When the call ended, Teddy pushed a small amount of icing around his plate.
“I didn’t mean to make two dinners.”
“You didn’t,” Sebastian said.
“Does she need twenty too?”
The question was almost casual.
That made it worse.
“No,” Sebastian answered. “Nobody has to earn a place at your birthday.”
Rose reached for the cake knife.
“How big a piece should we save her?”
Teddy held his fingers apart.
Then widened them.
“That big.”
They cut it exactly as he asked.
While Rose helped Teddy wash the icing from his hands, Sebastian stepped into the study.
Lavinia stood beside the fireplace.
“I hope you’re pleased with the performance.”
He closed the door without locking it.
“What happened this afternoon?”
She laughed once.
“You mean before you decided to humiliate me?”
“I’m asking about my son.”
“He was rude.”
“What did he do?”
“He challenged everything. The guests. The menu. The gifts.”
“What did he say?”
She looked away.
Sebastian waited.
Finally, she answered.
“He asked why the driver’s daughter couldn’t come.”
Sebastian frowned.
“Nell?”
“Yes.”
“She’s his friend.”
“This was a formal dinner.”
“For his eighth birthday.”
“It was also an opportunity to bring people together.”
“Which people?”
Lavinia’s expression tightened.
He thought about the table.
Frederick.
Two donors to the family’s charitable foundation.
A property developer.
A couple Sebastian barely knew.
No children.
Not one.
“What happened to his school friends?”
“We agreed on something more appropriate.”
“No. You told me Teddy wanted a dinner at home.”
“And you said I could handle it.”
