Page 13 of Marrying Bonnie

Before he could get the ball machine started, Bonnie raised her voice. “If he’s not, what? I should break up with him?”

Wyatt lowered the bat again. “I know better than to tell you what to do. All I’m saying is that, if it’s not Lew, you’re not going to meet the right guy as long as it looks like you’re already taken.” With that, he hit an incoming ball, the sound punctuating what he’d just told her.

Bonnie had never thought about it that way. Wyatt was right, of course. But admitting that and doing something about it was a whole different thing. She’d always imagined getting married and having a family of her own. You know, a normal family, not like the kind she grew up in. The last few years, though, it’d begun to seem more like a dream than an attainable goal. Maybe going out with Lew had given her the illusion that things could work out between them.

She released a heavy sigh. She was only up to one big life decision at a time, and right now, figuring out what to do with her job had to happen first. She’d deal with Lew after that.

Chapter Five

“There’s no going back now.” Bonnie’s eyes roamed over her new apartment. She’d opted to use the furnishings already there and rented a small storage building to house the few pieces of furniture she owned that were worth keeping. Since she no longer had to pay rent, the storage unit was a no-brainer. Wyatt had helped her move everything a couple of days ago.

Now it was Saturday, she was pretty much moved into her new place, and she was alone. She’d hoped Wyatt and Chrissy might stay and have dinner with her, but Chrissy hadn’t been feeling well all day. As soon as Wyatt moved the last box upstairs, he’d left to go help his wife. Bonnie could hardly blame either of them.

Okay, she wasn’t completely alone.

She smiled at her guinea pig, Oreo, who remained oblivious of her new surroundings. Of course, her change was minimal since her large cage moved along with her. Lucky guinea pig.

Oreo stuck her black and white head out from the house she was resting in. Bonnie was glad it’d been easy for one of them. She walked to the window in the living room that looked out over the property behind the main house. Was it weird to feel completely at home already? She let one shoulder rest against the frame of the window.

She’d tried to talk to Lew in person over the last week and a half, but his schedule had not allowed for time. Or, as Bonnie suspected, he was avoiding her. Either way, it meant she was forced to let him know about her job change over the phone.

He’d said little, but his voice had been cool. He assured her he’d call her this coming week and they’d get together for dinner, then excused himself and hung up.

Contemplating a change of residence had been way easier than examining her relationship with Lew. Nothing like feeling trapped. Maybe Wyatt was right, and she should break it off. It wasn’t like they saw each other much anymore anyway. And Lew had never been supportive of her choice to work as a nanny. He hadn’t even offered to help her with the move, not that she’d expected him to.

Jace, on the other hand, had been thorough. Even though he hadn’t helped her move, he’d made sure she had all of the keys she needed on Friday, including one for the garage, another for her place, and yet one more for the main house.

Bonnie had to add an additional keyring just to hold them all. She wondered how many times she’d fumble with them before she figured out which one belonged where.

She went to one of the windows in the living area and looked out toward the house. She hadn’t seen any sign of Jace or Gunner all day. She had, however, received an invitation from Jace to join them for dinner in an hour. To say Bonnie was nervous was an understatement.

If she were a betting person, she’d guess it was Noel’s influence that led to Jace asking her to come over. This was a major blur of lines, something she doubted Jace would have decided on himself.

Noel may be just as curious about Bonnie as she was about her boss’s sister.

She pushed away from the window. There was plenty to do to keep herself busy between now and then. She finished putting a few things away before getting a shower and then blow-drying her hair.

By then, it was time to go. Bonnie grabbed her bag and headed out of the door.

It was a short walk along the path to the main house, but it was long enough to assess her doubts about this dinner. She was looking forward to finally meeting Noel. But if they didn’t get along, dinner would be awkward, much less living on the property in general.

Bonnie pressed the doorbell, the resulting trill of chimes filtering through the door.

Footsteps followed soon after, and the door opened. A woman smiled brightly at her and ushered her in.

There was no denying this was Jace’s sister. They both had the same color hair and eyes. Noel’s hair, however, hung nearly to her waist, and her features were much more delicate.

“You must be Bonnie! I’m Noel, it’s wonderful to meet you. Come on in. Once we told Gunner you were coming, he got so excited.”

As if on cue, the little boy ran into the room and nearly threw himself at Bonnie’s legs. She loved that, even though she’d cared for the boy all week, he was still pleased to see her.

Bonnie crouched down to give Gunner a hug. “Hey, buddy! I get to eat dinner with you tonight. Is that going to be fun?”

Gunner nodded emphatically, grabbed her hand, and started tugging her toward the kitchen.

Bonnie laughed as she struggled to stand before he pulled her off balance. “Okay, I’m coming.” She glanced at Noel. “He never runs out of energy, does he?”

Noel grinned and ruffled her nephew’s hair. “Never.”

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