"Oh, you know." Karen bustled around the kitchen with a dishcloth in hand, picking up dry dishes from the drainer, rubbing them for a second then setting them back. "Nothing much." Ryan lowered his eyebrows.

"Come on Karen, I know you well enough to know when something is on your mind." He shifted on the bar stool, leaning his elbows on the marble countertop.

"It's just. I don't know. I feel like I don't have a life anymore." Karen pushed herself up onto a stool.

"What do you mean?"

"Between school, nannying for the Wrights, and all the health problems I've been experiencing..."

"Yeah, I got you. I'm sorry about the-"

"Stop apologizing. Everyone is always apologizing. It's not your fault." Frustration poured from her voice.

"Yeah, well, we all just feel helpless."

"I know, but it's one thing to be sympathetic and another to treat me like I'm china." She leaned over, stealing my mug. "You never know what's waiting around the corner, so you have to live each day not afraid of what comes next, but confident that you have right now."