Page 93 of Never the Best

I chuckled at her lack of self-awareness. “Josie, you didn’t have abad night. You publicly humiliated someone with deeply personal, private things you had no right to know in the first place. I can’t believe you have the gall to ask me for help. The thing is, even if I wanted to help—andI don’t—I couldn’t.”

Her composure cracked then, her face twisting with frustration. “You’re such a fool, Rhett,” she spat. “You always have been. Always so eager to play the hero, to act like you’re better than everyone else. But do you even know what’s been going on around you?”

I drank some coffee. It tasted like crap. “What the hell are you talking about?” I asked wearily.

She gave me a bitter smile, her tone drenched with derision. “You’re so clueless, it’s almost cute. Did you really think I wanted to marry you for love, Rhett? Or that I wanted a family with you? Hell, I wasn’t even pregnant.”

Her words struck me like a slap with such force that I actually blinked. “What?”

“You heard me,” she snapped unapologetically. “The wholepregnancything? That was your mother’s idea. She said it would be the easiest way to get you to propose, and, well, she wasn’t wrong. You played right into her hands.”

My stomach churned with disgust. “Youliedabout being pregnant? Having a miscarriage? That is fucked up, even for you.”

“Oh, grow up, Rhett,” she quipped. “Everyone lies. It’s how things are done. It’s about appearances, about securing your place in the world. But you’ve always been too naïve to see that. Too busy chasing your fantasies of being some kind of rebel to realize the game everyone else is playing.”

I pushed back my chair, standing abruptly. I was utterly blown away. “You and my mother are a piece of work. Lose my number, yeah? Andnevertalk to me again. You might also want to tell my mother that you spilled the beans.”

Her eyes widened slightly, like she hadn’t expected me to walk away so easily. “Rhett, look, your mother…you can’t tell her that I…please. I lost my temper and?—”

“Either you tell her, or I will. You might also want to inform my father. He’s an asshole, but even he’s going tohave a problem with you and my mother pretending that you miscarried the Vanderbilt heir.”

I kept my voice low, but I wasn’t sure if people could hear me, and if they could, well fuck them. I didn’t give a damn anymore.

“Rhett.”

“Is getting married into the right family more important than your happiness and a moral code?”

She gaped at me like I’d just asked her to explain quantum physics. As soon as she opened her mouth, I held up my hand to stop her from speaking. “Thatwas a rhetorical question.”

I dropped a few dollars to pay for the coffee, turned, and walked out of the café.

I drove straight home as my mind replayed the conversation with Josie over and over. By the time I got home, I was positively fuming, but as soon as I saw Pearl on the porch with Aunt Hattie and Missy I felt soothed.

“Did the conversation go okay?” Pearl asked as I climbed the steps, her brow furrowing slightly.

I pulled her into a hug and held her tight.

She stroked my back. “Hey, whatever happened, it’s going to be okay. I promise.”

She had no idea! Being with Pearl was the best thing in my life. I pulled away and led her to the porch swing where she’d been sitting. I kissed Aunt Hattie and Missy on their cheeks, and then sank onto the swing next to Pearl. She cuddled into me.

“You should never have gone to meet that snake,” Aunt Hattie drawled. “She poisoned you with a bite or what?”

“Oh yeah,” I admitted.

Missy handed me a glass of iced tea. “You look like a man who’s been through a briar patch and back.”

“Close enough.” I gave her a faint smile and took the glass of tea from her.

“What did she want?” Pearl asked.

I took a long draw of tea, and set my glass down on the little wrought-iron table in front of us. “My help to fix her reputation.”

Missy snorted. “That girl has some nerve.”

“You have no idea,” I divulged. “Turns out, she lied about being pregnant to get me to propose. My mother was in on it; probably hers, too. They manipulated me, and I fell for it like an idiot.”

“My sister is such a vicious bitch,” Aunt Hattie snapped, enraged. “Howdareshe?”

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