“Thank you for forgiving me. I’ll be more careful in the future.” She scratched behind his ears, then asked, “Are you Huckleberry?”
The cat only purred.
Fences mended, she returned to work. A few minutes later a woman she didn’t know walked over to her and smiled.
“Is the work here done?” she asked. “It looks done. Or close. You’re nearly finished, right?”
“You mean the construction work?”
“Yes. Because if that’s the case, there’s only one job between me and when Marcus and his team can start. I’ve been waiting nearly seven months for him to find time to remodel my kitchen, which is two months longer than I thought it would be, and I have to tell you, I’m slowly losing my mind.”
Jax offered her a sympathetic smile, all the while wondering what she was talking about.
“You had to wait for Marcus and his team to start the job?”
The woman stared at her as if she was crazy. “Of course. Everyone does. He’s in high demand, so once he agrees to the project, you go into a queue. A job like this one ties up a lot of his resources.”
“That makes sense,” Jax said, then added, “Yes, they’re just wrapping up a few details here. Most of his guys are already working on the next job.”
“Thank goodness.” The woman sighed. “I’ll call him and see if I can get an exact date and hope there isn’t another months-long delay!”
Jax watched her leave. Why had there been a months-long...
“No,” she breathed. It couldn’t be that her job had taken several months, could it? When she’d first discovered the water damage, she’d had to ask around to find a new contractor. Her usual guy had retired. Marcus had come highly recommended, so she’d contacted him. He’d been out the next day, had given her a bid by the end of that week and had started a mere two weeks later.
Had he pushed her job to the front of the line? And if so, why?
She had a chance to get her answer later that afternoon when Marcus showed up. He crossed to her and smiled.
“How’s it going?”
“I’m crabby about my sister. I accidentally stepped on the cat’s tail, which I feel awful about, but he’s forgiven me, and I think Ramon wants to call him Huckleberry. Did you push me to the front of the line?”
Marcus held up his hands in the shape of a T. “That was a little too much information all at once. Let’s take this one thing at a time. You have every right to be mad at your sister. She was wrong not to tell you things had progressed to the point where she was going on an interview.”
“I know, right? It’s huge.” But even as she spoke, she started to feel her pissiness slip away and sadness take its place. “What if she leaves? What if I lose her?”
“You won’t lose her. She’ll always be your sister and you’ll always love her.”
“But things will be different and I don’t like that. I want her here.”
Marcus didn’t say anything. Jax glared at him. “You’re not taking her side, are you?”
“There aren’t any sides.”
“This is not the time to be rational. This is the time to agree with everything I say.”
His mouth curved up in a smile. “Do you mean that?”
“No, but it felt good to say it.” She sighed. “I know, I know. She deserves a life. She deserves to be happy. She wants a husband and a family. I get that. I just don’t know why she can’t have it here.”
“Maybe she can.”
“We’ve discussed this. There aren’t a lot of options.” She thought about Ryleigh’s unexpected confession about being in love with Alex. If only he would fall for her, all Jax’s problems would be solved.
“I want her to be happy,” Jax said, “But I need her to be happy here!”
He put his arm around her. “I think in your heart you need her to be happy wherever she is and you’ll love her no matter what.”
