“She said that, since I wasn’t a parent, I wasn’t fit to care for Gunner. That I was a half-wit who was only enabling your choice to stay out here.”
Jace clenched his jaw as he drew in a breath and let it back out again.
Bonnie crossed her arms in front of her. Her beautiful brown eyes swirled with a combination of determination and uncertainty. “I don’t understand why she felt the need to speak with me instead of coming to you directly. I wish I’d let you know immediately that she’d stopped by, but like I said earlier, I won’t apologize for asking her to leave.”
She clearly expected him to disagree with how she’d handled the situation. Nothing could be further from the truth. “Bonnie?” She watched him expectantly. “Thank you.”
She blinked at him as though she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What?”
“Thank you. For not letting her bully you. For kicking her out of my house. And especially for standing up for my son.” He smiled as she released a lungful of air and let her hands fall to her sides.
“Then you’re not going to fire me.”
“Are you kidding? I’m inclined to give you a raise.” The wayward strands of hair caught his eye. Withouta second thought, he reached out and tucked them behind her ear. “For the record, your care of Gunner has proven that you would be an infinitely better mother to your own children than mine ever was to Noel and me.” He let his hand linger near her ear for far longer than he should have.
Only now did he realize just how close they were standing to each other. He caught a hint of her fruity shampoo and forced himself to take a step back.
For the first time, Bonnie’s eyes got misty as she blinked away the tears. “Thank you,” she said, her voice just above a whisper. She shook her head. “I don’t know how anyone can treat their grandson like that. She never even told Gunner hello.” Her voice caught. “To insinuate he was a burden…”
Jace had made it a point not to tell Bonnie about the past. He stood by that decision–-until now. If Mother was going to pull Bonnie into the family’s mess, Bonnie deserved to know what would inevitably be dredged up. It was better she hear it from him…
Chapter Ten
Bonnie accepted the bottle of soda Jace handed her and followed him to the porch swing outside. He set the baby monitor down on the rail and took a seat, motioning for Bonnie to join him.
The swing shifted beneath her as she got settled. She twisted the cap off her cola and took a sip, the bubbles tickling her throat on the way down.
How was she supposed to wrap her head around what happened? One minute she was throwing Mrs. Echolls out of the house and the next she was sure Jace was going to fire her.
What she hadn’t expected was for him to thank her for what she did. And the way he tucked her hair behind her ear… It’d been tender. Thoughtful. Was he simply relieved that she hadn’t sided with his mother, or could Noel at least be partially right?
Her throat suddenly dry, Bonnie took another big swallow of her soda.
In the time she’d worked for Jace, she’d had a lot of questions about his past, Gunner’s mom, and a million other things. Noel had helped with some of it, but Mrs. Echolls visit brought up even more. Normally, she’d keep them to herself because it wasn’t her business.
But now…Well, now Mrs. Echolls had brought her into the midst of it. Bonnie had the right to ask a few questions even though she wasn’t sure Jace was going to answer.
She cleared her throat and clutched her soda bottle with both hands. “Jace? Why does your mother consider Gunner a burden?”
Jace released a heavy sigh and leaned back against the swing. “My wife and I knew each other for a while, but really only dated a few months before we got married. Samantha was in a financial crisis, and my parents didn’t approve of her.” He paused and stared at the bottle in his hand. “Even after we were married, my parents were nothing but rude. They never accepted her. They accused her of wanting to marry me with the goal of leaving at some point with half of my money. They insisted she had no interest in me personally, and that I needed to protect the family fortune. I’m sad to say the fact that they were so against her was a big incentive for me.”
After today, it wasn’t hard for Bonnie to imagine Jace pushing the boundaries his parents might have laid out for him.
Jace continued. “Well, I’ll never tell this to my parents, but they were right about some things. Samantha and I barely knew each other, and that was only magnified later after we were married.” He paused and swallowed hard. “My parents always thought Samantha and I could get a divorce and go our separate ways at some point. And then Gunner came along. Instead of being happy about a grandchild, they saw it as a chain that would forever link me with Samantha.” He released a slow breath. “Noel mentioned she told you what happened to Samantha.” He waited for Bonnie to nod and then continued. “She didn’t have any family. After she died, my parents thought I should consider placing Gunner up for adoption and get my life back.”
“What?” Bonnie’s mind struggled to comprehend how anyone could suggest such a thing. Not only were they willing to give their grandchild away, but Jace had just lost his wife. “How could they…. Poor Gunner.” And poor Jace, too. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the storm of emotions he must have gone through. “I don’t understand how they could dismiss their own grandchild like that.”
“I don’t either. But you know, I’ve come to realize that, if they’re going to act like that, then I’d rather they weren’t around him.” He waved a hand toward the driveway. “You saw how my mother was with him. She thinks raising a son and being a single dad is going to ruin my life. I suppose that’s a good indication of how my parents feel about having children, huh?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
Several choice words went through Bonnie’s mind. How could two people like Jace’s parents be so horrible? Clearly they’d never gotten to know their own son, or they would see how much they had to be proud of.
Her eyes stung with unshed tears over the horrible injustice of it all.
“They don’t deserve Gunner.” That, she knew with all of her being. She raised her chin and waited until Jace was looking at her. “Your parents are fools. If they don’t look at you and lose count of the reasons why they should be proud you are their son, then they don’t deserve you, either. Don’t ever doubt what you’re doing. You’re an amazing dad.”
She started to reach out and touch his forearm but halted the movement. He glanced at her hand and then at her face, letting her know that he’d noticed.
Bonnie shifted her weight to lean into the corner of the porch swing a little further away from Jace. She struggled to refocus their conversation. “So why is your mother against you living here at the ranch if she has nothing to do with Gunner anyway?”
