“It kind of is,” he said. He looked back to Elsie. “And I came to find out how it went with the editor.”
Defeat rolled through her. “I didn’t get the chance to meet her and I’m pretty sure she left.”
“She did,” Faye confirmed, and Elsie’s heart fell. This was her big shot and she’d missed it because she was splattering brain matter on plastic curtains. “But I met her.”
“You met her?” Elsie said quite loudly.
“Lovely woman.”
Elsie’s hackles went up. She couldn’t believe what her mom was saying. “You didn’t think to introduce me?” she asked, and felt Rhett get closer. Not close enough to touch, but his presence felt protective, made her feel safe. “You knew how important this was for me! It was the reason I took the job.”
“You took the job because you’re a good person,” Faye said. “And before you hack me to bits with that ax of yours”—Faye held out a business card—“I considered getting you, but you were in the middle of chatting with Jake and I didn’t want to intrude.”
“Who’s Jake?” Rhett and Elsie asked at the same time.
Once again, Faye looked between Elsie and Rhett and smiled. “Apparently no one.”
“What I needed was my mom to have my back and make an introduction,” Elsie said.
Faye’s voice was low and tinged with hurt. “It happened naturally. Claire made the introduction because Susan is interested in hiring me. She commented on the party, and it gave way to the perfect opportunity for me to rave about how the decorator did this as a favor, but really she is one of the best up-and-coming modern interior architects in the area, who would be perfect for her magazine.”
All the anger washed away, and Elsie found it hard to speak. “You said that?”
“Yes. I talked about you and showed her photos of your house, and your garden, and she wanted to see more so I asked for her card, promising I would pass it along. All you need to do is reach out to her.”
“That’s great, Mom,” she said, but her head was already swimming with doubt. “I know you meant well, but I don’t know how professional it came off with my mom bragging about me.”
“She has no idea you’re my daughter. I came at it from the point of being a fan of your work.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Just that you’ll email her,” Faye said.
“I will first thing tomorrow. And I’ll send her updated photos of the house.”
She hadn’t even noticed, but Rhett had moved even closer, his hand resting supportively on her lower back, his thumb rubbing back and forth. From that angle, her mom couldn’t see; it was a connection between the two of them. His way of saying he knew she was upset and he was there for her.
She looked over her shoulder and up into those fascinating blue eyes and found herself smiling up at him like an idiot. Shaking the fuzzies out of her head, she narrowed her eyes. “Will you excuse us for a minute, Mom?”
Faye took a triple glance at Rhett and flashed a conspiratorial smile. “Take all the time you need.”
Elsie dragged Rhett around the back of the patio and into a dark corner, away from onlookers. “What is it with you and barging in on my parties? And shouldn’t you be at that pop-up?”
“Really wasn’t my scene.”
“And zombie uprising gender reveals are?”
He held out his arms to show off his costume which, okay, was the best costume there. He looked like a big, bad-ass, sexy zombie hunter coming to save the day. “And where did you get that costume?”
“I have a buddy who is a special effects artist and he did me a favor.” His smile turned warm. “I spent the entire night pretending to be Rhett Easton, Rock God. I thought it might be fun to be just Regular Rhett.”
She wasn’t sure what to say to that.
“Plus, I figured that you might need help breaking down the party. Those zombie mannequins can really make a scene.”
He was cracking jokes, playing his easy-going role, but it was clear something had him off-balance. This time when she took his elbow it was to give him that same protective connection he’d given her. “You okay?”
He ran a hand through his hair and his gaze skittered away. “Steph’s pregnant.” His voice was threadbare. “She told me she didn’t want kids and now she’s pregnant. I mean, the whole basis of our divorce was because we wanted different things.”
