Page 147 of His Reckoning

“Yeah, I figured.”

A few seconds of silence stretch between us before he speaks again.

“You didn’t stay your usual amount of time last night.”

“I stayed for two hours.”

“You usually stay for thirty minutes.”

I grip the steering wheel tighter. “Congratulations. You’re tracking my family attendance now?”

“Someone has to.”

I exhale slowly. “What do you want, Cole?”

His tone shifts slightly from joking to something more serious. “Mom liked Kayla.”

“That’s great.”

“So did Dad.”

Something tightens in my chest. “Good for them.”

“That’s not the point.”

I stop at a red light. The city hums around me.

“What is the point?”

Cole sighs. “The point is, Dad noticed something.”

Of course he did. My father notices everything.

“He said you actually looked like you were enjoying yourself for a while.”

I stare straight ahead at the traffic light. Green. Cars begin moving again.

“That’s a problem?”

“No,” Cole says quietly. “It’s the opposite.”

I don’t respond.

Cole continues, “You know it kills him, right?”

My jaw tightens. “Don’t start.”

“You barely come around anymore, unless it’s the mandatory Sunday dinner.”

“I’m busy.”

“Everyone’s busy.” The frustration in his voice is starting to rise. “You built an entire life outside the family. Outside the restaurant. Outside everything.”

“That was the point.”

“I know,” he says. “But it still hurts him.”

I pull into the garage beneath my building. The engine idles.