Lana McKenzie probably had great intentions somewhere deep down inside. Even though she’d adopted for the sake of the exposure and the accolades from her high-society friends, Jade wanted to believe there was a decent human being inside her mother.
Jade’s mommy issues aside, Piper was right. She had gotten a wonderful mom when Jax and Livie had gotten together. They made quite an adorable little family.
Jade tossed her soaked paper towels into the trash and came back to where Piper sat perched on a wooden barstool.
“Thank you, sweetie.” She wrapped her arms around Piper and kissed the top of her head. “I hope one day I’m an awesome mommy and have a sweet little girl just like you.”
She met Livie’s gaze above Piper’s head and her friend smiled. Jade couldn’t imagine their lives not here in Haven. They’d all loved Atlanta, but they had all agreed they needed a change. They just hadn’t known exactly what that change would be.
Over a year later, here they were. Livie with her family, Melanie well on her way to her own family, and Jade . . . well, she was slowly finding her way, and she wasn’t a bit sorry for the good time she was having along the way. She’d been prim, proper, and confined for too long. Most of it was her own doing, in an attempt to make her mother proud, but that would probably never happen, so she was finally starting to live for herself. And it felt damn good.
“It’s getting late.” Livie grabbed the wet towel from Melanie and took it into the adjoining laundry room. When she stepped back out, she looked to Piper. “We’d better get going; it’s a school night.”
Jade glanced to the clock and realized three hours had already passed. Her phone, which sat charging in the corner on the kitchen counter, had remained frustratingly silent.
Fine. Whatever. It wasn’t like she was begging him to give her attention or that this was some new relationship and she needed him to confirm his affection. But damn it. Couldn’t he at least reply? The more time that passed, the more she worried he’d say something.
Perhaps he’d already written off their encounter and he’d moved on. Jade did tend to overanalyze things, and Cash didn’t strike her as that type. He was likely either at the gym, training a client, or at the airport with the guys, trying to find a solution to the broken plane.
“I guess that’s my cue to leave as well because I drove them,” Melanie stated. “Are you sure you’re all right, Jade? I know you had a difficult weekend with the plane incident and then spending time with your mother.”
She’d gone over every detail of the over-the-top wedding, the horrendous hair and makeup, the condescending mother. She did leave out the fact that Cash had been her date, that he’d stood up for her with her mother and with Brad at the bar, and she’d definitely omitted the whole naked, dining-room-table sex.
Keeping secrets from her friends wasn’t something she ever did; granted, neither were one-night stands, but she did feel a bit of guilt keeping something from them. They’d been through so much together and had shared everything over the years.
“I promise, I’m fine.” Jade offered a smile as her friends gathered their things. “I’m still decompressing, but nothing the wine, some laughs, and a good night’s sleep won’t fix.”
Livie stopped as she pulled her purse up on her shoulder. ?
?When you get a chance, could you write a press release about the aircraft? The engine trouble was clearly unexpected, we always do preflight checks, give the stats of how rare that was, throw in some schmoozing about our stellar record and our eagerness to be the obvious choice for clients who want personal experience and—”
“I get it,” Jade said, holding up her hands. “I’m well aware of how to do damage control. I already started making notes on my phone, so I can have this ready to go in the morning. It won’t be difficult because this was the first incident with any aircraft from this airport and nobody was injured.”
Well, minus the cut on Cash’s forehead, but all things considered, they were both damn lucky.
Livie smiled as she sighed with relief. “Thank you.”
“I’ll be sure to layer in more details about the renovations and the grand reopening in the spring. I’ll make it all upbeat and impossible for any potential client to worry. Who better to do this than the one who survived the incident?”
Livie wrapped one arm around Jade’s shoulders and hugged her. “Thanks for staying. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”
Jade eased back and looked at her friends. “I can’t leave you guys. So, because you’re staying, I guess I am, too.”
She’d probably have to find her own place at some point, but for now, she just paid rent to Livie. They’d all done some minor renovations to the house when Livie had planned on selling, but as events unfolded, Livie couldn’t sell and Jade had landed a fabulous place to live.
Was this all too easy? Could starting over and coming home really be this simple? If she let it be, yes. There was no pressure right now, and she was in charge of her own destiny.
Once everyone left, Jade figured she’d work more on that press release. She ignored the glasses on the counter and just grabbed the bottle of wine as she headed into the living room. She settled down on the oversize chair in the corner by the window and booted up her laptop.
If her mother could see her now, with her purple nails and chugging straight from a cheap, convenience-store wine bottle . . . well, she’d probably officially disinherit her.
Jade worked from her notes and managed a few solid paragraphs but needed to look up some statistics to throw in for good measure and to drive the point home of how safe flying really was.
If she thought too much about the incident, fear and nerves curled all through her. She would definitely leave any personal feelings from the piece. Facts were needed and they were all that mattered. This airport needed all the positive press it could get as a foundation for building a successful business.
Yet they’d come so close to crashing if Cash hadn’t expertly handled the plane . . .
When Jade tipped back the wine bottle, she realized she’d already emptied it. Weird. She didn’t remember drinking that much.