Octavia managed a polite smile, instantly catching on to Mrs. Clark's real agenda.
Leilani's son was hardly what anyone would call handsome, and yet she had the nerve to imagine Claire as her daughter-in-law. Mrs. Clark certainly didn't lack for ambition. Still, with a temper like Claire's, Octavia thought it wouldn't be the worst thing if she took her rebellious energy to someone else's household for a change.
The problem was, Claire was famously headstrong. She set her sights outrageously high-there was simply no way she'd ever settle for the Clark boy.
Octavia mulled things over, then offered a practiced, easy laugh. “At the moment, Claire's completely focused on her studies. Since the engagement to the Byrons was called off, she's living her life on her own terms."
"It's different with young people now," she went on. "They're nothing like we were. Back in our day, we did as our parents said without question, but now they all want to make their own choices in love."
"To be honest, Claire is still dear to me, but things have been... tense, ever since Cindy entered the picture."
She sighed, then leaned in a little, voice dropping to a more confiding tone. “Leilani, I don't know if you can imagine what it's like to find out, all of a sudden, that the daughter you've poured your heart into for eighteen years... isn't your own blood."
"And when I learned my real daughter had been struggling all that time in the countryside, I just—well, my emotions got the better of me, and I ended up unfairly resenting Claire for things that weren't her fault."
"But I do love her. She's still the child we raised."
Leilani nodded, sympathetic. "Of course. Anyone would feel the same. I doubt I'd have handled it much better, to be honest."
"But given your family's resources, it's not as if having one more daughter to care for will make a dent."
Even if Octavia's anger was understandable, sending Claire right out of the house was rather extreme.
Her own husband had remarked just last week how clumsily the Jameses had handled the whole thing-how disgraceful and shortsighted it looked to everyone else.
As usual, Octavia lacked vision.
"We never said we'd abandon Claire," Octavia said, her expression earnest. "We just thought it best for both girls to return to their birth families for a while, to help ease the transition."
"Claire has some misunderstandings about us, that's all. Latham and I want her to come home. But we also have to think of Cindy."
"Cindy's very sensitive. She's still getting used to living with us, and I worry that having Claire here on top of everything would just unsettle her further.”
"My thought was to let Claire spend some time with her grandmother, show her grandmother some respect and care, while giving Cindy some space to adjust to her new family."
“In another year or two, once both girls are comfortable, we'll bring Claire home again."
"We truly do see her as our own daughter. When she gets married, we'll make sure she has a proper wedding gift, just as we would for any child of ours."
Presented so earnestly, Octavia left Leilani with little room to argue.
"Well then, do you think Claire might join us for dinner sometime?" Leilani asked, pressing her luck. "My son's a few years older than her. If fate's on our side, maybe something will come of it and our id our families would
end up united."
FindNovel.net
For the sake of her son, Leilani was more than willing to help pull the James family out of their financial troubles. It was mutually beneficial; if Claire married into the Clark family, everyone stood to gain.
And didn't Octavia just say she'd prepare a generous wedding present
for Claire? But if the James het?
went under, who would pay for.
Claire's wedding then? Expect the grandmother in the country to come up with something? Hardly likely.
Leilani admired Claire as a person, but her background left something to be desired.
If, however, the Jameses chose to stand by their adopted daughter, that was a different story altogether.
“She's in a rebellious phase right now,” Octavia demurred, looking genuinely distressed. "I'm not sure I'll be able to convince her."
She'd understood Mrs. Clark's real request all too well-to get Mr. Clark's financial help, she'd have to play matchmaker between Claire and the Clark boy.
The problem was, Octavia herself couldn't stand the idea. She didn't think much of the Clark son-how could she expect Claire to feel any otherwise? If those two ended up together, everyone would say she was throwing herself away on a man like him.
It gave Octavia a bitter headache just thinking about it.
"You've raised her all these years. She's as good as your own," Leilani insisted, pushing just a bit farther. "I'm sure, in the end, she'll listen to her mother-children always do."
"Take my own son he was a terror a few years back, but now? He does anything I ask without complaint."