She could tell right away that the girl next to the man was gorgeous. Not just pretty, but kind of familiar too.
By the time the three people showed up at the entrance, Claire and Dane had already noticed them. In fact, Claire recognized one of them. Eaton. The guy she'd helped when he had that seizure.
Mabel walked over to Claire and Dane, heading straight for Dane with her question. "Hi, are you the owners of Hearth & Kettle?"
Dane looked at Claire but stayed silent.
Claire's tone was polite but cool. "Is there something we can help you with?"
"We were hoping we could come in and have a look around. Would that be alright?” Mabel replied. She found Dane a bit distant, but at least Claire was talking to her, so that was something.
Eaton's face lit up with recognition. "Wait, you're the one who helped me, aren't you?"
Claire nodded. "Hey, Eaton. Are you feeling better these days?"
Most people with epilepsy could be treated, but for some, the episodes just kept coming back. Eaton was clearly in that second group. He couldn't be cured, but he could at least manage it.
"Doing much better, Claire. I haven't even thanked you properly. My parents told me not to bother you before, so..." Eaton sounded genuinely grateful. Ever since his family told him Claire had saved his life, he'd started to take things more seriously. Even stopped messing around with all those girls he used to date.
"If you take care of yourself, you'll have fewer problems in the future." Claire reminded him gently.
Eaton nodded quickly. "Trust me, I know. I've been going to bed early, I don't drink at all anymore. I even go jogging with my grandpa in the mornings."
Claire raised her brows in surprise. "That's actually great to hear. You look a lot better than you did last time I saw you."
Was this really the same Eaton she used to know as a total party boy? Seemed like he'd really cleaned up his act.
Suddenly, another girl piped up. "You're Claire, right?" Valerie had recognized her. The Hamlet Family did business with the James Family, so they'd crossed paths at social events before.
Claire gave her a small smile. "Valerie, right?" She remembered Valerie because of that beauty mark she always drew between her eyebrows, even though it wasn't natural.
“I heard things ended badly between you and the James Family, and that you broke off your engagement with York. So, who's this?" Valerie glanced over at Dane, stealing not-so-subtle looks.
Dane was better-looking than York,
that was for sure. York was supposed to become the James family's son-in-law, but after he and Claire broke up, he moved on to Cindy so fast there was never even a chance for girls like Valerie. But the man standing here now was a
different story. Anyone who
owned
such a place on the West Side of town had to come from serious money.
Valerie's fishing for information couldn't have been more obvious.
"His name's Green. He's from Cabinda." Claire didn't bother saying any more than that.
Valerie couldn't help sizing Dane up. Cabinda, but with property like this in Apex? Maybe Apex was his real home. Either way, it looked like he was doing more than okay for himself.
"Claire, aren't you going to introduce us properly? Valerie's tone wasn't friendly anymore. Now that Claire wasn't the James Family's heiress, Valerie had dropped the façade completely. Her question sounded more like an order than a request.
Claire had no plans to entertain her. She just smiled and answered, “There's really nothing to introduce. We're not close like that.”
Valerie shut her mouth, clearly annoyed. Claire didn't even try to play nice. It should have been an honor just for Valerie to ask for an introduction, but Claire didn't seem to care at all.
Mabel chimed in before things could get awkward "Claire, I'm Eaton's cousin. My name's Mabel." She hadn't really interacted with Claire- before but if it meant a chance to get inside, she was happy too introduce herself.