Kareem smiled beatifically from John’s lap, accustomed to attention. “Hi.”
“Sonya?” John boomed. “What is this? All of us are aging except you.”
Sonya laughed, a throaty, deep noise. She was dressed in a pretty yellow dress, her hair braided tight. No jewelry, except for a worn wedding ring on her left hand and a pair of diamond studs in her ears. “You always were a charmer, John.”
The two embraced, and John peered at Rhiannon. “I’ve seen your face on magazines. Are you too rich and famous for us yet?”
“Hardly,” the younger woman drawled, and accepted the hug John gave her. Though she wore casual, almost grunge clothes, Rhiannon carried herself with an air of casual confidence Eve feared she would never have.
You are okay.
While Gabe greeted John, she shoved herself out of her shell, stepped forward and extended her hand to the women. “Hello. I’m Eve. It’s been a while.”
Sonya ignored her hand and pulled her in for a hug. “I could never forget you. You look like your mother. Maria was a dear friend, and I miss her every day.”
Eve flushed again, with pleasure this time. “Thank you.”
“Now that everyone’s put the unpleasantness behind them, I’ll dig out my old yearbooks when I get home. Maria’s in them. I’ll mail you copies.” Sonya squeezed Eve’s hands.
“Oh! That would be lovely.” She didn’t have anything of her mother’s from that long ago, except for a few baby photos. If her father had kept old yearbooks, she’d certainly never seen them. She released Sonya and greeted Rhiannon. “Hello.”
Rhiannon opted to shake her hand, her gaze assessing. “The Baby Chandler,” she murmured.
No shells. Not today.“Indeed,” she said. “And you’re the woman who’s reshaping love, one app at a time.”
Rhi’s lips curled at Eve parroting her last Forbes profile at her. “I’m trying, sweetheart.”
Gabe rested his hand on his sister’s back. “I was about to show the ladies to their rooms.”
“Feels good to have the whole family here like this, doesn’t it?” John asked Sonya. His tone was both wistful and self-satisfied. All John had ever wanted to do was unite the Chandlers and the Oka-Kanes.
“Very much so.” Sonya’s eyes were kind. “Everyone will be at dinner, yes?”
John’s smile tightened, and Eve knew he was thinking about his son. Her stomach somersaulted. “Yes. One big happy family.”
Chapter 23
Gabe resisted turning around to stare at Eve as she left. Instead, he grabbed his mother up in another hug. She laughed and scolded him as he swung her around. She wasn’t a tiny woman, but he’d shot past her in height when he was in middle school. “I missed you, Ma.”
She laughed. “My precious little boy.”
He doubted she’d ever stop calling him her little boy. That was okay with him. He bent down and accepted her kisses on both his cheeks, her expensive perfume twining around him. She’d always had style, and she had no compunction about using the trust fund Rhi had established to indulge it to the best of her ability.
He glanced at Rhiannon and grinned. Her black hair was long, the tight curls forming a halo around her heart-shaped face. Her nod to the occasion was switching out her blue jeans for black. Otherwise her black hoodie was in place, half unzipped to showcase a rock band’s concert T-shirt, black combat boots on her feet. “Don’t tell Rhi I’m your favorite right in front of her.”
Rhi rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure why I missed you.”
A throat cleared behind him. “Would you like some more time, or shall I show you to your rooms?”
Before he could answer Alistair, his sister peered around him. “You may show us to our rooms.” She pointed at their bags. “We only have these.”
Alistair sized her up quickly, and Gabe could tell the butler was doing the mental gymnastics to reconcile his sister’s decidedly casual appearance with the ease with which she took control. Most people didn’t know what to make of Rhi. She was complicated, and she preferred it that way.
Gabe grabbed the bags. “I can show them, thanks, Alistair. Come on, ladies.”
“Chuck didn’t come?” he asked his mom over his shoulder as they went down the hall to his mother’s room first.
“No, he had a work emergency come up.”
