Page 16 of Attraction & Repulsion

“How do you know them?”

Stopping, she turned back to him. He was focused on her, seemingly uninterested in the silent auction.

“I’ve known Raegan since freshman year of high school,” Carson said. “We were on the same volleyball team.”

“Were they already high school sweethearts when you met?”

“Not till senior year. I stole Raegan’s heart first.”

Jax’s eyes gleamed for a moment as they moved to the last table. A few other lingering guests were huddled around a gift basket full of expensive summer sausages and Wisconsin cheeses.

“Does that mean you’re from around here?” he asked.

The rough fibers of a woven blanket scratched Carson’s fingertips as she stroked it. “Yes,” she said. “Well, I was born in Phoenix and moved to Prescott just before high school.”

Jax also reached out and rubbed his palm on the blanket. “Oh? What made you move from Prescott to Chino Valley?”

The question made Carson retract her hand. She had loved living in Prescott. Loved the trees that offered shade and the natural landscaping of the giant granite boulders. She adored the first home she and Luke had purchased. It had taken them two years to save enough money to afford the down payment. A little two-story nestled in one of the hills. It was where they were going to raise babies . . .

Glancing at the other patrons, Carson hesitated before saying, “I was in a car accident that killed my husband and . . . unborn son. I couldn’t live in that house anymore.”

Subconsciously, she placed a hand to her stomach, where her baby had been. The memory of seeing his silhouette on the sonogram strip for the first time popped into her mind. She had told Luke she thought their son had his nose. Luke didn’t think so. Still, she had pictured birthing a miniature Luke with a head full of auric ringlets, imagining those spirals bouncing when he learned to walk.

Her chest ached knowing she never had the chance to see if he’d hadLuke’s nose. Never got to kiss those baby cheeks. Never got to witness those first steps.

An emotion flashed across Jax’s face, as if he had just solved a puzzle. Then he frowned.

“Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” His voice was tight.

“I didn’t think you were,” Carson assured him.

“My ma always tells me that I ask too many questions. Sometimes I don’t even realize I’m doing it.”

There was a clatter from across the room. The event staff scurried over to a stack of chairs that toppled over.

“It’s getting late. I should get home,” Carson said, looking back at Jax.

“Right, late.” He peered down at the sizable titanium watch on his wrist. “Can I walk you out?”

“As long as you don’t try to jump me,” she joked.

“No promises.”

As he escorted her outside, where only a few other vehicles were scattered about, Carson recognized Jax’s truck on the opposite end of the parking lot before they had reached her own truck. Hers was newer and smaller than his. Black instead of red, gas instead of diesel, Toyota instead of Ford. Hers smelled like plastic and leather, not old dirt roads on a rainy day.

“Carson?” Jax leaned against the bed of her truck.

Before turning to him, she popped open her clutch to find her keys. “Yeah?”

Across the lot, a vehicle’s headlights swept across them. Quiet, Jax stared down at the asphalt beneath their feet. Finally, his eyes met her stare.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

Patiently, Carson waited for what he had to say. It was curious to watch him struggle with his thoughts, as he seemed to always be collected.

After another moment’s pause, he said, “I’m really sorry about what happened to your family.”

“Thank you.” Carson wasn’t convinced that’s what he was originally planning on saying. But the sincerity in his tone made her feel comforted in knowing she had made the right choice in telling him about the accident.

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