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There was no mistaking what those were with the bank logo so visible in one of them. My jaw nearly dropped.
"Did you write her a check?" I asked in surprise.
He raised his glass and drank calmly. "It was supposed to be for her sister's tuition."
"Jadeis a part of this family, Grandfather, and you will afford her some respect," I snapped, my fingers tightening on Jade's hand.
"Are you playing house now? Surely you know what a terrible idea that is, trying to make her fit where she does not belong!"
In all my life, I had never raised my voice to my grandfather, but I found myself very tempted to do so now. He was impossible, and I couldn't let him treat Jade this way.
"Does my son not belong here too? Because you can't tell me he does, then in the next breath, claim that the woman who raised him does not!"
"The woman you impregnated," he said as a point of correction.
"This has to stop, Grandfather." I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
"It's alright, Michael," Jade said as she placed a hand on my arm. "I'm sure Mr. Fletcher needs time to adjust to everything; it all happened so suddenly."
Then she looked at my grandfather, and her eyes narrowed. I suddenly felt like I was in school again, about to be scolded by the headmistress.
"You don't know me, which I'm sure is the reason for this...behavior. But for the last time, Mr. Fletcher, I do not want anything from you except that you respect my son. He is your family, as you put it, and I'm sure one day he will appreciate you treating his mother as something more than a womb that carried him."
With that, she turned and left both of us in the office. My grandfather looked like he had no idea what to make of that, and the silence was deafening. I found I rather liked Jade putting my grandfather in his place.
"She's quite something, isn't she?" I asked cheerfully, then turned to leave as well, leaving my stunned grandfather behind.
I searched for the sexy redhead who always managed to make my life interesting and found her in her room, sitting and staring out the window.
"Beautiful view, isn't it?" I said, making her turn to face me. "Would you like to go outside and explore it?"
"I would love to," she replied. "That's probably the best revenge on your grandfather – for me to enjoy myself."
That made me laugh. Jade was so right.
"Maybe it's the hair making him assume I'm 'Pretty Woman?" She joked, referring to the movie starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.
"Then you should have told him that you slept with me for free," I teased, earning a playful slap to my chest for my effort, but she followed me outside.
We had a great time horseback riding around the estate. I showed Jade all the spots I had enjoyed as a child, whether to study or to play. I showed her the small lake on the other end, and she loved that the most. It was beautiful just watching her stand there with her eyes closed as she enjoyed the peacefulness of the place. I couldn't resist, so I drew her into my arms and kissed her. When I finally found the strength to pull away, I put my arms around her, and we looked at the water together.
I took her back to the house when it became chilly, and we joined everyone for some poker while we waited for dinner. It was fun, and even though Jade was terrible at poker, she didn't take herself seriously and had fun. It dawned on me as she laughed with my family that maybe she was exactly what I needed in a woman. In my book, any woman who could take on my grandfather and get along with my family was perfect. This bunch was hard to impress and could be intimidating, but Jade blended well with everyone. After dinner, Jade and I went to tuck Robin in before I walked her to her room.
"Thank you for today. I had a great time."
"A kiss will do as thanks."
She laughed but leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. "Goodnight, Michael." She closed her door and left me feeling disappointed that I hadn't received an invitation to stay the night.
Despite my grandfather glaring at us, I enjoyed the rest of the weekend. I took Jade out for a picnic Sunday afternoon, enjoying a bottle of wine from my maternal grandfather's vineyard. I made a mental note to take her there one day, amongst a thousand other places. Seeing all my favorite places through her eyes would be refreshing because she had this lovely wide-eyed innocence as she took in new things. I found myself wanting to see more of it.
"Daddy, look!" Robin exclaimed as he ran towards me with his cousins in tow, making me look away from Jade for probably the first time since we had sat down.
He had a water gun in his hands, and I could only hope we wouldn't end up victims of the messy weapon.
"Grandma gave it to me," he said proudly as his cousins cheered.
I didn't even get a chance to respond before the cousins started attacking each other and left us again in a fit of giggles and war cries. Jade was grinning when I turned away from the kids to look at her.
