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She blinked.
Dang. He’d hoped she would have had more of a reaction to his request. Shouldn’t she smile? Flirt with him a little? He wanted her to show some sign that he wasn’t imagining the connection he had started to feel with her.
The longer she waited to say something, the harder it became for him to stand there. He wanted nothing more than to escape into his RV and tell her he’d talk to her when they had an update on his blood samples. In fact, he was so close to doing just that when Bella nodded.
“I’d love to.”
He didn’t have a chance to react in the moment due to his ex-mother-in-law’s arrival.
“Good morning, Grant. Is Nick up yet?”
Grant’s confusion was nothing compared to the elation he felt over Bella accepting his request. He looked from Charlotte to Bella and back. “No, he’s asleep.”
Bella glanced at her watch and offered him an almost shy smile. “I’m actually going to get going.”
“No, it’s okay?—”
Charlotte interrupted him. “I told you I’d like to take him with me on my errands today. We discussed this, Grant. I have to leave early and?—”
Grant shot a sharp look at the woman. “You said you couldn’t watch him today, so I got the day off.”
She shook her head. “No, I said I had errands and I wanted to take him with me for the company.”
“Really, just call me, okay? Let me know when you want to pick me up.”
Bella backed away from him. He couldn’t tell if she sensed the tension from the argument he was having with Charlotte or if she was just trying to make sense of their agreement to see each other in a more romantic setting.
“Bella, you don’t have to?—”
Charlotte stepped between him and Bella, successfully blocking him from finishing the conversation he wanted to have. “You need to get him up. I’m going to be leaving in ten minutes.”
If he hadn’t just gotten confirmation about the date, he would have given her a piece of his mind. He knew what she’d said. She’d been very clear about it. In fact, from what he’d remembered, she said she might have Nick over for a sleepover after all her errands.
He locked eyes with the woman and crossed his arms. “You can’t pull this kind of stuff with me. I know what we discussed, and this wasn’t it.”
Her pale skin flushed deeper. “My daughter would want me to spend as much time with my grandson as possible. I’m not responsible for you mishearing what I said. I swear, ever since you got sick in the hospital, you haven’t been right in the head.”
Boy, if there was ever a moment when he’d wanted to deck someone, now would be that time. He shook his head and rolled his shoulders, telling himself this wasn’t the battle he wanted to fight.
“You’re right,” he said through gritted teeth. “She would want her son to have a relationship with his grandmother. I’ll get him ready.”
“And what was that about you picking up the deputy?”
He stopped with his hand on the door. “What?”
“Please tell me you’re not taking her out on a date.”
“I don’t see how that is any of your business,” Grant said.
“It’s my business because you’re bringing someone else into Nick’s life. He doesn’t need another mother, Grant. He just needs his father—and for that father to not move on so quickly.”
Grant didn’t know whether to laugh or scream about the ridiculousness of this conversation. It was all coming together, though. Charlotte had never been this combative before. She must have overheard him asking Bella out.
Turning, he made sure to close enough space between them for her to get the full extent of what he was about to say.
“You don’t have any control over who I want to see or when I want to see them. Nick adores Bella, so I don’t think that should be of any concern. As for him needing a mother, I would agree. He doesn’t need a new mom, he had the best one there was—except for the tiny detail that she kept his existence a secret from me. That being said, we haven’t been together for nearly seven years, so there is no need to point out how quickly I’m moving on. I fully intend on being a firm fixture in Nick’s life but that doesn’t mean I can’t seek out companionship while I do it. And if that’s a problem, then maybe you should take it up with a judge.”
“Maybe I will.” She turned and stomped off. “Make sure Nick is ready in ten minutes,” she called over her shoulder.
