Sender:Look what Max is up to this afternoon.
Max
I checked my phone again.Still no reply from Kari.
I pulled into my subdivision and wondered what was going on with everyone in my life. I left Cane a message and he didn’t call meback. I called Kari and sent her a couple of texts and she failed to respond to either one.
What the hell?
The only person that had answered me was Samantha. She was on her way to meet with Blaine to discuss the night before. It was strange that we were both tied up in these other two people’s lives, but the world was a crazy-ass place. Our conversation had been brief, but Sam had said something that really bothered me.
“Blaine knew about Kari not being able to have kids. You didn’t? That surprises me.”
It hadn’t crossed my mindlike that, but it was true and had taken root deep in the back of my brain. Kari had obviously trusted Blaine with the intimate details of her life and not me. And that hurt like a bitch.
A real fucking bitch.
A neighbor and his son were shooting hoops on the corner of my street and I waved as I drove past. I cracked a smile and hoped it looked real because my mind was focusing on things that made me anything but happy. Shortly after, I pulled into my driveway, trying not to let myself get all amped up. I hopped out of the truck and went into the house. I shut the door behind me and listened.
Silence.
“Kari?” I called, setting my keys in the dish by the door.
I heard the water kick on in the kitchen, so I headed in there. She was sipping from a glass facing the back yard.
“Hey, you,” I said.
She looked at me over the glass, her lashes dark and full.
“How was your day?” I kissed her on the top of her head tentatively. She didn’t react normally—no wrapping of her arms around me, no flirty bats of her eyes. No sassy remarks or teasing lines.
I swallowed passed the fast-forming lump in my throat.
She’s had time to process everything, to really understand what she’s feeling. It’s probably just hitting her that she saw Blaine again. What if she’s second guessing things with me now?
Shit.
She sat the glass down on the counter and walked to the table. “It was good,” she said, her voice controlled, even. “How was yours?”
“Busy. I got lots done at the office this morning and then talked to Grady about this job in Tempe for next week,” I said warily, bracing myself for what was to come.
She didn’t turn to face me, didn’t say anything.
“What’s going on?” A nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach started in, not letting me ignore it. Something was going on with her and I was almost sure I was right.
She knew she wasn’t in love with me, after all. Not the way I loved her.
Not in the way she had once loved Blaine.
Mother. Fucker.
She picked up her phone, her fingers racing across the keys. I wanted to grab her and make her look at me and remember who I was to her.
What he didtoher.
What I would doforher.
But I didn’t. I stood in place, watching her play on her phone. I swallowed roughly, fighting back tears for the first time in a long time.
