“How?” She rubbed her hands that had turned cold. “I don’t have that phone anymore, remember?” She met Rafe’s gaze. “I was worried he might have emptied our savings account. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“He hasn’t?”
“I had Bill check for me. It was all still there. He didn’t even withdraw his half.”
“That’s odd.” Rafe shifted toward her. “Could he be lying low?”
“I guess.” Ahri’s eyes stung, and she looked away. “He has to be living on something though.”
“Did you take out your portion?”
“Yes. Bill helped with that too.” Ahri sighed. “I want to get the divorce paperwork going, but how can I serve him if I don’t know where he is?”
The decision still made her feel like a quitter, but she felt in her core that it was the right thing to do. She wouldn’t be her mother and waste her life hanging onto a man who didn’t want her.
“Once again,” Rafe said, “Bill’s on that. He’ll let us know as soon as he has anything.”
“Thanks.”
Rafe leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “I have a favor to ask you.”
“What?” Ahri asked, perking up. Somebody needed her for something?
“You might remember my mother.”
“Maybe if I saw her. There’s always been so many people at every event I’ve attended.”
“True. She and my stepfather run a bed-and-breakfast.” Rafe grinned. “She’s the world’s most amazing cook ever.”
“You said something like that when you picked me up.” Ahri remembered Bill’s comment at the hotel. “Is that where you learned it?”
“She taught me everything I know, but she’s way out of my league.” Rafe leaned back again. “She grows most of her own food and has an amazing garden. When I was in high school, I used to help her put it in and maintain it because we couldn’t jump over a nickel to save a dime.”
“What?” Ahri asked with a laugh.
“Sorry.” He gave a soft chuckle. “It means we were poor. We grew most of our own food.”
“What about your father?” The flash of anger that crossed his face told her everything. She reached out and touched his hand. “Say no more. I get it.”
“I’ve worked to help support the family since I was sixteen,” he said.
“Me too,” she whispered.
He met her gaze, and she was struck by the warmth in it. It seemed they had a lot more in common than she’d realized. No wonder he and Kayn got on so well.
“Anyway,” Rafe continued, now looking at his hands, “after I went to college, she had to do all the work of putting it in herself. My father died about the time I graduated from high school. Luckily, she remarried a year later, and she and my stepfather turned the old house into a bed-and-breakfast. Her garden’s even bigger now, believe it or not. She feeds her guests and even does some catering.”
“It sounds like a lot of work.” She wondered what all of this had to do with her.
“They also have two young kids.”
“Really?” Ahri couldn’t imagine her mother having any more children. She was doing so much better now she’d moved back to Korea and had lots of family support there. The thought brought a rush of guilt that Ahri hadn’t been able to provide that.
“Lessa’s in kindergarten, and Nikolas will start next year. They’re not big enough to be much help yet. My stepfather helps where he can, but he’s a college professor and this is finals week.”
“Are you telling me all this,” Ahri asked, understanding what he wasn’t saying, “because you want me to help your mother with her garden?”
“Simply put, yes.” He heaved out a breath. “I can afford to hire somebody to do it for her, but she won’t let me. Believe me, I’ve tried more than once since I first moved back.”
