Chapter Nine
Jax stared at her phone thinking the obvious response to the unexpected text was “no.” Simple, direct. Easy. Only even as
she started to type the word, she found herself thinking that saying no would mean sending a message of some kind. Which should
be fine—if none of this was about her. But it wasn’t. She had her kids to consider and to quote that TV campaign, the more you know.
“I’m going to have to kill him,” she muttered even as she typed.
Sounds like fun. See you there.
That was followed by her sending Harris an annoyed text.
Your future mother-in-law and Shawna want to have lunch with me so we can all get to know each other better. You have to fix
this. I’m not a part of your relationship or your wedding.
She waited several seconds, but didn’t see any dots.
As it was Saturday, Harris wouldn’t be working and she didn’t think the team had a rare Saturday game, so there was no excuse for his silence.
Still, she doubted she would hear from him anytime soon.
He was a master at avoiding anything he didn’t want to deal with and this would be no different than all the times she’d had to nag him to take out the trash.
“Men,” she muttered as she went to check on Lucy. She found the cat sunning on a wide windowsill.
So far Lucy was settling in nicely. She was eating well, and yesterday Jax had given her the run of the apartment. Next week
she would start the introduction with Ramon. In the meantime she was doing her best to make friends, but that was very slow
going. Lucy made it clear she much preferred Ryleigh or even Cheryl and that her relationship with Jax was based on tolerance
rather than affection.
As if to prove the point, when Jax reached out to pet her, Lucy stiffened slightly, then exhaled as if reminding herself that
Jax was the one who provided the meals so an effort must be made.
“I’m actually a good person,” Jax told her. “I rescued you from the shelter.”
Lucy glanced at her, obviously unimpressed by the information. She went on to point out the obvious—which was she hadn’t been
adopted for herself, but instead as a pet for Ramon.
“Well, yes, there is that,” Jax murmured. “But he’s a great bird and I think you’ll really like him once you get to know him.”
Lucy’s tail flicked, no doubt a sign of annoyance, and her body tensed, as if wishing Jax would stop touching her.
“Whatever.”
Jax retreated to the bookstore, trying to forget her upcoming lunch. Unfortunately she’d never been very good at avoiding
her personal responsibilities, so right on time she walked down the street to the cute bistro on the corner. She paused by
the door, braced herself for the weirdness that was to come, then went inside.
Shawna and her mother were already there. The younger woman beamed when she saw Jax.
“You made it! Thank you so much for joining us on such short notice. I know it’s Saturday and you’re probably busy at work.”
She turned to her companion. “Mom, this is Jax. Jax, my mother, Lindsey.”
“Hi,” Jax said, smiling at both of them. “Nice to meet you.”
Shawna and her mother looked a lot alike. They were both of average height, with blond hair and big, brown eyes. Lindsey was
a little curvier, but still very youthful looking.
“Jax.” Lindsey shook hands with her. “So good to meet you. And as my daughter said, thank you for agreeing to meet me. I know
this is probably a little strange and awkward, but we’ll get through it.”
“I’m sure we will.”
Lindsey turned to the hostess. “We’re ready to be seated now.”
“Of course. Follow me.”
They were shown to a pretty corner table with a view of the garden in back. As the temperatures were warm, the windows were
open, allowing the scent of roses and hydrangeas to drift into the restaurant. Jax breathed in the scent and told herself
everything would be fine. It was just lunch—an hour or so out of her life. Once it was over, she could pretend that it never
happened. Later, she would take one of the heavy coffee table books from the store and threaten Harris with a good beating.
She and Lindsey settled across from each other, with Shawna on her right. The older woman ignored her menu as she leaned forward.
“My husband and I are so excited about the engagement,” she said. “Shawna’s our only child and we’re all very close, so this
is going to be a family affair.”
A knot formed in Jax’s stomach. Great—so it wasn’t just Shawna who was being played by Harris’s irresponsible proposal. She reached for her water and took a sip, wishing she’d refused the lunch invitation.
“It’s nice when a mother and daughter are close,” she murmured, going for neutral rather than honest.
“We are,” Shawna said happily. “My mom’s always been there for me. When I graduated, I had several job offers. I took the
one here because I could still be near to my folks.” She glanced down at her ring. “And because of that, I met Harris. Everything
is perfect.”
Lindsey squeezed her hand. “It is, and now there’s going to be a wedding.” She looked at Jax. “I’m honestly not sure how things
are supposed to go between us. Of course I have friends who have been divorced, but no one in the family has gone through
that. We just never thought Shawna would have to deal with stepchildren and an ex-wife.”
While the words were perfectly polite and the tone still seemed friendly, Jax couldn’t help feeling a little judged. “I wasn’t
expecting Harris to be getting married anytime soon,” she said before she could stop herself, then immediately felt bad so
added, “Young love. Isn’t it amazing?”
Lindsey nodded. “It is. But you can understand why I wanted to meet you.”
Not really, Jax thought, but nodded.
“I’ve been doing some reading online,” Lindsey added. “About blended families. Shawna’s a teacher so she’s used to dealing
with children who have problems. That will be helpful.”
“Excuse me? What problems? Gentry and Xander are fine.”
Shawna touched her mother’s hand as she turned to Jax. “Sorry, that’s not what my mom meant. It’s just a divorce is hard on
every child. Even when things work out. But you and Harris have worked so hard to make sure Gentry and Xander feel loved and
safe. The living arrangements are unusual, but I can see why you went in that direction.”
Jax was less and less settled by the second. There was nothing wrong with her kids and she resented Lindsey’s implication that there was. The woman hadn’t even met them!
“Oh, I didn’t mean to imply you’d done anything wrong,” Lindsey said, as if reading her mind. “In fact I’m very excited to
meet them both. It’ll be like having grandchildren. Won’t that be fun?”
Grandchildren? Jax didn’t want to think about that—or having to tell her mom that Shawna’s mother was butting into her territory.
She rubbed her temple as she felt the beginning of a headache.
She decided a change of topic was required. “How’s the wedding planning coming?” she asked.
Shawna and Lindsey shared a glance and they both smiled.
“It’s daunting,” Shawna admitted. “There are so many moving parts, but we’re excited.”
Lindsey nodded. “The timing is a problem. Shawna doesn’t want to wait a year and yet there aren’t a lot of good options. We
thought about a holiday wedding.”
Shawna wrinkled her nose. “I think it could be beautiful but then for the rest of our lives, our anniversary will be competing
with Thanksgiving and Christmas. I would hate for something that special to get lost in all the going and doing.”
“Spring is always lovely,” her mother said. “But Shawna only gets a week off for break and that’s hardly enough time to deal
with a big wedding and the honeymoon.” She paused. “I suppose you could take a belated honeymoon.”
Shawna shook her head. “I don’t want that. I want all the things, Mom. Just like you and Dad had.”
Jax was more caught up on the B word. “You’re planning a big wedding?” she asked. “I thought you’d said about two hundred people.”
Shawna grinned. “The guest list is growing.”
Lindsey patted her daughter’s hand. “That’s as much my fault as hers. She’s our little girl and this is the only wedding we’re going to have in our family. It has to be everything we’ve both dreamed of. There are a lot of people who will want to be there.”
Jax’s stomach lurched. This was so, so bad. If Harris didn’t grow a pair and tell Shawna the truth, she was going to keep
planning her dream wedding only to have it all fall apart at the last minute.
“At least next summer gives you plenty of time to get everything done,” she said, trying to sound happy rather than concerned.
“It does. When did you and Harris get married?”
Jax looked at Lindsey. “In, um, January. Harris was playing for a minor league baseball team and we needed to avoid the season.”
“Excellent.” Lindsey smiled at her. “We wouldn’t want Shawna’s wedding the same month as yours.”
The server came by and talked about the lunch specials. Jax wasn’t hungry anymore, so picked a salad she could easily pack
up and take home for later. When they were alone again, Lindsey offered a faint smile.
“I was hoping we could talk about your living situation. It’s very unusual.”
Jax told herself not to get defensive. “In what way?”
“You and Harris sharing the house. I understand why it’s important for the children to have stability, but every other week,
you exchange the house.”
Jax stared at her, not sure of the point. “Yes, we do.”
“You each use the main bedroom.”
“Of course.”
Lindsey glanced around, as if making sure no one was close, then lowered her voice. “It’s like the three of you are sleeping
together. That’s not right.”
Jax’s high-pitched “Excuse me?” was followed by Shawna flushing and saying, “Mom, no.”
“It has to be discussed,” Lindsey told her daughter. “If you can’t do it, I will.” She turned to Jax. “You’re sharing a bed.”
Ick and double ick. What was she talking— Jax held in a groan. Because she and Harris used the king-size bed they’d had in