“You think you two will have kids?” Rachel asked, checking out another cloud that looked like Blippi…again, with the third leg thing, which she was heretofore going to pretend was simply an extraneous cloud that Bob Ross had painted in the sky and accidentally placed in an unfortunate locale.
“I hope so,” Sadie said. “Roman wants kids and so do I, but we’re also really happy just being us.”
Rachel closed her eyes. Happy just being us…
She wasn’t even happy right now just being her. How could she be happy as an us?
“That’s the key, I think,” Molly said from Rachel’s left. “The being happy when it’s just the two of you thing.”
“Then Kent and I are screwed; we hit our stride as a couple once we had kids.” April winked at Rachel. “But everyone’s different.”
Rachel turned her head and opened her eyes to see her best friend lying beside her, also studying the clouds.
“Don’t you want to meet someone?” Sadie asked, directing her query to Molly.
“Of course I do. I’m just waiting for perfection in a male specimen,” Molly said.
“In other words, she’ll be waiting for-eva,” Rachel said, refusing to acknowledge the cloud that had an uncanny resemblance to the Blue Wiggle…with that damn Bob Ross extraneous cloud.
“Maybe you can fix me up with one of your male divorcees, Sadie?” Rachel asked, closing her eyes and letting the wind whisper over her skin instead of searching the sky. “Someone with a really awful ex-wife, so he’ll fully appreciate how nice I am to him.”
“You don’t want my divorcees,” Sadie hummed lightly after she spoke. “These days they’re all being charged with one crime or another. You know, since I started working in criminal law, too.”
Rachel cracked an eyelid, watching Sadie as she held baby Luke close to her chest and made the low rolling noise in her throat.
Sadie was so going to let her fiancé knock her up. And soon, by the look of it.
“I’m glad my practice is moving away from family law and into the realm of defense.” Sadie pressed a kiss to Luke’s temple. “Do you know how much easier it is to defend a serial arsonist than an unfaithful husband who will not give up dibs on the VHS player his brother bought in 1987 and left in the attic of the home where he and his ex lived?”
“I literally have no idea, so I’ll have to take you on your word,” Rachel said, crossing her eyes when Luke looked at her. She stayed that way until he laughed.
“Does the VHS guy need me to find him a match?” Molly asked, suddenly serious. “I think I may have a viewer who would be perfect for him.”
“Molly.” Rachel tsked. “No.”
“I’m going to side with Rachel on this one,” Sadie added. “Just say no to men who cannot see the ridiculousness of clinging to a VHS player that stopped working in 2002.”
“Rachel!” an all-too-familiar voice called from behind her.
She knew that voice. Gah. That voice, though only a sound, made a fifty-pound weight settle in her gut.
Rachel closed her eyes. “Oh my gawd, it’s Evelyn.”
“I freaking love this woman,” Molly said, her words giddy. “Two times in two days, it’s my lucky weekend.”
Then Molly could just adopt her as her mother-in-law.
Rachel sat up, adjusting her white cotton button-down shirt so the buttons lined up straight in the middle.
“It’s Rachel,” Evelyn said, like she hadn’t been stalking her to find the Sunday morning mommy group.
“Evelyn,” Rachel said, feigning happiness and pretty sure she was doing a really crappy job of it.
Rachel stood, looking to Sadie, Molly, and April for the reassuring Evelyn’s-out-of-control looks she’d hoped to receive.
None of the women provided such reassurance. Instead, they grinned like they were at a matinee at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and the show just got started and it was a comedy and they were just oh-so-happy to be there.
Evelyn wrapped Rachel into one of her Estee-Lauder-scented hugs, and Rachel let her. Because, despite everything, Evelyn did give good hugs.
“I stopped by the house to chat about lake plans,” Evelyn said into Rachel’s hair, just above her ears. “You aren’t there.”
Clearly.
“So how’d you find me here?” Rachel asked.
The lake. Blurgh. The lake. Summer vacation with the Frank family. Her heart semi-stuttered and halted because, apparently, that’s what dread felt like.
“I asked Gavin, of course.” Evelyn’s high heels sunk into the grass as she continued forward. Somehow, she managed to make the trek look easy in heels. Rachel happened to know that it could not be easy, since they’d watered late that day and the ground was extra soft.
“Gavin cares deeply for you, we all know it, so of course he knows where to find you.”
Wasn’t that just creepy?
“I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t be pushing the Gavin agenda if I agreed to come along?”
Evelyn laughed. “I’m not pushing any agenda. I’m only explaining why I’m here.”
Uh-huh, and the sky was purple, not blue.
“Ladies, it’s so nice to have a little girl time.” Evelyn sat on the edge of the blanket and baby Luke crawled right to her. Meemaw was, most certainly, a baby magnet.
She removed three boxes of a new flavor of toaster tarts—Rachel couldn’t read the flavor, but the box was bright blue—and handed them out to Rachel’s friends.
“You have the best friends, my dear.” Evelyn patted the blanket beside her, indicating it was time for Rachel to sit. “Who would’ve expected that?”
“Can I offer you a margarita?” Molly chimed in.
“Or any non-binding legal advice?” Sadie offered with a laugh as baby Luke grabbed Evelyn’s pearls and shoved them in his mouth.
“Yes on the margarita,” Evelyn said in her thick drawl. “That answer is always yes.” Evelyn then caught Rachel’s gaze and trapped it with her own. “I’m not in need of any non-binding legal advice presently, but I’ll keep you posted.”
“What did you want to talk about for the trip?” Rachel sat back down, giving a bit of space between her and her former mother-in-law.
“I’ve already directed the staff to set up an office for you,” Evelyn announced. “Bob used to work all the time when our children were smaller. Dave still does. The work ethic is wonderful, isn’t it? So I suppose it’s to be expected that you can’t take time away for family.”
Don’t engage, Rachel. Don’t engage. Not when she’d used all of her built-up frustration engaging with Evelyn yesterday.
“A real office will be significantly better than your cubby at home,” Molly said, all perky like this was a good thing and Evelyn hadn’t just built Rachel up and put her down in the same sentence. “Or Starbucks.”
“We have a cappuccino maker,” Evelyn assured, as though this was one of the reasons Rachel would want to attend. “But if you have any special requests for espresso brands, let me know. I’ll ensure they’re provided. And skim milk, of course.”
Well, that was nice. Rachel did enjoy espresso. She tended to live on caffeine lately. She also preferred her milk of the whole variety.
“Anything else?” Rachel asked.
Evelyn held the baby with one arm and the margarita with her other. “We just want to be sure that nothing comes up to change your mind about joining us.”
“I already said I’d go.” Rachel sipped from her cup. “You can stop selling it now.”
“Consider it done.” Evelyn took a cautionary sip from her travel mug. “This is wonderful.”
“Isn’t it though?” Molly said.
“Have a sample,” Sadie handed an extra gift bag of Kaiya’s samples to Evelyn.
“How’d you get two?” Molly’s fo
rehead scrunched.
“I guess Kaiya trusted me to give it out for her.” Sadie’s eyes glimmered.
Molly huffed, because they all knew—even Molly—that if she’d been given two, she’d probably have used both.
Evelyn pulled open the bow on the bag and pulled out a sample bottle. “I just love mint.”
“I’ve never tried that one,” Rachel said as Evelyn opened the bottle to give a good sniff. “I got lavender. It’s my favorite.”
And, come to think of it, nearly every time she got a sample from Kaiya it came with a lavender bottle. She glanced to where Kaiya was helping her daughter across the monkey bars. Huh.
“Oh, lavender is my favorite, too.” Evelyn held out the mint bottle and did a quick swap to try the other.
Rachel gave the mint a go and…oh, it was lovely. Not lavender lovely, but still nice.
“Skin care samples, toaster tarts, margaritas, and friends,” Molly said on a sigh. “The perfect Sunday morning.”
Evelyn popped the entire lid off her cup and peered inside. “I didn’t know margaritas would taste so good this early in the day.”
“Travis made them,” Molly the-freaking-traitor announced without giving any thought to present company.
“Travis brought you drinks?” Evelyn eyed Molly, clearly surprised. “I didn’t realize you two were close.” That last part held a subtle note of concern.
Shit.
Molly’s eyes widened at Evelyn’s tone. Evelyn’s not-sure-I-like-this mama-bear tone. Rachel had a similar version she used when Brady had brought a frog to live in their shower and neglected to mention it to her until she went to clean the shower and found a giant bullfrog lapping up water from the drain plug.
“No, not me…” Molly nibbled at the side of her lip. “He didn’t bring them to me. We’re…um…only friends.”
Crap. Rachel rubbed at her hairline.
Evelyn’s gaze traveled around the circle of women, taking stock of who else might have been Travis’s mysterious margarita mama.
Sadie raised her eyebrows at Rachel.
“He made them for me,” Rachel said, to end Evelyn’s awkward perusal. “Last night he brought them over, since the party was kind of rough, and the sign on the door mentioned them.”
Well, that didn’t quite sound right, either.
April started to speak. “What she means is—”
“Travis isn’t good for you.” Balancing the baby in one arm, Evelyn grabbed Rachel’s other hand and squeezed. “He shouldn’t be bringing you drinks. That’s not entirely appropriate, is it, now?”
“It’s really nothing.” Rachel studied her tumbler. Why did she feel like she’d been hauled into the discipline office at work? “I mean, it’s not nothing because it was really nice of him. It’s just not what you’re thinking…”
Evelyn’s expression darkened as Rachel spoke. She looked practically fit to be tied.
Molly sidled up next to Evelyn. “Travis was being kind to Rachel only because she was having a bad day.”
“You have to know,” Evelyn said, her tone more serious than Rachel had ever heard it, “Travis and Gavin have always had a bit of a rivalry.”
Yes, Rachel was aware of this. Gavin had been clear about his frustrations with his brother. He hadn’t been a jerk with his remarks, but there was always an undercurrent of discontent there. It didn’t help that Travis sometimes didn’t show up to work and left Gavin taking up the slack.
“They always tried for the same things. Wanted the same things.” Evelyn situated herself so she leaned toward Rachel. “You don’t want to get tangled up in that.”
“Of course I don’t,” Rachel assured her. “We shouldn’t even be having this conversation because it wasn’t what you’re thinking it was.”
“Do you think my intuition is faulty?” Evelyn asked, apparently turning on the full mother-in-law effect.
“That’s not what she’s saying,” Sadie chimed in, and thank goodness she was all fired up to go attorney on the situation. “She’s simply explaining that Travis brought them to her only to be friendly. As a member of the same family. He didn’t bring them to her so she’d get all liquored up and take off her top.”
Rachel’s mouth dropped like Molly’s did when she was trying to be comical. Rachel was not, however, going for comedy. “Sadie…”
“I assure you, she didn’t take off her top,” April said, trying to be helpful, Rachel was certain, but her friends needed to stop talking about her taking off her clothing.
“Family is a funny thing,” Evelyn said.
Rachel could totally be on board with that.
“Amen to that.” Molly raised her travel mug.
Evelyn smiled, but it was of the variety that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Sometimes family bonds are the strongest thing there is—harder than granite, tighter than woven silk.” Evelyn paused. It didn’t seem like it was for dramatic effect, but rather so she could pick her words carefully. “But sometimes when pressure hits just the right spot, a small fracture forms.”
Rachel knew all about family fractures. She’d experienced it firsthand in her own when she’d found out she was pregnant and hers practically disowned her.
She’d learned two things from that experience. The first, she’d never do that to her boys. Ever. And the second? Always use caution when it came to family.
“That is not what Travis was doing.” Rachel crossed her arms because she didn’t have the energy to defend Travis’s kindness to Evelyn. Even with a full night of sleep under her belt.
“Hear me out,” Evelyn said.
Rachel nodded because she had a feeling Evelyn wouldn’t give her a choice.
“The crack, the frayed stitch, it’s tiny, but it threatens the integrity of the entire thing.” Lost in her own thoughts, Evelyn drew along the seam of the blanket with her fingertip in illustration. “When relationships are tested, or promises broken, it’s our job to ensure that we do everything we can to prevent those teeny tiny imperfections. Because with a small, frayed stitch, it takes only one quick tug for the entire fabric of the family to pull apart.”
Oh yes, Rachel knew all about that kind of tug. That kind of damage. Which was why she kept her distance and held tight to her boys.
“I’m promising you, there’s no crack. No fray.” Or whatever mixed metaphor Evelyn wanted to go with. “Travis didn’t make a crack by being kind to me.” Of that, Rachel was certain.
“I don’t doubt that.” Evelyn passed off the baby to Sadie and stood, brushing the wrinkles from her slacks. “But the fray has been there for a while between my boys. I’m just asking that you aren’t the one to tug it free.”
Chapter Ten
“I’m just searching for the right person to raise my dogs with.” — Rachel Gibson, Colorado, USA
Rachel
They were leaving later than they’d originally planned, having to make accommodations for all the schedules involved. By the time everyone made it to the airport, the sun was starting to edge over the Rockies as the Franks loaded up the Puffle Yum corporate jet.
The boys had already boarded with their grandparents, while she did a final mental recheck of their suitcases.
Children’s Tylenol, swimsuits, socks, antacids, moisturizer…
She continued running through her mental list of items to keep her mind off the fact she was about to board.
Uh-huh, Rachel was getting on a plane. And, she was pretty sure, the only thing that could make this family vacation more intense was adding puppies to said plane.
Actually, they were doing that—the puppies and plane thing—so it was about as intense as it could get.
Rachel’s nerve endings had been mainlining bolts of anxiety straight into her bloodstream in the weeks since she’d agreed to the trip. She’d had to rearrange her summer sched
ule, and avoid any Frank who didn’t go by the name Gavin—all while wrangling clients, kids, and puppies.
Though she held firm that the puppies followed wherever the boys went. Gavin had learned to deal with it. The boys mentioned a baby gate in Gavin’s kitchen to keep the dogs away from his carpet.
As a bonus of Gavin being around more often for the boys, Evelyn hadn’t brought up anything about Travis’s cocktails. After Evelyn took off from the park with the lavender cleanser—Rachel hadn’t noticed Evelyn never swapped it back until Evelyn was long gone—she’d been utterly beside herself that Gavin and Rachel were in the same room more and more often.
Even if that “more and more often” was totally platonic, and Dakota had been there, too.
This trip was happening, though, and it included Travis. Rachel really hoped her ex-mother-in-law wouldn’t get weird about things and start ranting about fraying blankets.
Rachel had a hunch, though, as she walked up to the perfectly innocuous Puffle Yum corporate jet sitting on the tarmac at Centennial Airport, that Evelyn was going to get weird about things.
Travis moved behind her as they approached the steps leading to the aircraft.
He didn’t say anything, but she sensed him walking there. She somehow knew instinctively it wasn’t Dave’s footsteps.
She didn’t need to turn to confirm his identity.
“Kids, dogs, three suitcases, purse, house keys, laptop, charger, cell phone, charger, and sunglasses.” She continued her final inventory of everything under her breath.
“Would you feel better taking the car?” Travis asked, stepping beside her, the little creases between his brows deepening.
“Yes,” Rachel said, quicker than necessary. The answer to that question was simple because, fine, yes, she did not like to fly.
Also, fine, yes, she had a perfectly running Toyota Highlander with an abundance of room for herself and her children and their puppies. But the drive was a solid seven hours when she factored in multiple bathroom breaks, eating breaks, and one son who had a penchant for tossing up anything he’d eaten if he spent more than three hours in a moving vehicle.
Rachel, Out of Office Page 10
