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back to us and led us through the somewhat dated house. It was still elegant, though, and handsomely furnished. We went to the backyard, where Mr. Smith left us with a “Here you go, sir. Miss.”

“Thank you, Mr. Smith.” Hunter directed me outside. The soft sunshine from the late afternoon

sprinkled over a backyard with a pool, lawn chairs, and a patio.

“She has a pool?” I asked with a wispy voice. Just my luck I realized this
after
I’d gotten pregnant. I had a feeling that bathing suits would be the devil for a while.

“Hey!” Mike, the construction guy, stepped forward with a crater of a smile. “Look at you!” He

put out his hand to me.

With a red face, I shook his hand. “Hi.”

“You are absolutely glowing. Congratulations!” He offered his hand to Hunter next, his smile

turning up in wattage. “Here’s the lucky papa.”

Hunter’s lips tweaked, a smile threatening his previous scowl. His eyes started to glimmer as an

older lady came up with a delighted smile. “Oh, how exciting! My daughter refuses to have children,

and my son is hopeless. He just can’t find a girl to save his life. I can’t wait to hold him or her—do you know what it is yet?”

“In a couple weeks,” I said demurely.

“Now, give them some space.” Trisha walked up with poise and grace, as always, but I could see

the hustle in her step. The anxiousness. She smiled at me before coming to stand directly in front of Hunter. Her smile increased as her eyes turned glossy. She held out her arms for a hug.

A quick look of shock passed over Hunter’s face. He paused for a moment.

“Well, c’mon,” Mike boomed, clapping Hunter on the back. “Give your mother a hug. She tries to

hide it, but she is over the moon. She probably dances around when no one is watching. She’s told

everyone in the neighborhood.”

“Oh, now!” The older lady slapped Mike playfully, beaming at me.

As Hunter stepped forward to hug his mother, a boyish look crossed his face. She clung to him for

a moment, patting his shoulder softly. When they each stepped back, she took out a tissue from her

pocket and dabbed her eye.

“Come in, come in,” Trisha said, falling to my side and looping her arm around mine.

I knew this trick—she was kidnapping me. And just like she had probably planned, Hunter

followed along immediately, clearly not wanting his precious cargo to have any distance from him on

this excursion.

“There’s no need to dwell on the past, Hunter,” his mom said softly. “What happened then doesn’t

matter. That was a different time and you were a different person.” She stopped us in front of a bar on wheels. There was no tiki bar for this house. And I’d been right—even though there was a BBQ

smoking, this party could not be called something so mundane.

“You’ve opened up lately in a way I haven’t seen since before…your late teens.” She tapped my

arm. “You have a loving fiancée and you’ll be an excellent father. Don’t let what happened when you

were young and naive dim what is happening now. Olivia doesn’t deserve it.”

She patted my belly and turned to me. Her eyes connected with mine solemnly. “Thank you for

pushing my son on this path. I’m lucky he found you. You’ve given me my boy back.” Her eyes teared

up and her mouth started quivering. “Excuse me.” She put her hand to her mouth and turned away

elegantly, walking out of sight.

Hunter’s arm came around my waist. He pulled me close. He didn’t say a word. And then he

couldn’t if he tried.

“You are a
ravishing
mother-to-be!” A woman I vaguely recognized came over, causing a flock of other older ladies to crowd around.

“This is so exciting,” another woman exclaimed.

“Congratulations.” A man thrust a hand in Hunter’s direction. A random hand found its way to my

stomach, followed by another.

Hunter might be burying his demons, but this was creating a host of them for me. I didn’t

necessarily like being touched by strangers, and I
definitely
didn’t like being ganged up on and group-touched. There was something incredibly wrong about random hands roving over my stomach.

I tried my best to keep a smile and not wriggle away.

After we got our drinks—I went with a sparkling apple cider to look like a joiner—Hunter

escorted me to some seats near the pool. Thankfully, after I sat the buzzards stopped circling. Instead, they settled near us, smiling all the time. If this were a children’s party, we’d be the clowns. All these people were apparently waiting for us to do a trick.

“So you went and started a business, huh?” Mike asked, pulling over a chair.

“Oh, really?” a woman asked. She leaned forward to catch every last detail, practically in my lap

now.

I was starting to get uncomfortable with all the closeness.

“Livy was kind enough to let me in on her business venture,” Hunter said. He rested a hand on the

arm of my chair. His shoulders had completely relaxed, as had his bearing.

I scoffed. “He was in on it from the beginning, he just didn’t tell me until someone else ousted

him.”

“And is it doing well?” Mike asked with a knowing gleam to his eye.

“We’re coming along,” Hunter said with a streak of modesty.

“Who is this guy?” I asked, giving Hunter an evil grin. “Since when are you coy about your

achievements?”

Trisha came cover to stand behind Mike. Three men, Hunter and Mike included, jumped up and

offered their seats. Trisha waved them away. “I have another guest arriving. I need to stay mobile. Sit, sit!”

“I can’t sit with you standing.” Mike put a hand on her back and one on his chair. “Take this one.

Please.”

“Oh!” She allowed herself to take the chair and then rested her hands elegantly in her lap.

I felt like such a barbarian when she was around.

“He’s magic,” Mike said, crossing his arms. “Didn’t I tell you? He touches a business and it takes

off.”

“Olivia and Bruce are doing the hard work,” Hunter explained, a fire coming to his eyes I’d never

seen when he was talking about his old job. “They’ve created a product that is as easy to sell as

feeding cake to children. All the elements are there, I just had to structure it right and set it in motion.”

“You did much more than that.” Trisha gave Hunter a proud smile. “I did a general search for the

game and I got all sorts of links right away. That game is everywhere. That isn’t usual, I don’t think.”

“We marketed it pretty hard to get it in people’s hands. After that, word of mouth spread like

wildfire.” Hunter let a smile blossom, the first since he’d been here. He showered me with that sexy, smoldering gaze. “I have a great partner.”

A couple of the women said, “Aww.”

“So how did he propose?” a woman with a giant purple hat asked me. Thus began the second leg

of the garden party—the question and answer segment. I was asked to recall, in detail, the whole day of Hunter proposing. I left out my mother, but the gasps of delight and the teary eyes after telling them about Hunter asking my father was crazy. Even the guys were impressed. Mike noted that Hunter was

smart in more than just business.

Hunter didn’t talk much, allowing me to get harangued without interference, but he never checked

out, either. He listened to all my answers, not allowing the men to pull him away. He scooted his

chair as close to me as possible, and occasionally laid his hand on my belly. Occasionally, because

whenever he did it, someone else wanted to join in on the fun. Finally I had to give him death threats within my looks so he would stop.

An hour or so in, the door opened again and I heard the butler’s droll voice. I glanced up, and then choked on my drink.

My mom stood in the doorway.

“Oh great, let’s make this afternoon super awkward.” I glared at Hunter.

His brow furrowed. Until he saw what the problem was. “I didn’t invite her.”

Trisha walked over to my mom and escorted her toward us.

“I need to tell you something,” Hunter said softly.

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Now?”

He hesitated. “Maybe we should meet her first. Welcome her here.”

“Probably, if only to tell her that she needs to be nice.”

He helped me up, then directed me to meet her in the middle. She smiled when I saw her,

strangely loose-limbed and actually…happy. Did she get a prescription for Prozac or was she faking

really well?

“Hey, Mom,” I said through a tight jaw. I had tension enough for the both of us.

“I thought it might be nice for your relatives to be here as well.” Trisha gave me a kind smile. She had no idea what havoc she was wreaking. My mom could kill a party if a bad mood struck her. Not

that I could tell the perfect hostess all of that, of course. So I smiled and thanked her, relieved when she moved away.

“Mom, I can’t have you embarrassing me here,” I said as quietly as I could while keeping a smile

on my face.

A glimmer of regret rolled through her expression. She waved me away. “I know how to act at an

influential party, Olivia. I’ve been to more than a few.”

I glanced at Hunter, incredibly embarrassed about what was coming next. There was nothing for

it, though. It had to be said. “You cannot hit on any of these men. Even the single ones. It’s not that kind of party.”

My mom rolled her eyes. She glanced at Hunter for a moment before schooling her expression

into one of chastisement. “I know the rules.”

“Rules?” I said.

She glanced at Hunter again. Wariness crossed her features this time. A hint of desperation tinged

her voice. “You didn’t tell her?”

“Not yet. I’ve had…other things on my mind.”

“Tell me what?” I asked Hunter.

“I’ve put your mother on an allowance. She will be more than taken care of, allowing that she

follow a certain list of…guidelines.”

“Rules.” She gave me a winning smile. That one was definitely fake, bordering on condescending.

“Among them are who she sees—”

“No married men, he means,” my mom said in a scratchy, annoyed voice. “I’m perfectly happy

forgoing men entirely. You don’t have to worry.”

I shook my head, mystified. “What else?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hunter said, command slipping into his voice.

My mom squinted at Hunter, her stubborn streak showing. She didn’t like to be told what to do,

and that voice probably reminded her of times when she had to. In this, I agreed.

“It
does
matter, because this concerns me.” I braced my hands on my hips.

“I’ll just let you two work it out. Let me know if I’ve been cut off.” My mom raised her chin and

sauntered away. The tension was back in her frame. I actually hadn’t noticed it until it was absent.

And things clicked into place. Hunter had been right—she’d been desperate all those years with no

money. She latched on to anyone she could, trying to find some security. For a brief moment when she walked into this backyard, she’d had it. For the first time in her life, probably, she didn’t have to worry. She didn’t have a kid to take care of, and she had a steady stream of money coming in.

“This isn’t your problem, Hunter,” I said, somewhat miserably. If anyone should be supporting

her, it should be me. And I could probably swing it, so I should.

“You’re my wife in practice if not in name, Olivia. She is unhappy, and therefore makes those

around her unhappy. I changed that variable, that’s all.”

“How much are you giving her?”

“Mostly, I made her put me in charge of her finances. Large purchases will need to go through me,

and any frivolous expenditure over a dollar limit. Her allowance from me is surprisingly little. It was more a matter of capitalizing on her investments, or in some cases, investing properly.”

“And how did this come about?” I was really trying to be angry, because logically, this had

crossed the line. The thing was, I should’ve done it. I should’ve known all this, and forced my way to help. I didn’t have his golden thumb, but I could’ve helped support her. I said as much.

“No.” He shook his head and led me away from a few ladies who were creeping into our space.

They probably wanted more time touching my stomach. I was going to have to try and rig a bug zapper

to fend them off. “She would’ve squandered it. She is remarkably bad with money. She needed a

strong hand to guide her. You’re too…lenient.”

“Nice way of putting it.” I couldn’t help a sardonic laugh. I let the woman walk all over me, and

he knew it. “So what are the rules?”

“Just the spending issues, her dating habits…” He trailed away, but I knew him well enough to

know he was omitting.

“What else?”

“I want our child to know both sides of grandparents, except for my father. I’ve given her

guidelines regarding how she treats those around her.”

“You’re forcing her to be nice?”

A smile touched his lips before he bent down to kiss me. “My job is to protect you, and that

includes your mother’s bad moods.”

I laughed, snaking my arms around his middle. “Serves her right.”

“I thought so. But it doesn’t seem like she’ll need it. I didn’t expect a genuine smile when she was in our presence.”

“You noticed! I didn’t know
what
to think.” I hugged him tight, relishing his arms coming around my back.

“You aren’t mad?”

I shrugged. “Like I said, I can’t be. I basically do whatever your mother says, and you make my

mother do whatever you say. Your family is dominating mine. I think my mother and I have both

realized it’s just easier to let the Carlisles have their way. It works to our benefit in the end.”

“Soon you’ll be a Carlisle. Listen, Livy, I wondered…I realize you want the big wedding when