Chapter Thirteen #2
or something. Only it wasn’t shock that held her feet in place. Instead it was the warmth generated by his lips as they moved
against hers, lightly at first, then with slightly more pressure. She found herself leaning toward him. Unexpectedly she put
her hands on his shoulders, as if she wanted to keep on kissing him, which was confusing. She didn’t, as a rule, go around
kissing men. The last man she’d kissed had been Harris and that had probably been eighteen months ago.
Apparently she’d needed a good kissing because she was certainly enjoying this one. Heat seemed to flare inside of her, warming
her belly and making her think about different kinds of touching and how long it had been since she’d had a man in her bed.
The need caught her off guard and made her finally pull back just enough to stare at him.
“You kissed me,” she said, hoping her voice sounded accusing when she knew it was really only breathless.
He gave her one of those slow, sexy smiles. “You kissed me back.”
“Not on purpose.”
He chuckled. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
“I can’t. I’m with my kids.”
“Then when you’re not.”
“You’re asking me out,” she confirmed.
“Yes.”
“On a date.”
The smile returned. “Yes.”
“With kissing.”
She hadn’t meant to say that last part. Her cheeks heated and she would have looked away only she couldn’t.
“With kissing,” he promised.
“Okay.”
“Looking forward to it,” he said, then turned and left.
Jax sank back into her chair and wondered what she’d just done. Kissing Marcus was not the plan. He was supposed to fall for
Ryleigh and make everything all right. Only he’d said he was interested in her, and based on her response to what they’d just
done, she didn’t seem to mind.
“No running,” Ryleigh called, knowing not one of her students would listen to her. The afternoon bell had rung, signaling
the end of the school day, and her kids were eager to be somewhere that wasn’t here. In less than a minute, she was alone
in her classroom.
“I’m not going to take it personally,” she murmured to herself, then chuckled. She’d been teaching long enough to know very
little about what happened in a day was about her. The students were all excited for the upcoming summer—a feeling she could
relate to.
She’d just started cleaning the boards when her sister stepped into the room.
“Hi,” Jax said.
“Hey, you. This is unexpected.” Her brows drew together. “Wait—this was Diary Day. Did it go badly?”
“No. We had a couple of grumpy people but most of them were understanding. It was all over by midafternoon. Now we have about
a hundred diaries to lock away while the work’s done on the wall.”
Which sounded right but something was off. Jax wouldn’t meet her gaze and she was shifting her weight from foot to foot. A
sure sign of trouble.
“There’s something,” she said. “Tell me.” Together they would tackle whatever the problem was.
“It’s nothing.” Her sister cleared her throat. “I’m fine. It’s just . . .” She drew in a breath. “Marcus asked me out. I wasn’t
expecting it and I might have said yes.” Jax flinched as she spoke, then took a step back. “You have every right to yell at
me. I deserve it.”
Ryleigh stared at her in confusion. “Why would I yell at you? I think it’s great you’re going on a date. It’s past time. Harris
is already fake-engaged. The least you can do is go out with a guy.” And Marcus seemed nice enough. She’d only ever heard
good things about him.
“But I was saving him for you. I was hoping the two of you would, you know, get serious.”
Ryleigh rolled her eyes. “I was never interested in Marcus, and he obviously wasn’t interested in me. Despite your very heavy-handed
attempts to set us up. He has a thing for you. That’s good.”
Jax hung her head. “I’m a terrible sister.”
“You’re not.”
“You’re not mad?”
“I’m not. This is good. You need to move on romantically. You’ve been divorced awhile. I know you’re busy in your life, but
you need more than what you have. Eventually you’re going to get lonely.”
“You’re single,” Jax pointed out. “Why aren’t you lonely?”
“Dustin and I broke up like six weeks ago. I’m still dealing.” Only as she said the words she realized she wasn’t dealing
all that much. She barely thought about him, certainly didn’t miss him. She missed the promise of what they’d had but not
the man himself.
“I should have seen there was a problem,” she said, more to herself than Jax. “I should have known I wasn’t in love with him.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Why not? It’s true.”
Jax shook her head. “No. It was something else.”
“Why are you being weird?”
“I’m not. It’s just if you tell yourself you should have known you weren’t in love with him then you’re going to start talking
about leaving again and I can’t take that.”
Ryleigh was torn between amusement and annoyance. “One has nothing to do with the other.”
“I’m just . . .” Jax sighed. “I don’t want to fight with you.”
The battle was lost as Ryleigh gave in to annoyance. “You have to let me be happy. My life isn’t about you.”
“I know and I want you to be happy every second of every day.”
The unspoken words hung in the air. “As long as it’s here,” Ryleigh said with a sigh, thinking she was done having this same
conversation. “Jax, you have to stop.”
“I’m not doing anything but pointing out Port Palmas is your home. You have roots and your work.”
“I do.” She glanced at her watch. “Oh, look at the time. Don’t you have to get home to be with your kids?”
“Not for another couple of hours.”
“Then the bookstore and Ramon. You lost so much work time this morning.”
Jax groaned. “You’re not being very subtle.”
“Nor am I trying to be.” She softened her tone. “Let’s just not talk about this anymore. Please?”
Jax nodded. “You’re right. I’m a selfish bitch. I’m sorry.”
Ryleigh stepped close and hugged her. “You’re not a bitch.”
As she would have expected, Jax giggled. “But I am selfish. You’re right. Especially where you’re concerned. I love you so
much. Don’t leave me.”
Ryleigh ignored that. “We’ll talk later.”
“We will.”
Jax left the classroom. Ryleigh continued her cleanup, trying not to think about what her sister had said about staying. Honestly, Ryleigh had no idea what to do with her life.
If only things had worked out with Dustin, except they hadn’t. As for finding someone else, so far no one came to mind. She
was glad Marcus had asked Jax out, so obviously he hadn’t appealed. And the thought of starting over, dating someone was just
so grim. Would that the perfect man would magically appear in front of her, she thought as she filled her tote.
“Knock, knock.”
She turned and saw Shawna walk into the classroom. Her first thought was too bad she hadn’t ducked out three minutes earlier.
She would have been safely in her car and on her way to hang with her beautiful and affectionate cat. That was followed by
mild guilt which made her smile more broadly and speak more enthusiastically.
“Hi, Shawna. How are you? How’s the wedding planning?”
“It’s going so great.” Shawna set her large tote on the desk. “Did I see Jax in the hall a few minutes ago? I thought it was
her.”
“She stopped by to see me. Why?”
“Oh, no reason.” Shawna twirled a lock of hair around her finger. “She’s so interesting, isn’t she? With the bookstore and
the kids. She’s a single mom, doing it all.”
True statements, but when strung together like that, they didn’t make a lot of sense.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “I feel like you’re trying to tell me something.”
“Not tell,” Shawna said quickly. “Ask is a better word. It’s about Jax. She’s . . . I . . .” She pressed her lips together then blurted, “I want to be friends
with her and I don’t know how.”
Friends? Ryleigh didn’t see that happening. The two women didn’t have a whole lot in common. They were different ages, at
different points in their lives and Ryleigh was pretty sure Jax didn’t see Shawna as a potential friend.
“Okay.” She drew out the word. “Interesting.”
“I thought maybe you could help me with that.” Shawna looked hopeful. “With some tips or, you know, ideas.”
“To make friends with her?”
“We’re going to be a family.” Shawna’s tone was earnest. “It would be so much better for the kids if we got along. I hear
so many students talking about difficult situations at home because the parents and stepparents are fighting. I’d never take
her place, of course. She’s their mom, but I’ll be living with them 50 percent of the time. I’m going to be involved.”
Fifty percent of the time? Ryleigh wondered if Jax had thought that part through—assuming Harris went through with the marriage.
“This is between you and Jax,” she said firmly. “Jax is great so I’m sure she’ll be receptive to you reaching out, but I’m
not getting in the middle of things. You two being friends is something you’ll have to work out yourselves.”
Shawna sighed. “You’re right. I need to talk to her. Maybe set up another lunch. Did she tell you she had lunch with me and
my mom? It was helpful to hear about their marriage. Harris tells me a few things, but you know, he’s such a guy. He’s not
big on details.”
“I remember that,” Ryleigh murmured, thinking her former brother-in-law hadn’t been big on taking responsibility or doing
anything he didn’t want to do.
Shawna pulled a tablet out of her tote. “I’m looking at different bridesmaids’ dresses. I’m trying to figure out how to make
it all work, visually. One of my best friends is tiny—like under five feet tall. Another is a little heavy. Then there’s Gentry,
who’ll only be twelve. I can’t put her in something strapless.”
She flipped through several dress selections, showing Ryleigh each one. “I’ve thought about maybe going with the same color
but different styles.”
“A friend of mine did that for her wedding. We all went shopping together. She said she didn’t care what the style was as long as the colors were identical. We picked one designer and each went with what we liked. Let me get my phone.”
She unlocked her bottom desk drawer and pulled her phone out of her bag, then scrolled through the pictures. It took her a
second to find several shots of the wedding party.
Shawna studied the photos. “Oh, I see what you mean. I’ve read about having different dresses in the same color but I’ve never
seen candid photos with real people. It’s nice. I like the cohesiveness for the video, but everyone gets to look good.”
She handed back her phone. “Don’t tell Jax, but Gentry really is the biggest problem. She’s growing, so I’m afraid to order
her dress too soon, but I don’t want it to be out of stock, either.”
“Are you thinking of telling her she can’t be a bridesmaid?” Ryleigh asked, doing her best to keep the outrage from her voice.
“No, of course not.” Shawna’s guilt was only faintly apparent. “I’d never do that.”
“Good, because she’d be devastated. If you hadn’t asked her in the first place, it wouldn’t matter, but you did. Plus Harris
would be upset that his daughter was left out.” She let the words hang there.
“Don’t be silly. She’s in the wedding for sure.”
Ryleigh felt a little guilty for pushing the point, especially considering there might not be a wedding at all, then reminded
herself she wasn’t on Shawna’s side in any of this. Family first and all that.