Page 23 of The Rebel Heir

“And the reason for the trip down memory lane?” he asked, sitting on the side of the bed.

“I was wondering the same thing,” Ionie said, opening her eyes.

Their gazes went to her as she softly smiled. “All closed eyes ain’t sleep,” she said. “Besides, who could rest with all this company in my bedroom?”

“I didn’t mean to keep you awake,” Jillian said, reaching to hold her hand.

“I was just enjoying you being near me, like when you would spend the weekend with your granddaddy and me,” Ionie said, her eyes twinkling with the moonlight streaming into the room. “We would wake up and find you sleep at the foot of the bed, on the bench, or on that cold floor. Like you couldn’t stand not being near us. I loved it then and I love it now, Jillie.”

That all was so true.

“Mama, you need anything?” Harry asked.

“For Jillie to tell us what’s on her mind.”

Jillian thought about admitting to her father that she’d had a no-strings-attached relationship and then ended it by accepting her executive chef position.

Hard pass.

“I was dating someone and we ended things,” she said, skirting the full truth. “I saw him tonight—”

“At the gala?” her father asked as he scratched his full silver-flecked beard.

She nodded. “Seeing him again made me feel like I care for him more than I realized,” she said.

“Do you love him?” Ionie asked, patting Jillian’s hand with her own.

Jillian closed her eyes and bit down on her bottom lip as emotion swelled in her chest for Cole. “Yes,” she admitted in a whisper.

“Does he love you?” Harry asked with the protectiveness of a father.

She shook her head, remembering Cole’s anger with her that night.And tonight.

“What?” Harry snapped, rising.

“I broke things off,” she said to ease his annoyance.

“Can you fix it?” Ionie asked.

Jillian looked out the window. “I don’t want to. I’m not looking for love. Look where it got me before.Twice,” she said, her voice soft. “I’ve always wanted what you and Mom had, Dad. That love story you can tell your kids about thirty years later. But it’s just not in the cards for me.”

“Life is like a library,” Harry said. “It contains so many books because there are many different stories to be told. Each one unique. And special. And needed. Your story may not look like ours, Jillian. Create your own.”

She gave her father a teasing smile. “Oh,Bear,” she said, ribbing him with her mother’s loving nickname.

Ionie chuckled. “Leave my son alone,” she playfully admonished. “Because before he was Bear, he was my Sugar Toes.”

Harry gave them both a withering look.

“Sugar Toes,” Jillian teased. “Ohmy.”

“I’m going where I’m appreciated,” he said over his shoulder as he left the room.

“Might as well, because what she got for you, your Mama and daughter sure can’t give you,” Ionie called out.

Jillian chuckled as she leaned over to press a kiss to her grandmother’s soft cheek. “I love you, Gram,” she sighed, lowering her head to rest against her arm.

Ionie reached over with her free hand and rubbed Jillian’s loose curls. She hummed them both to sleep with Jillian’s heart and thoughts filled with Cole.

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