His mother narrowed her eyes and regarded him for several seconds before nodding. “When you put it that way, of course I’ll accept Claire.”
“Just like that?” Linc couldn’t help being suspicious of his mother’s abrupt capitulation. “After everything you said about London’s lack of a social pedigree, you’re suddenly okay with me being in a relationship with my housekeeper?”
“You never fought for London.” It was less a statement of fact and more of an accusation.
Leave it to Bettina to twist things around until Linc didn’t know if he was coming or going.
“I shouldn’t have had to.”
“Regardless.” Disapproval tightened his mother’s mouth. “You never championed her.”
Linc couldn’t understand where she was coming from. “What does that matter? London was strong and could take care of herself.”
“Are you saying Claire isn’t as strong?”
“She may not always defend herself, but she will do whatever it takes to keep Honey safe.”
“I agree about Claire, but I think you’re wrong about London. She needed you to be there, but you weren’t. I kept waiting for you to stand up for her, and when you never did, I knew she wasn’t the woman for you.”
Linc studied his mother while he processed her statement. “Are you telling me London’s outsider status didn’t bother you? You were just using it to test if I was willing to fight for our love?”
“Exactly.”
“So you wanted me to convince you I was madly in love with her?”
“And you never did,” his mother said. “I never believed London was the most important woman in your life and neither did she. That’s what kept her from feeling secure in your relationship. What made her so needy and controlling.”
Was that true? Had he let London down? What his mother said made sense. He and London had been engaged for two years without committing to a wedding date. She’d tried pinning him down several times and each time he came up with an excuse for why he wasn’t ready. Was it because with each passing month, he’d grown less and less confident that she was the right woman for him?
Would he eventually feel that way about Claire?
Linc couldn’t imagine a time that he wouldn’t want to be with her. In fact, with each hour they spent apart, he grew more impatient to have her all to himself. Was that love? He’d certainly never felt like this with London.
And what if Claire didn’t feel the same way about him? She’d made it pretty clear all she was interested in was a casual physical relationship. Was that what she’d told him because she didn’t believe he could ever want more? Or because she hadn’t stopped grieving for her late husband?
One thing he was certain of, after the polo match event, they were going to have a serious discussion about taking their relationship public. His conversation with his mother today had made it clear that the only way Claire was going to believe they had a future was if he demonstrated he was going to fight for one.
* * *
After spending a fun morning with Honey and Linc at the aquarium, Claire was not in the mood for a business lunch with Everly Briggs. But she’d committed to doing the food for the polo event and Everly was the one in charge.
Claire dressed for the meeting in a blue-and-white seersucker shirtdress with short sleeves and a belt. She’d bought the dress at a consignment shop she’d found near Meeting and George Street and liked how the style was both professional and feminine.
When she arrived at the restaurant, Everly wasn’t yet there. The hostess showed Claire to a table beneath an enormous painting of a magnolia blossom. While the exposed ceiling beams and pine floors gave the space an industrial feel, the white tablecloths and metal vines corkscrewing up the iron support posts added sophistication. Claire was pondering the squat crystal vase with sprigs of tiny white flowers in the middle of the table when her lunch companion arrived.
“You’re early,” Everly said as she sat down opposite Claire. “I can’t tell you how much that impresses me. So many people don’t value another person’s time. Where is your daughter? I was looking forward to seeing her again.”
“I left her home. We went to the aquarium this morning and she’s pretty tired out.” Claire wondered why Everly thought she’d bring Honey. “And this is a business lunch, after all. It didn’t seem appropriate to bring her.”
“Of course. Is she with Linc Thurston? I heard he took her to the children’s museum a week ago.” Everly looked delighted. “How nice for you to have a built-in babysitter.”
Claire fought against rising panic. “He was just helping me out the one time because I was catering his mother’s party.” Although in truth, it had happened several times. Linc was someone who needed to keep busy, and for him, spending time with a toddler was anything but boring. Plus, not having to keep an eye on Honey freed Claire to tackle some projects that were challenging with a toddler around.
“Don’t worry,” Everly said with a toothy smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I wouldn’t dream of saying anything.”
“The food here looks so good. Do you have anything you recommend?”
Everly languidly waved her hand. “It’s all good.”
As soon as the women ordered lunch, Claire got down to business. She didn’t like this woman and refused to linger over the meal any longer than absolutely necessary. But Everly had a different agenda.
“With your accent, you obviously aren’t from the South,” the blonde woman began, her bright green eyes fixed on Claire as if she was the most fascinating person in the room. “Where is your family from?”
Although the last thing Claire wanted to do was talk about herself, she imagined that parting with a few details would be
