Chapter 8      

Abbie clutched the napkin in her lap, watching as Dustin and Mac chortled in response to Rhett’s joke about his short ribs looking like the ones on a Texas armadillo.

Sometimes she didn’t understand his humor, but she usually made the effort to laugh. Tonight she couldn’t get into the swing of things. They were an hour into dinner, and she felt like she was walled off from the others by a plane of glass.

How dare he accuse her of being two different people? She wasn’t wild. She was only having fun, exploring her sexuality after it had been turned against her. It was a sight different from pretending to be someone else half the time, hamming it up for the media.

“Would you pass the salt, Abbie?” Rhett asked, glancing her way. “You’re mighty quiet. If you’d gotten the short ribs, I’d blame it on the armadillo resemblance, but you have that nice chicken salad. You all right?”

“It was a long day,” she said politely, wanting to kick him in the shins for calling her out in front of Dustin and Mac. He darn well knew she was upset with him.

“Mom’s been working like a crazy woman lately, Uncle Rhett,” Dustin exclaimed. “I’d swear she’s possessed or something. Uncle Mac says she’s been rearranging the flowers so much at the hotel that they’re wilting earlier than usual. And she’s making me work like crazy too. I’ve never cleaned my room so much in all my life.”

“The arrangements didn’t look right to me at the moment,” she said, feeling the need to defend herself. “Plus, if a flower snaps or wilts under the pressure, then it wasn’t tough enough in the first place.”

Everyone turned and looked at her. She cleared her throat. Was she still talking about flowers? Rhett’s gaze suggested he thought otherwise.

Abbie picked at her salad, unable to hold his gaze. “As for you, young man. You hadn’t emptied your laundry hamper in weeks. Your soccer clothes were rank.”

“Back where I’m from, ‘rank’ has a lot of different uses.” Rhett wiped his mouth with his napkin, his lips twitching. “But your mama probably wouldn’t want to hear them.”

“I do,” Dustin said, hero worship visible in his eyes. Did Rhett know how much her son looked up to him? It reminded her how she’d been playing with fire. If Dustin found out…well, he’d start hoping for things that would never happen. She couldn’t allow that.

Rhett gave him a wink. “I’ll tell you later, bubba. Isn’t that hamburger cold yet? I’m stealing one of your fries. Look out.”

Sure enough, his hand dove in like an airplane, and Dustin started laughing as he slapped at it. 

Abbie speared a forkful of greens, trying to talk herself into taking a bite. She had no appetite. When she glanced up, she caught Mac watching her. He was worried about her, she knew, but she prayed he didn’t suspect the reason for her disquiet involved Rhett. If he suspected anything, he hadn’t said. But that was Mac. He’d let her work it out herself. She’d have to come to him for advice if they were going to talk about her time with Rhett, and she had no intention to do that.

Enduring the dinner took the last of her energy. When Rhett insisted on paying the bill, she breathed a sigh of relief that it was over. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and forget their earlier interaction. She’d already said she was tired. She could bow out. Rhett wouldn’t insist she come to him. As for seeing him tomorrow night, she’d play it by ear. Right now, things didn’t feel light and carefree.

But just when they were about to get on the elevator to go to their rooms, Rhett reached out and stopped her. “Mac and Dustin are going to go on up, but there’s something I want to show you, Abbie.”

“You’ll love it, Mom,” Dustin said with a grin. “Don’t stay out too late, kids.”

Mac laughed and punched the elevator call button. “I’ll make sure the munchkin goes to bed on time. Have fun, Abbie.”

“What?” she asked.

The door closed in her face. 

She turned to Rhett. “You told them you were going to show me something? Are you out of your mind? I told you—”

“I know what you said,” Rhett interjected, leading her back toward the lobby. “When you see where I’m taking you, it will make more sense. Mac and Dustin didn’t want to go, although I extended the invitation to them nonetheless.”

Fuming was an unnatural reaction for her, but there was no denying that was exactly what she was doing. “I don’t want to go anywhere right now, Rhett. I only want to take a shower and go to bed.”

“Humor me,” he said, gazing into her eyes. “Please, Abbie.”

When he asked like that, looking at her so sweetly, it was hard to refuse. “Fine. But this better not take long.”

“Follow me,” Rhett said, and they walked outside to the hotel entrance.

“There’s Rhett Butler Blaylock,” she heard someone exclaim and then there was a camera flash followed by another.

She bristled. Being photographed alone with Rhett made her uncomfortable. There were certain implications, and the media had never been shy about making logical leaps. When a black sedan pulled up, she gaped at Rhett as he opened the passenger door. “We’re driving?”

“Not far,” he said, gesturing for her to get in. The valet had just emerged from the driver’s seat. “Trust me.”

Casinos were entertainment entities in and of themselves. The competitors—and their retinues—never left a venue while a tourney was going on.

“It’s a really nice surprise, Abbie,” Rhett said. “Trust me.”

More camera flashes reflected off the car, and since she was making a spectacle, she ducked into the car and let him close the door. Coming around to the other side, he tipped the valet. Then he got into the driver’s seat and immediately put the car into drive. He drove them out of the casino and onto a highway called CT-2.

“Where are we going, Rhett?” she asked.

“I racked my brain for something to make up for earlier,” he said. “I know you’re upset, and I hate that. Abbie, I’m sorry about what I said earlier.”

An apology and a make-up surprise? Somehow she hadn’t expected that. “I’m sorry too. I don’t want…” She trailed off. If she told him the unvarnished truth about how she felt, she’d be making herself even more vulnerable. She hadn’t yet come to terms with the fact that he made her forget the control she’d cultivated for her entire adult life. It scared the dickens out of her.

“What?” he asked.

“I don’t want any bad feelings between us,” she managed to say instead, clutching her seat belt.

“Me either,” he said. “Let’s hope my surprise raises your spirits.”

They fell silent, and she paid attention to the signs illuminated by the headlights. They crossed the Shetucket River into a quaint town called Norwich. For the life of her, she couldn’t imagine where he was taking her. When he pulled onto Mohegan Park Drive, there was a truck idling in front of them with its lights on.

“Give me a moment,” Rhett said as he put the car in park. Before she could say a word, he bounded out of the car. He stopped in front of the truck’s driver’s-side window, talked to the man at the wheel for a few moments, and then came running back. “He’s going to let us in. The casino arranged a pass for us last minute since the park closes at sunset.”

Moments later, they were following the truck to a parking lot deeper inside the park. When Rhett finally stopped the car, he turned to face her. “It’s a full moon tonight. I thought you might like to walk in the moonlight. This place has a very famous rose garden, covering about two acres. Of course, they’re dormant now, but there’s a nice path for strolling.”

He’d brought her to a park with a rose garden? She cleared her throat, trying to dislodge the emotion clogging it. “I didn’t bring a coat.”

“Mac brought it down earlier,” Rhett said. “He and Dustin weren’t eager to come to the park for a moonlight walk, but they both thought you’d enjoy it.”

Fear speared her chest. “How did you explain it to them?”

“I said it might boost your energy after all the work you’ve been doing, and that I needed to clear my head before the tourney tomorrow,” he told her, handing her coat to her. “Mac has seen me leave the hotel before to take a walk.”

“I thought you always partied into dawn,” she said, following him out of the car.

“I haven’t done as much of that these past few years, and usually not the night before a tourney starts. Maybe the day before.” He laughed. “I’m a country boy at heart, you know. I like being outside, and the moon is pretty spectacular tonight. I saw it out of my hotel window last night, which is what gave me the idea after you left me. All I needed to do was find the perfect place, and that’s what the hotel’s concierge is for.”

Plus, Rhett was a high-roller at the tournament. They’d do anything to make him happy. She knew all about that from working at Mac’s hotels. They did the same for their guests.

“This was very thoughtful, Rhett,” she said, walking with him down the path.

“You might take my arm,” he said, extending it out like an old-world gentleman would. “The moon might be all bright and silver, but it’s hard to see any rocks or ruts on the path.”

She took his arm and liked the feel of it a little too much. It made all the uncertainty and self-torment of these last hours fade away. They strolled down the path. The barren fall branches looked like a million arms reaching to the sky in the moonlight, eagerly awaiting the sun’s return in the morning. And the moon’s fullness reminded her of a woman’s belly close to birth. 

“When I’m out walking in places like this at night,” Rhett said, “I miss the singing of the cicadas back home. We didn’t have air conditioning when I was a sprout, so I’d keep my windows open, hoping for a breeze. Many a night I fell asleep to their chorus.”

She thought back to their earlier conversation, the one that had stirred her up so. The words wouldn’t leave her, and she sighed, not sure what to do.

“You’re thinking about our chat earlier,” he said, “wondering how my poker personality fits with a man who has fond memories of open summer windows and cicadas. One who likes taking moonlit walks.” 

Pausing, he turned to her. The moonlight touched the angles of his face, making him seem larger and his hair more golden. He’d left his cowboy hat in the car, she realized. Until this moment, she hadn’t really looked at him.

“Abbie, maybe I’m all of those things,” he said. “I’m all of my experiences, just like you’re all of yours. We don’t have to put the different parts of ourselves into nice, neat boxes, each tied off with a bow. Perhaps we should just let them have some line to run, like a kite on a breezy Sunday.”

She’d never flown a kite a day in her life, but she understood what he meant. She and Mac talked about giving Dustin enough freedom so he wouldn’t feel boxed in, but not too much that he’d get out of control. 

Out of control. Had she been? Surely, making up excuses to leave the family suite to see Rhett—like she had earlier—wasn’t responsible behavior. Neither was sneaking out to see her secret lover after everyone was asleep. How was she supposed to raise her son to be responsible if she wasn’t?

“I’m not a wildcat,” she found herself saying.

He made a sound under his breath. “I didn’t mean for that to put your back up so, and I want to take it back, but I just can’t.” Tipping her chin up to him, he smiled. “There is nothing wrong with being a passionate woman, Abbie. The passion inside you has finally emerged, and I feel privileged to be a part of that. I hope it’s something you’ll cherish about our time together. When you let all that passion out, you’re more beautiful than that moon up yonder, and she’s a mighty spectacular sight.

“Maybe what we’re both teaching each other is how to be somewhere in the middle,” Rhett mused, starting to walk again. “I’m a little calmer than I was before being with you, while you’re a little less starchy being with me. Not a bad tradeoff, to my mind.”

“Starchy?” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, Rhett, was I that bad?”

“When was the last time you wore something that hasn’t been dry cleaned?” he asked her.

She frowned, thinking. “I hate admitting this, but it was your Eli Manning jersey.”

“Of course it was, sugar,” he mused. “When are you finally going to admit how well I know you?”

Suddenly he paused again and put his hands on her shoulders, drawing her closer. His head loomed in the moonlight, and she knew he was going to kiss her. Her hands curled around his back without thought.

“Fact is, honey,” he drawled, lowering his mouth slowly, “you know me just as well as I know you.”

His mouth bussed her lips softly, and she angled closer to deepen the kiss. The gentle brushes weren’t enough. She clutched his back, urging him on. He tugged on her bottom lip, and a sigh escaped from her mouth. Yes, she thought. Oh, yes.

The moonlight washed over them, casting its own kind of magic. She opened her mouth, and they took the dance to another level, his tongue swirling around hers.

When he pressed back, she rested her head against his chest. “Moments like these…I wish time could stop.”

“Me too,” he said, and there was a hitch in his voice. “Will you come back to my room and make love with me?”

“Yes,” she said, because she wanted to with all of her heart. Because she wanted to silence the voice in the back of her head reminding her they couldn’t stay in the moonlight forever.