darling.” She smiles as she walks past me. She takes a seat at my desk, and I hit the intercom. “Mallory, can you bring my mother in some tea, please?”
“Of course.”
She smiles and stares at me.
“Yes?” I smirk.
“Claire’s lovely.”
“She is.” I rest my elbow on my desk and steeple my fingers up over my temple.
She stays silent.
“But . . . ?” I ask.
She hesitates.
“Come on, Mother, you have come here for a reason today. What is it?”
“Tristan . . .” She pauses. “Why do you think you like Claire?”
“I don’t like her, Mom. I love her.”
She inhales sharply. “Tris.” She stands and walks to the window and stares out over the city. “Ever since you were a child, you have had a very strong personality trait.”
I frown as I listen.
“And so far in business, it has served you well.”
I stay silent.
“But now I feel I must make you aware of it, because I fear it is affecting you personally.”
“What are you talking about, Mom?” I sigh, annoyed.
She turns to me. “Tristan, you like to fix things.”
I frown harder. What?
“You don’t destroy companies; you buy them to fix them. It is your natural ability to sense when something needs you. You have always been like this, even when you were a tiny little boy. You are attracted to people who need help.”
I stare at her.
“Think about it. The staff that you yourself hire always have an issue that they need to overcome.”
My mind instantly goes to Fletcher.
“The companies that you want always are in trouble.”
“That’s my job, Mom.”
“No, Tristan, nobody ever told you that you need to buy companies in trouble. You took that on yourself. Are you in love with Claire because she needs you to fix her?”
“No,” I snap, annoyed.
“Her sons, do they have problems? Because I can guarantee the bigger the problems they have, the more you will be attracted to them.”
I clench my jaw as I watch her.
“Every girlfriend you have ever had has needed fixing . . . except Mary.”
My nostrils flair at the mention of her name. Mary was my second girlfriend. I grieved her for years after we broke up.
“You loved Mary, Tristan. With all your heart you loved her. But she didn’t need fixing, so you felt that you had to leave her.”
I drop my head and stare at the carpet as a piece of my puzzle falls into place . . . the world begins to spin . . . is she right?
“Why do you think you were so heartbroken breaking up with her? And yet you couldn’t take her back,” Mom says. “Could you?”
My eyes search hers.
“You are about to perhaps give up the chance to have your own children for a woman you think you need to fix. Those boys will never be yours, Tristan. They are hers and his.”
I begin to hear my heartbeat in my ears. “I love Claire, Mom.”
“I know you do, darling. There’s a lot to love.” She smiles softly and cups my face in her hand. “But before you go any further with her and her children, I need you to do something.”
“What?”
“You do this for me, and I will never ever bring this up again, and I’ll embrace Claire and her boys as if they are my own.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to go and see Mary.”
I clench my jaw. I don’t think I can. It hurts me just to think of her.
“After seeing her, if you can honestly tell me that you don’t have any feelings for Mary and what I am saying isn’t right, you have my blessing with Claire.”
“Mary’s probably married by now, Mom.” I sigh.
“She’s still in love with you, Tristan. She never got over you.”
My chest tightens, and I frown in pain.
“I speak to her often.” She hands me a card with her name and address. “She’s expecting your call today.”
Claire
I read the text and frown. That’s weird.
Hi babe,
Something has come up tonight.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
Love you
xoxox
He’s never texted me before about not seeing me. In fact, he’s never not seen me. From the day that Patrick asked him not to leave, he never has.
Uneasiness fills me. I spoke to him this morning in his limo, and he was going postal about Muff—no mention of anything going on tonight, though. I frown and text back.
Okay, have a good night.
Love you,
xoxox
It’s late, ten o’clock, and I stare at my phone as I sit at the kitchen counter.
Tristan hasn’t called me to say good night. Something feels off, but I