Page 80 of No Place Like Home
She shrugged. “I just know my son.”
My eyes roamed the room. Rowan might leave? Again? I shook my head. “If he leaves, then . . . But, I can’t promise . . .” I sighed. My insides were knotted up. I stood and chewed my bottom lip.
“I know,” Tonya said.
I looked at her, confused. “You know? What exactly do you know?” What was she talking about? My feelings for Rowan? Or had Kaye and Diane talked with her—told her about me?
“Summer, your grandmother talked to me years ago. I know about the endometriosis. I know you may not be able to have children. She told me how upset that made you.”
My grandmother told Tonya? Meaning, someone other than my grandmother and I had known all this time? I sat heavily on the edge of her bed again. Emotions I didn’t want to deal with here and now came to the surface, and the room blurred as tears welled in my eyes. “You’ve known all these years?” My voice was a whisper.
She nodded.
“Then you, of all people, know why I can’t be with Rowan. He needs to be a dad. He’d be such an amazing father, and the world needs more amazing fathers. There aren’t enough—I should know.”
Tonya sighed, reached toward me, and grabbed my hands. She had only touched me like this one other time, in my junior year of high school. I’d showed up at their house, late at night, with tears and a small suitcase. My mother had been drinking and kicked me out, and I didn’t want to pull my grandmother into it, so I went to Rowan’s. Rowan was out with his girlfriend, and I only had Tonya to talk to.
“You’re right,” she said. “The world does need amazing fathers, and Rowan would be just that—but don’t keep happiness from your life because of the cards you’ve been dealt.”
I held her gaze for a beat. She squeezed my hands, then continued in a soft voice, “Rowan would be lucky to have you, and I would love for you to be with him.” She shrugged. “You’re strong, witty, hard-headed, and keep him in his place. People like that are pretty amazing individuals.” She smiled and wagged her eyebrows.
I smiled back. “They are pretty amazing,” I said with a soft laugh. I leaned in and gave her a hug. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
I pulled back and smiled. “Thanks, Tonya.”
“You bet. Now, get your ass out of here and hunt down my son.”
Tonya pushed the button as I stood, and the last thing I heard her say was, “What’s it take to get a Diet Coke in this damn place?”
Chapter 35
Rowan
By the time I got off my phone interview and back inside the hospital, everyone had gone, and my mother had just been moved to her room for the night. Jamison sent me a text and I took the elevator to the fifth floor.
It wasn’t hard to find her room. I just followed the cackling laughter that reverberated through the halls. Mom was already making friends with the nurses. “Hey, Mom.”
“Rowan, baby. You found me.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t hard. I just followed the laugh.”
Bryson rolled his eyes while Jamison shook his head.
Tonya sighed dramatically. “Well, I got to make the most of my next twenty-four hours. There’s no reason to be a stick-in-the-mud. When life gives you lemons . . .”
“Enough of the stupid sayings,” Bryson said. “Look, you’re just fine. If it’s okay, I’m going home to check on my wife and your grandkids.”
“Sure, baby. Go ahead. All three of you don’t need to stay. It’s getting late.”
Bryson gave her a hug. “I’ll be here tomorrow. Don’t cause too much trouble, Mom.”
He left and Jamison followed, since he also had a child to get to bed.
“I guess you’ve just got me, Mom,” I said. “I don’t have any kids to get home to.” Hell, I didn’t even have ahometo get home to.
“Sit and tell me about your interview. How’d it go?” she asked.
I sat and told her the basics. It was a good interview, and a great company. “They offered me a position.”
