Chapter 4
Thomas’s body was paralyzed while his mind overloaded with half-formed thoughts and bursts of emotion, but the one thing that solidified more than anything else was,I’m not ready for this!
Rhys was red-eyed and agitated after their conversation, and while Thomas felt a twinge of guilt for pushing, he thought Rhysneededto be pushed. He was pretty sure Rhys feltsomethingthat wasn’t entirely platonic when Thomas stroked his arm and coaxed him into an embrace, but Rhys would never act on it while he was still mired in fear and grief. She didn’t know it, but Rhys’s mother had an ally in Thomas; the question was how much progress he could make toward helping Rhys heal in one short week.
But the more urgent problem was how he could help Rhys get through this first meeting with Mama Sutton.
“It’s okay,” he said, stroking Rhys’s arm gently. “I’ll get the door. You run to the bathroom and put a cold washcloth on your face.”
“I should introduce you,” Rhys said, appearing uncertain, but Thomas shooed Rhys out of the room.
“Meet-and-greets are part of my job,” he said. “If I can handle meeting hundreds of fans at a horror convention, I can handle meeting your mother on my own.”
Rhys seemed to waver a moment, and then he nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time,” Thomas said as he headed down the hall to the front door while Rhys vanished upstairs.
He opened the door to see a woman who appeared to be in her early seventies with silver-white hair cut in a sleek, stylish bob and eyeglasses with purple frames, and she was almost as tall as he was. She was dressed in jeans and a lightweight pink sweater. When she saw Thomas, her eyes — dark blue like Rhys’s — lit up, and she beamed at him.
“Thomas Monroe!” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and drew him into a hug, and while he was startled at first, he recovered in time to hug her back, pleased by the enthusiastic welcome. “I’m so happy to meet you,” she said when she drew back. She clasped his shoulders and looked him over, her smile wide and friendly. “You’re even more handsome in person than you are on TV.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Sutton,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too.”
“Call me Viv, please.” She squeezed his shoulders and then released him.
Thomas moved aside so she could enter the house, and he followed her over to the couch, which was against the wall facing the galley kitchen. “Rhys is in the bathroom, but he’ll be out soon. Can I get you anything?”
“No, honey, I’m fine.” Viv settled on the couch with regal grace and patted the cushion beside her. “I already ate. How about you? Is Rhys feeding you well enough?”
“He was making breakfast for us,” Thomas said as he sat down next to her. “The bacon turned out fine, but he had a little trouble with the eggs, and he went to clean up a grease spot on his shirt.”
“I keep telling him he ought to wear an apron.” Viv tutted. Then she turned to Thomas with bright, inquisitive eyes. “I wanted to talk to you anyway. Rhys talks about you all the time, but he never said you were dating.”
“He told you about me?” Thomas couldn’t stop the foolish smile that curved his lips.
“Of course, honey.” Viv gave him an incredulous look. “He’s spoken highly of you from the beginning. He said you were the most capable of doing your own stunts out of the whole cast. Then I started hearing ‘Thomas and I’ a lot more often, but he insisted y’all were just friends. I’m delighted that’s not the case,” she said, beaming at Thomas.
“So am I,” Thomas said, feeling a little guilty for lying to her. She seemed kind, and she obviously cared a great deal about Rhys’s happiness. How was she going to feel when their fake relationship ended? Or worse, how would she feel if she found out Rhys was deceiving her?
“So how did you two get together?”
Thomas rubbed the back of his head, smiling wryly. “Well, it started with a game of truth or dare,” he said, running with the silly scenario he and Rhys had discussed. They hadn’t decided on a better option, after all. “I’d had enough beer to think choosing dare was a good idea. I thought I’d have to streak through someone else’s scene or something like that, but instead, I was dared to kiss Rhys, and…” He shrugged and spread his hands. “The rest is history.”
“Well, however it happened, I’m glad it did.” Viv’s expression grew serious as she clasped Thomas’s hand. “I loved Andy like he was my own son, and I miss him too. But it broke my heart to see Rhys living in Andy’s grave, and I’m so glad and so grateful you pulled him out of there.”
The twinge of guilt turned into a sharp pang, and Thomas could muster only a weak smile in response. Part of him wanted to confess the truth. He understood why Rhys didn’t want to disappoint Viv, but he also thought Viv deserved better than to be deceived when it seemed all she wanted was for Rhys to take a second chance on love. Besides, maybe he and Viv could work together to make this deception a reality. But he dismissed that idea quickly. He couldn’t betray Rhys’s trust.
Fortunately, he was spared having to say anything by Rhys coming back downstairs, looking far more composed than he had a few minutes ago.
“Did you get it off?” Viv asked.
Rhys froze on the bottom step, and his eyes widened with alarm and a hint of horror as he stared blankly at his mother, and Thomas could imagine the kind of thoughts that were running through Rhys’s head.
“I told her about the grease spot on your shirt,” Thomas said, drawing a circle on his own chest. “From the eggs.”
Comprehension dawned on Rhys’s face, and he nodded a little too vigorously. “Yeah, I changed shirts. I’ll spray the other one with some stain remover later.”
Thomas gave him a thumbs-up out of Viv’s sight, and Rhys’s shoulders sagged in relief.
