Her oft-repeated question relaxed him. She had called him every day, and the one thing she always asked him about, was his work. “Since yesterday, Mom? It’s fine.” He laughed as he answered, amused by her curiosity.
Kai heard a sound from her that he could have sworn was a disappointed sigh, but all she said was, “That’s good.” Kai wanted to ask her again if everything was all right, but before he could, she said, “Well, I was just calling to let you know that I sent you a care package. You should get it any day.”
Wondering what she’d sent him, Kai smiled as he rubbed his stomach. The women of his family were so incredibly thoughtful. Despite all of his current complications, he was a lucky guy. “Thanks, Mom. You didn’t have to do that.”
She scoffed at his response. “I’m your mother, honey. It’s exactly what I have to do.”
She laughed softly, and Kai shook his head. “Well, again, thank you.”
Just as Kai was hoping his mother had sent him some of her world famous chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies, she asked him about a touchy subject. “So, you meet a girl yet?”
God, Kai hated that question. Curiosity about his love life was one of the unfortunate side effects that came along with having caring women in his life. If it were up to Gran and his mother, he’d be halfway down a wedding aisle by now, but with everything that was going on with Jessie—which was nothing really—Kai just hadn’t had a moment to think about seeing someone else. It kind of hurt his heart to think about it.
Playing up his annoyance, Kai groaned in frustration. “Come on, Mom. Between you and Grandma, I swear, you’d think I was some desperate loser who couldn’t get his own dates.”
His mom was quiet for a moment after his statement. Then she asked, “Millie tries to set you up?”
Kai could hear the edge of irritation and concern in her voice, and he cringed. He shouldn’t have mentioned his grandmother. She and his mom didn’t exactly get along. There wasn’t any real animosity on his mom’s side, but there was definitely no love lost in the other direction. For some reason, Kai’s grandma did not care for Kai’s mother. At all. Kai had thought to ask her about it while he was here…but somehow he could never bring it up around her. It was too awkward, too personal. Kai had to think his mother was worried that his grandmother was trying to set him up with a girl who could be turned against his mother, but Kai didn’t think his grandma would ever intentionally be that vindictive. And Kai would never date someone who couldn’t form their own opinions.
“Don’t worry, Mom. She hasn’t sent any she-devils my way.” His mom let out a soft laugh at his obvious joke and Kai smiled. “Besides, I’m too busy with work right now to worry about that stuff.” Knowing his mom wouldn’t take that as an excuse, since she did want grandchildren one day, he quickly added, “Maybe once I’ve settled in some more, I’ll start…looking.”
His mother sighed, and there was clear defeat in her exhale. “All right, Kai. Don’t work too hard.”
Kai smiled as he pictured his tired, worried mother. “I won’t, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Kai. I’ll call again soon.”
Knowing soon was probably tomorrow, Kai laughed. “All right, go rest. Take a nap or something.” She assured him that she would, told him she loved him again, and hung up the phone.
Shaking his head at his anxiety-prone mother, Kai turned his thoughts to his father. He hadn’t heard from him since he’d arrived here. Thinking it was odd that his dad hadn’t called to check on him yet, Kai briefly wondered if he should give him a call, to make sure everything was okay. Plus, he still hadn’t told his dad about Gran falling. Kai was sure he would want to know that his mom had gotten hurt. Glancing at the clock again, he set down his phone. It was too early to call. He’d do it later, when it was a more decent hour.
Later in the day, after Kai had finally gotten up to take a shower, he called his dad. Surprisingly, the conversation was brief and almost strained. Kai wasn’t sure why it had felt awkward when he ended the call; he and his dad had always had a good relationship. They had similar personalities and common interests. Truly, they got along great, and Kai was a little mystified by the detachment he’d heard on the other end of the line. He’d also been surprised that his dad had already known about Gran’s accident. He hadn’t known all the specifics, and Kai had filled him in as best he could, but he hadn’t been surprised to hear about it. Gran must have called her son at some point and told him herself.