Page 27 of Marrying Bonnie

The woman stared daggers at Bonnie. “I’m Mrs. Leslie Echolls, and Jace is my son. I expect you to let me in this instant.”

Bonnie’s mind raced. She could see the similarity between this woman and both Jace and Noel–especially in the eyes. If Bonnie turned Mrs. Echolls away, would Jace be upset?

“Why don’t you come in, Mrs. Echolls.” Bonnie stepped to the side. “If you’ll have a seat in the living room, I’ll let Jace know you’re here. Would you like some iced tea?”

Mrs. Echolls lifted her chin and straightened her spine. Everything about her oozed confidence and determination. “I’m not here to speak with Jace. I thought I might have a word with you.” She turned and raised a well-manicured eyebrow. “I’d appreciate it if you’d allow us to have our conversation first before letting my son know I’m here.”

Bonnie wasn’t at all comfortable with this. But until she had an idea of what it was Mrs. Echolls wanted to talk about, there wasn’t any harm in waiting things out. At least for a few minutes. She could always text Jace anytime.

“Sure. Give me a moment, please.” She waited long enough to wait for Mrs. Echolls to sit down before going back into the kitchen. She put the cookie dough in the fridge, turned off the stove, and led Gunner into the living room.

She wasn’t sure what she expected from Mrs. Echolls when it came to seeing her grandson, but indifference with a tinge of disdain wasn’t it.

There was no real interest from Gunner, either. The little boy was starting to look sleepy. She picked him up and settled in the recliner where she slowly rocked it back and forth. “What did you want to see me about, Mrs. Echolls?”

The older woman’s gaze stalled on Gunner. “Shouldn’t you put him down for a nap or something?”

Bonnie had to physically bite her tongue to keep from saying something she shouldn’t. What kind of grandparent didn’t want anything to do with her grandchild?

She hugged Gunner close, willing him to feel the love she had for him. “It’s not quite his naptime yet. In fact, we were about to make some cookies. Weren’t we, buddy?”

Gunner nodded enthusiastically. “Cookies!” As though he sensed the unease in the room, he tucked his head into Bonnie’s shoulder and remained on her lap.

“Very well.” Mrs. Echolls straightened her blouse and primly crossed her legs. “I want you to convince Jace that his son would be better off back in Clearwater. He needs to sell this ranch and go back to working for his father’s company. Walking away from his position and the money it entailed was foolhardy. He could be providing more than this,” she waved her arms around, “for his son.” With that, she folded her hands on her lap and leveled Bonnie with a stare full of judgment.

Bonnie waited, half expecting her to say something else or even insinuate that she was joking. Bonnie didn’t know much about Jace’s financial status. What she did know was how much he loved his son, and that no one had a right to question that. Jace had been more relaxed after moving than she’d ever known him to be.

“Jace feels that this is the right place to raise Gunner. Neither of us can make that decision as well as Jace can.”

Mrs. Echolls eyes flashed. “Do you have children?”

Bonnie clenched her jaw. “No, ma’am, I don’t.”

“Then you cannot pretend to know what it’s like to raise one. My son should not be toiling away on a ranch when he could be next in line to run our family’s company.” She brushed at something invisible on her dress, clearly agitated. “He should enroll the child in boarding school and be done with it. Not hide him away in the country with a half-wit of a nanny because of some misplaced sense of obligation. Jace is ruining his life, and by working for him, you are enabling that.”

Bonnie stared at Mrs. Echolls in disbelief. “A boarding school for a toddler? I didn’t even realize there was such a thing.” How dumb did the woman think Bonnie was? She looked down at the little boy in her arms. Bonnie was thankful he’d fallen asleep, completely unaware of the poisonous words being spewed around him.

Looking at his sweet, innocent face, however, was all she needed to strengthen her resolve. This might not be her house, but she was in charge of Gunner. It was her responsibility to ensure his emotional and physical well-being. Right now, that meant not allowing a clearly hateful individual to have an influence on him.

She scooped Gunner into her arms as she stood. “Mrs. Echolls, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave the house now. I have heard enough. I’ll thank you to call ahead next time you come. That way Jace will be here to greet you, and I can have refreshments ready.”

Bonnie was proud of herself for not saying what was on her mind, even if the tone of her voice didn’t quite match the congeniality of her words.

Mrs. Echolls face turned red and she pinched her lips together as though ready to argue. Instead, she stood, rod straight, and made her way to the front door.

Once there, she whirled back around. “If you truly care about the well-being of that child, you’ll encourage Jace to move back into town and go back to working with his father.”

Mrs. Echolls was halfway to her car when Jace’s truck stopped in the driveway. He got out and strode toward his mom, his expression blank.

As they spoke, Bonnie imagined how Mrs. Echolls was telling him about Bonnie being inhospitable and throwing her out of the house.

Bonnie tried to be polite. But throw Mrs. Echolls out of Jace’s house? Yeah, she’d done that. Ugh, she should’ve just gone with her initial instinct and texted him to let him know his mother was here. At least then a lot of the pressure would’ve been off of Bonnie.

Jace’s gaze strayed from his mother to the front door where he clearly saw her watching them.

Bonnie wished she could tell what they were talking about.

One thing was certain: Jace could be as angry at her as he wanted to be, but if she had to handle it all over again, Bonnie would do nothing differently.

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