Aunt Elizabeth patted her shoulder. “I think you’re going to do very well, Grace.”
The unexpected compliment and pat on her back made tears well up. She had tried for years to win her aunt’s approval. “I hope so.” She saved the file and closed the laptop. “I can take him.” She reached out for Samuel.
Aunt Elizabeth shifted away. “He’s fine where he is.” She took an arrowroot cookie from the box and gave it to him.
“He’s going to get messy with that. Your blouse—”
“Don’t worry about my blouse. It’s washable silk.” She leaned against the counter. “You young people seem to be creating your own careers these days.”
“Sometimes out of necessity. Thankfully, I’m not doing this completely on my own. Shanice and Ashley helped create the website and have been posting about it on social media.”
“How much will the tutoring job pay?”
Jasper had suggested charging forty dollars an hour, but Grace felt more comfortable starting at thirty. If she helped Kayden, she would have one reference and hopefully begin building from there. She grinned at her aunt. “I’ll have to keep a spreadsheet of my income so I won’t get in trouble with the IRS.”
“You bet you will.” Aunt Elizabeth laughed. “I won’t have my niece become a tax dodger.” She shifted Samuel to her other hip. “You always were a good tutor, Grace. You helped Patrick Moore earn that college scholarship, didn’t you? He never would have made it out of high school, let alone through UCLA, without your help.”
She might not have received the credits, but she had learned a lot through the various classes Patrick took. “He tried.”
“Did he?”
“He was good at some things, Aunt Elizabeth.”
“I suppose that’s a healthy way to look at an unhealthy situation, but what about your dreams, Grace? You put them on hold to help him. When is it your turn?” Aunt Elizabeth put Samuel on the floor and took some wooden spoons from a drawer. He banged them on the polished wood.
“I dream I can make a decent living at home so I can parent Samuel full-time.”
“And you’ll do it. You’ve been successful at everything you tackled.”
“Except marriage.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, stop kicking yourself. Patrick was never a husband. He was a big boy looking for a mommy to take care of him.”
Grace had been reluctant to bring up Patrick, but now her aunt had thrown that door wide-open. “I’d like to know how you were able to take one look at him and have him all figured out.”
Her aunt gave a dismal shrug. “I worked with his father. Or I should say I watched how his father worked. He charmed others into carrying his load and took full credit for the work done. And then he got the accolades, promotions, and raises.”
Grace wondered at the bitterness in her aunt’s expression and tone. “Did he do that to you?”
Her aunt gave her a catlike smile. “He tried. Then moved on to others I admired. Charm always sends up a red flag for me. Patrick’s sudden interest in you screamed of selfish motives.”
“I guess I should have known better. Why would the most popular guy in school pick a nerd as a girlfriend?”
Aunt Elizabeth’s eyes went dark and hot. “The nerds of yesterday are the CEOs and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. You studied hard. You went out looking for work as soon as you were old enough for a permit. You had goals and dreams. Those are admirable qualities, Grace. You never used people.”
It was the first time Aunt Elizabeth had defended her, and it put Grace in the odd position of defending her ex-husband. “It wasn’t Patrick’s fault I was so blind.”
“You were young and naive in high school.” Aunt Elizabeth sat, back rigid, facing Grace. “You weren’t blind at UCLA. You saw. You knew it was no accident when he bumped into you on campus. And he just happened to need tutoring? When you mentioned you’d seen him, I could hear the doubt in your voice. You smelled a rat, but you wanted to hope. Who doesn’t? Especially when the guy looks like a Greek god.”
Grace blushed. “He didn’t have to marry me.”
“It was a good investment, wasn’t it? Dating can be very expensive.” Cynicism dripped. “Two can live as cheaply as one.” She huffed. “He had everything he wanted—a pretty girl to bring home the bacon and cook it, then do his laundry and homework, and be a sex partner when he was in the mood. I doubt he was even a good lover. Too selfish. You were always careful with money, so I imagine whatever savings you had went into his pocket. He liked to ski, as I remember. An expensive hobby. He managed to go to Big Bear half a dozen times, didn’t he?”
The truth didn’t hurt Grace as much as it had when Patrick walked out on her. She had suffered more from guilt and hurt pride than a broken heart.
“I know I disappointed you, Aunt Elizabeth. I’m sorry for being such a fool.”
Her aunt’s expression softened. “I share the blame. If I’d brought you up to know your worth, you might not have sold yourself short. Sometimes women love too much and lose themselves completely.”
Like my mother, Grace thought, thankful that her aunt didn’t say it.
Aunt Elizabeth put on the teakettle and got out two cups and saucers. Samuel had lost interest in the spoons and crawled toward the door to the garage. “Good thing I don’t have a doggy door or he’d manage to escape. I wish I had one of those jumper things you could hang in the door.”
“I have one in the trunk.” She’d been sure her aunt wouldn’t want it attached and possibly scratching up the lintel.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Go get it.”
Grace came back inside and installed the gently used doorway jumper. Samuel squealed in delight when he saw it. She fitted him into it, and he bounced happily. Aunt Elizabeth laughed. “Doesn’t take much to please that boy.” She leaned down. “Careful you don’t bounce too high, Rapscal. You might just bump your head.”
“Rapscal?” Grace couldn’t believe her aunt had given her son a nickname.
“Douglas called him that.”
“Douglas?” Grace didn’t remember anyone by that name.
“Retired grocer. Widower.” Aunt Elizabeth waved her hand airily. “He bought the house next door.” She set two cups of tea on the kitchen table. “He’s fixing the place up. Ruby Henderson let it go after her husband died. She moved into an assisted-living facility and put the house on the market last year.”
Suppressing a smile, Grace looked at her aunt over the rim of her teacup. “Is Douglas nice?”
Aunt Elizabeth gave her an annoyed stare. “We were talking about the men in your life. I don’t have any in mine.” She looked pointedly at Samuel and back at Grace. “Did you ever track down his father?”
Grace felt the heat surging into her cheeks. “No.” She and her aunt hadn’t trod this ground before, and Grace didn’t want it plowed. And she didn’t want to admit she had never tried.
“I’m not reprimanding you, Grace, but have you ever thought about it?”
“Yes, and decided it was a terrible idea.” She stared into her cup of tea, not wanting to see what her aunt might be thinking. “We barely talked.” She didn’t remember anything about him.
“Why did you go to that club in the first place? It was so . . .” She shook her head. “Out of character.”
Grace sighed. “I don’t know. I was depressed and lonely. Shanice loves to dance. Patrick and Virginia’s baby was due that week.”
She’d been working every day, coming home to an empty apartment at night, taking online classes, keeping busy so she wouldn’t think about her empty life. She wondered if she’d ever fall in love with a man who would love her back. Shanice said, Come on, girlfriend, have a little fun for a change. Why not? Everyone else seemed to be doing it.