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Melissa’s blue eyes lit up, her brows arching. “That’s what we say about you. Glad he met you. Okay, ready?” She tilted her head toward the door as she picked up the cake.
Her statement hit Rakell. She followed Melissa toward the door. She hadn’t intended to keep him humble and wasn’t sure how she was doing that, but she knew she loved being with him and his family. The feeling tonight was something she wanted to experience over and over again. Familiarity dominated this gathering, with loved ones all whirling around amidst the outdoor celebration dinner, as if everyone knew their parts.
After helping Melissa pass out the cake, Rakell nestled in beside Jake on the other side of his dad, taking a moment to absorb the evening. The setting sun pulled in the cool air, along with the dusky hue on the horizon, creating a stage for the crowd of stars waiting behind the sun's curtain to make their entrance. The expansive backyard burst with excitement, fueled with music, laughter, and people talking over each other. Yet there was something present that she couldn’t describe, an unspoken energy that only the love of family and friends can fuel.
As she took it in, her chest tightened. She grabbed her water, gulped, washing down the sense of loss that unexpectedly surged through her. Coming to terms with her family being wiped away didn’t mean she could always stop the panic that gripped her when she felt the warmth of Jake’s family, knowing this wasn’t hers. She was an interloper here, welcomed in as a Jake sidekick. That thought was counter to how they made her feel, though…like she’d always been a part of them. The odd thing was that she didn’t feel like there wasn’t a place for her here. It was as if her part had been left open, and she could just slide into it, no formal lines or role to practice; she could just be herself and it would work with the show that had already been in progress for years.
She felt Jake’s eyes on her, sensed him register that she’d been lost in her thoughts. “Hey you, you good?” he whispered, leaning into her.
“Yeah you, more than good. This is just so nice,” Rakell said, grabbing her water again. “I’m glad I made it back for your birthday,” she added looking at her glass, contemplating what it meant to make someone else’s life a priority.
“Hey, Sweets, I know how busy you are, so it means a lot that you’re here.”
“Rakell, Jake says you went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London,” David, Jake’s dad, said as he took a swig of beer. “Pretty impressive. Annette tells me you're making some solid strides in the acting world. Are you still working at Austin Heat Energy? With the Waterman company?”
She swallowed hard, wondering how much his family really knew about her. Jake put his hand on her thigh, squeezing it as if to say, go on. "I work part-time, sort of, as needed, mostly consulting on international deals because I’ve studied languages. I’ve learned from working there and now enjoy investing and looking at the energy markets.”
Overlapping conversations crisscrossed the picnic tables as David and Rakell plunged into a conversation on international markets and opportunities outside the US for investing. She explained to him that because of her exposure to the international markets, she’d started looking at opportunities abroad. She’d put money in a couple of international real estate funds that would be vested over time, detailing why she chose the funds she did, elaborating on other investment prospects she wanted to explore. David told her about how he’d encouraged Jake to invest in real estate since beginning with the NFL but mostly in tangible local assets both in Austin and now Sacramento but thought it might be worth a look at some broader real estate funds for both him and Jake. “Jake,” his dad said, pulling his son away from his conversation with his cousin, “Rakell is a wealth of financial investment information. I think you could learn a lot from her.”
“Okay,” Jake said, smiling at Rakell as she looked up at him sheepishly, fighting back a grin at his perturbed expression.
“Seriously, Rakell, maybe you could teach Jake what variables to consider before investing in real estate funds. He should invest more next year, diversify a bit.”
“Um, sure, I could educate him,” Rakell teased, her eyes gleaming, goading Jake playfully.
She saw him take the bait, then adjust his features to something lighter, as if he hadn’t been provoked by his dad’s insistence that Rakell knew more than he did about investing.
Her lips dove-tailed into a smug smile.
David nodded and said, “Anything you can teach my boy here would be greatly appreciated.”
Jake's indifferent mask fell, his features contorting. She suppressed the inward laugh bubbling beneath the surface at the nonplussed look on his face. “Dad, I’m not an idiot. Think I’m doing a pretty good job investing. Oh, by the way, I read too, and I also look at markets.”
David reached for his beer. “Son, just saying you’ve got a good teacher on your hands.”
“Got it, Dad.”
“So, Rakell, why did you choose London? That’s quite a hop from Australia,” his dad asked, his tone infused with genuine interest.
Jake turned back to Cassie, who was talking about Dolly. “Hey, Cassie how much do I owe you for watching Dolly while I was in Sacramento?”
“Mmmm…” she said, putting her index finger to her chin. “I think since she’s been staying with me a lot…maybe like…a million…”
Jake snorted, “A million dollars?”
An incredulous expression took over her face as she shook her head. “No, silly, a million trips to Whataburger.”
“Okay, sure that seems reasonable.” He chuckled, making Rakell smile as she turned her attention back to Jake’s dad. Rakell cleared her throat, as though her answer was something she had to consider, thinking about how to answer this simple question that held so much pain for her.
“Well, my dad is from London. He went to LSE, so when I knew I wanted to pursue acting, I decided I wanted to return to the place where he had lived, where I was born. He really pushed for me to have a profession, not just a dream. That’s why I focused on learning new languages. It came easy to me, and my dad said I could probably work internationally.” She smiled at David and then at Annette, who was listening to the conversation.
“That was some sound advice. Does your dad work in finance?” David questioned. She noticed Jake had turned back to his cousin, who was asking about next season’s schedule, but she felt his gaze dart toward her, then back, so she knew he was waiting for her answer. He really only knew that her family was in Australia. She had always found a way to shift the topic from any mention of her parents when Jake brought something up. She knew he sensed there was something there, but whenever he’d opened the door for her to elaborate, she’d redirected the conversation. She’d made it clear she wasn’t close to her mom, and she had been closed off about her dad.
She hesitated too long, then said tentatively. “Uh, no, I mean not anymore.”
She felt Jake shift beside her as if he registered her choppy, unsure answer. But he was forced to readjust his attention when his cousin asked him a question, turning his head to answer.
“Is he retired?” David asked before taking a bite of cake.
