by Cat Schield
“What hundred thousand dollars?”
“Don’t play dumb with us. She’s the beneficiary of his death benefit for being killed in active duty. That’s a hundred thousand tax-free.”
With those words, the whole reason for their interest in their granddaughter became crystal clear. As Honey’s guardians, they would be able to control that death benefit. A hundred thousand dollars was a lot of money.
“I don’t have it.” In truth, it had never occurred to her that there might be something Honey would receive after Jasper’s death.
“You are a terrible liar,” Doug said. “Of course you have it.”
Claire shook her head. “I never applied for any money.”
“Well, then, you’re an even bigger idiot than we thought.” Doug exchanged a look with his wife. “You need to get us that money.”
“But it belongs to Honey.” A second earlier, Claire had been willing to do whatever it took to protect her daughter. That money would go a long way toward securing Honey’s future. “And I know Jasper would want her to have it.”
“He’s our son. We raised him. If anyone should get the money, it’s us, not some mistake he made with you.”
Claire sucked in a deep breath to bolster her courage and set her chin at a defiant angle. For her daughter’s sake, she would not let these people bully her.
“You’re wasting your breath,” Claire said, no longer afraid that they could take Honey from her now that she had their measure. “You aren’t getting my daughter and you aren’t getting any money. Go back to San Francisco and leave us alone.”
And with that, Claire turned her back on Jasper’s parents and strode away. But she wasn’t moving fast enough to escape Doug Patmore’s final words.
“Give us that money or we’ll make sure everyone knows what you’ve been up to with your boss. You might not care what people say about you, but I’ll bet he and that family of his will.”
Eleven
Even though Linc knew he should stay at the charity event until all the polo matches were done, he couldn’t focus on anything but the expression on Claire’s face when she’d admitted that she’d been lying to him for a year. As it was, he stuck around long enough only for Knox to report that no one by the name of Patmore had bought tickets to the event.
But someone had gotten tickets for them. Someone who’d hoped Jasper’s parents would make a scene at a public event to embarrass Claire. But why? Linc knew he couldn’t wait much longer to find out.
To his relief, Claire’s car was parked in the driveway when he arrived home. But upon entering the house, Linc spied two suitcases sitting in the kitchen near the back door and stopped dead while his brain tried to wrap itself around the reason they were there.
Claire was leaving him.
Just as he arrived at that conclusion, she entered the kitchen carrying Honey. As soon as the toddler spied him, she lifted both her arms, opening and closing her fists in a double wave that put a lump in his throat. It hit him then that no matter what Claire had done or how angry he was with her, he couldn’t bear to let her go.
“Where are you going?” he demanded, more pain than accusation in his voice.
She gazed at him in wide-eyed dismay. “Why are you here? You’re supposed to be at the polo match.”
“I left early because I needed to talk to you.” He gestured at the luggage. “Are you running out on me?”
Before she could answer, he plucked Honey from her arms. The toddler cooed with delight and wrapped her arms around his neck. She smelled faintly of her mother’s perfume mixed with baby lotion. He breathed in the familiar scent, relieved that he’d been in time to stop these two from vanishing from his life.
“I’m not running out on you. I’m leaving before I embroil you in a huge scandal.”
“As if I care what people say about me,” he said, keeping his tone calm, not wanting to upset Honey.
“You should. Your family and friends do.”
“Are you ready to tell me what the hell is going on?” He asked the question without any heat, just needing to understand. “Why did you tell everyone you were married?”
Claire stared at the floor without answering for so long he wasn’t sure if she would speak without further prodding. But then after a long-suffering sigh, she walked to the sunroom and pulled out Honey’s toys.
“Bring her in here. She can play while we talk.”
Once Honey was occupied with a sorting game, Claire went into the kitchen and began emptying the dishwasher. The mundane task seemed to soothe her, and as she put plates and cups away, she began to explain.
“I discovered when I first moved to Charleston that being a military widow with a child made people more likely to give me a chance. Was it wrong?” She nodded emphatically. “Absolutely. But I don’t think I’d change what I did.”
“But why didn’t you come clean with me? I wouldn’t have judged you.”
“I wanted to.” Claire didn’t meet his eyes. “I should have.”
“I don’t understand what stopped you.”
“At first, it was because I needed the job as your housekeeper. Living here meant I could stay under the radar. Jasper’s parents would have a harder time finding me.”
“Why were you trying to avoid them?”
“Before Jasper went overseas the last time, he made me promise that I would keep our child away from his parents. Their relationship was strained and he was afraid they would treat his child the way they behaved toward him.”
“But you’re her mother, and you don’t have to give them access to her.”
“They made things very uncomfortable for me. Plus...”
She looked incredibly uncomfortable. What was she so reluctant to say? He couldn’t reconcile the woman he had come to care for this past year with this secretive individual who’d spun one lie after another.
“At the party, they said you’d stolen their granddaughter. What aren’t you telling me?”
“They were the reason I left California.”
“You moved all the way across the country to keep Honey away from her grandparents?”
Claire nodded. “They threatened to take her away from me.”
“You’re her mother,” Linc said. “There’s no way that could happen.”
“Unfortunately, if they decided to push the issue, there was a possibility that I could’ve been deemed an unfit mother and lost her.”
“An unfit mother?” Was this another lie? It seemed impossible that she could believe something so far-fetched. “You’re the furthest thing from it.”
“There was an incident back when I’d just turned twenty.” Her eyes darted in his direction and then away. She was obviously grappling with something. “I told you my father got remarried. It was pretty obvious from the start that Aubrey wanted my father to focus on her and their new family, and she got it into her head that I resented her.”
“Did you?” Linc recalled Claire telling him that her stepmother was only eight years older than her. “It seemed like your dad was all the family you had for most of your life.”
“I will admit that at sixteen I wasn’t thrilled when Aubrey moved in. She and my dad had been dating for about six months and she’d gotten pregnant. I never knew if they got married because he loved her or if he just felt responsible for the baby. Either way, once she came to live with us, everything changed. She had really strong opinions about everything and wasn’t shy about asserting herself.”
Linc recalled how Sawyer had been at sixteen and remembered epic battles with their mother over nothing. It wasn’t hard to imagine Claire and her stepmother locked in a power struggle. After all, Claire had been the only woman in her father’s life for nine years after her mother had left. No doubt, she’d taken care of him as much as she’d been taken care of. Giving that up couldn’t have been ea
sy.
“I understand, but what does this have to do with your concern that Honey’s grandparents could interfere with your custody of her?”
“By the time I turned twenty, Aubrey had given birth to my half brother, Shane, and half sister, Grace. Shane was a total momma’s boy and a terror. I moved out right after high school because of how bad things were between Aubrey and me. She made sure I wasn’t welcome and I stopped visiting.”
Linc remembered how it had hurt when his father had left them after serving his five-year sentence. The betrayal Linc had felt after he, Sawyer and their mother had stuck by him during the trial and scandal, and made regular trips to visit him in prison.
At least he’d had his sister and mother. Who had supported Claire?
She lied to you.
While it was important to remind himself of that fact, Linc was starting to soften his stance toward Claire. Especially when what she’d done hadn’t actively hurt anyone. Could he really blame her for doing whatever it took to survive?
“My dad didn’t understand what was going on between us,” Claire continued, “and I knew it hurt him that I never came around anymore. So, on Grace’s second birthday, I went to her party. Shane was acting out worse than usual because his sister was getting all the attention.”
Linc had little trouble picturing the scene. Claire’s discomfort as she recounted the story was palpable. Obviously, whatever had happened continued to bother her.
“When it was time for cake and opening presents, Shane was nowhere to be found. Aubrey was making a big deal out of wanting him to be there when Grace blew out her candles, so I went to find him. He’d gone up into this little tree house my dad had built for him.”
With each sentence, Claire tensed. Her fingers tightened and straightened. Linc’s gut became a solid knot of discomfort as he suspected where the tale might lead.
“Was it high?”
“Not more than six feet off the ground, but high enough that a child falling out of it could get hurt.”
“And is that what happened?”
Claire nodded. She let loose a shaky breath and kept going. “I started out at the bottom, trying to coax him to come down, but he didn’t like me very much. I think he’d picked up on the antagonism between his mother and me. Anyway, I ended up climbing up into the tree house, hoping to talk some sense into him. But he started screaming at me and told me to go away, acting like I was scaring him half to death.” A mirthless smile twisted her lips. “The little brat was good at making scenes and knew exactly how to manipulate his mother. Anyway, I was on the verge of leaving him be when he decided to go out the window and try to climb across to a nearby branch.”
“Did he make it?”
“Yes, but once he got there, he lost his balance. I tried to grab him, but he was just out of reach and he fell.” Claire closed her eyes for a long second. “Because he was making such a fuss, a bunch of the guests were looking our way, and from their angle, they said it looked like I’d pushed him.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Even before she answered, Claire’s grim expression told him just how bad things had been. “Needless to say, Aubrey’s family already disliked me and I think one of them called child protective services, claiming I was a danger to the kids.”
“Surely no one could possibly have believed that.”
“Those sorts of agencies get things wrong all the time. It didn’t help that Shane also claimed I’d pushed him. He ended up with a broken arm and devoured all the attention he got that day.” As the story wound down, Claire trailed off with a sigh.
Linc remembered how he’d encouraged her to take some time off and go home to visit her family. He understood now why she hadn’t looked all that excited about it.
“When the findings came back from the social worker that I posed a potential danger to my half siblings, I realized that maintaining a relationship with my father was going to be tough.”
“I can’t believe your father believed you could hurt them. What is your relationship with him like now?”
“I think he feels bad, but he’s married to Aubrey and has a responsibility to their children. We talk when she’s not around and he came to visit me in the hospital after Honey was born. When I told him what Jasper’s parents were trying to do, he gave me some money to help me get out of San Francisco and start over somewhere new. I know he’d like to do more, but...” She trailed off.
Linc ached, seeing her pain. “That’s not fair to you.”
“And it’s made me wary of trusting people.” She cast a burning look his way from beneath her lashes. “Even those I want to.”
He caught her meaning and gave a small nod. “So this business with Shane and child protective services stepping in is what Jasper’s parents have against you?”
“Yes. I’m not sure how they found out about it, but when they started threatening me for custody of Honey, I left town.”
“You could’ve fought it. All you needed was a good lawyer.”
“I couldn’t afford one. With the high cost of living in California, it was all I could do to keep my head above water. And I was too afraid if I’d stayed to fight them that I might lose Honey.” Tears glinted at the corners of her eyes. “I bought a car and a friend of mine registered it in his name. Then I drove across country, stopping in small towns and picking up odd jobs here and there. It took me nearly six months to get to Charleston. I wasn’t sure how long I was going to stick around, but then I met your mother and she thought I’d be a good fit for your housekeeper. It’s been great working for you and living here. It’s the first time since learning Jasper was dead that I’ve felt safe. I should’ve known it wouldn’t last.”
“How did the Patmores find you?”
“I don’t have a clue. I’ve been careful to stay under the radar. I suppose they could’ve hired someone. But even if they’d located me in Charleston, to show up at the party like that is so odd. Because there was no doubt they were there specifically to find me.”
“Someone in Charleston must have tipped them off,” Linc said thoughtfully. “But for what purpose?”
Claire’s brown eyes looked huge in her pale face. “Because they figured out we’re involved and want me out of the picture.”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Jasper’s parents knew all about you and threatened to go public with a bunch of lies unless I paid them off.”
“How much do they want?”
“A hundred thousand dollars. It’s the amount Honey would receive from the military because her father died in the line of duty.” Claire’s chin went up and her eyes grew cold. “But I’m not going to pay it to them.”
“Of course not.” But Linc would have no qualms about parting with the sum if it gave Claire some peace of mind. He was busy calculating the wisdom of paying off blackmailers when Claire made her stunning announcement.
“Honey and I are going to leave Charleston instead.”
* * *
Linc was shaking his head before Claire finished speaking. “Absolutely not. You’ve lost your mind if you think I’m going to let you leave Charleston.” From the tone of his voice, he meant every word. “Whatever it takes to keep you here is what we’ll do.”
“But this isn’t your problem,” she protested. “It’s mine, and I refuse to let you be dragged into my mess.”
“But it’s not your mess. You didn’t cause the problem. Vile people are trying to take advantage of you. Let me help you stop them.”
“Don’t you understand?” Her heart hammered in her chest at the fierce determination on his face. “This isn’t your fight.”
As much as she longed to surrender to his will and accept his protection, her doubts were stronger. No one had ever had her back before. She also couldn’t forget his anger at the polo grounds.
“I’m ma
king it my fight.”
“But the scandal...”
“There won’t be any scandal—” he grasped her chin and brought her gaze to his “—if you marry me.”
“What?” She jerked free and took a half step back, her senses reeling as if he’d slapped her. “Your mother will never accept me. London was beautiful, wealthy and sophisticated and she wasn’t good enough. I’ll always be the woman who cleaned your house. Think of how it will look. I can’t do that to you.”
“My mother knows how I feel about you. All she wants is for me to be happy.”
Claire covered her eyes with her hands, blocking out his earnest expression. Immediately, her other senses took over. She inhaled his familiar cologne and listened to the rough cadence of his breathing.
“You were happy with London,” she reminded him, “and that didn’t improve Bettina’s opinion of her.”
“I never should’ve proposed to London.” Linc tugged her hands down so he could meet her gaze. “She wasn’t the love of my life. You are.”
Her chest tightened at his words. “We haven’t known each other long enough for you to believe that.” What would it take for him to realize this was crazy? How could he possibly love her? She’d made so many mistakes. “And I lied to you.”
“All that is true, but it doesn’t change that I love you.”
Claire hunched her shoulders. With her head and her heart locked in a fierce battle, all she could do was keep trying to make him see reason.
“It won’t work,” she said. “You’ll see.”
“It can and it will. All you need to do is trust me.”
She shook her head. “I do trust you, but there are greater forces at work in your life than how we feel about each other.”
“How do we feel about each other?” he asked, taking her by the shoulders. The pressure of his warm fingers brought her close to tears. “I love you. I want to marry you and for us to be a family.”
“Damn it, Linc. Be reasonable.”
He ignored her objection. “How do you feel about me?”