The Billionaire's Temporary Bride (Scandal, Inc #3)(58)

Charlotte looked across the table at her mother, who was watching the whole scene with a stoic smile. Charlotte figured Ellen was probably calculating the tab for the whole day in her head — custom dresses, expensive champagne, the inevitably overpriced meals. The Coburns were using the day as an pretext for indulging themselves, and Emily was going right along with them. Charlotte caught her mother's glance for a moment, then gave a smile and a small shoulder shrug.

This wasn't their world. It never would be. What made Jack so special was the fact that he never made her feel like some outsider getting a taste of the good life. He almost seemed as embarrassed by wealth as Charlotte was. She wished she could explain that to her mother. She wished she could explain that to anyone, really.

The rest of the meal went the same way. As Caroline and Emily ordered an extensive sampling of the menu's richer plates, Charlotte went with the least expensive thing she could find.

"Don't worry about it," Emily said. "Just let Jack's family pick up the tab. It's nothing to them. I guess it's nothing to you now too, sis. Maybe I'll get a dessert."

When the check did arrive, Jack's mother tried to pay, but Charlotte's mother wouldn't have any of it. She even denied an offer from Callie to cover the bill. It was a matter of personal pride. Ellen Crowley wasn't going to be their charity case.

Charlotte knew exactly how she felt, but she wondered if her mother would care so much if she knew the truth about the marriage. Probably. It wasn't just about being seen as an equal, it was about more than that. It was about self-reliance. If she was going to bring her daughters out to an expensive lunch, she was going to pay for it herself.

Charlotte had driven herself into debt doing that for Callie's wedding, and she wasn't about to let her own mother do the same thing. Charlotte had only agreed to the whole marriage idea because she thought it would help everyone involved. Instead, it seemed to be hurting the people she loved the most: her parents.

Ellen, for her part, showed no visible signs of distress. She waved Angela off and searched through her wallet for a credit card. Charlotte wondered if her mother was worried about the lunch being too expensive to cover on just one account, but she placed the card down, wrote in the tip and handed it back to the waiter.

"Where to now?" she asked Charlotte.

"I think that's enough excitement for one day," Charlotte said.

"We're going to go shopping," Caroline said. "My mother and I know this lovely little place."

"Let's do it next time," Charlotte said. "I might just walk home and rest for a bit."

Callie leaned in so the Coburns didn't hear her. "I'll make sure they don't burn the city down."

Charlotte nodded. "Mom, do you want to see our place?" she asked.

"That would be lovely," her mother said.

Jack's family was as liberal with their hugs and goodbyes and promises of more shopping and dining before they headed out of town the next day as they had been at the restaurant. Callie blew her bangs out of her face as she left with them, knowing exactly what she was getting into by taking them off of Charlotte's hands.

"Mom, please let Jack and I pay you back for lunch," Charlotte blurted out when she was finally alone with her mother. "A dress is one thing, but paying that much for lunch… I wanted to ring their necks for doing that."

"Charlotte, these people are family now, and we'll have to learn to live alongside them as much as possible. Consider this my way of telling them that we won't be intimidated by money and that I support you in whatever decisions you make."

"It's an intimidating amount of money."

"Your father and I put you and your sister through college, and that didn't even come with a meal. Just promise me that you won't get too swept up in all of it."

"Of course I won't," Charlotte said.

"That fiancé of yours doesn't know how lucky he is," Ellen said. "A lot of women would look at a man like him and see a cash register."

"I'll let him know you think so," Charlotte said. "You know he's not like that, right? He's embarrassed by money, almost as much as I am."

"You're lucky too," her mother added. "He pushes you outside your comfort zone. You need that. You've always needed that. It's how you grow."

"I'd say fifteen hundred dollar lunches will always be outside my comfort zone."

"Mine too," Ellen said, gritting her teeth as she smiled. Charlotte knew exactly how she felt.

"Well, walks are free," Charlotte said.

"All the best things are," her mother said, wrapping her arm around Charlotte's shoulders. "Of course, that doesn't mean they don't take a little effort too."





***

Jack paused in the doorway and took a deep breath of the cool night air. He wanted to take a minute to relax himself. Charlotte would be inside. She'd be waiting in the kitchen or watching TV in the living room. She'd be happy to see him, and he didn't want to bring any negative energy into the house.

He had just gotten back from driving his mother and sister to their jet. He looked up at the night sky. They were probably half way to Massachusetts by now. In half an hour, they'd be home, and he'd be left to clean up whatever mess they had caused with Charlotte during the day. They hadn't understood why he insisted on driving them instead of letting a driver do it. They never considered the fact that he just wanted to help them himself as a thank you for helping Charlotte arrange wedding details. They figured that Jack must have had an agenda, because they always did.