Mother, Please! Read Free Page A

He’d been trying so hard to prove he’d moved on after his mother’s death—when he quit racing—that it had taken him several months to realize it wasn’t working. The media and the rest of the world seemed fooled, but he’d never felt more out of touch with the self-respect that really mattered to him. So, he’d recently thrown himself into business. And now he did nothing but work.
    “I’m sure one chain of auto-parts stores is as good as another to you,” she said. “Why don’t you start your own? Gunner Stevens Automotive has a nice ring to it. You’ve already got the name recognition to pull it off.”
    “Are you drumming up competition for your father?”
    “Trying to protect him from doing something he’s bound to regret.”
    “Why would I want to start from scratch when your father’s put his company on the block?”
    “I can’t see my father selling Ashton Automotive,” she said. “He’s just going through a difficult time. It won’t last long enough for him to complete the sale.”
    Gunner opened his mouth to argue, to tell her that he and Walt had been discussing terms. But the music was ending and a slender hand with rings on almost every finger clasped April’s shoulder just as he let her go.
    It was the older woman April had been watching so intently, minus her young lover. “There you are,” she said. “I’ve been looking all over for you. The dance floor was the last place I thought to check.” She glanced Gunner’s way, then her mouth dropped open. “But now I see why you’re here.Isn’t this Gunner Stevens? The race-car driver, Gunner Stevens?”
    April pushed her glasses closer to her face, giving Gunner the impression she tended to hide behind them. “Yes.”
    “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
    The muscular young man approached with two glasses of champagne, and April winced visibly at the sight of him.
    “Rod, dear, we’re about to be introduced to Gunner Stevens,” the woman said excitedly. “You know who he is, don’t you?”
    “I do.” Rod looked impressed, but April looked as though she wanted to die.
    “Mr. Stevens.” April’s tone grew formal again. “Please meet my mother, Claire Ashton—” she cleared her throat “—and her, um, date.”
    Gunner’s jaw dropped. This was her mother? From what Walt had told him, Gunner had gotten a completely different idea of Claire Ashton. He’d certainly never expected to find her at the same party as Walt and Regina. It was his understanding that the divorce wasn’t going well. But now that he could see Claire’s face more clearly, he saw the resemblance between her and April. Although April’s hair was darker, nearly coffee-colored, she definitely favored her mother more than her father. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said.
    “Likewise.” Claire beamed. “What brings someone like you to our little party?”
    He couldn’t exactly say that Walt was trying to sell off the company, so he kept his answer vague. “Walt and I met through some business dealings. He invited me.”
    “Dad’s thinking of selling Ashton Automotive to Gunner,” April said, instantly giving him away.
    Gunner frowned. So much for winning her over.
    Claire brought a hand to her chest as shock, hurt, then anger passed over her face. “Why? So he can spend more time with that…that incense-burning floozy? I begged him for years to take life easier, to let us go away on our own sometimes, to come home for dinner at night, to simply relax a little and be a husband and father. Would he do it? No! That business was too damned important to him. Now, after all the years I shared him with his beloved company, he’s going to sell, just like that?” She snapped her fingers.
    Gunner sent April a dark look, thanking her for putting him in such an awkward position, and she smiled in a self-satisfied way. “I tried to tell Gunner he was probably wasting his time here. Dad doesn’t have the right to sell the business