not to point this out to her.
“If you don’t ease up on my search parameters,” Linc muttered, “I’m going to die childless and alone.” He made it sound as if he was kidding, but in truth, he wasn’t sure if he trusted himself to fall in love with the right woman.
Look at the mistake he’d made with London. He still wasn’t clear if what he had felt for her was love, or if she’d simply won him over with her beauty, determined personality and competitive spirit.
They’d met when he was in his late twenties and starting to lose interest in the never-ending merry-go-round of women in and out of his life. He’d spotted her at a charity event she’d organized and been drawn to her beauty. That she’d also been blessed with brains and ambition had struck the right chord with him, and within a month, they’d become exclusive.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” his mother said. “I can name a dozen women who would be perfect for you. In fact, as soon as you leave, I’m going to make a list and invite them to a party here in a couple weeks. That girl of yours is a dream...”
While his mother prattled on, Linc grappled with his discomfort over being the main event at one of Bettina’s gatherings. Part of him wanted to make his mother happy after everything she’d endured in her life, but he wasn’t about to surrender his freedom unless the woman was nothing short of spectacular.
“...Claire?”
His heart gave a little jump as his mother mentioned the young widow. “What about Claire?” Had she guessed his ever-increasing preoccupation with the woman who worked for him?
“Can I borrow her to cater the party?”
His mother’s request reminded Linc that his attraction to Claire needed to end. In any other town they could make it work, but in Charleston, where his mother was so entrenched in her family history, a Thurston and an outsider could never happen. Especially when that outsider was also his housekeeper.
“I’ll ask her if she’s willing,” he said, his tone subdued.
“Wonderful. Send her by early next week so we can discuss the menu.”
To Linc’s relief, Dolly announced lunch a few minutes later. He could tell that the wheels were spinning in his mother’s head. As the food was being served, Bettina demanded pen and paper so she could write down the list of appropriate women she intended to introduce to him.
Linc sipped tomato bisque soup and devoured curried shrimp and egg salad sandwiches in silence while his mother remarked over each woman she intended to include. Bettina made it sound as if they were candidates for him to choose from, but he knew the truth: the party would be one big husband hunt, with him, the unlucky prey.
The situation wasn’t unfamiliar. Since high school, women had been throwing themselves at him. And once he’d started playing pro baseball, he couldn’t turn around without a beautiful woman hitting on him. But those women weren’t usually of a sort he took seriously. After a one-night stand or a brief hookup, they drifted out of his life.
This was different. His mother intended to toss him into a pit with a voracious group of marriage-minded females. He doubted he’d come out intact.
So Linc started making his own list of eligible guy friends whom he could persuade to attend to take some of the focus off him. He knew twenty who fit the bill, but the question remained: How many could he convince to attend? They had to realize what his mother was up to.
Over dessert, his mother turned her attention to gossiping about her neighbors and the antics of her former in-laws. There was little new or surprising in what she had to impart, and Linc let the white noise of her voice flow over him while he wondered if Claire had found the earrings and if she liked them.
The unique asymmetrical style wouldn’t have suited most of the women he knew, but Claire would appreciate them. She had a quirky Bohemian style, a product of her growing up in California. He hoped she liked the interesting shapes and blue-green color of the stones. Would she guess that remembering turquoise was her favorite color had prompted him to choose this particular pair? Doubtful. He’d been doing a good job hiding his interest in her.
“I’m thinking about getting remarried.” His mother’s abrupt declaration jolted Linc out of his musings.
“Remarried?” he echoed dumbly, his thoughts scrambling to catch up. “I didn’t realize you were seeing anyone.”
“I’m not. At least, not exclusively.”
Linc frowned. What did that mean? He narrowed his eyes and focused all his attention on his mother. “So you’re seeing several men?”
He couldn’t reconcile this with his mother’s behavior after her husband went to jail, was released and then abruptly filed for divorce. After years of devoted support, Bettina had been blindsided, causing Linc to sever all contact with his father. Ever since, she’d kept a low profile and hadn’t really dated, at least as far as Linc knew.
“Not in the way you’re implying.” His mother’s tone sharpened. “I entertain gentlemen from time to time. They come by for lunch or cocktails. Sometimes dinner.”
“Where do you meet these men?”
Bettina preened, obviously appreciating her son’s alarm. “Is that concern I hear in your voice?”
“Of course it’s concern. You can’t just drop something like this on me.” Linc shook his head. Today’s lunch was certainly eventful. “Are you sure they’re interested in you and not just—”
“I suggest you don’t finish that statement,” his mother said, eyes narrowing. “I’m an attractive woman.”
“Yes, you are,” he murmured.
Bettina rolled on as if he hadn’t spoken. “With needs.”
“Please, no more,” he begged, cringing away from thoughts of his mother having any sort of sex life.
Bettina continued, either oblivious to or not concerned about her son’s sensibilities. “You’ve been so busy with your life that you haven’t paid all that much attention to what’s going on with me or your sister.” His mother paused for a beat. “Did you know she’s been seeing someone?”
Linc shook his head, struck dumb by the twists and turns the conversation was taking. “Anyone I know?”
Bettina shook her head. “You know she doesn’t tell me anything about her personal life.”
Sawyer had learned that lesson watching their mother meddle in his life.
“Then how do you know?” he asked.
“A mother knows when her children are up to something, and Sawyer is definitely acting like she has a secret.”
As the implication of Bettina’s words hung in the air, Linc hoped that wasn’t true, because the last thing he needed was for his mother to find out about his feelings for Claire.
* * *
Claire stood in the middle of The Market on Market and gaped at the woman who’d just issued such a provocative statement. With her brain short-circuited as the implications
