Chapter Five
Jax had a bad night of tossing and turning. She didn’t like it when she and Ryleigh were out of sync. It rarely happened and
when it did, nothing felt right until they were done snapping at each other. She supposed that technically neither of them
had snapped, but Ryleigh had been annoyed for sure, and Jax could almost, maybe see her point. It was just that she needed
her sister to be close, and Ryleigh moving all the way to San Diego was an absolute no for her.
But on her short drive to work she hadn’t come up with a single way to get her to want to stay. The only obvious one was to
find her someone local and get them together so Ryleigh could fall madly in love with the guy and never want to leave town.
The problem was there weren’t a ton of single, age-appropriate guys around.
She was still mulling the problem when she arrived at the bookstore.
Her worry about her sister and her unease at their falling-out apparently translated into some kind of emotional miasma because from the second she went to say hello to Ramon, he was difficult.
He barely greeted her, didn’t stay to watch her measure out his food and tell her that she wasn’t giving him enough.
Ten minutes after she’d let him out of his room, she heard a crash down by the cash register.
She hurried in that direction only to find one of the Painted Lady Bookstore mugs lying shattered on the floor.
Ramon was on a perch in the corner, his back to her.
She recognized the set of his body and knew that priority number one was making sure they were okay.
If they weren’t, it was going to be a very long and ugly day.
She cleaned up the mug, then walked over to where Ramon was perched.
“Hi,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry you’re upset.”
He ignored her.
“You’re really good at sensing when something’s bothering me and you’re right, I’m dealing with some crap. Ryleigh’s thinking
of moving to San Diego and I can’t handle that. I need her here, which makes me a selfish bitch, so there’s that.”
He flew close and stared at her. “Selfish bitch.”
She held in a groan. That phrase wasn’t any better than “You getting laid.”
“We’re not making progress here,” she told him, then held out her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“I am no bird and no net ensnares me!” he said as he landed on her fingers and nuzzled her hair.
“You are a bird. You have feathers,” Marcus said as he walked over.
“Hi. He’s quoting Jane Eyre. It’s a line from the book.”
Marcus frowned. “He can read?”
She laughed. “No. I read it to him, probably more than once. I’m sure I pointed out the line.”
Ramon leaned close. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Good! Time for breakfast.”
“You know where to find it.”
He flew up the stairs and disappeared around the corner. Marcus watched him go.
“He’s unexpected, but in a good way.”
She smiled. “I agree. We got him when I was about twelve. He was in really bad shape. Underweight, plucking his feathers.
He looked awful. I spent the whole summer with him.”
“Reading Jane Eyre?”
“Among other books.”
“You’re his human.”
She nodded. “He’s very friendly and likes being around people but I’m his special someone. And he’s mine.”
“Did the ex mind?”
“Harris was mostly neutral when it came to Ramon. He never lived with us—the bookstore is his home, but there were times when
I wasn’t willing to be gone and Harris wanted me with him.” She paused. “You know he used to play baseball, right?”
“Yep. I’m not a big fan of the game but I knew he played.”
“He was on the road for months at a time. I was tied here with the bookstore and Ramon. It was a complication.”
“Is it the reason things didn’t work out?”
“No. We were living here several years before the divorce.”
“At least the kids weren’t getting used to a new place when you two split up. Less stress on them.”
“It was. And now they’re the ones who stay in the house while Harris and I go back and forth every other week.”
“I remember. And Harris wants to change the parenting plan so he can . . .” He paused and grinned. “Should I get Ramon to
say it for me?”
She laughed. “Please don’t. But maybe I wasn’t giving Harris enough credit. After I told him there was no way that was happening,
he hasn’t brought it up again. I’m kind of surprised. He doesn’t usually give up that easily.”
“You said he’s a good father. Maybe he realized you were only looking out for your kids.”
“I hope so.”
She excused herself to go to her office. That morning she had to double-check her orders for the summer. Once June hit, the
town would be flooded with tourists. To keep them happy, Jax made sure there were plenty of appealing items to be purchased
along with, of course, books. There were displays of sunscreen, hats, beach towels and flip-flops along with books on the
area and a couple of walking-tour maps. She’d just finished ordering in two hundred rechargeable portable fans when her office
phone buzzed. She picked up the receiver.
“What’s up?”
“There’s someone up front asking to talk to you. I don’t recognize her.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Jax wasn’t sure what to expect but when she walked toward the front of the store she saw a pretty blonde standing there. She
was in her mid-twenties with an overeager smile.
“You’re Jax,” she said, her tone almost gushing. “Hi. I’m Shawna Cipriani.”
Shawna as in— Oh, Shawna. The girlfriend.
“Hi.” Jax smiled at her. “Nice to finally meet you. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before.”
“Me, too, which is why I stopped by. I thought it was time, if that’s okay.”
Jax had the feeling that something was happening but she didn’t know what. “It’s great. Sure.” She paused, not sure what else
to say. “Did you want to talk about something?”
“I did.” Shawna practically danced in place, then held out her left hand where a diamond ring twinkled. “Harris proposed.
We’re engaged.”
She kept talking but Jax wasn’t listening.
He’d done what? She held in a groan. Of all the dumbass, shortsighted things, this was the worst. While she and her ex didn’t talk about his personal life very much, she knew him well enough to be sure he wasn’t wildly in love with Shawna. His only mention of her had been—
Crap, crap and double crap. He’d proposed to get around the parenting plan! That was why he hadn’t been pushing her. He hadn’t
let it go, he’d decided to solve the problem himself in the most ridiculous way possible. Annoyance bubbled up inside of her
but before she could deal with it, she realized Shawna was still talking.
“And I want us to be friends.”
“Us?”
“You and me. I’ll be marrying Harris and that’s going to make us family.”
Uh, no it wasn’t. “How old are you? Twenty-six?”
Shawna looked surprised at the question. “Uh-huh. I’m friends with your sister at school.”
“Oh, right. You teach what? Fifth grade?”
“Fourth. I’m only in my first year, but it’s wonderful. My students are so amazing.”
There were several more sentences about the brilliance of the kids she taught, but Jax was busy trying not to pound her head
against the wall. Harris was a moron. A total, thoughtless moron. Seriously? The man had fake-proposed to a twenty-six-year-old?
“Is this going to be your first marriage?” she asked, interrupting the other woman.
Shawna blinked several times. “Absolutely. I don’t believe in divorce.” She paused, as if realizing she might be getting into
dangerous territory. “For myself. It’s a family thing. But of course when things weren’t working out with you and Harris,
it was very sad.”
“Very,” Jax said, more concerned about how seriously Shawna would take the engagement. “Are you planning a big wedding?”
Shawna beamed at her. “Not too big. A couple of hundred people maybe. My mom’s so happy. She and I are close, so we’ll plan everything together. I think that will make the day even more special. I want traditional for sure. The white dress and a church wedding.”
Jax would bet every dollar in her 401(k) that Harris wasn’t the least bit interested in a church wedding, but her bigger concern
was how this was all going to end for Shawna. Not that it was her problem, but still. She felt sick at what the other woman
was going to end up going through.
“I’d like Gentry to be a bridesmaid,” Shawna said earnestly. “But I wanted to talk to you about it, first.”
“She’ll be thrilled to be asked,” Jax said. “I’m fine with it.”
“Oh, good.” Shawna pressed her hands together. “I want you to know I’m going to be there for the kids. I’m a teacher so I
have some experience with different family dynamics. I like both kids so much. I’ll be their stepmom but I’ll never try to
take your place.”
Which were all the right words and Jax knew she should be grateful, but honestly listening to Shawna was making her feel old
and tired. Had she ever been that young and idealistic? She supposed she had been, back when she’d fallen in love with Harris.
She’d just known they were going to be together forever and now look at them. He was very probably leading on a very nice
young woman and Jax was standing here braced for what was going to be a very difficult train wreck.
Just then she heard a familiar flap of wings. She instinctively held out her hand so Ramon could land on her fingers. He immediately
hopped up her arm to her shoulder, then peered at Shawna.
“Hello,” he said in an upper-class British accent—the result of her watching a little too much Masterpiece Theatre, with Ramon eagerly following along.
Shawna’s eyes widened as she took a big step back. “That’s a very large, ah, bird.”
“This is Ramon. He’s an African gray parrot and he’s very friendly.”
“Hello,” he repeated, his tone slightly more impatient.
Shawna retreated another two feet. “I’m afraid of birds.”
“Some people are. It’s okay.”
Shawna looked from her to Ramon and back. “So, I, ah, just wanted to, you know, introduce myself and tell you about the engagement.
But I should be going and I’ll see you soon bye.”