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Rhea had always liked parties, and her wife Minnie had always liked throwing them. It had made them a good match when they’d first gotten together, and it worked even better now that Rhea was the mayor. Parties were good for public relations and she enjoyed talking to her guests.
Well, usually she enjoyed talking to her guests. There was one social situation that often happened at these parties that she was never prepared for. Rhea winced when she realized she had suddenly managed to end up alone with Logan Sanders. He seemed to have the same realization at the same moment, judging by his own grimace.
It wasn’t that she disliked Logan Sanders. It was just… they never seemed to be able to have an actual conversation. And she knew it wasn’t just a Logan thing. She’d seen him with Patton. He could talk to Patton for eons about anything. Even with Minnie, he could keep up a conversation, but it was something about Rhea that always made him clam up, and she’d never been able to puzzle it out.
“…Hi,” he eventually said.
“Good evening.”
There was a long pause. “So…” he cleared his throat. “Kids?”
“Kids?” she said blankly. “Oh! My kids! You’re asking about my kids. My kids are good. College.”
“Yes,” Logan said. “I know.”
“Right,” she said. “You would.” There was a far too long pause. “Uh, so. You have a kid now. How’s Virgil.”
“He’s good. Fine,” he shrugged. “High school.”
“High school,” she agreed. “…Uh, I told Patton he was invited.”
“Yes,” Logan said. “He’s a bit shy and doesn’t like large crowds, so he wanted to stay home.”
“Oh, well, I would like to meet him for real sometime. I didn’t really get to talk to him that one time at the school with Pat, and he seemed a little stressed. Maybe you three could come over for a slightly less formal party. The kids will be home for the summer and I can invite some other families with teenagers. We could have a barbeque.”
“Sure,” he agreed.
“I’ll… talk about it more with Pat later.”
He nodded tightly and they lapsed into silence once again.
Finally, Patton seemed to notice that she and Logan were alone together and quickly crossed the room to stand next to his husband. He smiled brightly and both Rhea and Logan relaxed. “What were the two of you talking about?” he asked. They spent the next half an hour discussing the possibility of a barbeque.
“I still don’t get why you can’t just talk to her,” Patton said once they closed the car door.
“She and Bluebird talk so much,” Logan said. “It would be so easy to slip up and mention something she hasn’t told me.”
“So, it’s better to just not say anything at all?”
“Yes,” Logan said stubbornly.
Patton shook his head fondly.