“Noah. Oh my goodness, I’m so happy to finally meet you.”
I’d never seen someone so small move so fast, and before I knew it, I was wrapped in her petite arms.
She smelled like flowers and rain showers. It was different from my mom, who mostly smelled like baked goods, but her hug was just as warm.
“Um, nice to meet you, Mrs. Van Stern.”
She had the same dark eyes as Lior, but her hair was now all white and in a tidy short haircut, which gave her a very distinguished look.
“Please call me Mathilda. I guess since I didn’t know about you until last week, it’s probably a little too early to ask you to call me Mom.”
I smiled, unsure of how to reply.
“Mom!” Lior warned.
“What? You can’t expect me to not say anything, Lior.”
“We’ve talked about this already.”
She went back to her seat at the table. I was still unsure of what to do, but Lior, as put together as always, came over to me, placed a kiss on my cheek, and said, “You look amazing tonight, my dear. Ignore her. She’s just jealous I got you all to myself first.” The second part was definitely loud enough for his mom to hear.
We sat at the table next to each other. Lior put a protective arm over the back of my chair. There were three cups of steaming coffee on the table already. While it was probably unwise to have caffeine when I was already on edge, I still drank the coffee to occupy my hands and mouth.
“Noah, Lior said you run the PR agency working with him and the museum.”
“Yes, I own it with my brothers. It’s a privilege to support the museum. I haven’t visited yet, but my brother spoke highly of it.”
She turned to Lior.
“You haven’t given your husband a private tour of the museum?”
I bit my lip. She looked more upset over that than the fact we got married in secret.
Lior let out an amused sigh. “I thought you came over to help us, not to play the role of evil mother-in-law. It doesn’t suit you.”
She rolled her eyes at him and sipped her coffee. “Right, let’s talk business.”
I glanced at Lior. He winked and nodded toward his mom.
“What kind of business?” I asked.
“The business you’re doing tonight, my dear. Okay, listen carefully. Cara and John McMartin will be your allies. They adopted their three children—gosh, they’re adults now—from the foster care system. Back in the day, in the social circles, that was seen as shameful.”
She frowned. “Imagine taking three siblings from the foster care system to give them all the love they need and to make sure they stayed together, and then get shamed for it because you didn’t push them out of your… Anyway, they’ve donated money to many charities throughout the years. I’m sure they would love to connect with your friends.”
“Thank you,” I said with a lump in my throat. “I’m so grateful for the information.”
“You’re welcome, dear. Also, word on the street is that Prince Kristoff of Lydovia and his husband, Prince Charlie, are also attending the ball because they’re in the country for a personal event. Their son was also adopted from the foster care systemin Lydovia and they haven’t hidden the fact they like to support charities in both countries.”
I snapped my head toward Lior. “A prince? Christ, I was already nervous. I’m not sure I can go now.”
“You will go, and you’re going to be amazing. I’ll be right there by your side, okay?”
Lior brought his hand to my cheek and caressed it gently. I became lost in his warm gaze, my belly doing little flips from nerves. I nodded.
“Awww.”
We both turned toward Lior’s mom, who was staring at us with heart-eyes.
