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“Darling, we’ve been concerned,” Mom began. “We’ve heard that things between you and Hailey are not right.”
I popped open the top button of my shirt, suddenly not getting enough air. Not right was an understatement. She’d left without even a phone call. She sent me a voice message, and then next thing I knew, Cameron called and informed me that Angela had officially taken me on as a client while Hailey was in Houston. That had felt like a punch to the gut. I still hadn’t recovered.
Mom watched me expectantly, clearly waiting for an answer.
“They’re not,” I said shortly.
“But you two were so happy,” Mom insisted.
“Look, I don’t want to rehash this.”
I couldn’t even think about it, because I couldn’t get rid of that sinking feeling that I’d made a fucking terrible mistake.
“What are we having for dinner?” I asked, hoping everyone would take a hint.
Bianca smirked. “Souffle as starter,
but we’re mixing it up, starting with main course, which is called ‘roasting Reid’s ass.’”
“Bianca,” Dad admonished.
“What? It’s true.”
I narrowed my eyes at the three of them. “You’ve asked me here to dinner to give me a hard time?”
I was willing to do anything for my family. Always. But right now, I couldn’t do this.
“Of course not,” Mom said. “We’ve asked you here to help you.”
“Help me?” I parroted back.
Bianca laughed. “Told you he’d be shocked. Worst case of know-it-all syndrome I’ve ever seen.”
“Son, your mother and I have been married a long time, and we’ve had our share of ups and downs. We know a thing or two about what it takes to make things work.”
I couldn’t argue with that. I just couldn’t... talk about it. Even being here was hard, and I didn’t get why until I realized that last time I’d been here to dinner, Hailey had been with me, and fuck, that had been the perfect evening.
Would I relive this deep hollow feeling every time I came to this house? I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to be here without her.
I didn’t even want to be in my own home without her.
“What went wrong exactly?” Dad went on. Bianca tsk-tsked, rolling her eyes, as if they’d already been through this. Wait a second. How did Bianca know anything? Had she talked to Hailey?
“Reid?” Mom pressed.
I didn’t want to relive the memory, but I knew if there were two people I could count on to give it to me straight, it was my parents.
It was hard to put into words what had snapped inside me that day in the coffee shop, but the second I’d realized she’d already said yes to Cameron, I saw red. She’d talked so nonchalantly about it all, as if I wasn’t even a blip on her radar, not even an afterthought.
“She’d expected me to what, just sit around and wait to see where the dice would fall?” I asked no one in particular. I just needed to vent.
“Son, I know that you like knowing everything in detail. That you always like to map out twenty steps ahead. You have all the reasons to want to be in control. You’ve taken on an enormous responsibility, and not only managed, but thrived. Very few things in life are in our control, though. Most of the time, we just have to adapt, make the best of a situation. And fight. Even when we don’t see the road ahead, or the destination, we can’t stop fighting.”
“Especially when it comes to the person you’re supposed to be with.” Mom sighed. “You can’t let Hailey go, Reid. She’s the best thing that ever happened to you. And your children would look adorable.”
I chuckled, but then shook my head.
“It’s not just about me,” I said quietly, staring at the table. “It’s about her too. She just left me a voice message and that was that. Her boss was the one who told me she’d left.”
