He turned from the window and faced his father, cradling the full coffee cup. For two supposedly smart people, he and Olivia had been dumb, especially him. He had pushed her yesterday, and he should have known better. She was100 percent right about their fake relationship being a horrible idea. But he didn’t want it to end. He’d been selfish and blurted out his feelings, then blown it when he couldn’t promise to put her first.
“I did something stupid, Dad. Really stupid.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “Stupid” didn’t even begin to cover it. Even “imbecilic” didn’t come close. Taking a breath, he explained everything to his father, including how badly he’d handled his other two opportunities with Olivia.
“So you and Olivia aren’t together?” Dad asked, confused.
Kingston shook his head. “No. We never have been. And it’s my fault. The first two times I let work get in the way. Or rather my inability to manage my schedule. This third time, I knew we were just pretending and that our fake relationship was only going to last a short time.”
“But you weren’t faking it.”
“I tried.” He sat back, looking at the rain again. “But I couldn’t.”
“You really care about her.” His father rubbed his chin.
“I do. A lot.”
“Then why are you letting her get away?”
“I don’t have a choice.” Kingston rubbed the back of his neck. “I couldn’t give her what she wanted.”
“Which was?” When Kingston couldn’t answer, Dad slowly took another sip of his coffee. Set it back down just as gradually. “How do you see your life in ten years? Are you married? Have a family? Or single and devoted to your career?” He looked Kingston straight in the eye. “Have you ever thought about whatyouwant?”
Kingston paused. “I always wanted to follow in your footsteps. I’d planned to go into cardiology too.”
Dad frowned. “I wondered if we put too much pressure on you. I didn’t want you to be a carbon copy of me, Kingston.”
“I’m not. I love being a pediatrician. Once I did my pediatric rotation, I knew that was the field I wanted to go into. I wanted to be successful. Respected. And I am.”
“At what cost?” Now it was his dad’s turn to stare out the window.
It had almost cost him the job he loved. It had cost him Olivia.
After a few moments of silence, his father turned to him. “Looks like the rain has dried up. Ready to play?”
Kingston nodded, but golf was the last thing on his mind, and it showed as they played nine holes. His score was abominable, but his father had the good grace not to say anything. He also didn’t press him for anything else about Olivia or his job, and Kingston was grateful. As they parted ways, he started to shake his father’s hand. To his surprise, his dad put his arm around Kingston’s shoulder.
“You’ll figure it out, son,” he said. “You always do.”
Kingston nodded, although he was doubtful. He might get a grip on his professional life, but he’d lost his chance with Olivia. Three strikes, he was out. And he deserved to be.
***
Erma sat behind the counter of Knots and Tangles and sighed. Her crochet project lay beside her, a shawl similar to the ones Riley and her friends were making. But she hadn’ttouched it all day, even though business was slow. She hadn’t slept well last night, and this morning she’d woken up in a grumpy mood.Sigh.
Riley came out from the back and stopped by the counter, giving Erma an odd look. Then she glanced at the front door. “Why are we still open?” she asked, going to turn the Open sign to Closed and lock the door.
Erma barely glanced at the clock. Almost six thirty. They always closed at five thirty, and usually she was home by now, sitting in her recliner and watching Pat and Vanna. She leaned on the counter and set her chin in her hand.
“Mimi?” Riley was in front of her now, peering at her. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” That was a fib of biblical proportions. She hadn’t been all right since yesterday’s butterflies. She couldn’t get her mind off Jasper, and not only because she felt guilty about hurting his feelings yesterday. She couldn’t stop thinking about his smile. The way he casually rolled the dice. How he tipped small handfuls of peanuts in his mouth without dropping a single one.
The fact that the butterflies had come back... and this time they didn’t go away.
“You’re going to be late for your dance lesson,” Riley said.
“I’m not going.” That was the other thing bothering her. She wasn’t a coward. She owed Jasper an apology, and she needed to give it to him. But for some reason, she wanted to hide instead. Knots and Tangles was the perfect place to do just that.
“Why not?” Her granddaughter frowned.
