Page 59 of While You're There
Chapter twenty-four
Tori
Theywalkedinsilencefrom the restaurant to the valet station. Each step felt heavy, each stride lonely. She wasn’t used to having to be the level-headed one. It was unnerving to see Rhett wound up and volatile. She let out a long sigh before glancing back at her husband. He was pounding out a text or email on his phone, not even aware of her eyes on him.
“I can drive us home,” she offered, reaching for the valet tag he had just pulled out of his pocket.
“Not necessary,” he insisted without peeling his eyes off his device.
“I just figured if you needed to be on your phone…”
“I said I’m fine.” He pocketed his phone and raised his head then, his steel-grey eyes dark as graphite. His frown turned to a grimace. “Of-fucking-course,” he muttered under his breath.
She turned to see Fielding jogging toward them, a genuine smile gracing his tanned and slightly freckled face.
“Hey! Anwar told me you were here, but I didn’t see either of your cars in the lot.”
“Hey, Field.” She gave him a tight smile. “Rhett drove his dad’s car tonight.”
She didn’t miss how Rhett’s gaze narrowed when he looked up from his phone to assess Fielding. His eyes were a storm of emotions, none of them pleasant or cordial. He was insucha mood tonight. He held out his valet ticket without speaking a word to the other man.
“Did you have a nice dinner?” Fielding asked, accepting the ticket with a subtle head nod to Rhett. “Yo, Anwar!” he called over his shoulder. Anwar jogged over and took the ticket out of Fielding’s hand before taking off in the other direction.
“We just had apps and drinks. We’re taking dinner to go,” Tori explained, holding up the bag of boxed food.
“Goddamnit,” Rhett muttered, taking a few steps away from them as he raised his phone to his ear. He didn’t bother excusing himself.
“Is he okay, Tor?”
“He’s fine,” she answered meekly. “There’s a big emergency at work, and he really should be there, but he’s here, because he thinks he has to stay for me, and… I don’t know.”
“Let me try again. Are you okay, Tor?”
She looked up at Fielding’s lagoon-blue eyes and saw genuine concern in his expression. She could feel the worry emanating off his body, too. She could sense that he was holding back from reaching out and wrapping her in a hug. At least he had the wherewithal not to pull something like that in front of Rhett, especially tonight, although she could really use a hug at this point.
Rhett barking something into the phone caught her attention. She watched with trepidation as her husband paced over the same small patch of grass. Four steps forward. Four steps back. On the next pivot, he faltered, his balance unsteady for a few seconds before he caught himself against a tree and found his footing.
“Tori,” Fielding pleaded. He obviously hadn’t missed that stumble either.
She didn’t look at him, choosing to ignore the question he hadn’t actually asked.
“Really?”
She bit down on the inside of her cheek and raised her eyes to meet his. She narrowed her gaze, a defensive comment on the tip of her tongue.
“Tori, how much did he have to drink tonight?”
Sixteen ounces of beer at the table.
At least one double whiskey from the patio bar.
An unaccountable amount of Jameson throughout the afternoon.
“He’s fine, Field,” she insisted.
“Fine? You think that’s fine? I’ve watched my mom do that same dance for years, Tori. He’s not fine, and we both know it. I can’t let you get in the car with him. I can call you a ride share, or I can drive you home myself. Your choice.” He ran his hand through his perfectly styled blonde curls and dislodged them as he continued to stare her down.
“I saidhe’s fine, Fielding. You know Rhett would never do anything to put me in danger.”
