Page 61 of The Boss's Baby Affair

“I do believe you. Jilly liked to be needed. Too many of the people in her life didn’t need her at all,” Nick said slowly. “It may be part of the reason she was so eager for a baby.”

“When it became clear that my mother was going to need care, Jilly offered to pay for her place at Apple Orchards.”

“So in the end you did accept payment for Jennie.”

Candace shook her head frantically. “No. It was never meant to be like that! How could you think that I’d accept a womb-for-hire arrangement?” It hurt that he’d assumed the worst. “I kept saying no, but Jilly insisted. I gave in, because it made my life, and Mom’s, easier.”

Nick didn’t say anything. He just stared at her with a blank expression, the muscle high on his cheek pulsing furiously.

“You know what?” The shaking had taken over her whole body. “I’ll tell you something I haven’t even admitted to myself. I felt so guilty later. Because deep down I feel like I traded Jennie for my mother’s comfort. And even telling Jilly I would try to pay her back didn’t help ease the guilt. We both knew it was far beyond my means.”

“I’m sorry.” Nick rose to his feet and settled himself beside her on the lounger, and groped awkwardly for her hand. “I found reference to the payment she’d made—and I jumped to the conclusion you’d taken money in exchange for Jennie. Jilly liked you,” he added after a small silence. “There was an entry after one of the times she’d spoken to you at the hospital, saying how sympathetic you were. She worked hard to become friendly with you.”

Candace gripped his hand, and the trembling started to subside. “I liked her, too. But I felt a little sorry for her…she was so desperate for the child she couldn’t have.”

“She sensed that she could manipulate you…I suspect she might have helped your mother because she felt remorse about it.”

“How awful.”

“Not that awful.” Nick tipped his head in the direction of the baby sitting on the towel in front of them. “It gave us both Jennie.”

The distance she’d sensed between them when he first came out had gone.

“And I met you.” Nick gave her a bittersweet smile. “That would never have happened if not for Jilly.”

Before Candace could respond, he’d risen to his feet.

“I’d better get back to work. I have several appointments this afternoon about the company’s expansion into the South Island and the sooner I get them over, the sooner I can be home again.” He paused, and then said, “Perhaps we can go and see your mother on the weekend. I’d like to meet her.”

Fourteen

“Oh, you’ve brought Jennie back for a visit.” Catherine Morrison stood in the open doorway of her large sunny bedroom. “Come, bring her stroller in.”

The first thought Nick had on meeting Candace’s mother was that Jennie had been here before. The second was that he could see where Candace had gotten her lovely gray eyes. And that led him to realize that Jennie would, in all probability, be blessed with a pair of angel eyes, too.

His final realization was that Catherine had no idea Jennie was her granddaughter.

“Jennie fell asleep in the car, and we managed to get her into the stroller without her waking. Mom, this is Nick Valentine,” said Candace.

Catherine inspected him curiously, and then smiled, a lovely gentle smile that reminded him immeasurably of Candace. “I’m pleased to meet you.”

“Sit by the window, Nick.” Candace pointed to a sofa covered with roses. “Mom can sit next to you. I’ll sit on the bed.”

“We could go down to the lounge,” suggested her mother. “There’s a lot more space down there.”

Candace wrinkled her nose.

“The lounge was full of people playing bingo.” Nick grinned conspiratorially at Catherine. “It will be too noisy to talk.”

Catherine nodded slowly. “I’d forgotten about the bingo.”

“We’ll take a walk down to the roses a bit later.” Candace perched herself on the bed, Jennie’s stroller beside her.

“You like roses,” Nick said to the older woman.

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, yes…but you could’ve guessed that from my room.”

Glancing around, Nick took in the design of the sofa, the creamy white roses in the vase on the dresser and the photo of a pale pink, old-fashioned damask rose printed onto a canvas block that hung above the bed. Jilly’s work. He studied it. The photograph revealed all the best sides of Jilly. Her femininity. Her passion for beauty. He could see why Candace had chosen it for her mother.

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