Abby smiled despite the heat crawling up her neck. “Her mom told you that?”
Affection danced in Ricki’s eyes. “Yeah. The whole family is open. Sometimes to a fault. There isn’t much they wouldn’t say to each other, so Blythe sharing with the entire world isn’t a huge stretch.”
Abby put her hand against her chest. “You just about gave me an anxiety attack thinking about it.” She was joking, but still it was foreign to Abby, whose family was much more tight-lipped and who’d practically died of shame after her brother’s drunken car crash. Maybe if they’d handled it more like Blythe’s family did, it wouldn’t have caused the family so much pain.
“I hear you.” Ricki smiled. “Granny was the only one in my family thatgotBlythe. Appreciated her.”
“Your parents didn’t…uh…don’t…” Abby stopped.
Ricki picked up on her discomfort and said, “My parents are still alive. Living in Florida. As soon as my dad retired, they moved. They’d talked about it ever since my brother and I were teenagers.” Ricki swirled her beer before taking a drink. “We just didn’t think they’d put the house on the market as soon as he retired. The house sold within a month, and they were gone. Tim, my brother, was a sophomore at Northwestern, and I was just starting my senior year of high school.”
“Oh, god. You had to leave your senior year?”
“No. Blythe’s family let me stay with them. They said they’d find a corner to shove me into despite having seven of their own.” Ricki laughed. “They were practically empty nesters since the three oldest were at college.”
Abby laughed. “The more the merrier?”
“Absolutely. That’s the Willoughby way. They’re some of the best people you’ll ever meet.”
Abby would like that, but Blythe hadn’t mentioned introducing her to them. Then again, she’d only connected with Blythe a few months ago. Though spending every weekend here, it seemed like she’d known Blythe and Ricki much longer.
“You two are so different,” Abby said.
“That we are.” Ricki grinned. “Are you asking me a question, Abby?”
“Maybe.” Abby returned Ricki’s smile. “I thought I’d pushed the limits of my questions, though.”
“I see. Well, to answer your non-question question.” Ricki winked. “Blythe’s been my best friend forever. We work. I trust her with my life. She’d do anything for me, and I’d do the same for her. All her bluster and arrogance…well, it isn’t exactly an act, but it’s wrapped around a heart of gold, so I don’t sweat it when she’s being overbearing. And I suppose she doesn’t sweat it when I’m being cautious and geeky.”
“You two crack me up and make me feel so at home.” Abby narrowed her eyes. “Have I used up my allotment of questions?”
Ricki tipped back her head and swallowed the last of her beer. “I’ve got one more in me before I call it a night.”
Abby took a long gulp of her own beer. “Why won’t you go on camera with her?”
“Oh, that’s an easy one.” Ricki stood and went to the sink to rinse out her beer bottle. “I know her too well. She’s like a dog with a bone. If I give in once, she’d never let it go. She’d be hounding me all the time.”
“But she still does.”
Ricki laughed. “Nah. That’s nothing. Those are half-hearted attempts at best. It’s more of a reflex. She has no illusions she’ll get a yes, but the eternal optimist in her won’t let her stop asking. One day, I should agree just to see her reaction, but I’m not ready for the consequences.”
Abby drank another sip of her beer, but as it had become warmer, she was having a harder time stomaching it.
Ricki motioned to the beer. “You don’t have to finish that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Your expression was the same as when my mom made me eat spinach.”
Abby was mortified that she’d not hidden her distaste better. “That bad?”
Ricki nodded. “I’ll pour it out.”
Abby stood and handed Ricki the bottle. “So you think Blythe would be relentless if you shot one video, and that was it?”
Ricki tipped the bottle upside down and let the liquid spill out before she turned and met Abby’s gaze. “How do you think she’d react if you told her you didn’t want to record any more videos?”
“Oh.” Abby’s shoulders slumped.
