He was right. Both he and Rafe chose to have a light brunch with Rafe stocking up on some fatty but mostly sugary items while he went for the oatmeal, fruit platter and coffee. Rafe could afford to be lax. He was skinny as a rake.
Soon enough the meal was over and it was time to talk. Ransom got the ball rolling. “Now tell me what it was you couldn’t have told me yesterday.” Pushing his plate to one side he leaned forward, ready to get a resolution to the mystery.
Rafe relaxed in his chair and reached over to pull his glass of water toward him. He took a slow sip before he spoke. “Where do I start?” he asked, not looking at Ransom. “It’s a long story.”
“Start at the beginning.”
Rafe began, and he hadn’t been lying when he’d said it was a long story. He went as far back as a year earlier and, like Ransom should have guessed knowing Rafe, it involved a woman.
“So it didn’t work out. You needed to get away. I get that but what does that have to do with your family? Why cut yourself off from us, especially Mom?”
Rafe’s lips tightened and he looked down at his hands. When he looked up again there was such pain in his eyes that Ransom was taken aback. “This is all about my family, Ransom. Especially Mom.”
Ransom looked at him askance. This was getting more and more confusing by the minute. “What does Mom have to do with it?”
“She’s got everything to do with it. I was too ashamed. I didn’t want to hurt the family…and especially not her. That’s why I decided to stay away.” His face grew solemn as he stared off into space.
Ransom glared at him. “You’d better start talking sense before I knock some into you,” he growled. “What are you blabbing about? Spill it.”
“The girl I was with…Rhonda…you know Mom liked her, right?”
“Yeah, so what? It didn’t work out. These things happen. You don’t think Mom would understand?”
Rafe shook his head. “No, you don’t understand. Mom more than liked her. She loved her…like the daughter she never had.”
Ransom almost groaned. Not that argument again. Since childhood Rafe was convinced that their mom would have preferred a girl to another boy. Idiot, the older ones used to say, she chose you, didn’t she? She could have chosen a girl if she wanted. But he always came back to that idea simply because, when he was six years old, he’d overheard their mother telling their Aunt Mary how there were such cute dresses in The Children’s Place that she would have loved to have a little girl to shop for.
“And that was why it was so hard,” Rafe continued. “Mom blamed me for the break-up. She never forgave me when I told Rhonda it was over.”
“She told you that?”
“She didn’t have to. She’s been nice to me like always but I can read Mom like a book. She’s still hurting because she lost her daughter-in-law to be.”
Ransom remained silent, just staring at his brother. Finally, he spoke. “Mom knows why you broke up with Rhonda.”
Rafe shook his head. “No, she doesn’t. Rhonda told her all kinds of stories and she pretty much believed them.”
“Mom knows why you broke up with Rhonda.”
That made Rafe stop and stare. “How could she? I never told her.”
“No, but Rhonda did.”
“What? Those lies she fed Mom? The way she painted me, I’m surprised Mom even speaks to me anymore.”
“She came back and told Mom the truth. Eventually. Mom knows that she was the one who did the cheating, not you.”
Rafe’s eyes narrowed. “She never told me that.”
“Who? Rhonda or Mom?”
“Neither one of them. I didn’t know they had that conversation.”
“Maybe if you would come home once in a while or even pick up the phone and make a friggin’ call you’d know by now.” Ransom gave a snort of exasperation. “Mom says when you call you’re always in such a darned hurry to get off the phone she can’t even get a chance to talk to you.”
“I thought she didn’t want to talk to me.”
“When does Mom never want to talk to you? To any of us?” Ransom glared. “That’s what she does best. She’s our Mom.”
Rafe drew in a long breath then let it out on a sigh. “Yeah. I know. And I’ve been a real jerk, staying away like this.”
“You said it.” Ransom slapped a hand on the table, making the forks jumps. “Now get your act together. Go call your mother.”
That evening when he returned to his hotel Ransom felt satisfied. While he’d been there Rafe had called Mother Kent and although the conversation had been short, at least it was a lot more meaningful than the ‘hey, Mom, I’m okay, see ya’ kind of calls they'd been having lately. It would take a lot more conversations between Rafe and Maggie but at least today was a start.
Now, relaxed on the king-sized bed, Ransom could afford himself the luxury of letting his mind wander to the woman he was dying to kiss. What was Solie up to right at that moment? Was she busy at work, busy being the consummate professional, taking charge of everything? Or was she lying in bed thinking about him like he was thinking about her?
And, just in case she was, he decided to call her. It would either go to voicemail or, if he was lucky, she’d pick up the phone and he’d be blessed with that saucy, sexy voice of hers.
Ransom picked up the phone and dialed. It rang four times and then clicked over to voicemail. He didn’t bother leaving a message.
After all, what would he say? I’ve been thinking about you? Even worse, I miss you? Talk about stalker mode. If he did that, the girl would go running in the opposite direction and who could blame her?
Smiling to himself, Ransom settled back into the pillows and turned his attention back to the television. He must be in his second childhood because, like a kid, he could hardly wait to get back to see her again.