Chapter Seven
“You’re not listening to me,” Cheryl said, her tone mild. “I’m going to assume it’s not personal.”
Jax looked at her employee and sighed. “No, it’s not. I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind and I’m distracted. I promise I’ll
listen intently starting now.”
“What’s going on?”
Jax started to say nothing, but there was something about Cheryl that made her want to spill everything. It was probably leftover teacher mojo, the
kind that had kids confessing every secret before they realized what they were doing.
“I’m worried about Harris and Shawna, which is ridiculous. I’ve only met Shawna once and it’s not like we’re friends. Although
I suppose my concern is more generic worry for someone who’s going to get her heart broken. I’m pissed at my ex for what he’s
doing. However this ends, it’s going to affect all of us, especially the kids. While I don’t think Harris means to marry her,
we all have to pretend he does which means I’m going to have to deal with the whole stepmother thing with Gentry and Xander.
They’re going to have questions I can’t answer.”
“They can’t know you suspect their father isn’t in love with Shawna.”
“I agree and I won’t say anything. But the situation is a mess and it’s all his fault.”
“There’s a reason he’s your ex. Besides, he might discover he’s madly in love with Shawna and everything will work out.”
“You’re an optimist.”
“I try to be. Anything else on your mind?” Cheryl asked, taking off her reading glasses and watching Jax with an expression
that said she had all the time in the world.
Jax rested her elbows on her desk. “Ryleigh. She’s talking about moving to San Diego and I don’t like it.”
“Why would she want to move? Oh, right. Dustin. Things didn’t work out there and now she’s unsettled. A move would certainly
change up her life.”
“But she can’t go. Her life is here. Her family, her friends, her job. She loves her job.”
“She does,” Cheryl agreed. “But she needs more than a job to make her happy.”
“She has us and she just can’t move. I always thought of my life as a four-legged stool. I had Harris, my kids, the bookstore
and Ryleigh. I’ve already lost Harris, leaving me with a three-legged stool. If Ryleigh moves away, I won’t have a stool anymore.
It’ll just be two legs and it can’t stand up like that.”
Marcus stuck his head in the door. “When you have a second, I need to talk to you. And if you have a broken stool, I can probably
fix it for you.”
Despite her unsettled emotions, she smiled. “Thanks but I’m okay. The stool is a metaphor for my life. It doesn’t exist on
this plane.”
He frowned for a second. “Okay, sure.”
Cheryl rose. “Why don’t you talk now? I have plenty to keep me busy.” She left the office. Jax stood and joined Marcus.
“I can’t handle any bad news right now,” she told him. “If you tell me the roof has to be replaced I’ll probably start sobbing and that will frighten you.”
He inched away from her. “I’m not a fan of anyone crying. It’s not just women.”
“Regardless, you’ve been warned.”
“I want to talk about the bricks. I’m worried that us handling them will cause the markings to rub off, which would be a problem.”
“A big one.”
They walked toward the nearly two-story wall of bricks. He pointed to a blank one.
“If they used permanent marker or paint, it’s fine, but if it’s crayon like some of them, it’s an issue.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” she admitted. “Do we spray them with something?”
“It wouldn’t hurt to protect them. I can do a little research and figure out the best product, then have one of my guys apply
it before we move the bricks. We don’t want anything permanent because at some point people may want to give up the diary
space and you’ll want to use it for someone else.”
She nodded. “So a sealer that isn’t too much of a sealer. Does that exist?”
“I’ll find out and report back.”
Just then a fortysomething woman walked by and smiled. “Hi, Marcus.”
“Veronica, hi.”
His tone was absent and his attention was still on the brick wall but Jax noticed that Veronica was giving him the once-over
before sauntering over to a set of shelves where she opened a book, but kept her attention on Marcus. Something Jax found
mildly annoying.
“You know her?” she asked in a low voice.
“I did some work on her house a couple of years ago. A 1950s rambler that they were updating.”
“Did you, um, go out with her?”
He stared at her with a look of shock that nearly had her laughing.
“No,” he said quietly, careful not to look at Veronica. “No! She’s married.”
“But you were single and she seems . . . interested.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Cheryl said as she appeared from around one of the shelving units. She walked up to Veronica.
“Fifteen minutes,” she said flatly. “You have fifteen minutes to stand around ogling, then you have to buy something. We’re
running a business here.”
Veronica blinked a couple of times then murmured, “I was just leaving.”
Marcus looked from Cheryl to her. “What was that?”
“We’ve had to establish some ground rules since you started working here,” Jax said with a grin. “You know, to keep the crowds
under control.” She paused dramatically. “The crowds of women.”
“There’s no crowds.”
“Maybe not but we do have the ladies stopping by to stand and stare. We’re now telling them they get fifteen minutes free,
but then they have to buy something. It’s an unexpected source of cash flow, so thanks for that.”
He looked away but not before she saw him blush. Wow, Marcus blushing? Be still her heart.
“You’re making all this up.”
“You know I’m not. Come on, you’re a good-looking guy who happens to be single and in good shape. Women like to look. I’m
just taking advantage of the situation.”
“You seem to be immune.”
She was glad he thought so. Having him know she did a little ogling of her own would be too embarrassing. “I’m still dealing
with my divorce.”
“How long has it been?”
She thought for a second. “We separated about fourteen months ago. Huh. I would have said less time, but we started the process right when Ryleigh started dating Dustin.” She looked at Marcus. “Those events are unrelated.”
“I’m glad your sister’s dating life didn’t cause the divorce.”
“Me, too. That would be just plain weird.”
She heard a flap of wings and held out her arm. Ramon landed on her hand and stared at Marcus.
“This is CNN,” he said, sounding just like the late James Earl Jones.
Jax laughed. “You’re a funny bird.”
“I’m a handsome bird.”
“You are.”
Ramon stared at Marcus. “Your turn.”
“He wants you to put out your arm,” she said.
Marcus obliged. Ramon hopped over, then walked up his arm to his shoulder where he nuzzled his hair. Jax noticed Marcus had
no trouble with the parrot being close, unlike Shawna who had totally freaked.
“He likes you,” she said. “You have a way with women and birds. It’s a gift.”
He flashed her a surprisingly sexy smile. “One that I treasure for sure.”
“Namaste,” Jax said, her hands pressed together as she bowed slightly.
Their instructor repeated the word, then smiled. “Good work, everyone. See you next week.”
Jax picked up her mat and began to roll it. “We’ve been doing this nearly a year,” she grumbled. “Why aren’t I getting more
bendy?”
Her sister grinned at her. “Because we’re only coming to class once a week. If you want to get more out of it, you’ll have
to come more often.”
Jax lowered her voice. “But I already don’t like it very much. I don’t want to do it more.”
“If you don’t like it, why do you come at all?”
“Because it’s good for me and it’s trendy. I don’t have a lot of trendy in my life.” She laughed. “I like being able to say,
‘Oh, I have to go or I’ll be late for yoga.’”
“Do you say that a lot?” Ryleigh asked.
“I try to work it into several conversations every week.”
“You’re so weird.”
“I’m good with that,” Jax admitted as they walked back to the cubbies where they’d stored their belongings. She slipped on
the tank dress she’d worn in over her leggings and workout top, then stepped into her sandals. Her sister did the same, then
they walked out together and headed for the coffee place two doors down. Once they’d ordered their lattes and agreed to split
a muffin, they found a table and sat down by the window facing the street.
“The weather has been great,” Jax said. “I’m loving the warm temperatures. I just hope that doesn’t mean we’ll have a hot
summer. Nothing over eighty-five or the tourists get cranky.”
“And a cranky tourist isn’t in the mood to shop.”
“Exactly.”
Ryleigh smiled. “When I have my meeting with the weather gods later this week, I’ll be sure to bring up your request.”
“Thank you.”
Jax was pleased their relationship had returned to its normal calm, friendly place. She didn’t like fighting with Ryleigh—it
wasn’t anything they’d ever done very much. She knew she hadn’t been very supportive before and was determined to make sure
she was going forward.
The barista brought over their order. Jax thanked her, then said, “So what’s new with you?”
Ryleigh shrugged. “Not much. As we get closer to the end of the school year, the kids get more wild, but it’s kind of fun
to see how excited they are. I’ve learned not to take it personally.”
“Meaning they are happy about vacation time and not relieved to be done with you?”
“Exactly. Oh, Alex, Noah and I are going away for Memorial Day weekend.”
Jax nearly choked on her latte. “Way to bury the lead,” she said, stunned at the news. “I’m in shock. You and Alex? But it’s
only been a few weeks since you and Dustin broke up. Which actually never happened, by the way. You turned down his proposal
and he disappeared. You probably need closure.”
Ryleigh stared at her. “What are you talking about? There’s no me and Alex. We’re friends. He found an Airbnb with three bedrooms
right near Balboa Park. Don’t read anything into it.”
Jax was about to point out her sister had ignored the entire “closure” part of what she’d said when her brain zeroed in on
two words. Balboa Park.