,” he said. “I don’t think it’s wise to hold my breath, though.”
“Of course it isn’t. You need to get on with your life. Waiting around for anything or anyone is never wise. My point is merely that you never know what’s coming next, and that’s something to be joyful over.”
He let those words of wisdom sink in. Despite the nightmare he’d found himself in the middle of, they made him feel slightly better.
“What are you and Dad up to?” he asked.
“You know what? We’re actually going camping today. We’re leaving in a few hours.”
“Really?” Kai glanced at the wall clock. It was eight thirty. He was later for work than he’d ever been. In California, it was five thirty in the morning, not even light out.
His mother, the chipper lady she’d always been, spoke with an energy that suggested it was already late in the day.
“Where are you going camping?” he asked.
“You know that state park we always say we