Page 9 of Marrying Bonnie

Why hadn’t he told her that this morning when he mentioned moving to a ranch? Or say something when his grandpa passed away in the first place? There was no missing the emotion in his voice. They must have been close. “I’m sorry for your loss.” She paused. “I lost my grandpa some years ago, but I still have Gran, praise God. Grandparents are important.”

“Yes, they are.” There was something in his voice that hinted at nostalgia.

Bonnie wanted to ask him more but knew he wouldn’t welcome the questions. “Gunner is lucky to have met his great grandpa. Raising him on the ranch your grandpa probably cared a great deal about would surely make him happy.”

Jace glanced at her, a mixture of surprise, warmth, and sadness in his blue eyes. “I think it would, too.” He cleared his throat again. “We’re only a few minutes from our exit. As you can see, it’s not that far from Clearwater. But between the narrow roads and the distance, the less you have to drive back and forth in the dark the better.”

She’d certainly done plenty of driving home at night in the past, especially in the winter, though it wasn’t nearly this far. His concern warmed her.

Since Jace would be working on the ranch, surely he wouldn’t be nearly as late returning home as he ran now.

“It’s pretty out here.” The trees parted to reveal a large field dotted with sheep grazing lazily. “Are they yours?”

Jace’s spine straightened as he gave a single nod. “Yup. We have four hundred.”

“Wow.” Most of the sheep were white with black heads. “What are they raised for?”

“Meat and leather.” He looked at her again, obviously expecting her to object. “These particular sheep are hairless Dorper. They are highly adaptable, tolerant of the heat, resistant to parasites, and are low maintenance.” A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “At least according to Grandpa.”

“Do you have experience working with sheep? Or will this all be new to you?”

“Noel and I stayed with Grandpa every summer through our childhood. We learned a lot about it then, but it’s been a while.”

“Noel is your sister?”

“Yes. My twin.”

Bonnie’s mind reeled. She’d learned more about her employer in the last thirty minutes than she had since she’d started working for him.She remembered hearing he had a sister but had no idea what her name was or that she was his twin.

Why did his parents send the kids away each summer? It was impossible not to draw on her own experience. She and her siblings had been enrolled in back-to-back activities that a driver took them to. If possible, they were busier during the summer than they were the school year. There were certainly no family activities or vacations to speak of.

“My situation was different, but the times we got to spend with my grandparents were some of my favorite.”

Jace nodded. “Mine, too.” He remained silent as they turned onto a side road that turned into a long driveway.

Gunner chatted behind them as the ranch house came into view.

Bonnie wasn’t sure what she expected, but this wasn’t it. She’d gone back and forth between imagining something akin to a castle and a rickety little log cabin.

This was somewhere in between. Elegant. It was positively beautiful with a wrap-around porch that went across the front and down one side, white paint, and blue accents and shutters.

“This is amazing. Whoever designed it had some serious talent.”

“My grandparents designed it themselves.” Jace pulled onto the large circular driveway in front of the house. “Thank you. If Grandpa were here, he would humor you with stories of how he and Grandma argued over options, and how she won nearly every time.” He stopped suddenly as though he hadn’t meant to get so personal. Or maybe some of those memories were too painful to relive right now. “Come on, I’ll give you a tour of the house, and then you can take a look at the garage and the apartment above it. Both are around behind the house itself.”

Bonnie nodded her agreement. She couldn’t see the garage past the two-story house.

Jace got out of the truck and was at Bonnie’s door holding it open before she’d been able to get it herself.

As her feet touched the ground, the scent of the trees and land around her somehow mixed with the scent of Jace’s aftershave. Oddly enough, the combination fit him perfectly.

She inhaled deeply before realizing she was just standing there, staring. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to realize she was standing there thinking about the way he smelled. Probably a good thing.

Bonnie shook her head to clear her thoughts and moved to get Gunner out of the back seat. He nearly exploded with energy as he was released from the confines of the truck. The first thing the little boy did was run to a pile of gravel and proceed to chuck little rocks at the underpinning of the porch.

Since Jace didn’t reprimand Gunner, neither did Bonnie. She didn’t blame him for needing to get some energy worked off. Her attention again shifted to the large house in front of her.

The details made all the difference. Rose bushes were planted along most of the front of the house. She could tell there were sheer curtains hanging in the windows on the inside. There was even a porch swing that just begged for her to sit on it.

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