Luckily Lydia Brandt, August Brandt’s mother is one of Reina’s students. One word from her and the upset party walks away for fear of her or their spouse’s job. But even with Lydia’s help, it’s obvious that Reina’s going to have to expand soon. So Rhys and I are currently emailing back and forth with the Guadalajara mayor about getting her set up in the town square. And A has abandoned his video games for a while to work on a homemade microphone Reina can wear while teaching a much bigger class.
No, Reina’s not the mom I lost. And yes, she made a lot of mistakes. She’s apologized several times for that. But at the end of the day, I couldn’t have asked for better parents than the ones she left me with, and now my biological mother and I get a second chance. Reina feels like an unexpected bonus to my happy ending with Rhys.
The twins’ first day of in-school learning is still up in the air, but Rhys and I have already discussed asking Reina to stay on in the back house after they leave.
We enjoy having a singing, happy, yoga teacher around. Plus, we might be needing her help for someone other than the twins…eventually. We know we want to get married soon, but with both of us front lining, we’ve agreed to wait on making babies until after there’s a vaccine.
“I think we can get a lot of naughty done in just a few minutes,” Rhys insists, pulling a condom out of the nightstand drawer.
Flipping me over in bed, he goes from kissing on my neck to other places.
I want to give in to him. I really do. But…I feel confused.
I’m glad Billie has found someone who makes her giggle, and I’m happy for me, too. But…
“What’s wrong,” Rhys asks, sensing my mood.
The old instinct to hold back rears its head. Communication is hard. Especially after a long day of work. But over the last few months, I’ve learned that doing the hard things is worth it when it comes to my brave girl relationship with Rhys.
Instead of waving him off, I tell him the truth. “Gina’s still missing. And it feels…I don’t know…wrong to be so happy right now. I just want her to be all right.”
Rhys sits back up, all his “let’s get it on” replaced by an empathetic look. “I love that you care so much about your friend. I tell you what. How about if I hire an investigator too. With that last name, I imagine Billie’s friend is very connected. But I have a few connections too. And if I’m going to use them, we should take advantage of them now before my family finds out, along with the rest of Drossel that we’re planning to get married and there’s nothing they can do about it.”
I laugh. I love how determined he is to marry me even though I don’t remotely deserve his dedication. I love the life we’re planning together even more, especially since we’ll be living here in Missouri, far, far away from his disapproving royal relatives.
This request, unfortunately, will open up the door, to the little bubble of reality we’ve made here in Guadalajara. However, finding Gina is more important than my comfort.
“Yes, do it,” I start to say.
Only to be interrupted when my phone starts buzzing with a call from an unknown number. I frown, not recognizing the state code. Could be a scammer….
But just in case, I pick up. “Hello?”
“Hi, who is this?” The voice on the other end is gruff and irritated. Like I called him in the middle of an important conversation and not the other way around.
I frown and sit all the way up in bed. “Why don’t you tell me who this is first.”
“How do you know Goldie?” he demands.
“Goldie?” I ask.
“Yeah, I know that’s not her real name. But that’s what we called her. Real cute Black woman. Long blonde hair. Smile like sunshine?”
The only person I know who would even remotely fit that description is “Gina? Are you talking about Gina?”
“Yeah, I think I might be. She never told us her real name. And she’s gone now, and we just…we just want to make sure that was her choice.”
“Who’s we?” I ask, not remotely keeping up.
The man on the other end clears his throat, then seems to decide to answer. “This is Jeb, calling on behalf of the men who love Goldie with all our hearts. The men who want her back.”
It takes me a moment to process what I just heard. Then I answer, “Wait a minute. Did you say men.”