“If anyone at this table should feel guilty about abandoning family, it’s me.I walked when it came out that my dad was a dirty cop.I didn’t answer the phone when he called for an entire fucking year.That was being a shitty son.You were out living your life and making your mark.You have nothing to feel guiltyabout.”
I kept thebut I sure as fuck doto myself.It went without saying that I’d fucked up in a big way, and that was something I’d have to live with for the rest ofmylife.
Ari threaded her fingers through mine.“You were dealing the best way you knew how.I couldn’t imagine how it felt to find out that everything you thought was ...wrong.He betrayedyou,Rhett.Betrayed everything he taught you to hold sacred.You reacted.I understand wanting a chance to go back, but you can’t crucify yourself for what you did for the rest of your life.I know your dad wouldn’twantthat.”
I heard the logic in her words, but that didn’t mean I believed it.I flipped it back on her anyway.“And your dad wouldn’t want you to feel guilty for living.He’s always been so damn proud of you.I feel like I haven’t missed out on many of your accomplishments because your dad was always bragging to Heath and me about how you werekickingass.”
A wobbly smile formed on her lips.“Really?”
“Really.He wanted the best for you, and you went out and made the best life you could.There’s nothing to feel badabout.”
“I’ll believe it ifyouwill.”
I was saved from having to respond when our server returned with our whiskey and menus.The restaurant offered Creole and Irish fare, and Ari picked the shrimp and I went for theoysters.
After the server retreated, Ari picked up her whiskey and sniffed.Before she could lift it to her lips, I raised myglass.
“To a longoverduedate.”
A smile flitted over her features.“I can drinktothat.”
23
Ariel
Be cool,Ari.Act like an adult who has it all together.Because you are.Don’t think about thattoast...
“What exactly have you been doing for the last year?”I lowered my whiskey glass to thetable.
Rhett sipped his, and if the abrupt change in subject threw him, he didn’t let it show.“PI work.Mostly surveillance on spouses suspected ofcheating.”
“Wow.That has to be a little depressing.”I picked up my drink again and tipped some back, the heat from the liquor warming a path down mythroat.
Rhett shrugged.“Yes and no.What’s depressing is the fact that there’s no trust between them, and they get to the point where they feel like hiring someone is all they can do.Honestly, they could save themselves a lot of grief by just asking the other person where the hell they’regoing.”
It sounded like there was a story there.“What doyoumean?”
Rhett picked up his drink again.“I had one client who swore up and down her husband had to be cheating on her because he was gone the same time every week and withdrawing cash from the ATM on the same day.She told me it had to be a hooker, but she wasn’t going to file for divorce withoutproof.”
“Oh my God.That’s terrible.”After the way things ended with Carlos, I never wanted to deal with a situation like that ever again, and we hadn’t had anywhere near that level of commitmentbetweenus.
Rhett tilted his head.“Only if you don’t trust your husband enough to ask him where he’sgoing.”
“What was he doing?”My curiosity piqued, I leaned back in my chair, my glass poised to takeanothersip.
“Laser hair removal on his back.Technician I talked to after I got the pictures said he felt self-conscious when his wife called him a wooly mammoth on the beach, so he wanted to be ready forsummer.”
I laughed, choking on my drink and practically spitting it onto the table.“Oh my God.You’rejoking.”
“No, definitely not joking.She cried a lot and apologized.They booked a cruise to the Bahamas as a secondhoneymoon.”
“Wow.That’s better than thealternative.”
He nodded.“For sure.Plenty of the cases end up using my photos for evidence in divorce proceedings, which is depressing as hell.The best cases are the ones where I’m able to prove that they’renotdoing anything wrong.Like the guy sneaking away to play bingo to try to win his wife anewcar.”
“Seriously?”
“Dead serious.I can’t make this stuff up, and these aren’t even the crazierstories.”