Sitting on her knees now, Rae nodded. “That’s a fair and accurate description.” She dragged her hands through her messy hair, messing it up more. “Your parents moved to Florida not long after I first moved to Sugar Creek. I know of them, but I don’t know them. And now they’re coming up for Rocky’s wedding. Should I be nervous?”
“Not at all. My folks are great. Mostly. Dad can be a pain in the ass, but he won’t be with you.” Luke tucked her hair behind her ear. “Are you mad?”
“I’m not mad.”
“Seriously?”
“You took me by surprise and I wish we could have discussed it first—the how, when, and who—but, honestly I had planned to broach the subject with you anyway. About letting people know. I’ve been feeling uncomfortable about keeping the baby a secret from the Cupcake Lovers, the people I betrayed before. I don’t want everyone always wondering what else I have up my sleeve.”
“I get that.” Luke raised a brow. “So we’re going share the news with close friends and family?”
“Just those here in Sugar Creek.”
“Not your mom?”
“Not yet. She’d taint it somehow. I’m sure of it.”
Now she sounded angry.
Luke waffled between pulling back and pushing. His curiosity got the best of him. “What is it with you two?”
Rae reached for her pajama bottoms and pulled those on, too.
Frisky mood shot, Luke thought. Got it.
“I don’t know how to explain without sounding pathetic or weak or, I don’t know, like I’m playing the poor little rich girl card.”
Luke felt her warring with her pride. He got that, too. “Just spit it out.”
She sat on the edge of the mattress, spine rigid. “Olivia never wanted me.”
She paused and caught Luke’s gaze. When he didn’t comment or judge, the floodgates opened.
“I was a mistake. I cost her her precious figure. I cost her a movie role. I cost her the unadulterated, exclusive, and obsessive attention of her husband because he, unlike her, wanted and adored me. Or so my grandma, my dad’s mom, told me before she passed away. I don’t remember my dad. I wish I did. He died when I was two.”
Luke listened as she described her life as the daughter of Olivia Deveraux. A woman who’d abandoned her daughter’s care to nannies, allowing her to concentrate on herself and husband number two. The woman who’d shipped her daughter off to school the moment she married husband number three. The woman who always chose the spotlight over school awards ceremonies or family vacations or even holidays with her only child.
Luke pulled his best poker face because he knew Rae didn’t want his sympathy, but by God she had it. Given his upbringing—his loving parents and tight-knit family—Rae’s situation was beyond his imagining. And to think he’d mixed one of his best appletinis for her selfish witch of a mother.
“No matter how many times she pushed me into the background,” Rae went on, “I held out hope that we’d bond someday. That she’d put me, our relationship, above her obsessive need to be the center of attention. All my efforts to establish a deeper relationship failed. It doesn’t help that she’s married to someone as egomaniacal as herself. It doesn’t help that she ignores his indiscretions. I thought it was a money thing. Olivia couldn’t afford the extravagant lifestyle she adores without Geoffrey’s money. Once I gained full access to my inheritance, I offered to support her in the means she was accustomed to if she left Geoffrey. I told her we could move anywhere. New York, maybe. Or London. It wasn’t the life I wanted for myself, but I saw it as her chance to break free from that bastard. I saw it as our chance to spend quality time together. To bond.”
Rae shook her head, forecasting the outcome with a bitter laugh. “She pretended she knew nothing of Geoffrey’s wandering eye. Accused me of trying to break them up because I’m jealous of what they have.” Rae snorted. “What they have is a shallow, dysfunctional relationship. I can’t support it. Can’t be around it. Them. Him. Her.” She nailed Luke with dry, bright eyes. “I didn’t run away from my problems. I walked away from a life I don’t want. Not for me. Not for my child.”
It was all Luke could do not to pull her into his arms. Yes, he wanted to comfort her, but right now, boosting her confidence seemed more important. “I don’t blame you.”
“You don’t think I’m an awful person because I want to sever ties with my own mother?”
“From what you’ve told me, Rae, Olivia doesn’t deserve the privilege of being part of your life.”
“I’m not cutting her off completely,” she said. “Not financially. I mean if she’s ever desperate. If Geoffrey ever dumps her. I couldn’t let her flounder.”
“Something tells me she’d get by. There’s always husband number five.”
Rae’s lip twitched with the semblance of a smile. “She’s always admired Elizabeth Taylor. I thought it was for the icon’s talent and beauty. But maybe it’s more about her ability to collect husbands. I think Liz had seven or eight. Olivia has a way to go.”
Feeling a break in the tension, Luke offered a gentle smile. “I know this thing with Olivia is a point of pride with you. I know you don’t like to talk about, but I’m glad you did.”
Rae swallowed then reached for Luke’s hand. “Thank you for listening and understanding. I’m glad you pushed because, now that it’s out, now that you know, maybe I can truly put Olivia behind me.”
“Unfortunately that media blitz Harper incited plays up the fact that you’re the daughter of a Hollywood celebrity,” Luke reminded her. “Olivia’s name and picture appeared in those gossip features almost as much as yours.”
“Oh, yeah.” Rae sighed. “No doubt Olivia’s basking in the attention.”
Luke raised a brow. “She was referred to as a “has-been” and there was mention of plastic surgery and botox.”
“Doesn’t matter what they’re saying as long as they’re talking about her. That’s the way Olivia looks at it.”
Luke shook his head. “God, I’m glad you’re here and not there.”
Rae swallowed. “Me, too.”
He sensed lingering anxiety, traced his memories for any holes in their discussion. “Anything else you want to tell me?”
“No.”
Brain still scrambling he flashed back on a discussion a few days prior. Something Rae had said and then tried to brush over.
“The thing about being smart and influential is that there’s always someone smarter and more influential than you. And if that person wants to derail your life, well, then you’re sort of screwed.”
Olivia didn’t strike him as smart and she probably wasn’t all that influential. No. That would be Geoffrey Stein. Of Stein & Beecham Industries.
Luke shifted closer to Rae. “Does Geoffrey know you encouraged Olivia to leave him? Is he threatening you in some way?”
She sidled to the edge of the bed, ready to flee, only Luke stayed her. She licked her lips, a nervous tell. “Geoffrey and I have been on bad terms for a couple of years now.”
“Did you catch him with another woman?”
“No.”
“Did you accuse him of having affairs? Of mistreating your mom?”
“No.”
“Was he trying to manipulate you somehow? Coerce you into allowing him to manage your inheritance?” Luke’s temper flared. Rae’s silence on the matter only made it worse. “Dammit, Rae. Is Geoffrey threatening you?”
Her face was beet red now. “It doesn’t concern you, Luke.”