Lincoln was still a politician. She took Jonas in, no doubt calculating the value of his last name along with the surroundings. She must have determined that he was a possible donor because her back straightened and a photo-ready smile graced her face. Even in her winter coat, Rachel’s mother looked ready to step off Air Force One and greet the press.
“I’m glad to hear it,” she said primly, a tendril of warmth coming into her voice. “But I’d rather have gotten holiday plans directly from my daughter.”
“Oh, stop,” Rachel said, drawing their attention back to her. “You knew we weren’t going to spend the holidays together. Don’t put on a show.”
“I’m not putting on a show.” Susan lifted her chin. “I came here because it’s clear you’re in over your head, Rachel. You need someone to care for you. It’s time for you to come home to Montana, where I can look after you and my grandson.”
Rachel’s shoulder ached, and the rest of her body felt oddly tired. It would be much nicer to go back up the stairs and crawl into bed. She could lie on her good shoulder and sleep a while longer. Instead, she was trapped in a nightmare in which her mother was demanding to take her home. I’m thirty. This shouldn’t be happening.
She opened her mouth to say so, but Jonas cut in. “That won’t be necessary. Rachel will be staying here with me. When we met up recently during a photography job I contracted her for, it didn’t take long for me to realize Scott is my son.”
Susan’s eyes went wide.
“And, as his father, I have rights,” Jonas said lightly but with a hint of unabashed determination. This was how he was when dealing with difficult guests, Rachel realized. “I want her here with me. We’re going to be getting married. If not now, then soon.”
Married. Where did that come from? He’d never even mentioned anything of the sort to Rachel. There had been no proposal. They weren’t there yet. Waves of shock pushed themselves through the haze of the situation.
“I don’t know that it’s entirely up to you,” Susan countered. “I know my daughter. I know this behavior is a sign she’s in need of guidance. A steady home. People who know her.”
“I know her.” Jonas crossed his arms over his chest. “I know her quite well. And she’ll be perfectly cared for here at my home. They both will be. We have all the staff we need to attend us if she’s in need of anything.”
It took everything for Rachel to stay on her feet. This was her childhood all over again. People talking about her instead of to her. People using her as a pawn. Even Jonas’s confession about wanting to marry her struck her as false. Did he only want to marry her because her mother was here or out of some false sense of obligation?
There’d been no mention of love.
This was all wrong.
As they bickered on, the cold truth set in. Everyone’s need for control would spill over until it engulfed Rachel, and she suffocated. Scott would suffer for it, too. She couldn’t save him from that if she stayed here. The truth was staring her in the face as she listened to the conversation going on about her. Her stomach twisted.
“Enough,” Rachel snapped. “Mother, if you don’t back off right now—and I mean right now—I’ll block your phone number, and you’ll never see your grandson again.”
Her mother’s eyebrows shot up; her mouth parted in shock.
A shiver of power went down Rachel’s spine. She’d expected it to feel better, being powerful—but it didn’t. It felt like the world was crashing in on her, aching shoulder and all. “And Jonas—you’ll always have the chance to see your son but having a relationship with him doesn’t guarantee you a wife. I make my own decisions.” Rachel’s throat tightened, sore with the pent-up emotion. “I’m tired of being pressured and bullied and controlled at every turn.”
Now it was Jonas’s turn to look shocked. Hurt. Crestfallen. “That’s not what I was trying to do. I want to be with you.”
“Then prove it. Let me go home. To my home.”
Up on the second floor, Scott made a noise in his crib. “Mama. Mama. Mama.” The familiar rattle of his hands against the sidebars drew her out of this impossible conversation and up the stairs.
Rachel went to him at once, using the opportunity to leave. It hurt, picking him up in her arms, but