Harlequin Special Edition October 2015, Box Set 1 of 2 by Christine Rimmer Page A

that a good daughter could be counted on to keep in contact with the ones she loved.
    But as soon as her mother asked her what she’d been up to in the past two weeks, Chloe would be confronted with the question of how much to say.
    Ha. As if there was a choice. Monique Hightower was spreading the news about her and Quinn far and wide. One way or another, it wouldn’t be long before her mother got an earful. And it would probably be better if her mother heard it from Chloe.
    Better
being a relative term, knowing her mother.
    Chloe picked up the phone.
    And then set it back down again.
    Her hand was shaking slightly, and that made her mad.
    Why should she live in fear of her own mother? She’d faced Nell Bravo right down and told her that Linda Winchester did not run her life. She’d told Quinn the same thing. She needed to live by her own words.
    Chloe turned the ringer off on the kitchen and bedroom phones and turned the volume on the message machine all the way down. Then she switched the sound off on her cell, as well. She’d check to see who’d called her at
her
convenience, thank you very much.
    And she would get in touch with her mother later, after she’d had a little time to decide exactly what she wanted to say to her.
    * * *
    The evening went by—a goodly portion of it spent joyfully in Quinn’s strong arms. After he left, she had trouble falling asleep. She couldn’t stop stewing over what to tell her mom.
    Somehow, in the morning, she slept through her alarm. That left her rushing to get ready and out the door in time to get the showroom opened by nine.
    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.”
    â€œBut how am I supposed to get hold of you if you won’t answer your—?”
    â€œMom, I have another call,” she outright lied. “I’ll call you this evening, I promise.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œGotta 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,