Middle of Knight (Jack & Jill 2)

“My daughter, Nora, went on a spring break trip with Maddie. We had coffee at the airport waiting for their flight to arrive.”

“Yes, I remember.” She finally did. Brad was in his fifties, but his loss of hair since she last saw him added another decade to his physical appearance, especially since he refused to just shave it all. The wispy combed-over strands were not attractive.

“You look amazing.”

“Oh, well, thank you.”

His inspection of her amazingness gave her a bad case of the creeps. “My divorce is final now. We should go out sometime for more than just coffee.”

“That’s a nice offer, but I …”

“You?” He inched closer.

“She’s taken.”

Ryn jumped.

Jackson stepped out of the vehicle, resting his arms on the roof.

“Oh, hi.” Brad smiled. “I didn’t realize Maddie had a brother.”

Ryn closed her eyes. There wasn’t a depth of hell deep enough to escape the humiliation.

“Funny guy. If you’re lucky, Ryn will get in the car before I have a chance to teach you a little lesson in manners.”

Brad held up his hands. “Sorry, man. Honest mistake.” He tipped up his chin. “See you around, Ryn.”

“Oh my God.” She sank into the seat and yanked at the seat belt, fumbling to fasten it. “That was the worst reality check ever.”

Jackson pulled away from the curb. “That you’re taken?”

“What? Taken? Are you serious? I’m taken alright. Taken for a fool. Who am I kidding? I’m not old enough to be your mother, but he thought so. What does that say about me?”

“He’s an idiot.”

“He wasn’t trying to be mean. It was an observation.”

Jackson shrugged. “You don’t look old. I look young. It’s this new moisturizer I’ve been using. I think it’s cut my wrinkles in half.”

The tight purse of her lips could not deter her smile. “Shut up. You’re so full of shit.”

“I’m not. It has this coconut oil base, and I dab just a little around my eyes at night before bed.”

“Enough. Just … don’t speak.” She laughed. “My ego needs a few moments of silence to grieve.”

All talk ceased as his hand took hers. She looked at their interlaced fingers and then at him. He could take her absolutely anywhere.

Chapter Eleven

A crisp, cool morning breeze crept though the western-facing window. The bed creaked with distress as Jillian flailed, tangling the sheet around her body and burying her head under the pillows.

“Jesus! What’s that sound?” Tearing the pillow from her face and flinging it across the room, she opened her eyes.

“Morning.” Jackson smiled around the tiny straw in his mouth and continued slurping the nearly empty contents of a juice box. “These are good. You should get them more often.”

Stretching on a big yawn, she rolled her head side to side. “Those are for the five-year-old twins staying with us. But I guess you’re not too far off, so …”

“You look like crap.” He shot the empty juice box across her room to the trash and of course he made it.

“Thank you. I love you too.”

“I told you inviting the ex-wife and her family to stay with us was monumentally stupid.”

Sitting up, she crossed her legs, resting her elbows on her knees. “Nice try, but that’s not it. AJ’s parents want him to move back to Portland for his treatment.”

“But he said no?”

“He hasn’t decided.”

“I’ll be back.” Jackson turned and Jillian leaped out of bed to chase after him, stopping him at the front door.

“Don’t you dare. You’ll have to go through me to get to him.” She stood tall, which was still short, and fisted her hands on her hips.

Jackson raised a single brow. “You do realize our sparring is for practice and exercise, but in a no-holds-barred situation I would take you down because I’m just physically that much stronger than you, right?”

“Maybe, but if I have to defend AJ from you, I won’t fight fair.”

“Which brings me to my next point.” With a wide stance, he crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m doing this for you.”

“On our way back from Portland AJ hit me so you hit him back. I get it, even if I let him do it. But this isn’t about me and that’s what hurts the most. I have to let him make his own decisions and in the end he might not choose me. Hell … he might not even choose himself. The love he has for his family is admirable, it’s us, Jackson.”

The growing lump in her throat made it difficult to breathe, let alone speak. “If I were dying would you let me go … would you let me die in the arms of anyone else?”

Jackson flinched. “That’s not fair.”

“Agreed. Life is not fair, but it’s all we have. I’ll let him go and so will you.” She pushed his arms away from his chest and hugged him.

“You want to go with him.”