Page 19 of Tangled in His Embrace

He crossed the room and took a seat next to her on the couch. After several minutes passed and she didn’t say anything, he touched her arm.

Her reaction was swift and immediate. She jerked her arm away from him and stood, putting several feet between them. When she faced him, her eyes were blazing with anger. “Don’t you dare touch me.”

“I’m sorry. I was just worried about you. You were so quiet—”

“You were worried about me? Worried? You stopped having a right to be worried about me when you walked out that door three years ago.”

He held his hands in front of him, pleading with her to understand. “I didn’t do it to hurt you. It was the last thing I wanted. But I didn’t want to be a burden to you and Taylor. She was so small and she needed you. I couldn’t take you away from her.”

Gabby got a hard look on her face. She pressed her lips together in a thin line and narrowed her eyes. “So instead you took yourself away from both of us.”

Before he could decide how to respond to that, she marched in the direction of her bedroom. He didn’t follow her.

Running a frustrated hand over his head, he contemplated driving home again, but decided against it. Not only was it dangerous, but he needed to fix things with Gabby. While he had little hope they would ever have the type of relationship they’d had before, they did need to find a way to interact for Taylor’s sake.

Jax took the bedding Gabby had brought out for him and began making up the couch. It crossed his mind that her bed would be a lot more comfortable, but quickly quashed that train of thought. If he walked into her bedroom right then he’d probably get something chucked at his head.

He kicked off his shoes, stripped down to his boxers, and slipped under the blanket. Staring up at the ceiling, he listened to the sounds of the house. Every now and then he thought he heard Gabby moving around in her bedroom, and he ached to go to her.

He closed his eyes and groaned in frustration. This was going to be a long night.

The sound of Gabby’s phone ringing had him sitting up. He heard her talking, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying. Given the time, it was most likely Taylor.

His suspicions were confirmed when, not long after he heard her stop talking, his cell rang. “Hey.”

“Have you talked to Gabby lately?” his mother asked, not bothering with pleasantries.

“Yeah. We talked earlier. Why?” There was no way he was going to tell his mom that he was currently on Gabby’s couch.

“I hung up with her a minute ago and... I don’t know. She didn’t sound like herself. Did you notice anything when you talked to her?”

He hated lying to his mother, but in this case he was going to make an exception. Or, at least, not be completely truthful. “Maybe you caught her in the middle of something.”

“I don’t think that was it. Maybe you should call her. It’s still early.”

“Mom, Gabby and I aren’t a couple anymore. I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate me sticking my nose into her business.”

“Yes, but—”

“Mom.” He waited for a moment to make sure she was listening. “I know you mean well, but Gabby and I have to navigate through things in our own way. You need to respect that.”

His mom sighed. “I just want to see you both happy again like you were when you were together. That day in the hospital after Taylor was born was the happiest I’d ever seen either of you.”

Jax didn’t say anything because there was nothing to say. He recalled the moment she was referring to. His heart had been full of love for Gabby, Taylor, and their future together as a family. The engagement ring he’d bought the week before was burning a hole in his pocket, but he wanted to wait until he was able to take her out for a nice dinner and propose the right way. The phone call from his doctor had come before he’d gotten the chance.

Needing to change the subject, he asked how things were going in Kansas City.

“She seems to like it so far. The weather put a wrench in our dinner plans, so we just ordered pizza and stayed in the hotel. She’s having fun channel surfing with Grandpa.” He heard her chuckle, and then her voice sounded farther away. “Taylor, did you want to say good night to Daddy?”

A few seconds later, his daughter’s voice filled his ears. “Hi, Daddy.”

“Hi, Pumpkin. Are you having fun with Grandma and Grandpa?”

He could hear the phone being moved and imagined she was probably nodding her head. “We’s order pizza ’cause it was rainin’ and Gran’ma didn’t want to get her hair wet.”

Jax bit the inside of his lip to keep from laughing. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t get wet.”

Their conversation went on for a few more minutes with Taylor telling him about the big trucks she saw on the way there. He loved hearing the way she saw the world.

---