“Not a single word,” the blonde said assuredly.
Elsie released a relieved breath. She should have known Rhett would keep his word. He’d already warned her that his family knew they had history but that their current situation was private. The women looking on were interested in the second half.
Elsie squirmed in her heels. Man, she knew she might run into his family, but she never imagined she have to stare them down in one big bestie-pack.
“Which is why we were hoping you’d tell us everything,” one of the women said, offering Elsie a flute with champagne. “I’m Jillian, by the way, the nosy one. And this is Darcy and Abi.”
The four women couldn’t be more different, but somehow they all gave off the same look. The look Elsie recognized as a woman in love. Uncomfortable and feeling out of place, she glanced away, wondering why Rhett had seated her there. Did he hope they’d all bond or did he not give it even a thought?
“So what doesn’t he want us to know?” Jillian asked.
“I guess you already know that we met in college. He was, well, he was Rhett just younger, and we almost had a thing, then we didn’t. The next time I saw him I was engaged. End of story,” she lied.
“Thanks for giving us the highlights,” Jillian said. She clearly wasn’t buying it. “But we want to know what happened between almost having a thing and you being engaged.”
Elsie thought about how to describe what had happened and for the first time she felt right about everything. Even though College Elsie wouldn’t have let Sweet-Talking Rhett off that easy had she known why he ghosted her, Big-Girl Elsie would have understood and would even be thankful that he made the tough call. It didn’t mean she approved of his method, but his heart was in the right place.
After telling Axel the basics when they’d had the unexpected Rhett run-in, who’d brushed it off as “things happen,”—talk about red flag—Elsie had never really spoken about that weekend with anyone. At first it was because it was so special that she wanted to keep it between the two of them. Then she’d been too embarrassed, and after she’d married Axel it was too awkward. Now, she didn’t want anyone to think she was bragging about bagging America’s Sexiest Man. She also did not want people probing her about what happened between them when their time was up.
Because between her goals and his commitments there would come a time, likely soon, where they’d have to admit that things weren’t going to work out in the long haul.
“We had just one weekend, but it was aweekend,” she said, and even she could hear the swooning in her voice. The women exchanged a knowing look, which Elsie promptly ignored. “I thought maybe I’d found my person, but the next thing I knew he ghosted me.”
All four women gasped.
“He did not,” Piper said. “What a dick.”
“What a total Easton thing to do,” Darcy said, rolling her eyes. “They try so hard, but they tend to make a mess of everything.” She rested her hand atop Elsie’s. “Their hearts are always in the right place; they can’t help themselves.”
“I think it’s a Y-chromosome thing,” Piper said. “They can’t help that the leg fell off the X, rendering them temporarily stupid at times.”
The group laughed.
“Rhett definitely suffered from temporary stupidity.” But that was years ago. In fact, since their unexpected reunion, he’d been a rock. Strong, steady, supportive—all the things that made a man aman. And all the traits that made Rhett the man who had stolen her heart.
Wanting to know more about him, she said, “I didn’t know a lot about what was happening in his life when we first met, but later he told me it was around the time his dad passed.”
“All the boys were devastated. They are a tight-knit family, so close nothing could tear them apart until their dad died. Benji was the glue, the dad we all wished we’d had. The world as they knew it shattered with him. Their mom mourned Benji for nearly a decade and I think each son still mourns him in their own way,” Piper said.
“I didn’t know,” she said. Elsie wasn’t sure how she’d feel if her father died; she’d never had that kind of parental love. Not even with her mother. The closest she came was Harriet, whose love had its own unique flavor.
That wasn’t fair. Earlier, she and Faye had taken a step in the right direction. Oh, Faye had dropped a few Faye-isms as Elsie tried to give her a proper hug, but the gesture was what mattered.
“It was bad,” Darcy said. “Then Rhett went after his career full force. It was his way of honoring his father’s unyielding support.”
“I knew his career was taking off, but I didn’t know the rest.” Rhett had confided pieces about his dad’s health, but she had no clue as to how sick Benji really was. That he passed within days of her and Rhett’s time together made her heart ache for him even more.
Abi reached out and rested her hand over Elsie’s in a sign of support. “You said end of story, but your expression says something different.”
Too tired to keep up pretense, Elsie said, “The story picks up a month ago when I found him in my house, which is now his house. He let me finish the renovation because it’s going to be featured in a national magazine.”
“Modern Masterpiece,” Piper chimed in. “It’s a huge deal.”
“Congrats.” Abi held up a flute and they all tinked glasses.
“Thanks, it’s exciting.” And Rhett was a big part of her dream coming true. “We made an agreement—I’d finish the house making as little noise as possible so he could write and he’d let me stay in the house while I finished it—but then things became intertwined.”
“How intertwined?” Jillian rubbed her hands together like she was about to learn next week’s lotto numbers.
