The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,12

told her, again and again, that he didn’t need her help. That he was fine without it. That he was willing to accept a new life in Philadelphia. And she could have helped him get excited for it or launched herself into planning visits. She could have expressed excitement about seeing the place where he’d be living. She could have made an effort to come and see him during these last few days—he knew he had been distant, but she hadn’t tried either.

The only thing she seemed to think she needed to do was to solve the problem.

And the problem, in this instance, was that Zach’s family didn’t have as much money as her family did. Plain and simple.

All his life, Zach and his father had been poor. But they had been happy. They had lived paycheck to paycheck and they’d fought to make ends meet, but there was a quiet sort of pride in that life. It was something he was beginning to realize that Rhea would never understand.

How can we be friends if she can’t understand this basic thing about me?

She would never be able to correct the problem of his family finances. Not unless he became totally dependent on her. And he would never do that. Not in a million years.

He turned back to her. “I think you should go,” he said quietly.

She looked shocked. “Zach—”

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” he said. “I’m leaving, Rhea. Maybe it’s best if we just make it a clean break.”

“You don’t mean that,” she whispered.

“I think I do,” he said. “I think it’s best if we don’t try to force this.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “But we said we would try. We said we would always be friends.”

He almost took it back. It killed him to see her like this.

But this same fight was just going to keep happening, over and over. And he didn’t want to go through it again.

“Forget it,” he said. “We’re too different. It’s not going to work out for us.”

Something in her eyes hardened. “That’s what my father said,” she told him. “But I never thought you would agree.”

“Your father?” Anger flared up inside him. “What did your father say about me?”

“He said I should stay away from you,” Rhea said. “He said you weren’t the right kind of person for me to associate with.”

“Why? Because I don’t belong to the country club? Surprise, surprise.”

“Or maybe just because you’re obsessed with who has money and who doesn’t!” Rhea yelled. “Can’t you see that you’re the only one who cares?”

“Yeah, I’m the only one who cares because I’m the one who doesn’t have money!” Zach shouted back. “It’s easy not to care about something you’ve never lacked!”

Rhea shook her head, backing toward the door. “You’re a jerk,” she said. “This isn’t the person I thought I knew at all.”

“Yeah, likewise,” Zach snapped.

“I hope you’re happy in Philly,” Rhea said. “I hope you make lots of friends who have an amount of money that makes you feel comfortable, since that’s so important to you.”

She turned and ran down the hall, and Zach didn’t call after her.

Chapter 5

Rhea

Fifteen Years Later

Rhea checked her makeup in the mirror of the hotel bathroom. She’d had a few glasses of wine, and the dress she’d worn to tonight’s party was a little bit too warm. Though her makeup was high quality and couldn’t be sweated off, her cheeks had begun to go pink beneath her foundation, and the colors weren’t blending as well as they had in the cool setting of her home when she’d gotten ready for tonight.

Fortunately, she’d come prepared. She pulled her makeup bag out of her purse, wiped her cheeks with makeup removal cloths, and selected a foundation color a little more appropriate to the rising color.

The door banged open and two of Rhea’s coworkers came in—her college roommate, Kaylie, and their friend Laurel. Laurel looked rather green, and Kaylie steered her toward a stall and pulled the door shut behind her. A moment later, Rhea heard the unmistakable sounds of someone losing their lunch.

She glanced back at Kaylie. “You’re kidding,” she whispered.

Kaylie shrugged. “I’m going to call her a cab. I think I got her out of the party before anyone else saw how drunk she was.”

“Good,” Rhea said. “She must still be really upset, huh?”

“Well, her boyfriend of three years did leave her just a week ago,” Kaylie said. “Personally, I’m surprised she made it out tonight at all.”

“I’m glad she came,” Rhea said. “Better