Page 63 of This Is Love
They’re right. I’m not ready to explain what we’re doing to anyone we don’t have to yet, either.
When we get downstairs, Mom’s sitting on one of the couches, waiting for us. As soon as we enter the room, she sets her coffee down on the floor at her feet and stands.
I glance at Jaxon as she rises to meet us. He looks decidedly unsure of what to do or how to respond. At first, my mother comes toward us, arms outstretched, almost as if she’s going to hug one or both of us, but she ends up drawing them in, folding her hands together, and tucking them under her chin. “Hello, Jaxon. I know I’m not your favorite person, but it’s nice to see you.”
His mouth twitches upward on one side, and he hesitantly nods, meeting her gaze. “It’s nice to see you, too. But I don’t understand why you want to speak to me.”
“Both of you, really.” She clears her throat, then exhales, dropping her arms to her sides. “I hope I can trust you with this.” At her words, his gaze cuts sharply to me, theWhat the fuck?clear in his eyes. As for my mother, she gives her head a little shake, looking back and forth between the two of us. I don’t know if what she sees reassures her, or what. I honestly have no idea. A moment later, her voice rings out clearly. “I’m leaving your father, Jaxon. I’ve met with a lawyer who is helping me put things in place to serve Eric with divorce papers.”
My mouth is hanging open, I know it, so I make the effort to snap it shut. “Are you okay, Mom?” I have no idea what else to say.
“I’m going to be.” She nods to herself, then focuses on Jaxon. “Don’t be mad. I spoke to your mother.”
A gasping sound exits Jaxon’s mouth, and he simply stares at her for several long seconds until he finally rubs his hand over his jaw, eyeing her. “Why would you do that?” he bites out.
She holds her hands up. “It was a good conversation. Promise. She was fine when I left. I’ll be honest—I hadn’t understood how much trouble she was having until Logan filled me in, and I’m really sorry for causing problems with the whole family dinner thing.” She takes a deep breath. “Frankly, I wanted to ask her a few questions because Eric hasn’t been very forthcoming about… a lot of things. Brushing off my worries. Denying any wrongdoing on his part. It was too much, so as a last resort, I thought maybe I could find out the information I needed. There was something I was beginning to suspect, and Macie was able to give me confirmation.”
My eyes dart to hers. “What do you mean?”
She winces. “After that unfortunate dinner we had, I started poking around and discovered you were right, Logan. Ericwasdating me while he was still very much married.” On a sigh, she continues. “Jaxon, I want you to know I was told it was over. Divorce final.” She makes a slicing motion with her hand to emphasize her point. “I had no idea he hadn’t even told her there was an issue yet. That’s part of the reason why I wanted to speak to your mom. I asked her specifics about dates, wanting to know the whole truth.”
I put a hand on Jaxon’s back and can physically feel the effort it’s taking him to draw each ragged breath. “You okay?” I study his profile, and after a couple seconds his head jerks in the affirmative. “Is that it, Mom?”
She chuckles, grimly shaking her head. “We also discussed how he had to have hidden money in accounts no one knew he had. Macie said she was somewhat aware of their financial position previous to the divorce… and the numbers never added up. She got screwed over, for sure.” She steps forward, hesitantly reaching out to touch his arm near the elbow. “I’m so sorry, Jaxon.”
He drags in a ragged breath. “Uh. Yeah.” Giving himself a shake, he finally focuses on her. “What—” His face crumples like he’s trying hard not to lose it. “Sorry. What are your next steps?”
“I want to know, too. Because?—”
She holds up a hand again. “I’m taking measures now to make sure it doesn’t happen a second time. He’s lied to me our entire marriage. I don’t like knowing how he’s been treating you, Jaxon, and”—her gaze cuts to me—“I didn’t like how the second you questioned him he got on your case, Logan. There’s other stuff, too. But let it suffice to say I’m done.”
Jaxon heaves out a sigh, glances at me, then mumbles, “What can we do to help you?”
The smile that hits my mother’s face is nothing short of dazzling, but in her eyes, there are tears, and I wonder if she will ever forgive herself for the part she played in the suffering Jaxon and his mother have endured. “All I need right now is your silence so he doesn’t know I’m coming for him.”
Jaxon huffs out a laugh with a quick nod. “Done.”
“We aren’t saying a word, Mom. Trust me. But let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”
She steps close to give me a quick hug, then nods. “I’ll keep you informed. Both of you.”
I happen to turn my head at just the right moment and catch this funny look on Jaxon’s face. Before I see what’s about to happen, he pulls my mother to him and wraps his arms around her tightly. “Be safe,” he grits out, then eases from the embrace and walks out the door.
31
LOGAN
The timeon my phone reads half past seven. I’ve got thirty minutes to get to Rya’s performance. I clench my teeth. She says she’s ready. Honestly, I watched her practice yesterday, and she’s gonna fucking kill it. She’s beauty and grace and strength personified. I can’t wait to watch her on stage.
As luck would have it, my mother called as Jaxon and I were preparing to leave, so I sent him ahead to make sure Rya had someone in the audience early. Now I’ll be lucky if I’m not late to the performing arts center. Exhaling hard, I stuff my phone into my back pocket, grab my keys, and lock up.
I’m so caught up in the fear of being late, it takes me a second or two to realize I’m not alone in the hallway. There’s a slight sniffling sound that has my head whipping to the right. My entire body tenses.
Hazel sits in front of the door to the room she shares—shared, at this point—with Rya. She’s curled into a ball, arms wrapped around her knees, and has burrowed her face so deeply that the only thing visible is her blonde bun sticking up from the top of her head. It kinda looks like she’s ready for herperformance in terms of her hair being all done up, but why the hell is she still here?
I glance down at my phone again. T-minus thirty minutes until curtain. She should definitely be at the auditorium.
My jaw grinds. I don’t like her shift in attitude toward Rya, but I also struggle to see anyone upset to this extent. Clearly, something is very wrong.
