by Cat Schield
The accusation made Claire want to shriek. Their outrageous claims were the reason why she’d packed up and fled California not long after Jasper’s death. She was terrified she might lose Honey once his parents started challenging her for custody of their granddaughter.
Logically, she knew that they might not have enough against her to convince a judge that Honey wasn’t safe in her care, but she wasn’t confident that the system would work for her this time after it had failed her seven years earlier when a lie had branded Claire as dangerous to children.
And with Jasper dead, who would believe his parents were poor guardians? It would be her word against both of theirs if she claimed that as soon as he graduated high school, Jasper had gone into the military and cut all ties with his parents.
“Honey is perfectly fine.” It was an effort to keep her voice calm and steady when her whole body trembled with fear and fury. “And I haven’t changed my mind about you seeing her.”
Their distress at being kept from their granddaughter spun Claire’s emotions into a chaotic mess. On one hand, Jasper was their only son, and even though they’d driven him away over fifteen years earlier, Claire recognized that they might want to try to do better with his daughter.
Unfortunately, they’d shown themselves to be toxic people and had resisted Claire’s attempts to deal fairly with them. From the moment they reached out to her after Jasper’s death, they hadn’t had a single nice thing to say and had even gone so far as to accuse her of deliberately getting pregnant to force Jasper to take care of her.
“You will let us see her now,” Jasper’s father stated, his voice rising. “Or we will call the authorities.”
Although Claire never took her eyes off the pair, she became aware that heads were turning in their direction. The last thing she needed was for the stir to reach Linc. He’d feel compelled to come see if she was okay. Then he’d meet Jasper’s parents and find out that she’d been lying to him for over a year.
“Honey is our granddaughter,” Sharon said, picking up the argument. “We need to make sure she’s safe. You had no right to take her away from us.”
Claire ground her teeth. She had every right to move across the country and away from these people. Jasper had told her numerous stories of his childhood and how he’d been verbally abused if he got a couple answers wrong on a test or didn’t get his chores done fast enough. She couldn’t imagine entrusting her sweet-natured baby to these unhappy, abrasive people.
Claire tried again. “Let’s go somewhere and talk. We don’t want to disturb this lovely function.”
“I don’t give a damn about this party,” Jasper’s mother said. “I just want my grandbaby.”
“Is everything okay?” To Claire’s dismay, Linc was approaching with Knox and Sawyer trailing after him.
“Everything is fine,” she answered.
“Everything is not fine,” Jasper’s mother declared. “This girl has stolen our granddaughter from us.”
“That’s not true,” Claire said. She couldn’t look at Linc. This sort of outrageous scene was the height of disrespect. What he must think of her.
“Are you Claire’s family?” he asked, his deep voice ringing with authority and bringing a much-needed calm to the situation.
“Her family?” Doug Patmore gave a caustic laugh. “Hardly. She wanted to marry our son, but we wouldn’t have her.”
That wasn’t true. At least the part about her wanting to marry Jasper. No doubt Jasper’s parents blamed her for their estrangement from their son, even though it had begun years before she and Jasper had ever met.
Linc was frowning at Jasper’s parents. “I’m sorry, but I’m confused. Claire was married to your son.”
“Well, that’s a pack of lies,” Jasper’s father said, his eyes narrowing as he regarded Claire. “I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, considering the way you duped my son into thinking you gave a damn about him and got pregnant so he’d have to take care of you.”
Horror kept Claire pinned in place even as the desire to crawl under a shrub and die flooded her. She told herself not to glance Linc’s way for his reaction, but she simply had to know if he believed the lies Jasper’s father was spouting.
Linc’s face was an impenetrable mask. Only his eyes expressed the deep sadness and crushing disappointment he was feeling.
“You were never married?” he asked her, his voice low and husky.
Her gaze flickered to Jasper’s parents. It was all over. She might as well come clean. There’d been no future for her and Linc anyway. But watching his faith in her crumble was a blow she hadn’t seen coming.
“No.”
Ten
Scarcely able to believe that Claire had been lying to him this whole time, Linc tried to get his head around what was going on. She wasn’t a military widow, or any sort of widow. Had any of what she’d said been true? Or had she simply been playing him all along?
“Why did you tell everyone you were?” he demanded.
Instead of rushing into an explanation of her actions, she crossed her arms over her chest and glanced at the older couple who’d been harassing her as he walked up.
She ducked her head and spoke in a low voice. “Can we please talk about this later?”
“Why can’t you just tell me?” Linc growled, staring at the woman he’d started thinking in terms of spending the rest of his life with, willing her to say something—anything—that would make the churning in his gut go away. “Claire, what the hell is going on? Who are these people?”
“Jasper’s parents. Doug and Sharon Patmore.”
“What are they doing here?”
Claire shook her head. “Can we please talk about this later?”
Knox set his hand on Linc’s arm. “The media is going to be all over this if we don’t step away right now.”
A portion of his mind registered that Sawyer was also standing beside him. Their support meant everything in that moment. Unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones there. Linc glanced around, noticing several people clicking away on their phones. The curiosity of the crowd surrounding them was palpable. No doubt, dozens of social media posts were being uploaded that very second.
“Knox is right,” Claire said, her eyes wide and pleading. “You don’t want to get dragged into any sort of a scene.”
And before he could say another word, she darted away, headed in the opposite direction from the older couple she’d been speaking with. They started off after her and Linc’s gut twisted as he watched them all disappear into the crowd. Letting her go taxed his willpower.
Despite knowing she’d lied, his instincts told him to follow and fight at her side. It was pretty obvious that the older couple were up to no good. He’d never seen Claire look so miserable.
“Any idea what that was about?” Knox asked. “They accused Claire of stealing their granddaughter.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Linc might not know Claire as well as he’d assumed, but he doubted she’d do anything like that. “There’s something strange going on here and I’d like to get to the bottom of it.”
“So you didn’t know she was never married?”
Linc shook his head. “She’s been lying to all of us.”
“Why would she do that?” Sawyer murmured, sliding her hand around his arm and giving a gentle squeeze.
Linc glanced at Sawyer and nodded his appreciation of her comforting gesture. “I don’t know, but there’s something wrong with those people claiming to be Honey’s grandparents. Claire once told me her... Jasper didn’t have any sort of relationship with his parents and didn’t want them near Honey. If that’s the case, I wonder what they’re doing here.”
“Claire sure didn’t look happy to see them,” Sawyer added.
He knew better than to feel sympathy for Claire, but he couldn’t help it.
�
�So if she didn’t invite them, how did they know to find her here?” Knox asked.
“That’s a good question,” Linc said. “Maybe we need to find out how they got in.”
“I can check with Portia and see if they were on the list of people who bought tickets,” Knox offered.
When Linc nodded, Knox headed off, leaving brother and sister by themselves.
“Are you going to be okay?” Sawyer asked.
“I’m perfectly fine,” Linc said. “Just surprised, that’s all.”
But from his sister’s expression, Linc realized he’d given away that he felt more for Claire than what a boss feels for an employee. And if he didn’t take himself in hand right now, the entire world would know he’d been behaving like a complete idiot.
“Are you and Claire...” Sawyer paused and glanced around, but they were out of earshot. “Have you been sleeping together?”
“Only just recently.”
“Linc.” She packed a world of concern into the single syllable.
“You don’t need to tell me I screwed up.”
And yet, until a moment ago, he’d been convinced that he’d had it all figured out. When he imagined the rest of his life, he pictured every day with Claire and Honey in it. Not as his housekeeper, but as something more permanent. Wife. The word didn’t trigger any sort of alarm. It should have. Given what he’d learned just now.
The kicker was he still wanted her in his life. Knowing she’d lied to him and that he had no true idea of who she was, he still couldn’t imagine anyone who made him as happy as she did.
“I don’t think you screwed up,” Sawyer said.
Hadn’t he? Linc reminded himself he’d done all the pursuing. If he hadn’t let his feelings for her be known, would she have slept with him? In fact, she’d resisted all his attempts to move their relationship forward. But if he took her at her word and believed she never intended their relationship to be public, then why had she created a fictitious husband?
“We need to get more information before we judge her,” Sawyer continued. “Claire isn’t malicious and I can’t imagine her setting out to hurt you. In fact, when she was talking to those people, I thought she looked afraid.”
He nodded. “I thought so, too.” And suddenly, he couldn’t believe he’d let worry about bad publicity keep him from helping her. “I have to go find her and figure out what’s going on.”
* * *
Claire picked up speed as she broke away from Jasper’s parents and Linc. Uppermost in her mind was escaping the polo grounds and getting to her daughter. The decisions she needed to make could wait until she held Honey in her arms once more.
“Claire!” Everly Briggs was bearing down on her. “Where are you going? I thought we were going to meet up so I could get you the money we owe you.”
“I have the receipts here. Can you mail me the check? I need to leave.”
As she extended the folder to Everly, Claire glanced over her shoulder, looking for the Patmores. But she didn’t see Jasper’s parents. Maybe she’d given them the slip. She sure hoped so. The thought of them following her to Linc’s house alarmed her.
“Is something wrong?” Everly made no attempt to take the folder from Claire. “You seem upset. Has something happened?”
“My address is on the paperwork.” She’d secured a PO Box when she’d first arrived in Charleston and had all her mail sent there.
“Did you and Linc have a fight?”
“What?”
“I saw him a few seconds ago and noticed that he looked angry. Did you fight about how much time he spent with Landry Beaumont today?” Everly’s green eyes gleamed with interest. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you.”
Claire stared at the woman in dumbfounded silence. “I’m not jealous.”
“Because you think he’s going to pick you over her?” Everly laughed, and it wasn’t a nice sound. “That’s never going to happen. You’re not in her league.”
“You don’t think I know that?”
It was hard always being treated like she wasn’t good enough. First, her mother had walked out on Claire. Then her father chose his new family over her. Maybe there was something wrong with her, because she’d become embroiled in a relationship with Linc knowing she was even less suitable than his former fiancée.
“And it doesn’t matter,” Claire continued. “Linc and I aren’t involved.”
“Who do you think you’re kidding?” Everly leaned in and pinned Claire with a malicious stare. “I watched the two of you together and saw exactly what’s going on. You’re sleeping with him.”
Claire recoiled, wondering how such a fun day had gone to hell so fast. She was opening her mouth to deny Everly’s claim when they were interrupted by a familiar voice.
“There you are,” Jasper’s mother said. “Don’t think you can get away so easily.”
“Who are these people?” Everly demanded, assessing the Patmores with a frown. “Did you invite them?”
“No.”
“How did you get in here?” Everly continued.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” Doug Patmore said, “but we had tickets.”
Seeing this answer wasn’t going to satisfy Everly, Claire decided the sooner she got Jasper’s parents out of there, the better. Rather than argue with them any further near witnesses, Claire once again broke off and headed in the direction of the parking lot. As she expected, the Patmores were hot on her heels.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Doug demanded, panting a little as he caught up with her.
“Away from you.” But as they reached the parking lot, Claire slowed down so she could ask the question uppermost in her thoughts. “How did you find me in Charleston and how did you know where I would be today?”
“A woman called us and said you’d moved here,” Sharon said.
Doug nodded. “She said you’d taken up with some ballplayer and were living with him.”
“What woman?” Claire demanded, gripping her car keys as her blood ran cold. Who would go to all the trouble to do something like that?
“She didn’t give us her name, but she said she was from Charleston and had met you at a party.” Jasper’s father looked disgusted. “Is that what you’ve been doing since you’ve been here? Neglecting our granddaughter while you go out carousing at night?”
“The only party I’ve attended was one I catered recently. I was working, not carousing.”
Claire thought back to Bettina’s party. Was it possible that one of the guests had suspected something was going on between her and Linc and decided that she needed to be out of the picture? That was crazy. No one in their right mind would consider Claire competition. But what other explanation could there be? And how would anyone have known how to find Jasper’s parents? She hadn’t told anyone his last name. Would someone have gone so far as to have her investigated? If so, it was a despicable thing to do.
“What about the baseball player you’re shacked up with?” Doug asked. “Is he doing drugs and partying? What sort of environment is that for our granddaughter?”
If she wasn’t used to their harassment, these sorts of accusations might’ve shocked Claire. But it wasn’t much different from what they’d thrown at her in San Francisco and reinforced why she’d left. Even though she’d told herself that it was difficult for grandparents to take custody of a child away from its mother, she didn’t trust that the system always worked the way it was supposed to. Nor did she have the means to fight a lengthy battle against Jasper’s parents.
“He doesn’t party,” Claire said. “And where I’m living is none of your business.”
“I’ll bet he has money,” Jasper’s father said, his eyes narrowing to slits.
She shook her head. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Maybe you don’t want to lose your m
eal ticket.”
“My meal ticket?” Until Jasper’s death, Claire hadn’t had any contact with his parents and everything since then had been negative, but this was beyond anything she’d expected. “What are you talking about?”
“Seems to us that you have a sweet situation here.”
What was he trying to get at? Claire looked from Doug to Sharon and back again. The disgust on their faces set something off. Shame flooded her. She wasn’t the horrible person they imagined, but there was no question that she’d been sleeping with Linc and behaving recklessly.
“Give us our sweet baby,” Sharon said, “and we’ll leave you be.”
“She’s not your sweet baby.” Fury burned away Claire’s confusion. The idea of running again filled her with dread, but the last thing she was going to do was let Jasper’s parents take her daughter. “Jasper didn’t want you in his life and he certainly didn’t want you in his daughter’s life, either.”
“Better us than you. We’re going to get her one way or another.”
Claire shook her head and tried to look confident, even as she cringed inside. “You have no grounds to take Honey away from me.”
“I’m sure there is a judge in California that would disagree with you.”
“But we’re not in California.” It was all a huge bluff on her part. Claire wasn’t sure if what had happened when she was twenty would have any bearing on a court case here in South Carolina.
“You might think you’re safe here, but we could make things pretty uncomfortable for you,” Jasper’s mother said.
“You and that Linc Thurston fellow,” Doug Patmore agreed.
When Jasper’s dad spoke Linc’s name, Claire went cold all over. The last thing she wanted to do was drag Linc into a scandal, and it looked like Jasper’s father was eager to make trouble.
“I’m not going to give you my daughter,” Claire growled, feeling very much like a cornered mama bear. The more time she spent with Jasper’s parents, the more convinced she became that she would do whatever it took to keep Honey away from them.
“Then give us the hundred thousand dollars she got.”