Page 3 of Best Kept Vows

“I want to be a public servant. Hopefully, one day, represent Georgia in Congress.” Her confidence made me proud because I’d never have been able to dream the way she did, had never been allowed to.

Betsy nodded. “How wonderful. You have an older brother?” She raised an inquiring eyebrow.

I wondered how she knew that. I mean, everyone knew about the Rhodes family, but she didn’t know everyone else’s. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law would kill to be invited to one of her exclusive soirees, but I, not so much. I wasn’t part of the Savannah society scene. I was a soccer mom, then I became a student, and now…I was in limbo.

I had been to the parties I couldn't avoid, but I stayed as far away as I could from the society set, which I thought was vapid and uninteresting. My close friends were from my days in New York and at NYU, where I was still on a group chat. We did Zoom cocktails at least once a month and met up once a year.

In Savannah, I had acquaintances, usually the mothers of the children my kids befriended. Some of them were awesome, and we got along, but some were stuck up, and we didn’t.

According to my mother-in-law, Dolly, and Sebastian’ssister, Colette, who went by Coco, my lack of pedigree—as in I was born and raised in New Jersey in a middle-class home—meant that I lacked social skills.

This hadn’t been a problem while Sebastian wasn’t running Boone Metals, but now he was, and they were more in my face than ever, and, even worse, my husband wanted me to get along well with them for the sake of business.

“My brother is finishing up his master’s in social work at NYU,” Ada stated, her head held high. “He’s working as an intern at the public defender’s office in Queens right now.”

Betsy looked at me with admiration. “You certainly have raised twoverysocially conscious children, Lia. Congratulations.”

I stilled at that. No one in Sebastian’s family ever said that to me. According to them, the kids should be working toward taking over Boone Metals. I’d told my babies to do what they wanted, and when Sebastian pressured them, I stood in front of them, pushing him back. It was one thing for me to comply with his wishes but quite another for our children to give up their dreams in the name of a legacy they didn’t want to have anything to do with.

“Thank you. Theyarepretty awesome. But I think it’sdespiteme and not because of me.”

Ada put an arm around me. “Aw, Mama, you know that’s not true.”

“So, Lia, is this MBA thing a vanity project, or do you want to do something with it?” Betsy sounded insolent, and I felt Ada stiffen.

“Mamais not vain,” she quipped politely but definitively.

Oh God! It wouldn’t do for her to piss off the First Lady of Savannah, which was not a city but rather a small village, considering how everyone knew everyone and their business.

Betsy didn’t seem to take offense, and just waved a hand. “Darling, nothing wrong with a vanity project—hell, I have a few.” Then she focused back on me. “You want a job, Lia?”

“Yes.”

“What kind?”

“I...I—”Don’t know?

“That’s fine. You have to figure it out; that’s how first jobs are.” Betsy looked over her shoulder. “Maggie, darling, can you take Lia’s contact info and book her a meeting with Nina Davenport.” She faced me again. “Nina is a good friend, and she’s the CEO of?—”

“Savannah Lace,” Ada cut in. “She’s…she’s awesome.”

Betsy smiled. “She is. Do you know her?”

“I knowofher!” Ada gushed. “Award-winningfemaleCEO in Savannah who likes to hire all women…she’s cool. I know her daughter Bianca. I was her mentor in high school for a project we did on historic buildings in Savannah.” Suddenly, she beamed. “Actually, I’ve met your daughter-in-law through Bianca. Aurora Rhodes! I just didn’t put two and two together.”

Betsy almost strutted when she heard her daughter-in-law’s name. “Aurora is brilliant. Honestly, so much smarter than my son…but then women are always smarter than men.”

Dolly wouldneversay anything like that about me.

Maggie, who I assumed was Betsy’s assistant, stepped up next to her boss. “Of course, Betsy, I’ll put Lia in touch with Nina.”

“Tell Nina it’s about theBack To Workproject that we discussed last Sunday,” Betsy continued.

Then she gave Ada and me an appraising glance. “You know, you should come to my salon. We have one once a month, and we invite smart women like you. We eat good food, drink good wine, and talk. Maggie, can you invite them to the next one?”

“Yes, Betsy.” Maggie was taking notes on a tablet, not flustered at all. “Betsy, you have to leave now to make the meeting with the History Museum.”

Betsy groaned. “Speaking of vanity projects,” she muttered. “Fine. Now, let’s find Phoebe so I can hug her one last time before we leave.” She looked around and waved at someone. “That’s my Goddaughter; she graduated today as well; that’s why I’m here.”

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