The other woman’s dark gaze sharpened, then her mouth eased into a relaxed smile. “Welcome.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Meredith was polite, but warm. Still Kerri couldn’t help but sense an underlying tension in the younger woman. Something in her gaze reminded Kerri of a vaguely dissatisfied cat. Kerri recalled how some of the Lloyds needed their share of the profits from the company to maintain the lifestyle they were accustomed to. They couldn’t be happy with the way the things at the company had turned out, especially since the financial problems had come to light on the heels of Jacob’s bigamy. The double whammy had to hurt. If it had happened in her family… Kerri shuddered. Barron would’ve had every executive at the company drawn and quartered.
Ethan gently took Kerri’s elbow and escorted her inside. The interior of the house was homey and inviting, the kind of place a person could return to for comfort, with overstuffed couches, rocking chairs and an ornate fireplace. A soft tune from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons floated from speakers embedded in the high ceiling, and people were gathered in clusters, their conversations and laughter providing a constant background. A group of four or five crouching and roasting s’mores at the fireplace made Kerri smile wistfully. She missed sugar, but more than that, she wished she had a good excuse to join them. A couple of kids were seated side-by-side at a baby grand piano in the corner, picking their way through a duet.
Kerri’s chest ached at the obvious affection and love among the Lloyds. Her family had been always so quiet, so grim. People rarely laughed, much less smiled. People sat and muttered a word or two, their lips thin. The gatherings usually ended when an hour or so of funereal somberness became too unbearable for Barron.
Ethan steered Kerri toward a stately woman whose dark eyes glittered with an inner fire. Confidence radiated from her erect posture. She hadn’t bothered with a dye job to hide the gray in her black hair. A burgundy silk dress looked royal on her petite frame, and she appeared timeless with her luminous skin.
“Mom, you look fantastic.” He kissed her cheeks.
“Thank you, dear. So do you.” She then looked at Kerri. “And who is this?”
“My date.” He made the introductions.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Kerri said.
“Call me Stella,” Ethan’s mother said. “‘Ma’am’ makes me look around for my own mother.”
Kerri smiled. “What a beautiful name.”
“Thanks, dear.”
A young boy grabbed Ethan’s attention, and the two went off to the living room. Stella watched them then lowered her voice, so only Kerri could hear. “So how long have you been with my son?”
“A few weeks.” Then with a start, she realized it was more than that. “A little over two months, actually.”
“He must like you quite a bit to bring you here. I don’t allow casual dates at my party. It’s a family event.”
Kerri’s skin prickled. “I’m sorry if I’m intruding.”
“Oh, don’t misunderstand. I’m glad he brought you.”
It was probably the kind of thing a girl would want to hear from the mother of the man she was sleeping with. But it only served to make Kerri’s shoulders tense. She didn’t want Stella to get the wrong impression about her relationship with Ethan, that there was any chance of permanency between them.
Good lord, she should’ve asked Ethan to drop her off at a theater or something instead of coming to the party, if it was going to make everyone think they were dating seriously. She felt like a fraud.
She took a deep breath as another arrival and greeting cut her conversation with Ethan’s mother short. Stella was like a queen, holding court, and every Lloyd seemed to adore and respect her. And why not? The woman was so gracious, it was difficult not to like her. But she wasn’t all moneyed and perfumed softness either. There was an edge to her gaze that said she could and would do what was necessary to protect those who mattered to her.
Would she feel that need if she found out about Kerri’s family?
“Relax,” Ethan whispered from behind Kerri, startling her. “She likes you.”
She lowered her voice. “Does she know I shouldn’t even be here?”
“What are you talking about?”
“She said she doesn’t allow casual dates at her parties.”
Ethan took a beat too long to respond. “She doesn’t need to know every detail of my personal relationships.”
“Still. I like your mother, and I don’t like deceiving her. Does she know about my job at TLD?”
“In fact, she does,” he said. “She probably heard within an hour of the Houston meeting. There’s nothing she doesn’t know about in the family. Makes the CIA look like amateurs.”
Kerri shuddered. His mother would figure out exactly what kind of relationship she and Ethan had, and it would most likely irritate her, especially given the fact that Kerri hadn’t corrected her assumptions. But what could she have said?