Page 74 of Guarding My Love

Which he knew would be the next question.

“No clue. I’m not flying to North Carolina with her and you don’t need to come up here.”

“I might need to help Lily with wedding plans,” his mother said. “It’s only a few months away.”

“Lily has it covered,” he said.

“I know,” his mother said. “She’s keeping me in the loop, but she and Quinn are doing most of it. It will be different than West’s.”

“Braylon isn’t as well known and doesn’t care as West does.” Though he wasn’t thrilled about the wedding being in Manhattan, he’d suck it up for the day. And he’d have Charlotte with him too.

“No,” his mother said. “And we’ll get to see our family once again. Then Laken’s wedding in the spring. Maybe you’ll be next. Though I’m pretty sure Phoenix is going to be putting a ring on Crystal’s hand soon. You know, with the baby and all.”

“There you go,” he said. “You’ll get your fill of weddings and stay off my back about those things. And now that I told you what I needed to.”

“Don’t you dare hang up on me just yet,” his mother said. “How do you feel about this ex who is trying to get Charlotte back?”

He should have known his mother wouldn’t let that drop.

“How do you think I feel about it?” he asked.

He still wanted to pay the asshole a visit but decided to hold off. It sounded as if Charlotte handled it well and she had been keeping him informed when Landon had reached out.

Maybe after seeing the changes she’d made, Landon wouldn’t be interested anyway.

“I’ll take care of anything I need to,” he said. “That is how I feel about it.”

“Good. Your father would be proud. You know, you sound just like Mitchell. It’s so funny that we named you after him and never realized how you were so much alike.”

“You knew him?” he asked of his father’s friend.

“I knew of him. I met him a few times, but nothing more than that. Your father always said Mitchell was a hothead. If you pissed him off, you better run. But once he cooled down, there wasn’t anyone more reasonable.”

“I’m not sure I fall intothatcategory,” he said.

“Don’t kid yourself, Foster. You’ve been like that your whole life. You blow up, it runs cold, then you are fine. The older you get, you learn to stop it before it blows, then you’re ready to hear reason. It’s what makes you such a great man.”

He was humbled his mother was saying this to him. “Did you just compliment me?”

“I did,” his mother said. “Don’t get used to it. I won’t do it again until I meet your girlfriend. Or at least until some of your siblings do and then I’ll get their take on her.”

“I’d rather you formed your own opinion,” he said.

“Then fly her here,” his mother said.

He walked right into that.

25

ALL ABOUT BEING HAPPY

“You don’t normally come to the office on a Friday,” Eva said to her two weeks later.

“No,” she said. “But a meeting was scheduled and I need to be here.”

Charlotte could have taken it via zoom, but when Foster said he had to come into the City to do something at the corporate headquarters, they decided to come together and then stay the night.

Since their relationship wasn’t a secret with anyone, he was taking her out to dinner and she was going to meet his siblings.

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