“So you’ll just string her along until you get tired of her, then you’ll dump her. The kids will be so proud.” She couldn’t believe he was being such a jerk.
“Get off of me,” he told her. “This isn’t your business.”
“She came to talk to me about being family. That makes it my business. Besides, the kids are going to find out about the wedding. They’re going to be intrigued by the idea of a stepmother and then they’ll get attached. What do you think they’ll feel when you end things?”
“Maybe I won’t. Maybe I will marry her.”
“That’s your answer? You’ll marry someone you don’t love to spite me. That’s very mature.”
“You’re making this more than it is,” he told her. “It’ll all work out.”
“For your sake, I hope you’re right.”
She rose and walked out. Emotions swirled inside of her. Disappointment, frustration and compassion, but only for Shawna. Harris had screwed up before, but never this badly. If she’d ever had any lingering doubts about their divorce, this would have silenced them for sure. Shawna was going to be devastated when she found out the truth and while Jax wasn’t going to tell her, eventually it would come out. Unless Harris suddenly fell madly in love with his fiancée, nothing about this situation was going to end well.
Chapter Six
Jax opened one cupboard after the other in what seemed to be a futile search for a colander. One of the few downsides of sharing a house the way she and Harris did was his refusal to put things back where they belonged. If he’d had a different spot he preferred she would have been totally fine with the change. The problem was Harris never put items back in the same place. One week the masher was in with the cutlery, the next it was tucked behind the frying pans.
“Any thoughts on the colander?” she asked.
“Try in the pantry, Mom,” Xander offered helpfully. “When Dad’s in a hurry, he shoves stuff in there.”
She opened the pantry and after a quick search found it sitting on top of several cans of soup.
“That man,” she murmured, thinking the colander was the least of it. She was still in shock about the proposal. Just as startling, she’d discovered that Shawna had made quick work of informing the world about her engagement. Both her kids already knew, although her daughter’s excitement was significantly larger than her son’s.
Gentry came in from the half bath and held up her hands.“I’m done, Xan. Your turn.” She walked over to Jax. “I’ll set the table, Mom. Then I can help with the salad.”
“Thanks, sweetie.”
They were having chicken salad made with their favorite chicken nuggets from the place by the boardwalk. She’d stopped there on her way to the house. Harris wasn’t a fan of any kind of salad, but she and the kids liked the crunchy vegetables and fruit she always put in. She’d already mixed up a quick batch of biscuits that were baking in the oven. In the summer they substituted grilled corn on the cob for the biscuits.
Jax set out sweet peppers, jicama, radishes, grapes and pineapple slices. She left the lettuce for Xander to rinse and tear up. Gentry was starting to practice using a knife in her prep work. So far Jax was only giving her easy things to cut like the fruit while keeping the trickier vegetables for herself.
“How was school?” she asked as her daughter collected forks and napkins for the table.
“Good. After dinner can we go online and look at bridesmaid dresses? I don’t know what they look like.”
“Sure, but you don’t get to pick them. The bride does that.”
“Are they always the same? Because what looks good on one person might not look good on another.” Gentry frowned. “I’m a lot younger than Shawna’s friends and I don’t have—” She glanced over her shoulder, as if making sure Xander was still out of the room. “I still don’t have boobs, Mom. What if the dress looks stupid on me?”
“Shawna seems like the type of person to take that into account,” Jax told her. “Sometimes the dresses are all the same color but they’re different styles. I’m sure her friends have different body types. You’ll be the youngest, but that doesn’t mean the dress won’t look amazing on you.” She smiled. “You’ll have the advantage of youth.”
“You mean she’ll be the baby,” Xander said with a grin as he returned to the kitchen.
“You’re just jealous because you’re not going to be in the wedding.”
Xander shook his head. “No way. That’s a girl thing. I wouldn’t want to have to dress up like that.”
“Maybe Shawna will want you to be a ring bearer,” Gentry said. “You can wear shorts and a jacket and carry the ring up to Dad.”
Xander looked horrified. “I don’t want to do that. Mom, do I have to?”
Jax shook her head. “You’re too old to be a ring bearer and even if you weren’t you’d get a say in participating. You can sit with me instead.”
He exhaled in exaggerated relief. “I don’t think I’m going to like the wedding. Adults kissing is gross.”
