Harlequin Special Edition October 2015, Box Set 1 of 2 Read online

  Her mother called the showroom number at ten. “Sweetheart, there you are!”

  Chloe still wasn’t ready to deal with her. “Mom. Glad you’re home safe. Can’t talk now. You know that. I’m at work.”

  “But how am I supposed to get hold of you if you won’t answer your—?”

  “Mom, I have another call,” she outright lied. “I’ll call you this evening, I promise.”

  “But—”

  “Gotta go. I’ll call. Promise.”

  Her mother was still protesting as Chloe hung up the phone. She knew time was running out. She was going to have to stop being such a coward. All day long, in the back of her mind, she rehearsed the things she would say when she called back that night.

  I’ve been seeing Quinn Bravo. I care for him, Mom. Deeply. He’s asked me to marry him and I am seriously considering telling him yes.

  It all sounded so simple. It was...what people did. They found each other and they fell for each other and realized they didn’t want to be apart. So they got married and raised a family.

  Why shouldn’t she have that—and with the right man this time? With a good man, a strong man. A man who cared about more than money and power and things. A man who considered her a whole person, with a heart and mind of her own, not just his most prized possession who looked good on his arm and had great taste and could work a room with the best of them.

  Short answer: she absolutely should have that. And she would have it. With Quinn.

  By the time she locked up the showroom and went home, she was all fired up to get it over with. To call her mother and tell her simply and proudly that she and Quinn were together.

  But as it turned out, no call was necessary. When she pulled into her driveway, her mother’s Mercedes SUV was parked in the side space next to the garage.

  Chloe’s stomach lurched at the sight, which was so pitiful it made her want to throw her head back and scream. But she didn’t scream. She drew in a slow breath and told herself to man up. It was her life and she was going to live it for herself, not her mother. She would tell her mom the simple truth about her and Quinn and that would be that.

  But then, as she left the garage by the breezeway door and caught sight of her mother waiting on the front step, it became crystal clear from the tight, furious expression on Linda Winchester’s face that she already knew about Quinn.

  Chloe’s steps faltered. Only for a second, though. She quickly caught herself, straightened her shoulders and kept right on walking. “Mom. I don’t remember you mentioning that you would be dropping by.”

  “Oh, please.” Her mother gave her a truly withering glance. “Let me in. I have a few things to say to you and I’m not going to say them on your front step.”

  Chloe froze with her key raised to unlock the door. “Look, Mother. I don’t want to—”

  “Open the door. Now, please.”

  The temptation was so powerful to tell her mother right then and there that this was her house and she would decide who did or didn’t enter it.

  But then again, well, Linda Winchester wasn’t the only one who had a few things to say. And she wasn’t the only one who preferred to have this out in private.

  So she unlocked the door. Her mother brushed past her as she disarmed the alarm.

  Carefully, quietly, Chloe shut the door. Her mother stood beside the formal dining table, her blond head high, bright spots of color flaming on her cheeks, her lips bloodless with tension.

  Chloe almost felt sorry for her. “Look, Mom. Why don’t you sit down?”

  Linda whipped out the chair at the end of the table and sat in it. She put her hand to her mouth and shut her eyes.

  Chloe took the nearest chair. She waited until her mother dropped her hand away from her mouth and opened her eyes again before she said gently, “You’re obviously very upset. Please tell me why.”

  Her mother sucked in a gasp and snapped, “Don’t you play coy with me, Chloe.”

  “I’m not playing coy,” Chloe said with a calm that surprised her. “What I’m doing is trying my best not to jump to conclusions.”

  “All right.” With two sharp tugs, Linda straightened the sides of the linen jacket she wore. “Agnes Oldfield dropped by to see me an hour ago. She says it’s all over town that you’ve been seeing Quinn Bravo. She says you went to the Sylvan Inn with him last Friday night, where you told Monique Hightower right to her face that you were...attracted to that man ever since high school. Agnes also says that you’ve been seen having ice cream with him and that child of his. She says that everyone says how...intimate you seem together, that it’s obvious something serious is going on between you.” Linda pressed her hand flat to her chest, and shook her head fiercely. “I do not believe this. Tell me that none of it is true.”

  Chloe just stared. God. She’d known this would be bad. But somehow, now that it was actually happening, all she could think was What are we doing here? How could I have let it get his far? Why didn’t I back her down years ago?

  The questions were all too familiar to her. They were the same ones she’d asked herself over and over about her ex-husband.

  “Well?” her mother demanded. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  “You know, Mom. I don’t think I have to say anything. But I would like to know what happened to you? I just don’t understand how you got so messed up.”

  Another indignant gasp. “Excuse me?”

  “It’s not going to work on me, Mother. Not anymore. All your trumped-up outrage, your sad, small-minded ideas about who’s okay and who’s not. Your judgments about the right kind of people and the ones who just don’t measure up.”

  “Wait just a minute, now—”

  “No. No, I’m not going to wait for you to try and fill my head with more of your small-minded garbage and your snobbish, silly lies.”

  “Well, I have never—”

  “Stop. I mean it. I don’t want to hear it, never again. Quinn Bravo is a fine man and I’m not listening to one more word of this ridiculous crap you’re dishing out against him. Yes, I am seeing him. And I am proud to be seeing him. Also, you should know that I am redoing his house and I’m gratified that he and Manny Aldovino have confidence in my ability to do the job well. In fact, Quinn has asked me to marry him and I am seriously considering saying yes.”

  “Dear, sweet Lord. Have you lost your mind?”

  “No, I have not. I am perfectly sane, saner than I’ve ever been in my life before. And all that old stuff about Quinn’s mother and his father and his father’s first wife, all those ancient, ridiculous distinctions between the real Bravos and the bastard Bravos... Nobody cares about that anymore. Nobody but you—and maybe Monique Hightower and Agnes Oldfield, who both ought to get a life and stay out of mine.”

  “But you surely can’t—”

  “Wake up, Mother. Smell the Starbucks. I mean, look at it this way. Haven’t you heard? Quinn Bravo’s rich now. He’s made a big success of his life. You know how much you love a big success.”

  Linda Winchester paled. “How dare you imply that I care how much money a man makes?”

  Chloe knew she had lost it completely when she shouted, “I’m not implying it, I’m saying it straight out!”

  Her mother cringed and jerked back in her chair, as though terrified—which Chloe knew very well she was not. “There’s no need to shout,” Linda said with a wounded sniff. “And I would hardly consider beating other men to a pulp a ‘successful’ way to make a living. And what about that motherless child of his being raised by that strange old man?”

  “Manny is a wonderful person and he’s doing a terrific job with Annabelle.”

  “Oh, please. It doesn’t matter how much money he has. Quinn Bravo will never measure up and I raised you to know that.”

  “Enough.�
�� Chloe stood. “What I know, Mother, is that I’m done. I’m finished. I’ve had enough of your narrow-minded, holier-than-thou, manipulative behavior to last me a lifetime.”

  Another hot gasp from her mother. “What’s happened to you? What’s the matter with you? You’re acting like a crazy person. I brought you up to be better than this.”

  “Stop. Quit. There’s just no point. I want you to leave now. I want you to leave my house and not come back until you’ve had a serious change in your attitude.”

  Something happened then. Linda’s gaze shifted away. When she looked back at Chloe, she actually seemed worried. Was it possible she’d finally realized she’d gone too far? She said, more softly than before, with a hint of appeasement, “It’s only that I don’t want you to throw your life away. It’s only that you’re special. You deserve the best life has to offer. I want that for you. I want everything for you.”

  “I really do want you to go now.” Chloe gentled her tone, but didn’t waver. “Please.”

  Linda didn’t get up. She only talked faster. “Oh, sweetheart. I know. I understand. You had it all. And you threw it away. But the good news is, if you’ll only make a little effort, you and Ted can work through this rough patch and—”

  Chloe put up a hand. “Get back with Ted? You can’t be serious. I don’t believe you, Mother. How many times have I told you I never want to hear his name? How many times have I told you that he hit me and he cheated on me and there is no going back from that? I don’t want to go back. All I want is never to have to look in his evil, lying face again.”

  “You’re overwrought.”

  “Oh, you bet I am.” She stepped back and pointed at the door. “Please leave my house. Now.”

  Finally, her mother stood—and kept on talking. “Can’t you see? That new wife of his? She’s a pale imitation. She can’t hold a candle to you. Ted realizes that now. And you know that you’re exaggerating about his behavior, making a big drama out of a little marital spat or two.”

  “Wait.” Chloe really, truly could not believe her ears. “What did you say?”

  “I said, you’re making a big drama of—”

  “‘He realizes that now’? How could you know what Ted Davies realizes?”

  “Well, sweetheart, now listen. You really need to settle down, so that we can speak of this reasonably.”

  “Reasonably?” Chloe echoed in a near whisper. The awful truth had hit her like a boot to the head. Her ears were ringing. “You’ve been in touch with him, haven’t you? You’ve been encouraging him.”

  Linda got right to work blowing her off. “Well, I... You know I only want what’s best for you and I—”

  “You’ve given him my address, haven’t you?”

  “Oh, don’t be foolish. It’s not as if you’re in hiding.”

  “So you did give him my address.”

  Linda just wouldn’t give it up and answer the question. She let out a low sound of complete disdain. “Don’t make such an issue of it. Anyone could find out where you live with a minimum of effort.”

  “But Ted didn’t have to make any effort, right? Because you’ll tell him whatever he wants to know.” She grabbed her mother’s arm. “That does it. You’re leaving.”

  Linda squealed. “What are you doing?” She slapped at Chloe. “Let go of me. You’re hurting me...” The tears started then.

  Chloe ignored them. She pulled her mother to the door, yanked it open and shoved her over the threshold.

  Linda sobbed, “How can you do this to me? You’re breaking my heart.”

  Chloe’s answer was to firmly shut the door in her face.

  Chapter Seven

  That night, it took Quinn an extra half hour to chase off all the monsters and get Annabelle settled in bed. He performed his monster-removing duties happily. Partly because he was a total pushover for his little girl. And partly because he knew she needed the extra attention on her first night in her temporary bedroom in the log house across the street from Chloe.

  After Annabelle finally went to sleep, he and Manny took beers out to the back deck, where they touched base on the usual household stuff, finances and the move.

  They were just wrapping up when his cell chimed. A text. From Chloe. The first, he realized, that he’d ever gotten from her.

  That made him smile—initially. And then he had to deal with the words in the little conversation bubble. At least it was only one sentence: Can you come over now?

  Unease curled through him. Something in the starkness of the question didn’t sit right. Chloe was generally so gracious and well mannered, the kind of woman to offer a drink and ask a man how his day had been before ever getting down to what she needed from him.

  Manny asked, “Chloe?”

  “Yeah.” Texting was not his best event. He debated the option of turning up the sound on his text-to-speech app and voice-texting her back. Or he could just call her. But she was only across the street and he felt an urgency to get to her. He rose.

  “Something wrong, Crush?”

  Quinn clasped Manny’s shoulder. “Probably nothing.”

  Manny reached up, patted his hand and let him go without a single wiseass remark.

  * * *

  Chloe must have been standing at the door, peering through the peephole, because she whipped it open before Quinn could raise his hand to knock. One look at her too-pale face and shadowed, red-rimmed eyes and Quinn knew his instincts had been right. Something had gone way wrong.

  “Quinn.” She grabbed for him.

  He stepped inside, gathered her close and shoved the door shut with his heel.

  “Quinn...” She curled against him, tucking her golden head under his chin, her slim arms clutching tight around him, as though she wanted to crawl right inside skin.

  It freaked him out a little to see her so out of control. That only happened when he had her naked in bed. The rest of the time, she was the queen of smooth, hard to ruffle. Something had really spooked her. He stroked her hair and rubbed her back and reassured her with low, soothing words. “I’m here. It’s okay now, all right? You just hold on tight...”

  She burrowed even closer against him and confessed in a torn whisper, “I never, ever had the guts to stand up to her and now it’s come down to this. Oh, I hate myself. I’m such a wuss. It shouldn’t have gotten to this, I should have stopped her a long time ago. I—”

  “Shh,” he soothed. “Shh, now. Take a breath, a long, slow one...”

  Obedient as a cowed and frightened child, she took a long, deep one and let it out nice and slow. “Oh, Quinn...” A sob escaped her.

  He caught her beautiful face between his hands, tipped it up so he could see her haunted eyes again and took an educated guess. “This is about your mother?”

  She hitched in a ragged breath and nodded. “After tonight, she’s out of my life. I never want to see her again.”

  “Whoa,” he said gently. “Come on, now, angel. Whatever she did, she is your mother.”

  Chloe pursed up her lips and stuck out her chin. “Don’t even remind me.”

  “I’m only saying, whatever happened with her, give her a little time. She’ll come around.”

  “Oh, you don’t know her, Quinn,” she insisted. “You don’t know her at all.” She sounded downright pissed off.

  Which wasn’t so bad, he decided. He’d take pissed off over brokenhearted and out of control any day of the week. “Hey.” He stroked her hair some more, brushed a quick kiss across her sweet, trembling mouth. “You gonna talk to me? Really talk to me? Because I need a better idea of what happened before I can do much more than hold you and tell you it’ll be okay.”

  “It was awful. We went at each other. She was like one of those crazed, jealous girlfriends on The Jerry Springer Show.” Chloe shut her eyes a
nd sucked in another slow, careful breath. “And I wasn’t much better.”

  Now, there was an image. Chloe and Linda Winchester going at it on The Jerry Springer Show. “Come on. Make some coffee or something. You can tell me what happened.”

  A few minutes later, they sat on the sofa. Chloe sipped the hot tea she’d made for herself. “She was waiting on the front step when I got home from work, and she was furious.”

  It didn’t take a genius to figure out why. “Someone told her about you and me.”

  “That’s right. She...” Chloe met his eyes then. “I don’t even know how to tell you how awful she was.”

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to give me a blow-by-blow. She’s never thought much of me or of my family and we knew that from the first.”

  “I, well, I want you to know that I didn’t back down, Quinn. I didn’t evade, either. For the first time in my life I stood right up to her. I told her I was seeing you and I intended to keep seeing you and that she’d better accept that.”

  “But she wouldn’t accept it.”

  “No. We yelled at each other. I realized it was going nowhere and I asked her to leave. That was when she let it slip that she’s been in touch with my ex-husband.” Chloe’s gaze slid away. “I hit the ceiling and threw her out.” She fell silent, and she still wasn’t looking at him.

  He waited. When she didn’t volunteer any more, he said, “It’s probably about now that you should tell me whatever it is you’re not telling me about your ex-husband.”

  She did face him then. And she looked stricken. In a small voice, she said, “I don’t even know where to begin.” He took her mug from her and set it on the low table. Then he hooked an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. She crumpled against him. “Oh, God...”

  He pressed a kiss into her sweet-smelling hair. “It doesn’t matter where you start. I’m not going anywhere until you’ve told me everything I need to know.”

  She let out a small, sad little sound. “All my life, all I wanted was to be my mother’s good little girl. And look where that’s gotten me...”