She looked deeply into his eyes. “Has Tani been good to you?”
“She’s been the same as usual.”
“Cold, then,” Rhi remarked. There was an edge to her voice.
“Can we blame her for that?” And that was the crux of the problem. He couldn’t blame Tani for being awkward around him, because his existence was awkward. “And actually, to be fair to her... I heard she was the one who suggested I be in the wedding party.”
His mother’s smooth forehead creased. Sonya’s comment to Eve about the yearbooks and Maria had prompted Gabe to wonder, for the first time, what Sonya and Tani’s relationship had been like before he’d come along. They were of an age, and Sonya’s father had worked for Tani’s father. Had they been friends? Or had this wary formality always existed? “That’s interesting.” Sonya nodded and took a step back. “Okay, love. Get Rhi settled in, and then you can give us the grand tour of this place.”
Rhi immediately flopped onto the bed in her room like she was a teen instead of a millionaire in her mid-thirties. “What’s the deal with you and the Baby Chandler?”
He shut the door hastily. “Shhh.”
“Is it a secret?”
“Is what a secret?”
“That you two are banging it out.”
He dragged his hand over his face. “Jesus, Rhi. Language.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Was that too coarse? Should I say you two are engaging in a union of souls?”
“I hate you. How did you know? Tell me you haven’t created an app to figure out when people are intimate.”
“Are you kidding me? I’d be a trillionaire.”
“We’re skipping over billionaire? Or did you already hit that?” he teased.
“Kid, you have no idea. P.S. don’t think you can distract me.”
“Yes, fine.” He shoved his hands into his back pockets. “We’re kinda talking to each other.”
“It’s a secret?”
“Not a secret. Just... no one knows.” He replayed the words in his head. “So, yes. A secret.”
“Uh-huh.”
“A secret who... knows some of my secrets.”
At that, Rhi sat up. “Oh really? She knows about Robert?”
Rhi would badger him until she got every little detail about him and Eve, so it was actually efficient for them to get this over with now. “Yes.”
“Have you ever told any woman that?”
“No. I’ve never told anyone. She figured it out and I couldn’t lie fast enough.”
Rhi rolled over onto her belly and cupped her face in her hands. “What else have you told her?”
“That’s all.”
“Nothing else?”
“Oh, you know. I told her about Paul, and how he didn’t know. And how I kind of wish I could tell Jackson and Livvy.” He paused. “Actually, I guess I told her a lot.”
“Interesting.”
