Page 48 of When You're Home
“No, Rhett. I mean where’sTori?” she clarified, shooting him a knowing glance. “I have two tables I need to turn over to her before I leave, and I’ve only seen her once since you guys got here.”
Tori. He had promised her he’d find her once he knew what was going on, but she had come out from the back first and seen Chandler with her own eyes. Rhett was almost certain she had heard Chandler when she walked past the bar earlier. She probably didn’t realize the other woman was drunk, though. He needed to talk to Tori right away. He needed to make sure she was okay, and he needed to come up with a new plan for dealing with Chandler.
“You coming to our party tonight, Lia?” Jake asked.
Goddamnit. He just wouldn’t quit about the stupid party. Never mind the fact that Rhett felt like everything was unraveling around him.
“That depends,” she replied flirtatiously. “Who’s gonna be there?”
Jake started listing off the guest list: a few of the other servers from Clinton's, some of the valet guys he hung out with on the weekends. Realization converted to acceptance as Rhett listened to the longer-than-expected guest list. It was clear that the party was happening tonight, whether he participated or not.
“I’ll be right back,” he muttered, defeated. He headed back into the kitchen while avoiding Mike’s gaze. “Keep her here once she gets back from the bathroom, Jake,” he shot over his shoulder before he pushed through the kitchen doors.
Chapter 28
Tori
WhothehellletthedecafcoffeerunoutinthemiddleofSundaybrunch?Tori let out a long sigh and picked at a thread on her apron while she waited for the coffee to brew. At least glaring at the slow-drip percolator was buying her a few extra minutes to process what was happening at the bar.
Chandler at Clinton’s—sitting at the bar, interacting with her friends—felt like a grotesque invasion of privacy. This was her workplace. Those friends were her family. That would all be a lot to process on its own. But then there was what she heard Chandler say to Rhett as she walked past them. She had no context for the comment, but that didn’t matter. She knew what she heard.
“…when we talked this morning…”
He had talked to Chandler that morning. When, though? While she was sleeping? Before they went down to the lake? After she had assured him that they were really, truly together? She felt like such a fool.
It didn’t actually matter when he had talked to her, Tori realized. Rhett had talked to Chandler earlier, and now she was here. Chandler’s presence was an invasion, but Rhett’s secrecy was a betrayal.
The coffee maker sputtered its final glugs as Tori reached for two navy and white speckled coffee cups with the Clinton’s logo printed on them.
“Tori, I’m so sorry.” She hadn’t heard him come into the kitchen. He reached the beverage station in three strides. He extended an arm in her direction, but she shifted on the balls of her feet to block him out. He must have noticed the subtle snub because he took a step back and put a bit more space between them. “Tori?”
She let him sweat it for another few seconds before responding, “What is she doing here, Ev?”
“I honestly have no idea. I didn’t even know she was here until we walked in the door, beautiful.”
Tori assessed him out of the corner of her eye, then turned to face him head on. She had seen the shock register on his face when they first arrived. She had felt the tension crest in his body right before he dropped her hand. She believed him that he didn’t know Chandler was here. But there was more to the story he was trying to leave out.
“So you had no idea Chandler was coming to Hampton today? She’s been here at Clinton’s— hanging out with Jake, sitting next to our regular Sunday customers—since when, exactly? Since Jake tried to call you this morning?” She shook her head in disbelief as she listed the offenses.
“Fuck.” Rhett raked his hand through his hair again. “I didn’t even put that together. Yeah, Jake said she’s been here for a while. That’s what I needed to talk to you about, V. She’s drunk. I know I said I’d get her out of here, but there’s no way I can send her home like this,” he explained.
Tori’s eyes widened as she started to connect the dots. Chandler wasn’t going home anytime soon. She tried to keep her tone even as she asked her next question. “I heard part of what she said to you. Out at the bar. Did you really talk to her this morning?”
Rhett grimaced. Tori knew he was more agitated with the situation than with her, but still. How dare he get defensive. He had a lot of pluck for a guy who technically had two girlfriends in the same restaurant right now.
“Yeah, Chandler called me this morning, right after I talked to Maddie. I talked to her for, like, two minutes. She said nothing about coming to Hampton.”
“Wait, you talked to Maddie this morning, too?” Her mind was reeling with all the half-truths that were unraveling between them.
Lia pushed through the kitchen partition then, interrupting their standoff.
“Tor, do you need me to stay?”
Tori glanced over at her best friend, grateful she was willing to stay to help her out. “Yes, please. These go to table eight,” she instructed, sliding the coffees across the counter, “and table eleven hasn’t put their order in yet.”
“Got it. I’ll stay as long as you need. But Mike asked me to come check on you guys, so you might want to wrap things up before he comes back here to check on you himself.”
“Thanks for covering me, Lia.” Tori turned back to Rhett before she dismissed her. “You won’t have to stay too late. This isn’t going to take long.”
