“About the money laundering?”
“Yeah.”
“I can believe it. Zed told me once when you two first started dating that he was going to make it big. He hadplans.” Kayn snorted in disgust. “More than anything, he wanted to impress his family.”
“I remember those dreams. I kept telling him that those weren’t things I was interested in. I thought he’d given up on them.” Ahri gave a soft, disgustedhuh. “My confidence is trashed. How can I ever trust myself to believe in someone again?”
“You sound like Rafe now.”
“What do you mean?” She tried not to sound too interested.
“He used to date a lot, even had a couple of girlfriends during college. Nothing really serious. Until he met Tess.” It was Kayn’s turn to sound disgusted. “None of us liked her, including his roommate Ethan. But Rafe was sointoher.”
“Like I was with Zed?”
“Exactly, and she didn’t like us any better than we liked her. We realized pretty soon that if we said anything against her that he’d drop us—friends he’d had foryears.”
Ahri sighed in sympathy. She’d once told Kayn that if he said one more bad thing against Zed that she’d delete her brother’s phone number. Guilt flooded her that he’d gone through that with two people.
“I’m sorry I was a brat about Zed.”
Kayn patted her back. “The school of hard knocks can be brutal.”
“Too right.”
“In the end, it was Zed who chose his path. You had no control of that.”
She accepted the truth in her brother’s statement.
“What happened with Tess?” she asked.
“She waited to dump him until he proposed.”
Ahri felt sick to her stomach. For everything that Zed might have messed up, she believed he’d loved her. At least in the beginning.
“It happened not long before our sale went public. Like with you, it totally ruined his self-confidence. He hasn’t dated anyone since.”
Something in the tone of Kayn’s voice made her peer at him more closely. He was watching her, the corner of his mouth quirking up. What else did he know? She recalled that time in the garden when she’d been sure Rafe was about to kiss her. The memory made her heart thud hard, and she had to force her breath to slow down.
If she was right and her brother thought Rafe was interested in her, then she wasn’t imagining it. The thought almost made her smile.
15
“RAFE SEEMS TO ENJOY SPENDING time with the kids.” Ahri bent to pull a weed, trying to sound casual, while her nerves threatened to overload in anticipation. Where he used to come only occasionally on a Saturday, the last few weeks he’d come every week.
“Yes.” Francie wore one of her gentle smiles as she glanced at Ahri from the corner of her eye. “I think some of it’s because Rafe always wanted to be part of a larger family.”
“He mentioned something about that to me. He said it’s why he pushed the guys so hard to headquarter the business here.” Ahri used the top of her gloved hand to wipe her brow.
“It wasn’t easy, either,” Francie said. “The Boone council is tight on growth and what the boys were proposing was huge for this area. If Rafe hadn’t wanted it so badly, they might have convinced him to give up on it. I think what finally sold the council was the number and quality of high-paying jobs the business could offer. I don’t understand how economies work, but I do know that we’re now considered a tech city. I think that’s what Alex called it anyway.”
“Yes. I’ve read that. A lot of other tech companies have shown an interest in locating here.”
Maybe Ahri should broaden her job search to some of those companies instead of just looking at the university’s job list. She only had two more weeks before Cass returned.
“Thank you so much for all the hard work you do here,” Francie said when they’d finished. She straightened and arched her back.
“I’m the one who should be thanking you.” Ahri pulled off her gloves. “I wish you’d let me pay rent.”
