Page 163 of Rhodes

Libba is barefoot on the couch with a blanket over her legs when I come downstairs after showering. She's scrolling through something on her phone with the television on low in the background.

She looks up as soon as I walk into the room.

“So?”

I stop halfway to the kitchen. “So what?”

“Oh, please. You spent all day at Oak Moss with Rhodes, then he came to dinner with Dad. You know I need a full rundown on what the hell is going on, now.”

“Oh, God, Libba. I was hoping I could live in denial. Why do you do this to me?”

“Consider it therapy. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want.”

I go into the kitchen and open the refrigerator. “There are leftovers if you’re hungry,” she calls.

“I just ate enough oysters to qualify as a shellfish emergency.”

“Well, I have your favorite Jeni's in there if you want dessert.”

I take out a bottle of water and come back into the living room. Libba shifts her feet so I can sit at the other end of the couch.

“No ice cream?” she asks.

“Maybe in a minute.”

Her eyebrows go up.

“So, it was a good day.”

“That sounds suspiciously positive.”

I twist the cap off my water. “The shell shipment is handled, and the first load comes Monday. The rest should be here by mid-February. Rhodes figured out how to consolidate everything so we aren’t paying three different companies to haul partial loads all over the Southeast.”

“And what about Rhodes?”

“I thought you said if I didn't want to talk about it... Real clever bait and switch.”

She smiles and waits, so I take my time. I have no idea how I want to direct this. “It was nice.”

“Nice how?”

“We worked. He helped me with the staging issue and then came out on the marsh for a while. I made him wear waders that were too short.”

Libba laughs. “Please tell me you took a picture.”

“I should have. But I didn't. I don't even know where my phone was.”

“Losing track of your phone is a statement of its own.”

“He looked ridiculous.”

“And yet I’m guessing still annoyingly hot.”

I give her a look.

“What? I have eyes.”

I shake my head, but I’m smiling. Libba watches me for another second.