“He is. Supposedly, he’s having marriage problems.”
“Oh man. That’s sad. I really like him and his wife.”
“I know. Me too.” She frowned. “But I haven’t heard anything about their issues.”
“Not like people broadcast their problems, Jenna,” Simon said, his hazel eyes deep with sincerity. “So many of my friends have divorced parents. I’m glad every day that my mom and Mitch are happy.”
“You got lucky. Me too.” Her parents acted in love all the time. And Jenna liked her sisters. She just wished she was getting along better with her mom, but she figured that to be a typical teenage rite of passage—arguing with your mom a lot.
“How did you find out they’re having problems?”
“Cade’s brother, Grant, is staying with us for a while since baseball season ended. He mentioned it.”
Simon paused. “Wait. Grant Weston?”
“Yeah. I don’t think you ever met him. The few times he’s been back to visit you were doing holiday stuff with your family.”
“The West Wind? That Grant Weston?” Simon sounded excited. “Holy crap. He’s an All Star!”
“Meh. It’s baseball.”
“Yeah, but he’s got one of the best batting averages in the league.”
“How do you know?”
Simon smirked. “It’s a guy thing.”
“Please.”
He turned where Jenna told him to, and they headed toward Cade’s house in the upscale development. “Well, actually,” Simon confessed, “Grandpa Lee really likes the sport, and this past summer, he took me to a few games in Seattle.”
“Oh yeah.” Jenna remembered Simon telling her about spending time with Mitch’s dad. “I hadn’t realized you got into baseball because of that.”
Simon flushed. “Grandpa Lee is cool. He made me see how much fun it can be to watch. Although this spring, I plan on playing lacrosse to keep in shape. Too much sitting around in baseball when you play, but I do like watching it. And I’ve been watching it with Mitch a lot.”
Jenna thought it really sweet how close Simon had grown to his stepdad. Mitch Flashman, an ex pro football player, had married Simon’s mom two years ago. Now Simon had a one-year old baby sister and a baby brother on the way. Mitch’s family had immediately taken to Simon and Simon’s mom, and Jenna could admit Simon seemed a lot happier now that he had a big, happy family to come home to every night, knowing his mom had someone to love besides Simon.
Simon parked in the driveway of a grand ranch-style house with a lot of land behind it. She spotted a large pickup truck with CL Weston Construction Co. on the side. He turned to her. “So what are you going to do? Just walk up to Cade and ask him about his marriage?”
“Something like that.”
Simon followed her out of the car. “Kind of gutsy to butt in, isn’t it? I mean, this is their private business.”
Jenna turned and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, putting on her serious face. “I don’t think you understand. Cade and Ellie are family. We do a ton of stuff together, and they help us as much as we help them. If something’s wrong with them, I need to fix it.”
He blinked. “You do?”
“Hey, between us, we fixed up your mom and your aunt, didn’t we?”
“True. Now I have a sister, almost a brother, and a nephew. Okay, lead the way.” He pointed ahead of him, and Jenna sniffed and made her way to the front door. She rang the doorbell just as a familiar Land Rover pulled into the driveway behind them.
The door opened, and Cade looked down on her in surprise. “Jenna?” He nodded at Simon. “Hey, Simon. Come on in.” Then he looked beyond them and smiled. “Little brother. Well, what do you know?”
She watched Cade pull Grant into a big hug and waited for the “bro bonding” to conclude. Inside the house, she noted a bunch of Alex’s drawings, surprisingly good for a five-year-old. he and his mom didn’t seem to be around, or else they were out back doing something away from the house.
After Cade managed to wrangle everyone inside, he shut the door, nudging out the cold. “You caught me at a good time. I’m heading out in half an hour to a job a town over. It’s a big remodel with nightmare clients.” He crossed his eyes. “You don’t want to know.”
“I, ah...” Grant glanced from Cade to Jenna and Simon. “I’d hoped to talk to you in private about something.”
