27. Chapter 27
Rose was texting and talking to me while we took the short drive to Husk Savannah. I left my Nissan Leaf with the valet, and we walked inside the exclusive establishment.
She was good company. She spoke of the city, its people, and its architecture with a fondness that was infectious. I found myself warming up to her, her elegance and Southern grace was unmistakable, yet she wore it as lightly as a summer dress.
The restaurant, nestled in the heart of historic Savannah, exuded a charm that was both rustic and refined. Its walls were adorned with contemporary art that somehow felt at home among the antique fixtures. The air was filled with the aroma of Southern cooking, reimagined with a modern twist, a hallmark of Husk Savannah.
I”d been here with Gabriel once. He”d had to leave right after dinner because Sophia had called him. I”d told him to go and had ordered an Uber to drive me back home. One of the many times our time had been cut short by his daughter. I had to keep remembering that and realize that no matter what, Gabriel would never be able to balance being a father with being in a relationship. He”d want his girlfriend to be the one to make allowances and be flexible. I couldn”t go back to that—I deserved better.
”Have you been here before?” Rose asked.
I nodded but didn”t elaborate. I really didn”t want to discuss Gabriel with his cousin. I didn”t know why I was here in the first place. She”d just swept me away, and now I was having lunch with a veritable stranger.
”Table for three,” she told the ma?tre d”.
”Who is the third person?” I asked as we were shown to our table. We were seated in a cozy corner with a view of the lush, private garden that was a green oasis in the urban landscape.
”Oh, I already had an appointment with an aunt of mine. You don”t mind, do you?”
I shrugged. What was having lunch with two strangers instead of one?
A woman dressed in an elegant linen pantsuit walked up to our table, and Rose squealed. She jumped up and gave the woman a hug. She was a stunning woman. I guessed, she was probably in her fifties. She had a fit, petite body. She didn”t dye her hair, and it was platinum blonde, cut into a sleek bob. Her makeup was minimal, and she wasn”t wearing pearls like most of the women around us were. Instead, she had diamonds, big ones on her ear lobes and her wrists. The rings on her fingers could probably light up a city.
”Hello, dear,” she said to me. I stood up. I felt like I should because there was something regal about her.
She held her hand out. ”I”ve been dying to meet you, Aurora.”
Her smile was warm, her handshake firm, and her demeanor as inviting as a gentle Southern breeze. I smiled uneasily at her. I had no idea who this woman was.
”I”m Betsy Rhodes. And I hear you”re the reason my son these days is as prickly as a patch of briars in a cotton field.”
I snapped my mouth shut because I knew it had fallen open.
”Mrs. Rhodes,” I managed to say through the constriction in my throat.
”Betsy, please. Mrs. Rhodes was my mother-in-law who”s now thankfully passed, bless her heart.”
I let out a nervous laugh at that.
”Now, before you think this was some sort of conspiracy to bring us together, let me assure you it most certainly was.” Betsy sat down and set her Christian Dior purse on the table.
”I texted her that you and I were having lunch, and she insisted on joining,” Rose explained.
”Please tell me that meeting me was perchance, and that you weren”t stalking me?” I tried to lighten the mood with some humor because I really needed it.
”Total coincidence,” Rose declared.
Gabriel”s mother looked at the menu. ”Let”s eat first, and then we can hash out the other stuff.”
What other stuff? This woman was intimidating as hell. I wanted to desperately text Gabriel that I was having lunch with his mother and cousin and that it had nothing to do with me; I”d been maneuvered into it. I doubted he”d be happy that I was meeting his family like this. He”d kept me away from them long enough.
”We must try the shrimp and grits,” Betsy suggested, her voice carrying the melody of a life well-lived. ”And the catfish is simply divine here, not to mention their take on collard greens. It”s like a hug from the inside.”
Rose nodded in agreement. ”Please, let”s not forget the peach cobbler. It”s a little slice of heaven.”
When the server arrived to get out drinks, Betsy asked for a Ruinart bottle of champagne.
”We must celebrate,” she announced, ”After all, I”m meeting Gabriel”s first love.”
”Mrs. Rhodes, I—”
”Betsy, darlin”,” she cut me off and winked at me. ”Come on. You must know he”s in love with you. Don”t get me wrong, the idiot fucked up, big time, and I think you should make him crawl on broken glass, but the fact is that he”s in love with you.”
”I agree,” Rose mused. ”Never seen him like this.”
I closed my eyes for an instant. ”I should go,” I said and rose.
”Sit down,” Betsy ordered. ”Now.”
I didn”t want to be rude, so I sat back down. And the truth was she was a little scary.
”He told me how he treated you. And I want you to know, Rafe, Rose, and I have been telling him to get rid of that trash he married for years.”
The server brought our wine and made a production of opening it and filling our glasses before setting it in a silver ice bucket.
”To women who know how to make men pay.” Betsy raised her glass.
”Amen.” Rose raised her glass.
”Cheers,” I said, resigned.
After we ordered food, Betsy looked pointedly at me. ”I didn”t want you to think that his family was okay with how he behaved. We”re not. And truth be told, neither is he. But he”s made his bed and blah blah.”
”I don”t know what you want me to say,” I sighed.
”Tell me about the Miami Beach project,” she urged.
”Oh, yes, Devon told me that you gave an amazing presentation,” Rose added. ”He absolutely loved your sketches.”
”Are you still sleeping with Devon, Rose?” Betsy tilted her head to look at her niece.
Rose grinned. ”Now, Auntie Betsy, you know, a good Southern girl doesn”t kiss and tell.”
These women reminded me of Nina, Luna, Stella, and the other women I worked with. They were strong and confident. They believed in doing something meaningful with their lives. Betsy talked about her charities with passion, and I found out that Rose had turned away from her father”s money and never touched her trust fund because she wanted to make it on her own, which she had.
Our conversation flowed effortlessly, touching on art, architecture, and the subtle beauty of Savannah. They asked about my work, genuinely interested in my vision and experience.
As an introvert, I tired quickly in social settings, but not this time. I was engaged and enthralled. So, after dessert, when we dawdled over coffee and petit fours, I didn”t mind.
Betsy shared stories of her move from Boston to Savannah, the cultural adjustments, and the love she had grown to feel for this city. ”It”s about finding beauty in the new, in the unexpected.” There was a twinkle in her eyes. ”It”s about building bridges, between places, between people.”
Rose chimed in with tales of how she navigated the Savannah society set. ”Honestly, Auntie Betsy is a breath of fresh air. I”d be dyin” if it was just my mother and other aunts all tryin” to get me to become a Southern belle.”
”The rest of the family doesn”t like me, darling,” Betsy informed me.
”But since she”s Mrs. Atticus Rhodes the Third, she”s the top society matron, and everyone genuflects to her,” Rose chuckled.
Betsy snorted in a most unladylike manner. ”It”s the Rhodes name and the money. The thing is, I come from money, so I didn”t really care about how much Atticus had.”
”Yeah, but you also didn”t care about the status you got as becoming Mrs. Rhodes.”
She laughed. ”Sometimes I wished he had no money, then it would”ve been easier because his family was a nightmare.”
”Uncle Atticus asked them all to fuck themselves,” Rose said proudly. ”You should see them even now, madly in love.”
Betsy blushed a little, and I was charmed. ”Well, I don”t know about that. We”ve been together for forty-five years now. It”s been like all long marriages. There were ups and there were downs.”
”Gabe thought he”d have that with Iris,” Rose told me softly.
”We warned him,” Betsy shook her head.
”But she was pregnant.” Rose poured some more tea for Betsy and me. ”He tried to stay married, and when he couldn”t, he thought he”d at least give Sophia the best of both worlds.”
I looked from one woman to the other. They were trying to help me understand Gabriel”s behavior. They didn”t have to. I understood just fine.
”One of the things that appealed most about Gabriel to me was how dedicated he”s to Sophia.” I made a pattern on the tablecloth with my finger as I spoke, feeling emotional and not wanting to look at anyone.
Betsy put her hand on mine and squeezed. ”I”m sorry about how your parents treated you.”
I looked at her in shock. She knew. Gabriel had told her about me. He”d told her about us. He”d told her how badly he”d behaved. He hadn”t hidden a thing. And even though I didn”t want to, I felt something warm run through me at that validation.
”I”m friends with Nina Davenport, and she thinks very highly of you.” Betsy turned my hand and clutched it, palm to palm and smiled warmly at me. ”And Rafe was ready to steal you from Gabe, but he said he couldn”t. You are too much in love with my older son. You were kind to my granddaughter when you didn”t have to be. She”s a good kid, but it”s not easy with that mother of hers.”
I pulled my hand away from her, not wanting to let her in. She was after all Gabriel”s mother. I”d probably never see her again after this lunch. ”I really liked meeting Rafe, and Sophia was very courageous to come and talk to me.”
Betsy looked me in the eye, and I saw sincerity on her face. ”He messed up, no question about it. But if you care for him, I implore to you, please give him a chance to make it up to you.”
”Betsy…I…” I shrugged because I didn”t know how to respond.
She patted my hand. ”Just think about it. And whether you get back with him or not, I”d like to propose more lunches like this. What do you say, Rose?”
”Absolutely.”
”Now, I hear you sold that monstrosity the Deluca”s built,” Betsy stage whispered to Rose. ”Do you know that building, Aurora?”
”Yes, and I agree it”s a monstrosity.”
Smoothly, we went back to talking about everything and nothing. I was shocked to find that I spent nearly three hours in the company of two women I didn”t know well, and the kick of it was that I wanted to do it again.