“But no kids.”
“We never got that far in our marriage.”
“Did you want kids?”
His expression turned quizzical. “I did. I like kids.”
Check and check, she thought happily. “Are you currently seeing someone? You know, like, seriously?”
“Why all the questions?”
Because you could ask me to dinner and we could get to know each other better.
Jax mentally stumbled over that. What? No. Marcus wasn’t for her. Yes, she found him attractive and interesting, but there were bigger concerns here than her lack of a dating life.
“Jax? You okay?”
“Fine. Great. So, you know my sister, Ryleigh, don’t you?”
“We’ve met.”
“She’s nice. Pretty, don’t you think? She was in a relationship and it didn’t work out.” She felt herself talking faster and faster and couldn’t seem to slow down. “Now she’s talking about maybe moving away to make some changes in her life. But I don’t want her to go. We’ve always been tight and I need her to stick around.”
His neutral expression turned amused. “And that’s where I come in?”
“I’ve made a list of single men she could date. You’re on it.”
“Lucky me.”
She couldn’t tell if he was being funny or sarcastic. “She’s a great girlfriend. She’s funny. A teacher. Thoughts?”
He exhaled slowly. “You are one strange woman.”
“Surprisingly, that’s not the first time I’ve heard that comment.”
Ryleigh and Noah sangalong with the soundtrack fromThe Lion King. Alex hummed more than he sang, but then he’d never been much into musicals, although with a kid in the house, he’d learned to endure. They’d made good time on the drive down from Port Palmas and were only about thirty or forty minutes from their Airbnb rental near Balboa Park.
The three-bedroom condo had been a total score—especially over a holiday weekend. But there’d been a last-minute cancellation and the host had been thrilled when Alex had wanted to make the booking. While they would be eating out most meals, it was still going to be nice to have a place to hang out when they wanted to relax. Not that there would be much time for that.
“Getting excited?” Alex asked as he slowed in the freeway traffic.
“A little. Everything is starting to look familiar.” She turned to smile at Noah. “I went to college here. San Diego State.”
“Did you like it?” he asked.
“I did. I was away and on my own, which I wanted, but also close enough to home to go back for holidays. I could just drive myself and not have to worry about flying.”
“I don’t think I’d like being away from home by myself,” he said. “I’d miss everyone too much. Especially you and Dad.”
“I get that, but you might feel differently as you get older.”
Noah grinned. “You mean when I’m a teenager? I can’t wait for that. I want to learn to drive.”
Alex chuckled. “You’re seven, kid. You’ve got a few years to go.”
Noah sighed. “You keep reminding me.”
“Just keeping it real.”
