Chapter 5 #3
“How?” She rubbed her hands that had turned cold. “I don’t have that phone anymore, remember?” She met Rafe’s gaze. “I was worried he might have emptied our savings account. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“He hasn’t?”
“I had Bill check for me. It was all still there. He didn’t even withdraw his half.”
“That’s odd.” Rafe shifted toward her. “Could he be lying low?”
“I guess.” Ahri’s eyes stung, and she looked away. “He has to be living on something though.”
“Did you take out your portion?”
“Yes. Bill helped with that too.” Ahri sighed. “I want to get the divorce paperwork going, but how can I serve him if I don’t know where he is?”
The decision still made her feel like a quitter, but she felt in her core that it was the right thing to do. She wouldn’t be her mother and waste her life hanging onto a man who didn’t want her.
“Once again,” Rafe said, “Bill’s on that. He’ll let us know as soon as he has anything.”
“Thanks.”
Rafe leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “I have a favor to ask you.”
“What?” Ahri asked, perking up. Somebody needed her for something?
“You might remember my mother.”
“Maybe if I saw her. There’s always been so many people at every event I’ve attended.”
“True. She and my stepfather run a bed-and-breakfast.” Rafe grinned. “She’s the world’s most amazing cook ever.”
“You said something like that when you picked me up.” Ahri remembered Bill’s comment at the hotel. “Is that where you learned it?”
“She taught me everything I know, but she’s way out of my league.” Rafe leaned back again. “She grows most of her own food and has an amazing garden. When I was in high school, I used to help her put it in and maintain it because we couldn’t jump over a nickel to save a dime.”
“What?” Ahri asked with a laugh.
“Sorry.” He gave a soft chuckle. “It means we were poor. We grew most of our own food.”
“What about your father?” The flash of anger that crossed his face told her everything. She reached out and touched his hand. “Say no more. I get it.”
“I’ve worked to help support the family since I was sixteen,” he said.
“Me too,” she whispered.
He met her gaze, and she was struck by the warmth in it. It seemed they had a lot more in common than she’d realized. No wonder he and Kayn got on so well.
“Anyway,” Rafe continued, now looking at his hands, “after I went to college, she had to do all the work of putting it in herself. My father died about the time I graduated from high school. Luckily, she remarried a year later, and she and my stepfather turned the old house into a bed-and-breakfast. Her garden’s even bigger now, believe it or not.
She feeds her guests and even does some catering. ”
“It sounds like a lot of work.” She wondered what all of this had to do with her.
“They also have two young kids.”
“Really?” Ahri couldn’t imagine her mother having any more children. She was doing so much better now she’d moved back to Korea and had lots of family support there. The thought brought a rush of guilt that Ahri hadn’t been able to provide that.
“Lessa’s in kindergarten, and Nikolas will start next year. They’re not big enough to be much help yet. My stepfather helps where he can, but he’s a college professor and this is finals week.”
“Are you telling me all this,” Ahri asked, understanding what he wasn’t saying, “because you want me to help your mother with her garden?”
“Simply put, yes.” He heaved out a breath. “I can afford to hire somebody to do it for her, but she won’t let me. Believe me, I’ve tried more than once since I first moved back.”
“I like the sound of her. An independent woman. I feel the same way when Kayn tries to fix everything for me with his money.” Ahri gave a soft laugh. “Though I confess that I’m glad he was in a financial position to help me move so fast, otherwise I could still be driving here in a moving van.”
Rafe just smiled but said nothing else. She decided she liked that about him. The idea of working outside in this beautiful spring weather and creating something that would grow appealed to her. There would also be fewer people than there were here.
“All right. I’ll give it a try,” Ahri said. “Be warned that I’ve never done much gardening, but I’m a fast learner.”
“Thank you. She said she’d be happy to pay you, but I wonder . . .” His words drifted off, and he shifted in his seat. Was he uncomfortable?
“Wonder what?” she asked, wary.
“Would you like to stay there for a few days?”
“Like live there?” When he nodded, she asked, “Why?”
“Because it’s a nut house here right now. As long as the creek don’t rise, we’ll settle down after the release in a couple of weeks.”
“Creek don’t rise?” Ahri was loving these quaint sayings, especially coming out of this handsome Harvard man who, except for his accent, sounded sophisticated. If she wasn’t careful, she’d pick up that southern drawl too.
“I’m sorry.” Rafe tossed up his hands. “The longer I’m back here, the more my youth comes out of my mouth.”
“Don’t stop on my account. I like it.”
“Do you?” He peered at her.
That funny thing happened in her stomach again.
Rafe Davis had a way of looking at her in a thrilling but unsettling way.
Did he use that in business meetings to cow any dissent?
Not with employees, she was pretty sure.
If those collaborative brainstorming meetings were any indication of how he ran this business, then it wouldn’t be his style.
“I do,” she said. “Now tell me more about me staying at your mother’s.”
“I thought, considering everything you’ve been through, that it might be good for you to spend some time somewhere normal, in a simple house with home-cooked meals and some good hard work to make you tired enough to sleep at night.”
Ahri looked down at her hands. Was it that obvious that she was having trouble sleeping?
“Does she have room if she’s running a B&B? I don’t want to take away from her income.”
“It’s a large house, and they keep a private guest room for when they have nonpaying company. Ma says you can stay there.”
Ma. He called his mother Ma. It sounded so down-to-earth.
“I thought it’d give you some quiet time, and it’ll force Kayn to take a break when he comes to see you.
” Rafe gave a dark chuckle. “Having our apartments right here in the complex might save commuting time, but it’s almost impossible to get away from work.
The four of us will be sure to come for dinner at Ma’s every Sunday until the launch, and then probably more often after that. ”
“You think I’ll be stuck there for two weeks?
” Rafe shot Ahri a look that made her realize how bad that had sounded, and she quickly added, “Not that I’ll be stuck there.
Sorry. That came out wrong. You’re saying I can help you and my brother by staying out of your hair and working for your mother for a couple of weeks. ”
“Yes.” His words were simple and direct. “Though I wouldn’t call it staying out of our hair. But you don’t have to decide now. Just think about it.” Rafe rose and looked about to walk away, but she took his hand. He went very still.
“I’ll do it. I’m already going a little stir crazy in that apartment. I like the idea of being busy with something useful.”
“Great,” he said, still not moving. “I’ll let Ma know.”
“When does she need me?”
“How about I take you when we all go over for dinner on Sunday? You can pack what you need and bring it with you.”
“Perfect.” She dropped his hand and instantly missed the warmth of his touch. Was that a sign of how lonely she was?
Ahri watched as he walked back toward his wing, rubbing the hand that she’d held. Curious.