Rhi looked out the window. Crush operated out of a small tucked-away two-story building, surrounded by other start-ups. Her office overlooked a green courtyard. “I live in California. I can go to the beach whenever I want.”
“When was the last time you went to the beach, Rhiannon?”
She pulled her sleeves down to cover her hands.When I met Samson.
She felt a little bit like a sucker, for not hating him, for believing him so easily. But it was fine if she didn’t hate him, so long as she didn’t go and sleep with him again.
You don’t give zombies second chances.“I went to the beach last month,” she said. One of their employees had had a baby shower at a waterfront restaurant with a big patio.
“Sandy’s baby shower doesn’t count.”
“Do you have cameras planted on me?”
“Don’t need them,” her mother said. “I know you.”
Rhiannon imagined her mother in the kitchen of her comfortable Chicago home, a concerned frown creasing her still-smooth forehead, her hair in braids. Sonya had used to put similar braids in Rhiannon’s hair when she was a kid.Her mom had always made them too tight, pulling at her scalp, making her feel too restricted and hemmed in.
Rhiannon leaned her head back against the cushioned pink window seat. “I’ll take a break soon,” she said. She would. She’d go off somewhere and enjoy a nice day or two off.
Or a half day. A couple hours?
“I worry about you, Rhi.”
Guilt crawled through her, that same vague sense of guilt she always felt around her mom. Objectively, there was no reason for that guilt. Her mother had never made her and Gabe feel bad about the fact that she’d worked so hard to support and raise them. Even if she had, Rhi had paid her back for that a million times over.
Still, that guilt remained, a guilt millions of dollars couldn’t wash away, and she wasn’t even sure she could ever pinpoint its exact cause.
Her mother liked the money, but Rhiannon bet she’d like having a daughter she understood better. “I’m fine. Is there a reason you called?”
“I wanted to make sure you’d booked your travel for Gabe and Eve’s engagement party.”
She made a face. Travel arrangements were not her strong suit. “It’s so far away, don’t worry.”
“It’s barely a month away. There are some excellent deals right now.”
Travel was something Sonya liked to do with her trust fund. Rhi didn’t begrudge her one mile, and urged her mom to travel first class to wherever in the world she wanted togo, but the older woman had become something of a budget flight hound. Every day she perused the airline deals. “Cool. I’ll book it. Later.”
“Rhiannon.”
Rhi sighed. “I’ll tell my assistant, Mom.” Lakshmi would be bewildered at her planning something more than a week out, but she’d get it on her calendar properly.
“Tell her now, before fares go up.”
“I will tell her as soon as I get off the phone, promise.”
“And tell her to buy you a nice dress for the party. She has such good taste.”
Rhiannon gritted her teeth. “I will definitelynotdo that.” She looked down at her worn cotton sweatpants and old sweatshirt. When she was younger, her mother had always tried to stuff her in dresses and sparkly shirts.
Rhiannon’s signature look wasn’t an affectation. It was a necessity, a thing that made her feel comforted and secure. “I wasn’t raised in a barn. I have acceptable clothes to wear.”
“I love you, Rhiannon.”
Another flood of guilt. “I love you, too, Ma.” She paused. “I’m sorry I don’t call you more.”
“I would tell you to remember to call me every day but I know you won’t do that. Call me at least once a week so I can stop talking to all your friends,” Sonya instructed her. “And that way, you know I’m still alive. I’m not getting any younger, you know. I could break a hip and lie on the floor for days and you wouldn’t even know.”
“I would know,” Rhiannon murmured. Her mom mighthave a network of well-meaning spies in Lakshmi and Katrina, but Rhiannon quietly kept tabs on her mother’s credit cards and bank accounts. If her paper trail ever varied or went silent for longer than a day, Rhiannon either checked up on her or had Gabe do it.
