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Ethan’s face tightened. “Yeah, she hasn’t told anyone what happened. So they only have his side of the story.”
Cate didn’t like the sound of that.
“But we won’t mention that part, all right?” He turned to her.
“Right. That isn’t on the list of approved topics.” She nodded. “They also have two sons. Twins. Royal and Baron. I can ask about how they are getting on at college. It is also best if I don’t ask about Ink’s work. Or Brody’s boyfriend.”
“Sweetheart, I know you’re uncomfortable, but everything will be all right.” He reached over and placed his hand over hers.
She clasped hold. She wanted to beg him not to leave her. But this was a social situation. Lines were blurred and sometimes situations came up you had no control over. She understood that part. So it wouldn’t be fair to make him stay with her. These were his friends.
Cate knew she had to learn how to interact with them.
They were spending the next month here in Montana to see if she liked living here. So far, she loved it. It was quieter. It wasn’t frantic like Los Angeles. And she was even in discussions with her boss about being able to work remotely. It might mean having to go back to Los Angeles regularly, but when she’d talked about resigning they’d scrambled to make things work.
However, there was a big problem.
Well, two, according to Ethan. One was the weather. He didn’t like the idea of her living in the cold.
But the only real problem for her was her brother. She’d never lived away from Rhodes and while she didn’t expect to live in the same house with him forever . . . she never thought she’d have to move halfway across the country.
However, Rhodes told her not to worry about that. He’d sort it all out.
Whatever that meant.
There had been so much change and upheaval lately that she didn’t know that she could cope with anything more. Samantha was in jail. Oliver was in a high security psychiatric hospital. And poor Kevin was dead.
She didn’t think she’d ever feel sympathy toward Kevin, but while he could be a jerk, she didn’t think he’d deserved to die.
Rhodes wasn’t ready to get a new agent.
“Say the code phrase and I’ll get you out of there.”
They’d come up with a code phrase if she was uncomfortable and wanted to leave without saying so. All she had to say was that she had a meeting to prepare for the next day.
“Will they get upset if I don’t meet their gaze?” She sometimes struggled with that. Although not usually with Ethan. But a bunch of strangers . . . yeah.
“No one will get upset with you,” he said with a firm look on his face.
Cate nodded and forced a smile. Ethan got out of the car and walked around to open her door. After undoing her seatbelt, he helped her out.
“Are you sure this isn’t too many people for Zipporah to meet?” she asked, looking around at the cars, trucks, and motorcycles in the driveway.
“I asked that too,” Ethan told her. “But apparently, she’s met a lot of us already and handled it well. Plus, not everyone is coming or can make it.”
She knew that. She’d made a list with information about each person coming and put it into a binder, along with photos. It might also be color-coded.
Duke and Sunny.
Spike and Millie.
Jason and Jewel.
Hack and Greer.
Savage and Livvy with their youngest, Wyatt. She wasn’t sure where the two older boys were, but perhaps that could be a conversation starter.
Razor and Tabby.
