Chapter Twenty-Three
Jax sat in the pier parking lot for another couple of minutes, then pulled out her phone and called Harris.
“Hey,” he said when he picked up. “Everything okay with the kids?”
Because she never called, she thought. They almost always communicated via text.
“You broke up with Shawna.”
“It was maybe three hours ago. How did you find out?”
“She came and told me.”
He swore. “I’m sorry, Jax. I didn’t mean for you to get in the middle of any of this. I screwed up from start to finish.”
“Yes, you did. She’s devastated and humiliated and talking about never trusting a man again. That’s all on you.”
There was a long pause. “Because you don’t think I feel bad enough on my own?”
“Not really. You chose this path and I have zero sympathy for you.”
“Thanks for the news flash,” he said, sounding annoyed. “I gotta go.”
“Wait. Did you tell the kids?”
There was a second very long pause. Jax held in a groan.
“Seriously,” she said. “You didn’t?”
“I thought they’d take it better coming from you.”
“This isn’t my mess. Why do you think I should be the one to clean it up?”
“I don’t know what to say. I’ll get it wrong and make everything worse.” His tone turned cajoling. “You always know what they
need to hear.”
“Stop trying to bullshit me. You don’t want to be there in case they’re upset and they will be. Dammit, Harris, you let them
believe Shawna was joining our family. You let them think it was forever. They’re not going to understand this at all.”
“I’m sorry. You’re right. This is on me. I’ll get them from camp and tell them before I bring them by the house tonight.”
Jax allowed herself about five seconds to imagine how well that would go.
“I’ll do it,” she said. “After I talk to them, you can come over and we’ll have a family discussion about this whole situation.”
“I was going to go watch the game with some friends tonight,” he began. “Maybe tomorrow we could—”
“Tonight,” she said firmly. “Be at the house at seven.”
“Okay. Sure. See you then.”
Jax spent the rest of the day in a state of dread. She might not have wanted Shawna in their lives, but her kids had been
all in when it came to the person they thought of as their future stepmom. She’d been sweet and caring and Gentry had been
so excited to be a bridesmaid.
Ugh, this was so difficult, she thought, suddenly grateful she and Marcus were going slow. If they kept seeing each other,
she would keep him away from the kids for a very long time. They would need to heal from the Shawna debacle before meeting
any guy she was dating.
She picked them up from their camp at the usual time and let them talk all the way to the house.
When they got there, Xander called out that it was his day to get the mail and ran to the box.
She and Gentry had barely made it in from the garage when he burst in behind them, waving a small, thick envelope.
“I think it’s the custom collar,” he said, waving the package. “For Huckleberry. Can we go to the store after dinner and put
it on him?”
He and Gentry opened the package. A slim, lime-green collar fell onto the counter. Jax had found a vendor on Etsy who personalized
the collars and had paid for expedited shipping.
“I don’t know if Huckleberry is going to like wearing a collar,” she said. “I’d rather put it on him in the morning, when
I can watch him. We don’t want him trying to scratch it off.”
Xander’s eyes widened. “You mean like there’d be blood.”
“Don’t say that.” Gentry looked worried. “I don’t want him hurt.”
“I’ll be right there. We don’t know what his life was like before. Maybe he’ll love the collar.” Jax smiled reassuringly.
“But I want to go slowly with him and be careful.”
“That’s good,” her daughter said.
“What’s for dinner?” Xander asked.
Jax pointed to the family room. “Let’s sit down and talk first.”
The kids exchanged a glance but did as she requested. She saw that they sat on the sofa, close to each other. Because for
all the bickering between them, when something was wrong, they were there for each other.
“Everyone is fine,” she began. “Your dad and I love you very much.”
Xander reached for Gentry’s hand.
“It’s never good when you start a sentence that way,” her daughter told her, scooching closer to Xander.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. That was a silly thing to say, although we do love you and we—”
“Mom!”
“Right. The point.” She drew in a breath. “Your dad and Shawna broke up.”
Her children stared at her as if they didn’t understand. “They’re not together anymore and they’re not getting married.”
“But what about the wedding?” Gentry wailed. “There has to be a wedding. I want to be a bridesmaid.”
“We like Shawna,” Xander said, looking confused and hurt. “You mean she’s not his girlfriend anymore?”
“No, she’s not. You’ll still see her at school, but your dad and Shawna aren’t a couple.”
“But why?” Gentry asked. “They were getting married. Is this like a divorce before they even have the wedding?”
“No. It’s a breakup. Sometimes people realize that marriage isn’t a good idea.”
“So we won’t see her at the house? She won’t be here on the weekends?” Xander swallowed. “But I’ll miss her. She had a lot
of rules and stuff, but she could be fun. Plus she cooked a whole lot better than Dad ever did.”
Gentry looked stricken. “We were going to play with makeup and stuff. She was going to talk to you and tell you I’m old enough
to start wearing mascara. What about dress shopping?”
“I know.”
Jax held open her arms. Both kids rushed to her and hung on. She held them. Xander started to cry.
“I miss her.”
“Me, too,” Jax lied, thinking it was better to say that for the greater good.
Xander sank onto her lap. “I just don’t understand grown-ups. First we had to have a family meeting about Shawna coming into
our lives and now we have to have a family meeting because she’s gone. It’s confusing.”
“For me, too.” Jax smoothed her daughter’s hair. “I’m sorry you’re disappointed about the wedding.”
“I am! I didn’t even get to try on dresses. It’s not fair.”
Jax thought about pointing out that Shawna was suffering, too, but didn’t think that would make Gentry feel better.
“Is Dad mad at her?” Xander asked.
“I don’t think so. You can ask him when he comes over.” She wasn’t going to try to explain Harris’s decision to them—that
was on him. She’d done enough of his dirty work today.
He stood up. “I love you, Mom, but don’t get a boyfriend and then break up, okay? It’s too hard on the kids.”
She thought about her relationship with Marcus and was once again glad neither of them knew she was dating.
“I think that’s sensible advice. Thank you. So how are you feeling?”
Gentry sighed. “Confused. Sad. Disappointed.”
Xander nodded. “But you know what would make me feel better?”
Jax hid a smile. “I have no idea,” she said seriously. “What would make you feel better?”
“Pizza!”
“What a surprise. I assume you mean for dinner and not for some time in the future.”
“Mo-om, yes for dinner.”
Gentry sniffed. “I think it would help us heal.”
Jax laughed. “Okay. We’ll order pizza. Just don’t argue about the toppings.”
Ryleigh hung up the phone, her mind spinning. The recruiter at the San Diego school district wanted to set up a second interview
and had once again emphasized they would want her to start in August. That would mean her moving in less than four weeks so
she could get settled.
Could she do it? Could she figure out how to move her entire life south in that short a period of time?
More importantly, did she want to? She would have to give notice at her job here, rent out her place, find an apartment there and pack up—all in a few short weeks.
If the answer was yes, then she had a thousand things she needed to be doing.
If the answer was no, well, then she was going to stay here doing what she’d always been doing, surrendering her dreams of love and family, all the while desperately in love with a man who wasn’t ever going to love her back.
A thought too depressing to consider, she told herself. So she wouldn’t think about it right now.
She pulled into a visitor space at the small apartment complex where Shawna lived. Ryleigh had reached out after Jax had told
her what had happened, offering to come by and hang out. Shawna had accepted.
“Focus on the crisis at hand,” she told herself as she got out of the car. “I’ll deal with my move–not move dilemma later.”
She would also tell her sister what was happening. Keeping secrets hadn’t gone well at all and she didn’t want a repeat of
what had happened between them. Jax had said she would be supportive and Ryleigh was going to trust her to keep her word.
She went up the stairs and made her way to Shawna’s apartment. She’d barely knocked when the door was flung open and a teary
Shawna rushed toward her, hanging on tight.
“I’m sorry,” Ryleigh said, hugging her. “I’m so sorry Harris was such a dick.”
“He was. And worse.”
They went into the apartment and shut the door. Several suitcases were on the floor and clothes were scattered everywhere.
Obviously she was trying to pack, but not doing a very good job of it.
“I don’t know what to take,” Shawna admitted as she collapsed onto the sofa and shoved a pile of lightweight sweaters onto
the floor to make room for Ryleigh. “I can’t think, and making a decision about clothes seems impossible.” She covered her
face with her hands and continued to cry.
“I got samples today,” she said through the tears. “They came in the mail.” She straightened, grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. “Samples.”
“I don’t understand.”
She waved toward the cluttered kitchen table. Ryleigh got up and walked over, careful to step around piles of shoes and a
half-empty cosmetic case. As she got closer she saw samples of the save-the-date postcards Shawna had ordered. On one side
was a photo of her and Harris together, with a swirly font proclaiming Save the Date!