Kathie DeNosky - The Kincaids - Southern Seduction

She didn’t so much as flinch at his accusation. “I just pointed out that since your divorce, you’ve made it no secret that you aren’t interested in anything long-term with a woman or marrying to carry on the family name.” Her smug smile caused him to clench his back teeth together so hard, he was surprised it didn’t break his jaw. “She comes from a large family and I’m sure that she has ideas of raising a brood of her own one day. It’s better that she knows now that isn’t what you’re interested in than to give her false hope for the future. Besides, she doesn’t have the breeding of a young woman suited for a man with your standing in the community.”

“And I guess Charisma did?” Daniel retorted.

“I’ll admit that Charisma was a bit high-strung, but you can’t deny she had a suitable background,” Charlotte answered as if the issue was as important to him as it was to her. “Her family has been a part of Charleston society almost as long as the Beauchamps and Addisons. She would have passed along the traits you would want in an offspring.”

“I shouldn’t be surprised that you thought she was good wife material,” he said, unable to keep the bitter tone from his voice. “She’s just like you, and I think that the traits you seem to think are so important would be better off not polluting the next generation.”

“Charisma is like me, isn’t she?” Charlotte said, smiling as if he had paid her a compliment and completely ignoring his disdain for the qualities her grandchild might inherit. She shook her head. “She was my best hope for a grandchild to carry on the family’s esteemed name.”

“Yeah, the two of you were as alike as I’ve ever seen—sweet as honey when things are going your way, but when they aren’t, you turn as vicious as a shark in a feeding frenzy.” He shook his head. “If I had wanted to carry on the family name, it certainly wouldn’t have been with Charisma.”

“Then why did you bother marrying her in the first place?” Charlotte asked, raising one darkly penciled eyebrow.

“Because, like you, she only showed the side of herself that she wanted me to see until she got her hooks in me,” he said, disgusted with himself for not seeing through his ex-wife’s facade sooner. “By the time she showed her true colors, it was too late. We had already walked down the aisle.”

“But you must have cared for her at some point,” his mother persisted. “The two of you were married for almost three years.”

“I tried to make things work, but I’m not like my father,” he stated flatly. “I finally faced the reality of the situation and realized that no matter what I did or how I did it, it was never going to keep her from making my life a living hell. I chose the peace and freedom of being single over a life of the abject misery Dad suffered.”

“Your father needed a strong woman to guide him,” Charlotte said, unabashed by her son’s observations.

“Well, I don’t.” He glared at his mother. “I prefer a woman to be my equal, not one who tells me every move to make and how to make it.”

“Do you honestly believe that Kincaid girl is your equal?” Charlotte scoffed.

“Yes, I do. But that is absolutely none of your concern.” Daniel had heard enough and he didn’t think he could stomach much more of his mother’s arrogance. “I think I’ll take a rain check on that dinner, Charlotte.” He rose to leave. “And I’m giving you fair warning. In the future, you would do well to keep your nose out of my business and your opinions to yourself. I’ll see who the hell I want for as long as I want and I don’t intend to listen to another word about it from you.”

Without waiting for his mother’s reaction, he walked out of the room. On his way through the kitchen, he apologized to Rosemary for skipping her delicious meal, then headed home to the peace and quiet of his condo. Eating alone was preferable to listening to Charlotte extol the virtues of his cold, intractable ex-wife’s pedigree, while running down a warm, caring woman like Lily.

To keep from saying anything against his mother, Lily had simply stopped seeing him rather than cause a rift between them. That was the kind of class and breeding Charlotte should applaud and strive for—not run down.

Lily Kincaid was twice the woman his mother or his ex-wife would ever be and if he hadn’t known that before, he certainly did now.

“Are you sure that living in that huge house all by yourself is what you really want?” Kara asked, clearly worried.

“Yes.” Lily knew her sister was voicing the concern of her entire family when she stopped by to pick up some extra rolls of Bubble Wrap Kara kept at her shop. “I’ve always loved that house and now that I’ve seen the inside, I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather live.”

“I haven’t driven up to Hilton Head to see about my property yet,” Kara said, handing Lily a box filled with several rolls of the packing material. “I’ve been so busy trying to get everything ready for Laurel and Eli’s wedding, I just haven’t had the time.”

“Has Laurel chosen the colors she wants to use for the wedding and reception?” Lily asked, hoping her sister chose a shade for the bridesmaids’ dresses that didn’t clash with red hair.

“She’s leaving it up to me and Eli to decide.” Kara shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a bride who didn’t care what color scheme was used at her wedding or who encouraged the groom to help the planner make all the choices for her.”

“Well, she is rather busy now that she’s handling the press releases for the family, as well as public relations for TKG,” Lily said, wondering if that was all there was to Laurel’s disinterest. At times it seemed that Kara was more excited about their sister’s wedding to Eli Houghton, owner of a luxury resort on Seabrook Island in the Outer Banks, than Laurel was.

“I’m sure that her hands are full,” Kara agreed. “But still—” When the phone rang, she stopped and held up her finger as she picked it up. “Prestige Events, may I put you on hold for just a moment?”

“I’ll let you get back to work,” Lily said, smiling when her sister muted the call. “My dishes and I thank you for the Bubble Wrap.”

“If you need more packing materials or someone to help you move, just let me know,” Kara said, already pressing the button to return to the call.

As Lily drove back to the carriage house from Kara’s shop, she went through a mental checklist of all that she wanted to accomplish for the day. She needed to sketch out a few more scenes for the new children’s book she was illustrating and pack more of her things for her move to the Beauchamp mansion. And, of course, somewhere between drawing a mouse wearing a fedora and wrapping china with Bubble Wrap, she would need to take a nap.

She smiled as she turned into the driveway leading back to the carriage house. Once filled with almost boundless energy, since becoming pregnant she required a nap around the same time every afternoon. The doctor had told her that the fatigue was common and would probably disappear after the first trimester only to return during the last few weeks before giving birth. But as out of character as it was for her to sleep during the day, she fully intended to enjoy every minute of her pregnancy even if she had to do it without the baby’s father.

Thinking about Daniel, she sighed wistfully. She hadn’t seen him for the past week, and whether it was smart or not, she had missed him. He had called her as often as he could and sent flowers every day, but it wasn’t the same as being with him. And that was dangerous to her peace of mind.

She wished things could be different—that he wanted what she wanted. But he didn’t, and all the wishing in the world wasn’t going to change that. She was going to have to tell him about the baby, and as soon as she got moved into the Beauchamp House, that was exactly what she was going to do.