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He was stuck. He was going bowling.
Well, gutter ball.
Willow set the bag containing cereal and powdered creamer into her floorboard, then buckled Emma into her car seat with fingers that trembled. Was she really taking her children to a bowling alley at bedtime? With a virtual stranger? Had she lost her mind?
Yes, very probably.
After the little surprise her mother-in-law had sprung a short time ago, who could blame her?
It had followed a perfectly lovely “welcome to Lake in the Clouds” dinner Willow and her children had hosted for Andy’s parents at the restaurant in the lodge. Then, while walking back to their cabins, Maggie had slipped her arm through Willow’s and intentionally slowed her down while the children ran ahead with Tom. Then, with her sweetest of smiles and soft Southern voice, she’d said, “Willow, dear, I have some difficult news to share. There is no easy way to do this, so I’m just going to lay it all out.”
Oh no!Willow braced herself to hear that one of them was ill.
Instead, Maggie lobbed a grenade. “It’s regarding Jenna Randall.”
Willow reeled backward in shock. Jenna Randall had been the Other Woman. Tom and Maggie knew? Andy told his parents about her? And they’d never let on to Willow that they knew?
More betrayal from Team Eldridge.Willow shuddered, suddenly wishing she’d brought more than a heavy sweater to keep her warm in the chilly nighttime mountain air. She was cold clear to the bone.
Willow had to clear her throat to ask, “You knew about Andy’s affair?”
“We learned about it a few months after we lost him. Jenna reached out to us and told us the whole sad story. Tom and I were shocked and disappointed, Willow. We raised our son better than that. However, there was a child involved. Our grandson. We’ve been involved in AJ’s life since he was born.”
A son.
Willow had known that Jenna was expecting Andy’s child. He’d told her himself when she confronted him after she’d spied him kissing a redhead at a company Christmas party. Coming on the heels of her own recent miscarriage, the news about his mistress’s pregnancy had cut Willow to the core.
Andy had been contrite. He’d claimed to want to stay in the marriage, but Willow had known it was over. There was no getting past this depth of a betrayal. Nevertheless, for her children’s sake, she’d taken a few days to think her decision through. She’d told him she was leaving him, and he’d gone out and killed himself by driving like a fool—and almost killed Drew in the process.
Another son. Drew and Emma had a brother. In a croaking voice, Willow asked, “His name is AJ?”
“Yes. Andrew John Randall. Named after his father, of course.”
Of course. Never mind that Andy already sired one son named Andrew John. Willow was halfway surprised Jenna wasn’t calling her son Drew also.
Willow had never wanted to know anything about Jenna Randall’s baby. The woman had yet to give birth when Willow had directed her lawyer to settle a portion of Andy’slife insurance money on the child after he was born. Then, she’d washed her hands of the entire situation. Or so she’d believed.
Sudden anger whipped through her. “Maggie, I understand why you have a tie to that boy, but it’s different for me and my family. If you and Jenna Randall are looking to establish some sort of sibling relationship between my children and AJ, this is not the time. Maybe when my kids are older and—”
Maggie interrupted. “She’s dead, Willow. Jenna Randall passed away suddenly a few weeks ago. Tom and I brought AJ to live with us.”
Whoa.Willow stopped short. Her thoughts were a whirlwind.That poor little boy has lost both his parents.
Maggie continued, “I’ve hired a nanny, and she’s staying around the clock while we are here in Colorado. AJ is still adjusting to his new home and needs the stability of being in his own bed each night right now. Otherwise, we’d have brought him so you could meet him.”
“Oh, no, Maggie.” Willow held up her hand, palm out. “Hold on just one minute. I need to process all of this. I’m not sure that my kids—”
The older woman interrupted again to deliver the second part of her one-two punch. “Remember that colonial down the street from us that you admired so much over the years? Well, we found out that the owners were about to put it up for sale, so we snapped it up for you. Our gift to you and the children. It’s time you brought them home to be raised as Eldridges, Willow, which is befitting of their heritage.”
Willow gaped at her mother-in-law. “Maggie, you bought a house for us? In Texas? Without asking me?”
“You love that house,” she defended. “We won’t force it onyou if you don’t want it, but it wouldn’t have lasted a day in this market. We had to jump or miss our chance.”
A combination of anger and despair whipped through Willow. This was too much. Way too much, coming at her too fast. “I can’t do this now, Maggie. I am up to my eyeballs in wedding prep, and I do not have the mental bandwidth to add anything else to the mix. This discussion will have to keep until after Jake and Tess’s wedding.”
“It can’t wait. We must leave directly from your mother’s brunch on Sunday morning to catch our flight home. Our nanny has a commitment.”
So. Do. I.Willow knew it would do no good to scream at her mother-in-law, no matter how badly she wanted to do so. “I’ll think about it.”
