Chapter Ten
Ryleigh and Alex sat out on the deck of their rental condo. The evening was clear, although there were too many lights around
for them to see stars. Not like back home where a ten-minute drive got you out of town and allowed the night sky to shine.
“Today was good,” he said, glancing at her. “Noah’s having the best time.”
“I am, too. It’s been fun to be back.”
Yesterday they’d spent most of the day at the San Diego Zoo. Despite taking the tram tour, they’d walked for hours, viewing
all the animals. This morning they’d visited the Model Railroad Museum together, then she’d taken the car to drive around
town while Alex and Noah had grabbed lunch before taking in a puppet show.
She’d gone to two different neighborhoods where there were openings for teachers, and had even walked through an open house
for a small condo.
“Thank you for enduring the museum,” he said.
She laughed. “It was a lot of trains, for sure. But interesting. I learned a lot. But maybe next time we can go to the aerospace museum instead. Oh, wait. Let’s visit the Midway. Noah would love that and I’d like to see it again.”
“It’s a deal. So what did you think?”
She knew he was talking about her exploration. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about it—neither of them had wanted to discuss
the possibility of her moving in front of Noah.
“I don’t know,” she said slowly. “The areas I saw seemed nice. I liked the look of the schools, but it’s hard to tell anything
from the outside of a building. The open house freaked me out. Property costs a lot more here than at home.”
“It’s a desirable area and a big city. Sticker shock will be part of it.”
She nodded. “Moving here would mean renting for a while. At least until I felt more settled. I don’t know what I’d do with
my condo back home. Maybe rent it rather than sell it.” Although that would mean saving for another downpayment. Something
that, at San Diego prices, could take years.
“Could you see yourself moving back?” he asked.
“Maybe. I’m not the wide-eyed college graduate I was when I was twenty-two. And relocating by myself would be difficult, but
I feel like I have to do something.”
“Noah and I would miss you.”
She looked at him. “I’d miss you, too. So much. You’re my family nearly as much as Jax and her kids.” She sighed. “I wish
there was a simple answer. That the Universe would send me a text, telling me what to do. Everything I love is in Port Palmas.
Do I really want to walk away from the life I’ve built? Only there are pieces missing and I’m not finding them there. I don’t
want to stagnate and I don’t want to suddenly be at the end of my life and regret my decisions.”
“For what it’s worth, you don’t look stagnant. You look very green and lush.”
She laughed. “Green and lush?”
“I was going for a plant metaphor. I guess it’s not working for me.”
“No, it’s not.” Her smile faded. “Tell me what to do.”
“Not going there. You have to decide for yourself, Ryleigh. But here’s the thing. You don’t have to decide today. Maybe let
it all sit and see where you end up.”
“Tick, tick, tick,” she murmured. “That’s my biological clock, by the way.”
“I got that. Maybe ask the clock to give you a few weeks’ grace.”
“I’ll see what she says. In the meantime, thank you for coming with me. I’m having a really good time.”
“Us, too.”
Jax parked in the garage at the kids’ house and opened her car door. Instantly Gentry and Xander rushed toward her, hugging
her as if they hadn’t seen her in weeks rather than less than two days ago when they’d been in the store. Not that she was
complaining, she thought, hanging on just as tight.
“Mom, can we bake cookies tonight?” Xander asked.
“Depending on what you’re in the mood for, I’ll have to check to see if we have all the ingredients. But if we have all the
stuff, then sure.”
“It’s going to be hot next weekend,” Gentry told her. “I checked the weather forecast. Let’s go to the beach on Saturday.
We can ask Ryleigh and Alex and Noah to go with us and take a picnic.”
“Good idea.”
She collected her handbag from the front seat and slung it over her shoulder before hugging both kids close and walking across
the garage.
“Is Lucy going to be all right by herself?” Gentry asked. “You said she’s been warming up to you, Mom, and now she’s going to have to sleep all alone.”
“Lucy doesn’t sleep with me, sweetie.” In fact Lucy barely tolerated her. But as the cat was going to be Ramon’s pet, Lucy’s
lack of interest was fine with her. “Whoever puts Ramon to bed will check on her before closing up the store and I’ll see
her first thing in the morning.”
“I hope she’s not lonely.”
“Cheryl had a big play session with her this afternoon. I’m pretty sure Lucy is going to sleep the night away.”
They walked into the house. As she stepped through the mudroom, into the hallway, Jax felt her world right itself. She was
lucky and had a great life, but the weeks with her kids were the most special ones. They were growing up so fast and she didn’t
want to miss a moment. Just knowing they were going to have their normal, weekday rhythm for the next seven days made her
happy.
She set down her handbag. “What’s Dad fixing for dinner?” she asked.
Gentry shook her head. “Dad didn’t cook. Shawna did.” Her daughter glanced around, as if making sure they were still alone.
“She spent the night, Mom. It was strange.”
Crap! Shawna. Jax had nearly forgotten that the engagement—however real or not real it might be—had changed the rules. And
of course Harris hadn’t bothered to mention Shawna would be staying in the house this week. Something she would discuss with
him later—and probably in a very shrill tone.
“I didn’t know she’d be, ah, moving in so fast,” Jax admitted. “I’m sorry. We should have talked about the changes as a family
before all this happened. Let’s make sure we bring it up tonight at dinner. We’ll figure out what it all means and make sure
you’re both comfortable.”
“I’m fine,” Xander told her. “Shawna made French toast this morning.”
Jax laughed. “And that’s all it takes to win you over?”
He grinned. “Kinda. I mean a man has to eat.”
“Yes, he does.”
She heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up to see Harris and Shawna coming downstairs. The sight of her ex was no big
deal but seeing Shawna in the house was, well, startling.
Apparently the other woman felt the same way because she came to a stop, moved back a step, then squared her shoulders and
smiled.
“Jax, hi.”
“Shawna. Good to see you.”
Both their tones were overly cheerful, as if they were trying to compensate for the awkwardness of the moment. Harris didn’t
seem to notice as he reached the main floor.
“Hey,” he said. “So the schedule’s updated and the breakfast food and stuff for lunch is in the fridge and pantry. Homework’s
done.”
“Thanks,” Jax said.
“I changed the sheets,” Shawna blurted as she joined Harris. She looked at the floor, then at Jax. “On the bed. I changed
them. I also cleaned up the bathroom for you.”
Oh. My. God! Jax told herself not to react physically, but on the inside, she was screaming and dancing backward. This couldn’t
be happening. It wasn’t happening and yet here they were. It was exactly like Shawna’s mother had described—the three of them
sharing a bed. And a bathroom.
“My stuff!” she said, then held in a groan. “My stuff is everywhere.” She kept her skin care and cosmetics in the vanity,
just like she always had, and there were plenty of her clothes hanging in the closet. She’d set up her side of both so that
she only had to bring her purse and maybe a backpack when she moved in for her week. A system that had worked great until
the whole Shawna debacle.
Shawna offered a faint smile. “It’s fine. You live here, too. I get it. I’m not actually moving in full-time. At least not for a while. Harris and I thought we would take things more slowly, so for now it’s just weekends mostly.”
Harris looked between them. “What’s wrong? There’s something. You both knew what was happening so no one should be mad.”
Jax told herself not to roll her eyes. “No one’s mad,” she said calmly. “This is an adjustment. It’s going to take a little
time for us to figure it out, although we do need to talk about the changes at dinner.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because having your fiancée in the house is something new for our children. Let’s all discuss this at dinner and make sure
everyone is fine.”
“That’s a good idea,” Shawna said quickly.
“Thanks. And I’ll figure out what to do with my stuff.” And very possibly, the bed. Because clean sheets or not, she didn’t
want to sleep in the same place that Harris and Shawna did who knows what? That would bring the phrase ick factor to a whole new level.
“You can’t take your things home with you,” Shawna told her. “The whole point of your arrangement was to make it easy to go
back and forth. You need your things.” She offered a brave smile. “We can make it work.”
Jax was less sure. Unfortunately the house didn’t have a guest room or she would move there. If only there was—
“The junk room,” she blurted.
Shawna looked startled. “What’s that?”
“What it sounds like,” Harris said cheerfully. “The room where things go to die.”
“It’s where we put things we don’t want to deal with,” Jax amended. “I’m sure it can be fixed up.”
“I don’t understand,” Gentry said. “Why would you move out of your room, Mom?”
Jax put her arm around her daughter. “Now that your dad’s engaged, we have another adult to think about. I want Shawna to be comfortable.” She hesitated, remembering the junk room was off the kitchen. “Unless you’d have a problem with me sleeping on a different floor.”
Gentry looked at her brother, who nodded. “We’d be okay with it,” she said.
“Then let’s go see what’s going on in there,” Jax said, moving toward the kitchen. “It can’t be that bad.”
Unfortunately it was worse than she remembered. There were stacked bins of Christmas decorations, two rolling racks of clothes,