Rachel's Rebellion (Moss Bayou) (7 page)

“So who do
you think packed this box?” She turned toward Phillip and indicated the items
on the counter. “Tate or Abby?”

Phillip
chuckled. “Well, I know it wasn’t your mother. Susan Emerson would not have
packed a box that way. Had to be a sibling.”

“My money is
on Tate.” She laughed with Phillip.

Instead of
moving to another box, she watched as Phillip returned his attention to the
last of the glassware. He had been a big help all afternoon. Now as Sunday was
heading into dusk, she felt the need to tell him once more what he meant to
her.

“I can’t
thank you enough for all that you’re doing,” she told him.

“Enough already,”
Phillip waved her off. “You’ve been thanking me daily for almost a month.”

“I know this
is barging in on your own life.”

“Right now,
helping a friend is just what I need,” he said quietly. “I need time to focus
on something other than my own heartbreak.”

“I know the
breakup was painful, Phillip. I’m sorry for that.”

“Rachel
Emerson if you apologize for something once more…”

She raised
her hands in surrender. “Okay. Okay. I quit.” She watched him place a glass into
the cupboard. “I love you. You know that, right?”

He looked
her way. “Yes, I know. I love you, back.” Turning quickly away, he said, “Heard
from Deke yet?”

She smiled.
Maybe she was good at subterfuge. Referring to Gabriel as Deke seemed perfectly
normal. She hadn’t missed a beat.

“Nothing
yet.”

Once more he
faced her and gave her a look.

“What’s the
look for?”

She watched
Phillip watch her for another moment. Finally, he shrugged.

“You’re in
love with him, Rachel.”

Phillip’s
statement gave her an inner jolt. Was she? She wanted to say no but the word
yes tried to form.

“Can we just
agree that I’m just exploring where this is going?”

“If you have
your way, it looks like it is going straight to your bedroom.”

“I admit
it.” She checked her phone. “I want to make love to him.”

Phillip
turned to face her. “Being the friend I am, I’ll give you some camouflage while
you work things through. Besides, maybe a little camouflage is what I need,
too.”

She gave him
her best smile. He was one of her best friends. Always had been. He understood
her when others hadn’t. She also understood him. She agreed he needed this,
too.

“Camouflage
it is.”

A knock at
the door had her giving Phillip an excited nod of her head.

“Can’t be
him,” Phillip said. “Not like him to just show up.”

“It could
be,” she responded hopefully.

“Rachel,
answer the door.”

“You’re
right,” she said with a laugh as she made her way to the door. A second brisk
knock sounded just as she reached for the knob. No, definitely would not be
Gabriel.

Pulling the
door open, she found herself standing face to face with her mother. Her mother
waited impatiently for the door to open wider.

“Mom?”

Susan
Emerson uncharacteristically pushed passed her and took a position in the
middle of the small living room. “Rachel?”

She was at a
loss. What was up? She kept her eyes on her mother.

“Rachel, is
there something you want to tell me?”

“What do you
mean?”

“I hear you
met some stranger in a parked car last night.”

Borrowing Nik’s
famous eye roll, she grunted. “Should’ve known.”

“That’s all
you have to say?”

She could do
nothing but look at her mother. What could she say? Yes, Mom, I’m secretly
meeting a man you would think is bad. She knew she had to remember that while
she knew the truth about Gabriel, no one else did. Her mother would hit the
roof.

“Mom, I’m
not going to let Mavis Cavett’s gossip bother me.”

“Rachel
Anne, gossip or not, that woman is painting you in a very unflattering light.”
Susan paused to give her a pointed look. “In her story, you are parking in cars
with strange men.”

Phillip, God
be praised, took that moment to enter the room. “Hello Mrs. Emerson.”

Susan turned
and didn’t hide her surprise. “You’re here? But Mavis Cavett is telling…”

“Yes, we
know,” Phillip said with a chuckle. “We had the pleasure this morning at the
café. Rachel and I went to the wedding as a couple. We left as a couple.”

Rachel sent
Phillip a silent thanks for the lie. “I ran into a friend from work and took a
moment to say hello is all. Seems the Cavetts were leaving at that moment and
well, you know Mrs. Cavett.” She threw in a shrug of her shoulders for good
measure. When had she learned to lie so easily?

“That old
witch,” Susan muttered.

Rachel
watched as her mother calmed down. The guilt of lying was heavy but she just
couldn’t share this with anyone. Especially now that she knew things Gabriel
had shared.

“That
woman,” Susan spat out as she sat down on the second hand blue sofa. “She is
telling the entire town that you were with some criminal in a parked car.”

“Criminal?”
Phillip shook his head.

“Seriously?”

“Yes,
Rachel. Seriously. I ran into Ducret’s for a couple of things. It’s already all
over the market.”

“God, those
old women are fast,” Phillip said.

“Mavis and
Velma have a system,” Susan told them. “One tells the other something and then
they each take that information separate ways.”

“Great. Now,
people will think I’m playing Phillip.”

“Rachel,
you’re not playing me.”

“As of my
stop at the market, you and Phillip had a terrible fight when he caught you in
a state of undress in a parked car.” Susan waved a hand. “That was forty-five
minutes ago. No telling what the story is now.”

“I’m sorry,
Mom.” She was sorry. Sorry she couldn’t be honest. She did not want to hurt her
parents.

“I knew
there had to be an explanation. I knew your father and I had instilled values
and decency in your upbringing. For you to rebel against what you were taught…”

“Mom, I’m so
sorry.”

Susan
reached for Rachel’s hand and pulled her onto the sofa beside her. “I should
have known better. You would never get involved with some low life.” Her mother
pulled her into a hug. “The shock of it all is the only excuse I have. I’m the
one who is sorry.”

“Uh-oh,”
Phillip whispered.

Rachel
turned her attention to him as she settled beside her mother. “Uh-oh what?”

“My parents
uh-oh. That’s what.”

“Vincent and
Teressa have probably gotten wind of this garbage,” Susan agreed.

“I’d better
do some damage control,” Phillip said as he reached into his pocket and pulled
out his keys. To Rachel he asked, “You okay to handle the unpacking?”

“Sure. Go.
Make things right. You know your father’s Italian temper.”

“And his
I-know-what’s-right streak.” He grimaced.

Both Rachel and
Susan laughed at Phillip’s expression and waved him off. He was out the door
before either could bat an eye.

“I know how
Vincent and Teressa can be,” Susan told her. “He’s got a chore ahead of him.
They’re both very old fashioned.”

“They are,”
Rachel agreed. “Phillip says they think it’s really the nineteen forties.”

“Sweetie, if
you want me to give you a hand with some unpacking,” her mother began.

“No, I’m
enjoying myself.”

“Are you
sure? It’s the least a mother can do when her daughter moves away from the
nest.”

“You and
Daddy have done a lot. I’m so grateful.” She gave her mother a smile. “I’m
really enjoying this. I swear. There’s something liberating about it.”

Susan
laughed. “Not too liberating I hope. Remember where you’re from, Rachel. Don’t
go chasing after reprobates in parked cars, either.”

“Mother!”

“If you’re
positive you don’t want my help, I’m going to head home.” Susan stood. “I’d
better fill your father in before he gets wind of that awful story Mavis and
Velma have spread.”

“Daddy’s not
going to be a happy camper.”

“Mild-mannered
Don Emerson might take a page from Vincent Latini.”

Together
they walked toward the door, giggling with each step.

“You know,”
Susan paused at the threshold. “I’m so glad you have always been the perfect
daughter. Always on the right path, always honest and giving.”

Her mother’s
words dug into her gut. Guilt was the salt filling the wound.

“Thanks.”
Was her only response. What else could she say?

Rachel said a
final good bye to her mother and walked back into her tiny kitchen. There
really wasn’t that much unpacking left to do. She had stayed on top of it as
things were brought over a few boxes at a time. Closing the cupboard door
Phillip had left open. She found a place for the casserole dish and the baking
pans. Stashing the mac and cheese in what was now designated as a small pantry,
she gathered the curling iron, the shower curtain, the candles, and the towel
into the box they’d arrived in and headed to the bathroom.

As she
placed the box on the small vanity, she turned toward the kitchen at the end of
the short hall and almost screamed. Standing in in the kitchen doorway was
Gabriel. All six feet, two inches of rugged, sexy man.

“Gabriel,”
she said with a smile.

“Hi,
Beauty.”

“I was
hoping to hear from you.”

“Come here,”
he said.

No need to
think about it. She went into his open arms and molded herself to his strong
body. “I missed you, Gabriel.”

His arms
wrapped her inside the protective cocoon she’d come to cherish.

“Couldn’t
help but overhear.”

“You’ve been
here that long?”

“I was going
to arrive at the door, but your mother beat me to it. Phillip let me in at the
kitchen door. The man hid me in that tiny broom closet.”

She laughed and
when he joined her, she felt the deep, smooth sound envelope her.

“I guess, in
the excitement he forgot to give me a clue.”

Rachel
looked at Gabriel and suddenly she wanted his strong arms around her even
tighter. Gabriel could have been seen. Her mother could’ve heard a noise. He
could have been seen by a neighbor. If something happened to him for taking
such a chance, because of her, how would she live with that? The thought ripped
through her. His work, his life depended on secrecy. And because she wouldn’t,
couldn’t
walk away from him… Knowing she could have put him at risk, she held on tight.
A shudder flew through her before she could stop it.

“Hey, what’s
up?” His hand smoothed its way down her back.

She
swallowed hard. She could feel the sting of tears but she refused them.

“Talk to me,
Beauty.” She felt his lips place a kiss to the top of her head.

“Maybe just
guilt from lying to my mother,” she finally answered into his chest. “You know
how mothers have a way of giving you guilt. Even when they don’t have a clue.”

“I don’t
have a mother,” he whispered. “Don’t know about mothers and guilt.”

“You don’t
have a mother?” She pulled back to look into those astonishing light blue eyes.

He shook his
head slightly. “She walked away when I was about four.”

“I’m sorry,”
she whispered.

“Let’s not
talk about it.” He smoothed a hand over her cheek. “I’m sorry you had to lie to
your mother.”

“It’s
important. The reason is sound. Eventually, she’ll understand that.”

She watched
his eyes, so clear, so light blue and saw a cloud of something creep in. She’d
begun to know where that cloud of something always led them.

“Gabriel,
please. No arguments about me with you and different worlds and whatever else
you want to throw in there.”

He looked
down at her but said nothing.

“Please? Not
what I want to do right now.”

A dark brow
arched and a hint of a smile upturned one corner of his mouth.

She smiled.

“What are
you contemplating, Beauty?”

“Why do you
call me that?”

“Beauty?”

“Yes.”

“When I look
at you I see beautiful. I see beauty in my world when you’re in it.”

“Oh,
Gabriel.” She leaned into him and he placed a kiss to her lips.

“I have
something to do,” she told him. She smiled as she ran a hand over his broad
chest. “It involves you.”