didn’t sigh, didn’t roll her eyes—okay, in her head she did—but she refrained from physically doing so, because she knew the gesture would come through in her tone.
She found her favorite mug for drinking tea. A tacky one with a hot, hunky man draped around it. When filled with hot liquid, his clothes disappeared. Who needed a traditional tea cup and saucer?
And if her mother forced her hand at this ridiculous luncheon, the mug might make an appearance.
“Mother, I hadn’t planned on coming, remember?”
“Oh, darling, of course you’ll be here. I mean, really. When are you going to stop being so stubborn?”
Raine opened the small cabinet above her stove and pulled out the bottle of whiskey she kept on hand for emergencies. And talking with her mother was most definitely an emergency.
“Let’s not go through this again, Mother,” she pleaded as she poured a dab of liquor into her hot tea. “We’ve agreed to disagree. You don’t like my social life. I don’t like yours.”
“You don’t have a social life, Raine!” her mother exclaimed. “I don’t understand why you won’t get out a little more, get a job, go back to college for heaven’s sake. Let someone else adopt that baby. It’s not too late to back out.”
Not even an option. No way was anyone else going to adopt Abby. Raine never dreamed the adoption process would take this long, but even if it took ten years, she wasn’t letting go of this beloved child.
She’d already lost one baby and was blessed enough to have been given a second chance at motherhood. Abby was a precious bundle that tucked so perfectly into Raine’s life.
“Mom, I have to go check on Abby.”
“If you’re so insistent on keeping her, the least you could do is let me see her,” her mother said with a huff.
That was a worry Raine had wrestled with, and one that had kept her up many nights. Raine had always heard the saying “It took a village to raise a child,” but she just wasn’t sure she could allow her mother’s influences to trickle down to Abby.
“You’ve seen her, Mom,” Raine said defensively, then took a sip of her tea, welcoming the burn as it slid down her throat.
“Not enough. She needs to know her place in this family, Raine.”
Setting the china cup down, Raine took a deep breath so she didn’t explode. “Mother, she’s three months old. Her place right now is as my child. Nothing more.”
“I didn’t call to argue. The luncheon has been rescheduled for next Saturday, and I expect you and Abigail to attend.”
“Her name is Abby, Mother.”
“Abigail is more dignified.”
“But that’s not her legal name, so if you refer to her again, call her by the name I chose for her.”
Her mother sniffed into the phone. “I don’t know where I went wrong with you,” she cried. “I just want what’s best.”
“For whom, Mother? Best for me, or best for you and your social status?”
Silence settled in on the other end of the line and Raine knew she’d gone too far...again. This is how nearly all of their calls went, and in the end Raine always felt guilty and mentally drained.
“I’ll talk to you later, Mother.”
Raine hung up and rested her palms on the edge of the chipped countertop. Why did she let her mother get to her? For twenty-eight years the woman had tried to make her feel like an outcast, and the majority of that time she’d succeeded. The only person who’d ever really understood her had been her grandmother; but when she had passed eight years ago, Raine had been truly alone.
The wind picked up outside, rattling the old windows. She took her cup and headed to her favorite room of the house. The room where she felt at home, where she could be creative, and no one was there to stifle the process.
Her grandmother’s old bedroom, where Raine mixed all her lotions and made her specialty soaps. This was the perfect place to work, since it was right next to the nursery, and she felt so much closer to her grandmother here. But as Raine pulled a few ingredients off the shelf, she thought of Max. At one time he’d consumed all of her thoughts, all of her heart and soul. And, damn him, he looked even better now than he had when she’d been totally in love with him.
Hollywood had put him on this pedestal, elevating him to superstar status in no time, and she’d been back home soaking it all in via media outlets talking up the hottest newbie on the scene.
And amid all that talk, flashing cameras and Max throwing that signature dimpled grin to the reporters, Raine had been back in Lenox, nursing a broken heart...and coming to grips with an unexpected pregnancy.
Max had never known he’d been a father. Had never known the grief, the anguish, she’d gone through in losing the baby. He’d been living the dream and loving life while she’d been burying the last bond of love they had.
But now Raine had a second chance, and she wasn’t going to blow it just because Max was back in town. No matter how much her heart fluttered when she’d seen him, no matter how sexy and handsome he looked, no matter how heated his gaze was when he looked at her.
Raine had more important priorities now, like making sure this legal guardianship of her cousin’s baby went through and keeping her grandmother’s home from going into foreclosure. Since she wasn’t exactly flush with cash, Raine had used the rest of her meager savings and had taken out a loan against the property in order to pay for the adoption.
However, none of that had felt like a sacrifice to her, because Jill had entrusted Raine with Abby...and Raine wasn’t about to disappoint her. So there was no way in hell she’d go down without a fight...not after getting nearly everything she’d ever wanted. Where there was a will, there was a way, and Raine had more will than anything else.
* * *
Max helped his mother to her bedroom, which was now a guest room on the first floor. With her being a little lethargic at times, he’d made sure all of her things were on the first floor so she didn’t have to climb steps.
Although she would say she was fine, he could see that she was tired and just being stubborn. He knew she’d be even more so when her radiation treatments started. So he’d let her keep her pride and just keep his mouth shut, but he would make her as comfortable as possible, which was why he’d made sure the nurse who had been here the past two days would stay on and come by for a few hours a day.
As he settled her into bed, he eased down to sit beside her.
“Care to tell me what Raine was doing here?” he asked.
His mother rested against her plush pillows. “She brought me a lovely gift bag.”
Narrowing his eyes, Max gave her a skeptical look. “So she just stopped by, because she knew you’d had surgery, and now you two are all chummy?”
Elise laced her fingers together across her lap and smiled. “Actually, no. During the past several
