Page 28 of Marrying Bonnie

To her relief, Mrs. Echolls got into her car and drove away. Moments later, Jace approached the front door and stepped inside. “I saw her car on the way by. It sounds like I was a little late to the party.”

There was no missing the tension in his tone.

Bonnie fully expected to be reprimanded for the way she handled the situation. But it wasn’t going to happen with Gunner in her arms.

“I was just about to put Gunner down for a nap.” She shifted his weight, amazed at how heavy a sleeping little boy could get.

“Here, I’ll take him for you.” Jace easily lifted Gunner into his arms. “I’ll be right back.”

Bonnie inhaled deeply as the lingering scent of Jace’s aftershave remained behind.

Well, no matter what Jace had to say, there was no way she was going to apologize for what she said to that hateful woman. She just hoped she still had a job when it was all said and done.

* * *

The moment Jacesaw his mother’s car parked in front of the house, all of the tension he’d left behind when he quit his job and moved to the ranch slammed into his chest. What made her think it was okay to just show up here? She hadn’t so much as spoken to him or Noel since they told her of their plans to keep the ranch.

Jace tried to call them once and had to leave a message. They never returned the call, and he’d taken his cue from them and didn’t mess with it again. ButNoel had tried multiple times to reach out, only to be ignored.

It’d been clear when he met Mother in the driveway that she hadn’t expected him, which only annoyed him further. Then seeing Bonnie standing in the door, Gunner in her arms, kicked his instincts to protect them into high gear.

Since Mother refused to tell him why she’d come, he’d feigned a polite demeanor and asked her to please call ahead next time so he could make sure he was home for the visit. It only seemed to annoy her as she got into her car and left.

Jace ascended the stairs, his sleeping son nestled against his chest, and wondered what all his mother might have said to Bonnie.

He remembered well the harsh words his mother had easily dished out to the people she employed. If she said anything inappropriate to Bonnie or Gunner…

He gently got Gunner settled in his bed. The moment the boy’s head touched his pillow, he released a deep sigh. Jace loved it when he sighed like that. Oh, to sleep the sleep of an innocent child.

He stayed several moments and prayed for his son before going back downstairs. He needed to talk to Bonnie and find out what his mother said to her.

Jace didn’t expect to find Bonnie waiting for him at the base of the stairs, her fists on her hips, and fire burning in her eyes. She didn’t give him a chance to speak first.

“I refuse to apologize, Jace. I tried to be hospitable. I offered to call you, but she asked me not to. I stayed quiet for as long as I could.” She paced away from him and back again.

He had no doubt that was true. In the time he’d known her, he had never seen her conduct herself in any way other than professional. Even when they argued about something. He had no reason to believe that wasn’t the case today. “What–”

“I saw you talking to her outside. I’m sure she told you all about how I threw her out of the house…”

Jace’s jaw dropped. “You threw my mother out?”

“Well, I asked her to leave. But basically, yeah.” Bonnie’s cheeks betrayed her embarrassment as she used her hands to comb through her hair. Several strands stuck out behind one ear. “I know I didn’t have the right, and that this is your house.”

“You’re right, it is my house.” And as far as he was concerned, Bonnie had more of a right to be in it than his own mother did.

“I would’ve been fine if she’d only had things to say about me. But the moment she brought Gunner into it…”

The anger Jace had tried his best to force down flared up like gasoline on a forest fire. “What did she say?” Bonnie bit her bottom lip and hesitated. He took several steps closer, the toes of their shoes nearly touching. “Bonnie, tell me what she said.”

“She called Gunner an obligation and said you were ruining your life.” Her right hand grasped her left arm and she squeezed hard enough to turn the skin around her fingers white. “She said that Gunner should be put in a boarding school and that you needed to go back to working for your father.”

It wasn’t anything his mother hadn’t said to him already. But that she would continue to insist on it and drag Bonnie into the mix was inexcusable. When his hand started to ache, he realized his fists were clenched. “And what did she say about you?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, Bonnie, it does.” It mattered a great deal, and if he knew his mother at all, it couldn’t have been nice.

Bonnie let her hands fall to her sides. For the first time since he’d gotten home, her gaze dropped from his face to the wall behind him, their shoes, and even the window nearby.

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