Page 130

Penny popped off her desk. “Just give me a minute. In the meantime, I’ll close your door to give you a bit of privacy.”

“Thanks,” Lainey said in a weak voice. As soon as the door was closed, she dropped her head down into her hands.

“Crap, Mom. Why are you doing this?”

She rubbed her temples, already feeling the start of a tension headache. She needed to stop with this. She no longer lived with her mother. Her mother couldn’t pull her strings, and she would not let her cause her physical pain.

Lainey jerked when the phone rang.

“Go time,” she muttered.

“Hello, Mother,” she said in a clipped tone of voice. “I’m working. Why are you calling me during my workday?”

“It’s an emergency,” her mother wailed. “I told that twit downstairs that I must speak to you immediately. I told her it was of utmost urgency.”

“Is someone sick? Is someone in the hospital?” They were the same questions she always asked when her mother said something was urgent.

“Of course not,” her mother sniffed. Once again, they were saying their same old tired lines. “If it was something like that, your brother Bartholomew would have called you. I would be at whoever’s bedside, ministering to them.”

Lainey rolled her eyes.

“So now that we’ve established this isn’t an emergency, tell me why you’re calling me during a workday.” She didn’t give a darn if her mother could hear the impatience in her tone.

“Bennett has decided that she needs to be on bedrest for the rest of her pregnancy.”

What the heck?

“I thought you said it wasn’t an emergency. What’s wrong with her? What did the doctor say?”

She might not like her sister much, but she loved her. Lainey calculated how much accrued vacation she had. She started up a search engine on her computer so she could check flights to Charleston.

“Her doctor said she was perfectly fine, but Bennett decided she needed to check into Charleston Place and Spa for the rest of her pregnancy. Daddy and I were able to get her a club suite for the duration.”

“What did you say?”

Lainey was appalled. That place cost an arm and a leg, not that her family couldn’t afford it, but still. “Bennett’s not due for another four months, Mom. What about the girls? Are they going with her?”

“Of course not. They’ll stay with the nanny.”

“But they’re only four and six, Bennett can’t leave them for so long.”

“It’s okay, they’ll visit her. The nanny will take care of them just fine. This will help them grow a backbone. That’s what she’s paid for. Francine did quite well for you children.”

Lainey shuddered just hearing Francine’s name. “But I thought Bennett fired the girl’s nanny.”

“That was two months ago. They found a darling girl last month. The girls love her. She’s from France. She just graduated from the Sorbonne. Bennett was lucky to get her.”

“Wonderful. So, Bennett is basically abdicating all responsibility for four months.”

Trey had always had a wandering eye. He’d even made a pass at her once. Bennett was going to leave him with some darling Parisian girl for four months? Just how stupid was her sister?

“That is exactly my point. I need you to come home and take your place by my side. I can’t possibly run these charity events without one of my daughters by my side. The whole situation is untenable.”

Lainey snorted.

“MacLaine, you need to stop that disgusting habit. You’re never going to catch any man of worth when you make such ugly noises. I suppose you’re still biting your bottom lip?”

“Yes, I am.”