The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions Book 5) Read online

  “But you love that place,” Zach said. “Don’t they want to take you wherever you want to go for your birthday?”

  “Well, sure, but within reason,” Rhea said. There was an edge in her voice now, something Zach couldn’t quite put his finger on. “They aren’t going to want to go to Mugsy’s. My brother might, but my parents… no way.”

  “So where, then?” Zach asked.

  “Do you know La Toque?”

  He blinked. “That fancy French place downtown?”

  “That’s the one,” Rhea said.

  “That place is going to be crazy expensive, Rhea.”

  “My parents are paying.”

  “Meaning Dad and I definitely should not be tagging along on this dinner.”

  “Yes you should,” Rhea said. “Look, I’ll call them and let them know to expect you. I promise, it’s not a big deal. They told me I could invite somebody if I wanted to.”

  He sighed. “I guess it’s your birthday. If you say it’s okay, I have to believe you, right?”

  “That’s right,” she said. “Wear something nice, okay? We’ll meet there Saturday night at seven.”

  “Who are these people?” Zach’s father hissed in his ear. “Who can afford to eat at a place like this? Are you sure they’re paying? Because I just looked at the menu, and I can’t afford any of it.”

  “It’s fine,” Zach said, though he felt ill at ease too.

  His father had raised Zach alone, and they had never had money. He was used to takeout dinners on special occasions, not fancy French restaurants with white linen tablecloths and servers who walked around looking like automatons. He didn’t think he had ever eaten in a restaurant half as fancy as this one.

  He had always known that Rhea’s family had more money than his father did, of course. She never talked about it, but it was the kind of thing you noticed when you didn’t come from money yourself.

  Zach had a full-ride scholarship to college, and he was meticulous about attending his classes and studying for his exams to make sure his grades stayed up. Rhea was a good student, but she definitely wasn’t averse to skipping an early morning lecture from time to time.

  Zach worked at the campus library to earn the money he needed to pay for textbooks and any other luxuries he might have wanted. Rhea didn’t have a job.

  She had a car. He didn’t.

  He wore department store T-shirts that came in packs of six. Rhea’s wardrobe had a depth and a variety to it that Zach couldn’t have even dreamt of.

  But as she came through the door, dressed in a pale blue dress that he had never seen before and followed by two older people who had to be her parents, Zach wondered whether he had seriously underestimated the kind of money Rhea came from.

  Her face lit up when she saw Zach, as if nothing strange was going on at all, and she hurried to his side.

  “Zach! I’m so glad you came!”

  He nodded, feeling awkward. “This is my dad, Lincoln,” he said, gesturing to his father. “Dad, this is Rhea Wilson.”

  “A pleasure to meet you, Rhea.” Lincoln fished in his pocket and pulled out an envelope. “I’m sorry I couldn’t bring much of a gift. Zach told me that you liked fantasy stories.”

  She opened the envelope and pulled out an elaborate cloth bookmark with a dragon embroidered on it and a little star charm hanging from the tassel at the top.

  “This is beautiful!” she exclaimed. “You really didn’t need to bring anything.”

  “Of course I did,” he said. “It’s a birthday party, isn’t it?”

  “Well, I doubt Zach brought me a present,” she said, tossing him a teasing grin.

  “You’d be wrong about that,” Zach said, his mind going to the bottle of Rhea’s favorite rum that was waiting for them back at the dorms. “But you’ll get it tomorrow.”

  Her parents approached. “Rhea? Would you like to introduce your friend?” her mother said.

  “Of course, sorry,” Rhea said with a smile. “Mom, Dad, this is Zach Danes, and his father, Lincoln. And these are my parents, Tom and Dana, and my older brother, Stephen.”

  A young man stepped forward. Zach hadn’t noticed him at first, but now that he did, he couldn’t believe he’d missed him. He was the spitting image of Rhea.

  “Nice to meet you both,” he said, his gaze fixing on Zach. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  Zach wondered what he had heard. But before he could ask, a host was at their side.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Wilson,” the host said, smiling. “Table for six? We’re ready for you.”

  Rhea looked right at home as they cut through the restaurant, heading for their table, but Zach felt as if he had crash-landed on a foreign planet. Everyone at the tables around them looked so serious, as if they were here on business dinners instead of for a fun night out.

  Is this what rich people are like? he wondered. And just how rich are Rhea’s parents?

  They took their seats at the table and accepted their menus. Zach perused the offerings, but everything was in French. He felt completely lost.

  Rhea leaned over to him and pointed to the menu. “This is pasta,” she said. “This is chicken, and this is steak.”

  Zach nodded. “I’ll just look for something I think I can pronounce.”

  She grinned. “That’s how I do it too. You’ll be fine.”

  They placed their orders and the wine was poured.

  “So, Mr. Danes,” Rhea’s father said.

  “Please,” he said. “Call me Lincoln.”

  “Very well,” Tom agreed. “What is it you do?”

  Zach tensed. Was he about to be judged by these wealthy people for his father’s job? He had always thought of his father as hardworking, as someone to be admired, and he didn’t think he would be able to take it if Rhea’s parents were rude to him about what he did.

  “I work for a custodial company,” his father said, and Zach was relieved to see that there was no shame or embarrassment on his face. “We contract with bigger businesses to clean their properties at night.”

  “Oh, of course,” Tom said. “My distillery uses a service like that. They always do a wonderful job.”

  “Wait a moment,” Lincoln said. “Distillery? You’re not Wilson Whiskey, are you?”

  “I am,” Rhea’s father said.

  “I work in your plant here in College Park!” Zach’s father said. “I’ve been assigned to night cleaning duty there for the past six months.”

  Tom Wilson let out a delighted laugh. “You’re kidding! What a small world!” He looked at Rhea. “Did you know that, sweetheart?”

  Her face was pink. She looked as uncomfortable as Zach felt at the idea that his father worked as a custodian for the company that her father owned.

  “I had no idea,” she said quietly.

  “Well, the place is always sparkling clean,” Rhea’s father said. “You do an immaculate job, sir.”

  “Your facility is really beautiful,” Lincoln said. “It’s a genuine pleasure to spend time there. How long have you been in the whiskey business?”

  “Oh, generations,” Rhea’s father said. “It was my great-great-grandfather who first established the label. And no doubt my children will go into the family business themselves. Stephen here graduated college last year, and he’s taking a gap year to travel before starting to work in the marketing department. You know how young people are.”

  “Oh, not really,” Zach’s father said with a merry chuckle. “I’m sure Zach will be going right to work after graduation. Well, I hope so, at least!”

  Zach couldn’t have been any more embarrassed if his father had blatantly said that they just didn’t have the kind of money to pay for the luxury of a gap year. To make matters worse, Rhea looked as if she wanted to crawl under the table and die.

  He reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze. She had to know that, as weird as this dinner was, it didn’t change anything about the way he saw her. He wasn’t going to start thinking of her as s
ome rich girl who was too far above him to relate to now.

  I just hope she feels the same way. I hope she doesn’t think less of me.

  She looked over at him, and he saw the gratitude in her eyes. He offered her a wry smile.

  “At least they’re all getting along,” she murmured quietly.

  That was true. As uncomfortable as this was, it would have been much worse if their fathers weren’t being friendly with each other.

  Maybe I’m making too much of the whole thing, he thought. After all, he was used to having friends who were better off financially than his family was. That wasn’t new. It was only the fact that Rhea’s father directly employed his that was making this extra weird.

  His thoughts were interrupted by Rhea’s brother.

  “So what’s the deal with you two?” Stephen asked.

  “What do you mean, the deal?” Rhea said.

  “You bring this guy along to dinner with the folks, and his father,” Stephen said. “You can’t expect me to believe there’s not something going on.”

  “Stop it, Stephen.” She blushed scarlet.

  “What?” Stephen protested. “You talk about him all the time.”

  She did? That was news to Zach.

  “I talk about him because we’re friends,” Rhea said. “He’s one of my best friends.”

  “Mm-hmm,” Stephen said. “I don’t talk about my friends like you talk about him, though.”

  “Stephen,” Rhea’s mother chided. “Leave it alone. I’m sure Rhea will tell us anything she needs to tell us when the time is right.” She grinned knowingly and winked at her daughter.

  “There’s nothing to tell, Mom,” Rhea insisted. “Zach is my friend. And I brought him along tonight because he and I always celebrate our birthdays together. It’s a tradition.”

  “Sounds friendly,” Stephen teased.

  “It is friendly!” Rhea said. “We invited his father so you wouldn’t make him feel completely uncomfortable, like you’re doing right now.”

  “I’m all right,” Zach said. “It’s okay.”

  Actually, Rhea was right—he felt as if he was about to catch fire with embarrassment. He grabbed his water glass and downed half of it in a single gulp.

  “Okay, okay,” Stephen said. “No need to freak out about it. I’m just saying, I think the two of you would make a pretty cute couple.”

  “Stop teasing your sister, Stephen,” Tom interjected. “It’s her birthday. Be nice.”

  “I’m being nice,” Stephen said. “I’m just encouraging her to admit she likes this guy.”

  Their mother swatted him gently on the back of the head, then fished in her purse and pulled out a credit card.

  “Go to the bar and buy Rhea a cocktail,” Dana ordered. “Pick out something nice, please. Something fancy. Go on.”

  Stephen rolled his eyes, but he got to his feet and made his way over to the bar.

  Rhea turned to Zach. “I’m so sorry about him. He’s absolutely the worst.”

  “He’s a big brother,” Zach said. “I hear they’re like that.”

  “That they are,” Rhea’s mother said with a smile. “That’s very understanding of you. Do you have any siblings, Zach?”

  “No,” Zach said. “It’s just me and Dad.”

  He waited for the awkward questions that always followed the reveal of that information—questions about who his mother had been and what had happened to her—but none came. Instead, Dana just smiled.

  “Well, we’re very glad the two of you could join us for dinner tonight,” she said. “And thank you so much for allowing us to treat you in honor of Rhea’s birthday. She so rarely introduces us to any friends that this is a real privilege for us.”

  “Mom!” Rhea’s embarrassment appeared to be reaching critical mass.

  But Zach felt himself smile. This evening had gotten off to a strange start, it couldn’t be denied, and he still felt a bit awkward knowing that his best friend’s father was his own father’s employer. But Rhea’s parents were clearly very kind people, and even her brother, though his questions about their relationship had been off-putting, seemed like a genuinely nice person.

  And Zach was glad to have had the opportunity to meet them.

  As the dinner went on, the tension between the two families evaporated. Zach’s father was full of questions about the whiskey business, and Rhea’s father seemed only too happy to talk about what he did for a living. Stephen moved on from his obsession with Rhea and Zach’s relationship and, at his mother’s request, spoke about some of the traveling he had been doing lately. It transpired that he had just come back from Paris, and he was only too happy to compare his experience of real French cuisine to what they were eating tonight.

  Still, Zach never quite managed to get comfortable.

  Does Stephen see something I can’t see myself?

  Rhea’s brother had been so sure that there was romance between them. And there had been that kiss the other night at Hill’s, that kiss he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about since it had happened.

  Is Rhea still thinking about it?

  Maybe he had been wrong to let things end so quickly. Maybe he had wanted more from her.

  He looked over at her in her beautiful blue birthday dress, and she smiled back at him, eyes sparkling.

  He wondered if that window was closed, or if it was still cracked, just waiting to be opened again.

  Chapter 3

  Rhea

  Rhea applied a final coat of lip gloss, checked her appearance in the mirror, and grabbed her coat.

  “Don’t wait up,” she said to her roommate.

  “Don’t turn on the lights when you come in,” Kaylie countered.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Rhea mumbled under her breath. It was fine for Kaylie; she never came in late on the weekends, because if she was going to be out past midnight, she would just crash at her boyfriend’s apartment.

  If only we could all be so lucky.

  She glanced at her reflection one last time. In the past, she would never have gone to this much trouble before meeting up with Zach. She wouldn’t have cared what she looked like. He was just a friend.

  But ever since the kiss they’d shared a month ago, and her birthday dinner shortly thereafter, everything had felt different. Now, every time she met up with Zach, the air felt heavy with potential. Every night they hung out felt like it might be the night fireworks happened.

  If you want something to happen, you should just talk to him.

  But she was too afraid to. Hadn’t they agreed that it wasn’t worth risking their friendship? Rhea was sure he would turn her down if she asked him flat out for something more now.

  She would just have to wait and hope that it happened organically.

  She left the dorm and jogged across the quad to Zach’s building. They’d planned to get together for a few episodes of their favorite reality show tonight, and Rhea was looking forward to the opportunity it would provide to get close to him. There would likely be physical contact—cuddling, if nothing else.

  Zach lived in the tallest dorm on campus, and the only one equipped with an elevator. Rhea boarded and rode up alongside a couple of students she didn’t know. She got off on the ninth floor and went to Zach’s room.

  The door stood open.

  She stared.

  Zach was emptying out his desk drawers onto his bed.

  “Reorganizing?” she asked him.

  He looked up at her. “Oh. Hey. You’re here.”

  “Did you forget I was coming over?”

  “No, I didn’t,” he said absently. “I just lost track of time. Sorry.”

  She picked her way into the room, careful not to step on the mess of clothes that littered the floor.

  “It looks like a hurricane went through here,” she said. “Do you need any help cleaning it up?”

  “Nah,” he said, raking a hand through his hair.

  “Did you lose something? What’s going on?”

  He
sighed. “My father just called.”

  “And? Did he lose something?”

  “No,” Zach said. “Rhea…”

  She frowned. His tone was so serious. It wasn’t at all what she was used to from him.

  “Is your dad okay?” she asked, suddenly worried. Zach’s father was the only family he had. It would be devastating for Zach if something were to happen to him.

  “My dad’s fine,” Zach said. “But I’m leaving College Park.”

  “What do you mean?” Rhea was sure she must have misunderstood.

  “I’m transferring,” Zach said. “I’m going to finish college in Philadelphia.”

  She gaped at him, unable to formulate a response.

  He was clearing a spot for her to sit on his bed.

  “Close the door,” he suggested.

  She did so automatically, and came over to take the seat he was preparing for her.

  “Back up,” she said. “Philadelphia?”

  He wouldn’t make eye contact. “Yeah.”

  “But why? We only have a year and a half left here. Why wouldn’t you just finish it out?”

  “It’s my scholarship,” he explained. “They’re pulling it.”

  “They can’t be,” she protested. “Your grades are better than mine.”

  “Well, they’re not good enough,” Zach said. “I have to keep my GPA above a 3.75 to hang onto my scholarship.”

  “There’s no way your GPA is lower than that,” Rhea insisted. “You get straight A’s, Zach. I don’t think you’ve ever even gotten a B on an assignment.”

  “That isn’t true,” he said. “I got a B on my Physics lab this month.”

  “And they pulled your scholarship over that?” She shook her head. “I don’t believe that, I’m sorry.”

  “Are you calling me a liar?” he demanded.

  She held up her hands and took a step back. “Whoa. Why are you yelling at me?”

  “Because I thought you’d be sympathetic,” he said. “Do you think I want to leave school in the middle of the year? Do you think I like this?”