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Once we were there, she said, “Thank you for buying dinner tonight, Wyatt. I really had a wonderful time.”
“Better than you expected?” I asked, hoping to give myself just one more boost of confidence about how things were progressing.
The smile that spread across her face transformed her completely. “It was far better than I expected.”
“Glad to know I can exceed your expectations. Let’s hope I can continue to do that,” I said.
“I’d love to see how you intend to make that happen.”
Maybe she didn’t realize it, but that was precisely what I needed to hear. I might have taken my time with this up to this point, but I didn’t get to where I was in the company by never rising to a challenge. If there was a chance for me to prove to her I wasn’t who she thought I was, I was going to do it.
So, I opened the door, stepped out, and turned around to face her. “I hope you enjoy your birthday celebration with your family tomorrow. I’ll see you on Monday morning.”
“I will. And that sounds good.”
Offering one final smile, I said, “Goodnight, Rhea.”
She returned the smile. “Goodnight, Wyatt. Drive safe.”
At that, I turned, walked down the steps from the porch of her farmhouse, and made my way to my car.
I did it feeling more excited and determined than I ever had in my whole life.
And this had not a single thing to do with work.
Never having had Rhea as my motivation before, I started to think the potential for success was far greater now. Because I didn’t back down from going after what I wanted, and there hadn’t ever been anything I wanted more than Rhea Marks.
12
RHEA
It was about an hour and a half before I was set to close my ice cream shop when it happened.
The front door opened, and I glanced up from where I had my attention focused behind the counter to find my mom and my grandmother stepping inside. As they moved toward me, I couldn’t pretend I didn’t notice their expressions—a grim look on my mom’s face, sadness etched into every one of my grandmother’s features. It took me no time to draw a horrible conclusion.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, immediately concerned that something horrific had happened to either my grandfather or my dad.
My mom shook her head as my grandmother replied, “It’s just been a difficult day today, Rhea.”
The sadness I’d seen in her face didn’t even come close to the despondency I heard in her tone. She sounded devastated, completely destroyed.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” I pressed, feeling every muscle in my body tense with worry.
My grandma turned her head to the side and looked down at the ground, doing her best to hold back her tears. It was my mom who enlightened me. “Today was your grandparents’ anniversary.”
That was all it took.
Hearing those words, I knew precisely what happened and felt a wave of sorrow wash over me, too.
“He didn’t remember, did he?” I asked, my voice just a touch over a whisper.
Both of them shook their heads, but it was my mother who spoke. “I thought she could use a little something to boost her mood, so we came in to have some ice cream.”
I didn’t hesitate. “Strawberry?” I asked my grandma.
She nodded. “Sure.”
“Mom?”
