"What are you trying to say?" Dani asked as she looked at her with one eyebrow raised.
"I've known who she was since our very first session. She didn't tell me she was wealthy, but I suspected." She looked at Nikki. "Surely you suspected as well. Just look at that house and the property it sits on. The Beemer? There is no way any of that came cheap, and no way she can afford all of that by writing children's books."
Dani nodded. "True, and I did wonder but felt it wasn't any of my business." She shrugged. "She didn't try to hide it from us and we never asked did we?" She looked at Nikki, her brow furrowed. "Are we any better?"
"What do you mean?"
"Have you told her how much money you make a year?" She paused and Nikki shook her head. "I didn't think so. Why should she reveal how much she has or makes? Like Rachel said, what she surrounds herself with should make it obvious that she has more than we do. The question is, does it really matter?"
"Did you know that when I stayed there past the originally agreed upon week I offered to pay rent?" She smiled at her sister's surprise. "I did, and she took me up on it. I really thought she needed the money. Why would she do that?"
"The only way to know for sure is to ask her, but it sounds to me like she wanted you to be an equal and not a kept woman," Rachel replied.
"Okay so that takes care of the money issue. Now for the honesty." Dani bit her lower lip as she thought about it for a moment. "She says she's never lied to us and I can't think of a single time that she has. I know she held things back and we'll get to that in a minute. Can you think of a single time Alex outright lied to you about something?"
Rachel shook her head and turned to Nikki who closed her eyes as she contemplated the question. "No, I can't think of a single one. She would find ways to avoid answering a question, but not lie."
"So it comes down to those things she hid," Rachel stated as she leaned back and stretched out her legs, crossing them at the ankles. "Can we agree that she had some very valid reasons for hiding certain things from us at least at the beginning?" When they both nodded she continued. "Can we all agree that getting to really know someone takes time? Sometimes years?"
"Yeah, but who you are? That's something that comes up in the first couple of days. Weeks at the most," Nikki said as she pushed her chair back.
Dani reached out and placed a restraining hand on her arm. "Please, Nikki. We need to finish this." She relaxed as Nikki settled back into her seat.
Rachel leaned forward, placed her elbows on the table, and rested her chin on her folded hands. "That's just it, Nikki. She doesn't see herself as that Alexis Mohr anymore. She's Alex, a completely different person than Alexis ever was. She gave up Alexis in order to be who she was meant to be. Unfortunately she met several people along the way that took advantage of that generous nature you referred to earlier, and now she has some serious trust issues. But she's been working on those. As a matter of fact, I think she's come a long way on that already."
Nikki's brow creased and she pressed her lips together. "How do you figure that?"
"Do you realize that before she wrote and released that book, the two of us were the only people that knew her given name? I'd say that took a lot for Alex to trust us with that information." Rachel took a deep breath and faced Nikki. "Did you know she planned on telling you everything on your trip in June?" Her head snapped up and her eyes widened. "I don't know what happened between you two on that trip. All I know is you packed up and left within an hour of returning to town. Judging by your shock at everything you've found out in the months since that day, I'm assuming she never told you."
Nikki's eyes filled with tears and she quickly brushed them away. "No. I was angry with her. I overheard part of a conversation with her cousin and realized she was keeping more from me than I thought. After we left her family, I shut her out completely. I never gave her the chance to tell me."
Dani stood and walked around the table to place her arms around her sister. "She's the one isn't she?" she asked. When Nikki nodded and began to cry she said, "Then you need to find a way to forgive her and move past this. You love her. Don't let her go or you will never be whole again." She kissed Nikki's temple and stepped back. She quietly began to clear the table, wrapping up the left over food with Rachel's help as Nikki sat staring out the window.
Nikki stood and wiped the tears from her cheek. "I'm going to go for a walk. I'll be back in a little bit." Seconds later they heard the front door close as she left.
Alex walked aimlessly through the vines as she thought about her conversation with Nikki and wondered if their relationship was truly over. She looked at her watch and realized she'd been gone for nearly an hour. With a sigh she turned back towards the house. Minutes later she stepped out onto a main pathway and nearly ran in to Nikki. She could see the pain in her eyes
