“In a manner of speaking.” His tone was teasing as he lightly kissed her. “But not today.”
“While I’m intrigued, I couldn’t possibly, you know, do that right now.”
He smiled. “I wasn’t asking.” He pointed to the stairs. “Go sleep.”
She nodded, then managed to get to the apartment and into her bedroom. She kicked off her shoes, then fell on the bed fully dressed.
Just for a few minutes, she told herself. Then she would be fine.
But it was nearly four hours later when she surfaced. Afternoon sunlight poured into the room. For a second Jax had no idea where she was or what day it was, then the memoriesreturned and she nearly burst into happy tears when she saw Ramon watching her from the small perch in the corner.
“You’re still here,” she said, sitting up.
He flew over and nuzzled her cheek and ear. “I wish I had done everything with you.”
She laughed as she stroked him. “How can you remember that? I know it’s wrong, but I never likedThe GreatGatsbyand I couldn’t have read it to you more than twice.”
“Snacks now.”
“Are you hungry? What have you been eating these past few days? Did someone take you in or were you surviving on what you could find yourself?” Although the latter seemed doubtful. Ramon was a smart bird but she couldn’t imagine him foraging for his meals. He was kind of an indoor guy.
She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Ramon watched her freshen up, then together they went to the second floor where she dished up a healthy snack. As she waited with him while he ate, she thought about how horrible the last few days had been and how so many people had been there for her. Now that her world had righted, she needed to make sure she thanked every one of them—especially Marcus. The man had been a rock. She’d never been in a relationship where she could trust the other person to take charge. With Harris, she’d made all the decisions—well, except for getting a divorce. That had been on him.
As the thought formed, she had a nagging sense of something important being just out of reach. She tried to figure out what it was, but nothing came to her. Later, she promised herself. When she was caught up on her sleep and truly convinced her world had righted itself.
Chapter Twenty
Ryleigh walked from the district office to her car, telling herself that nothing was firm. They’d just been talking. Okay—she’d been interviewed, but it didn’t mean anything. The conversation had been preliminary. The fact that the recruiter had been willing to conduct the interview on a Saturday and had been enthused and talking about her starting in August was only information. Not an offer.
But she knew in her gut that she’d impressed and was likely to get a second interview. That would take place in the next couple of weeks. As for starting not long after that, well, she’d said she wanted to make a change in her life. Maybe this was how it was going to happen.
She glanced at her watch. It was barely noon. She’d gotten up early to make the drive from Port Palmas to San Diego. She had an appointment to look at two available apartments, then she would make the long trek home. She knew the traffic heading north would be much worse than it had been at seven that morning. She would have to drive through Los Angeles which was always busy. Still the trip would give her time to think.
She got in her car and plugged in the address for the apartmentbuilding, then followed her nav system’s directions. She pulled into the visitor parking of a huge complex with dozens of three-story buildings. The landscaping was nice, the area residential. Across the street was another large complex, which made her wonder about traffic at peak hours. At least it was only about fifteen minutes from the elementary school that had the opening.
She walked to the leasing office where she met one of the salespeople. Together they walked around the large complex. There were three pools, a gym, big common areas and a fancy rooftop garden with a nice view of the city.
“We have several ‘one bedroom with a den’ floor plans,” the fortysomething woman said as they stopped in front of one of the units. “Some are larger than others.” She smiled as she opened the door. “They’re priced based on square footage and where they are in the complex.” She stepped back to allow Ryleigh to go first.
The apartment had high ceilings and big windows overlooking a green space. The living room led directly into the kitchen, with an eating area off to the side. There was a half bath, a very small den and a main bedroom about two-thirds the size of the one she had now. But the closet was decent and there was a stackable washer and dryer.
“Is this one of the smaller ones plus a den?” she asked.
“Actually it’s one of the bigger ones. If you’re looking for more square footage, you’d need to go to a two bedroom and that takes the pricing to the next tier.”
Ryleigh tried not to wince at that. If she rented this one, she was already paying more than her mortgage back home. At least there was the half bath which gave her a place to put Lucy’s litter box.
“Okay, thanks for the info.”
They walked back to the leasing office with the saleswoman explaining about the nearby shopping and various restaurants. Ryleigh thanked her and promised to be in touch once sheknew if she had a job offer or not. When she was in her car, she pulled up her maps app and confirmed where the nearest grocery stores would be and checked out retail options. Then she started for home.
The nearly four-plus-hour drive gave her plenty of time to think. Yes, the interview had gone well and she was confident she would make it to round two. So what if she did get an offer? Did she want to move? A few weeks ago starting over had been exciting. Now she was both eager and resistant.
Moving would be a pain, as would settling in a new area. She wouldn’t know anyone. But the entire purpose of considering relocating was to shake up her life. Here she would have a whole new dating pool. What if the man of her dreams was right now scrolling through a dating app? She wanted a husband and a family. She wanted all the things she’d always thought she would have by now but didn’t. Her life in Port Palmas was good and she loved her family—both her biological one and the one she’d built with Alex and Noah. She had friends and a great job.
But there was no romantic love in her life. No promise of more and she knew she wanted more. So which did she choose? Because each path offered the chance of happiness, but also required her to miss out on something desperately important to her. And she couldn’t figure out which decision was the best one.
Refreshed from her very long nap, Jax went down to the bookstore to find everything running smoothly. Customers were browsing the books or being served coffee. The line for checking out was manageable and the front door was carefully closed with a large sign asking patrons not to let Ramon fly out.
