“Thanks.” He’d gotten a decent amount of sleep since he was put on mandatory sabbatical. Paired with the haircut, he probably did look better than he had in a while. He sat down on the matching recliner next to his father’s. “Who’s in the lead?”
“Some guy I’ve never heard of.” Dad returned to his seat. “That’s the great thing about golf—anyone can win, as long as the drives are accurate and the putts fall in.” He turned to Kingston. “How’s work going? Keeping busy?”
I wish.Only three days into his “vacation” and he was already at loose ends. He still hadn’t pulled the trigger on booking a trip. The idea of packing for three or four weeks sounded daunting, especially after all the business traveling he’d done lately. He wasn’t burning every candle down to the base anymore, but he still needed to find something to do that would squelch his restlessness.
“Son?”
At his father’s questioning look, he nodded. “Yep. Keeping busy.”
Dad frowned. “Hmm.”
“What do you mean by ‘hmm’?”
His father set the golf magazine down on the coffee table in between the recliners. “You’re being vague. Usually you launch into a list of all the things eating up your time.”
“I said I was keeping busy.”
“Doing what?”
Uh-oh. He’d walked right into that one. He couldn’t lie to his father even if he wanted to. And being a doctor, maybe Dad would understand. He sighed and explained what had happened on his last day at the clinic but left out some key details about how long he was off and his online performance reviews.
“Oh boy.” Dad crossed his legs, his backless leather slipper dangling from his toes. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. I had to learn the same lesson back in the day.”
“You were forced to take a leave of absence?”
“No, but it would have come to that if your mother hadn’t intervened. She rightly pointed out that I spent more time at work than I did at home, and she didn’t marry me to become a single mother. She was so organized and in control, I didn’t realize she needed my help. That was when y’all were little. I think Paisley had just been born.” He sobered. “I wasn’t there for the delivery because of work. That was your mother’s last straw. I’ll admit that even after she set me straight, I wasn’t around as much as I wanted to be. That’s part and parcel with our occupation, isn’t it? I did learn some balance, though. It took some time, but I stopped letting work consume me.”
“How?” Kingston asked. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“I did a lot of soul-searching about what was important to me, and I realized that my job wasn’t as high on the list as having solid relationships with my family.”
A family. Getting married and having kids had always been in the back of his mind, but he’d never taken the time to ponder if that was what he really wanted or if it was just an expectation. He couldn’t even get his act together enough to have a date. How would he handle a family?
His father smiled. “What are you planning to do with all this free time?”
Kingston shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never had any free time before.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. And don’t worry, I won’t tell your mother that you’re on a break—”
“You’re on a break?” Mom sailed into the room, archingone flawlessly groomed eyebrow. “King, why didn’t you tell me?”
Dad tossed him a sheepish glance, then exchanged it for a stern one when he turned to Mom. “Now, Karen, he’s on vacation. Let him be.”
“I wouldn’t dream of infringing on his time off.” She faced Kingston. “But there is one little, teensy-weensy thing—”
“Just tell her no,” Dad muttered.
“If you’re free Monday evening, I’d love for you to take a ballroom dancing lesson with me.” She pouted and looked at Dad. “Your father refuses to go, and I need a partner.”
“I already explained why I can’t go,” Kingston’s father said. “I’m meeting Ron at the driving range that night.”
“You could reschedule.”
Dad scoffed. “It’s hard enough finding a time we’re both free. He’s just as busy as I am. Besides, this was scheduled three weeks ago. You just brought up the lesson yesterday.”
“The flyer had just arrived in the mail.” She stepped closer to Kingston’s recliner. “Just one lesson. And afterward we can get a late supper somewhere. Call me selfish, but it would be nice to have some time with my son.”
“He might already have plans,” his father said, but with less verve than before. He turned to Kingston. “It’s your call.”
