4. Chapter 4
”Ihear you”re dating,” my mother asked me when we had some privacy during the Rhodes Annual Charity Luncheon.
The opulent family estate in the Isle of Hope on Skidway River was designed for casual coastal living. I didn”t live too far in The Landings, which made it convenient for Sophia to drop by as she was close to my parents.
Betsy Rhodes was not your traditional southern woman; in fact, she was from Boston and had met my father when he was studying at Harvard. She came from old money like my father did but was not southern with a big S.
”Heard from?” I queried as I topped her glass with champagne.
We were sitting by the river where my parents had built a small pagoda. It was private, and right now, with the gardens and estate full of people, it was nice to have some time alone with my mother.
”Sophia. She doesn”t like your lady friend.”
”Did she say why?”
Betsy chuckled and sipped her champagne. ”She doesn”t have to. I know why.”
”Why?” I asked, puzzled.
”Because she isn”t Iris.”
There was absolutely no love lost between my ex-wife and my mother. They were opposites. My mother spoke her mind and was mostly down to earth despite growing up and marrying wealthy. She managed the Rhodes Charitable Foundation, where Iris had dabbled when we first got married until she realized it was real work, not just parties and socializing.
”She knows Iris and I are never getting back together.”
”Knowing and hoping are two different things,” Mama pointed out.
”Is it really that simple?” I wondered.
”For Sophia? Yes. Iris is manipulating that kid.”
I sighed. ”Mama, no, she isn”t.”
My mother scowled for a moment and then breathed in, closing her eyes. When she looked at me again, she was calm. ”Look, you and Rafe are independent and live your life on your own terms. When Rafe said he wanted to pursue academia and not the family business, we let him. When you said you wanted to marry Iris because you knocked her up, we celebrated.”
”What”s your point?”
”I don”t like to interfere in my children”s lives, so when I do, I expect you to pay attention.” There was a bite in her voice. ”You have created living conditions that are not conducive for you to have a relationship with a woman.”
”Christ, Mama, can we give the whole you live too close to your ex business a rest?”
She never approved of my living arrangement with Iris, but I was convinced that Sophia thrived from having both her parents so close and accessible.
”How does it work when Iris is dating someone?” she asked.
I shrugged. I had absolutely no idea if my ex was seeing someone, and frankly, I didn”t care. Sophia hadn”t mentioned anything either, so I assumed Iris was being as discreet as I had been. When she met someone serious, she would introduce him to Sophia, and I would support that.
”Tell me about this woman you”re seeing?”
The thing with Mama was that she never held a grudge. She”d say her piece, and if we didn”t listen, she didn”t hold it against us.
I smiled as soon as I thought about Aurora. ”Her name is Aurora Turner. She works for Nina Davenport.”
My mother nodded appreciatively. She”d never liked it that Iris was a full-time socialite. ”What does she do at Savannah Lace?”
”She”s an architect. I met her when she was working on a Rhodes Hotel project.”
”Is she from Savannah?”
”Born and partially raised.”
”What do her parents do?”
I stilled. I didn”t actually know. ”Her father is in Memphis and her mother is god knows where. Neither is in the picture. She was born here, moved around with her mother, and then returned at Sophia’s age to live with her aunt in Savannah.”
I knew her childhood had been difficult, though I didn”t know all the details. She had shared that her father started a new family and abandoned her, which is why she respected my efforts to stay close to Sophia.
”Do we know the aunt?”
I chuckled. ”No, Mama. We don”t. In any case, she”s not alive.”
”Poor girl, she has no family.”
”I guess she doesn”t.” I knew that, but I hadn”t actually given it much thought. She was not the kind who advertised how she felt. She never talked about her family much. I had the basic details and nothing more. Why hadn”t I asked? She knew everything about my family. She knew because she”d asked, she”d been curious. What does it mean that I hadn”t been?
My mother grinned. ”So, she”s not some stuck-up Savannah socialite?”
I laughed. ”As far from that as you can imagine. She”s a career woman. In fact, this weekend, she”s in New Orleans for a hotel opening. She was an architect on that project.”
”Is that why you didn”t bring her today?”
”I want you and Dad to meet her in a quieter setting…when I”m ready for y”all to meet.”
My mother raised an eyebrow. ”But you introduced her to Sophia?”
”Yeah, and I think I might have made a mistake. They”re not getting along. I told Aurora that after we come back from Paris, she needs to make it work with Sophia. I love her, Mama,” I confessed, ”but if she can”t find a way to be friendly with Sophia, we”re over.”
My mother finished her champagne and rose. ”Gabriel, break it off with Aurora because there is no way that she and your daughter will ever get along. And not because of anything Aurora says or does; it”s going to be because Sophia is too much under her mother”s influence to allow that to happen.”
”Mama, you”re getting this all wrong. Aurora is nearly thirty and doesn”t have children. She”s not used to being with kids. I just need her to spend more time with Sophia, and…it”s just that Sophia thinks Aurora is cold.”
”Do you find Aurora cold?”
Aurora was warm and loving. Kind and generous. ”She doesn”t know how to be around kids. She just needs to learn,” I maintained.
”Is Aurora in love with you?”
”Yeah.”
”Poor girl,” my mother said. ”Well, let”s get back before your father sends a search party. By now, he must be sick and tired of everyone, and if I don”t go back, he may kick everyone out.”
My father, Atticus Rhodes, was an introvert, a lot like my brother Raphael. Rafe was three years my junior and a tenured professor of quantitative economics at Emory University. The son of a bitch was a geek and one of my closest friends.
He”d met Aurora once, and he”d liked her.
However, he”d remarked, ”She”s too soft for what you will put her through.”
”What will Iris do?” I asked, baffled.
Rafe just shook his head. ”You”ve got blinders on, brother. If you don”t take them off, you”re gonna die a bitter old man with Iris on your arm.”
”What the fuck does my relationship with Aurora have to do with Iris?”
”You”re still living with your ex-wife, Gabe.”
”We have separate homes.”
”You keep telling yourself that.”
The thing was, no one in my family liked Iris. Sure, she came from the same social circles as us, but that didn”t seem enough for my family as it did for Iris”s. Her parents had been beyond thrilled that I”d gotten their daughter pregnant—because the wedding would be one for the ages. It had been a bit over the top, and my mother had let Iris”s mother run the show.
”It”s a catfight I don”t want to win,” she told me.
My mother was far too busy to plan a society wedding, and it wasn”t her thing. This Annual Luncheon was a way to raise money for the causes she supported, and pretty much everything my mother did was to drive the agenda of the Rhodes Charitable Foundation. My father had turned over the reins of the company to me nine years ago because he”d wanted to work with my mother.
”At some point, son, you realize it”s not about the money but what good you do with it,” he said. ”So, go make some more so your mother and I can spend it on doing some good for the world.”
Iris didn”t fit in at all with my family, and she”d known that. Every time my parents visited, or we had to spend time with them, she”d made a drama out of it. Now, I couldn”t stop her from attending every party and event that my mother threw.
”Just because we”re not married doesn”t mean I”m not your daughter-in-law,” she protested when Mama had asked why she wanted to continue to attend Rhodes family gatherings.
”Actually, Iris, that”s exactly what it means,” my mother replied, and because I glared at her, she added, ”But you”ll always be the mother of my granddaughter, and that makes you a Rhodes for life.”
I wondered how Aurora would fit in with my family and painfully realized that she”d fit in just fine. My father, who was a hotel man, would talk to her about architecture until the cows came home, and my mother would enjoy her intelligence.
That was what Rafe had said the one time he met her. ”She”s smart. Went to Georgia Tech.” I hadn”t known then, but Rafe had informed me it had one of the most prestigious architecture programs in the world. Aurora had never shown off about it; she wasn”t the type who would.
I found Rafe in the library, alone.
”You snuck out?” I asked and sprawled on an armchair across from him.
”I did the meet and greet,” he sighed. ”How come Aurora isn”t here with you?”
”I wanted her to meet the parents in a quieter setting,” I repeated what I”d told my mother, what I”d told Aurora.
”Bullshit,” Rafe snorted, ”You didn”t want to have a fight with Iris and Sophia.”
I cocked an eyebrow. ”What the fuck?”
”Yeah, that”s why she”s not here.”
”No. And she”s in New Orleans this weekend for work.” But he”d touched upon something true. A part of the reason I hadn”t wanted Aurora here was the shitshow Iris would bring down on me. It just wasn”t worth it. And wouldn”t it be easier for her to meet my parents at a restaurant where it was just us? If she resolved her issues with Sophia.
”I”m surprised you guys are still together,” Rafe provoked.
”Why?”
”Because your kid and your ex-wife control your life. I mean, it pisses us off when every time there”s a family thing that doesn”t include Iris, you and Sophia don”t make it.”
”What nonsense.”
It was partly true. Sophia didn’t want to go if her mother wasn”t going to be there as well. Not that she was hanging around Iris at such gatherings, they did their own thing, she just wanted her Mama around.
I was about to get up to leave when he added, ”How many dates do you cancel with Aurora versus the ones you go to?”
I leaned back. ”I have a thirteen-year-old. She”s at a vulnerable age.”
”That many canceled dates?” Rafe mocked.
We looked like brothers, except he worked out more than I did, and it showed.
”You”re a serial monogamist; I don”t think you should give anyone relationship advice,” I muttered.
”If you love her, you need to fix your life.”
”My life is great.” Now, I did stand up. ”What”s up with all of you? Mama was saying the same thing.”
”Then maybe you should pay attention, Gabe.”
”My daughter is my highest priority.”
”I love Sophia, Gabe, but she”s turning into Iris.” I felt my temper flare inside. How dare he? Rafe raised his hand when I was about to speak. ”Don”t say anything you”ll regret.”
Before I could answer, there was a knock on the library door, and my father looked in. ”Your mother is looking for both of you.”
Rafe marched out, and I grabbed my father”s arm. ”Do you also have a problem with how I”m living my life?”
My father frowned. ”What part?”
”That Iris lives close by, and we share parenting responsibilities?”
My father, who was a good reminder for me as to how I”d look in another thirty years, waited a long moment and then said coolly, ”It”s none of my business, son. You do you.”
And that was that. It was Atticus Rhodes” motto, ”live and let live.”
My kid was my priority, and that was that as well, I told myself, but there was a niggling seed of doubt inside me that maybe my family wasn”t judging me but trying to help me.