“Yeah?” He perked up. “Okay. That helps.”
They went through the rest of the summer sessions and worked out the details.
“About the road trip,” she said. “How are you dealing with the logistics of the hotel? Gentry and Xander can’t be in a room by themselves. They’re not old enough.”
As she spoke, she told herself to stay calm. There had to bea solution to the problem, and together she and Harris would find it.
He frowned. “Why would they be in a separate room? They stay with me. We get two beds and a rollaway.”
“But that won’t work with Shawna staying with you. Everyone will be uncomfortable.”
Harris’s eyes widened. “She’s not going with us. The trip is for me and the kids.”
Now it was Jax’s turn to be startled. “But you’re engaged and you’re leaving for a week.” She thought about adding the whole engagement had come about because he wasn’t willing to go seven whole days without sex, but knew it wouldn’t make the conversation go more smoothly.
He looked away. “The trip is a special time for me and the kids. Shawna gets it.”
“So it’ll just be the three of you,” she confirmed. “Like always.”
“Yes.”
Surprising but okay. “Great. Then the last thing I have to discuss is your future mother-in-law.”
“Lindsey? What does she have to do with anything?”
“She came to the store to speak to me about our wedding.”
His expression turned completely blank. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Our wedding? As in...”
“Yes, that day you and I got married.” Jax felt herself getting annoyed all over again and took a deep breath to calm down. “Apparently she’s very concerned about Shawna’s big day not being special enough. She doesn’t want anything to be the same.”
“The same as what?”
For once she found his denseness comforting. “Honest to God, I have no idea. The woman’s a menace. She keeps bringing up the fact that no one in their family has ever gotten a divorce. That comment is frequently followed by a pointed stare. But that’s not the worst of it. She keeps grilling me about ourmarriage. At lunch it was intrusive questions about why we got a divorce. This past week, she was all about the details of our wedding. She even asked to see our photo album.”
His expression changed from confused to horrified. “You didn’t show it to her, did you?”
“I didn’t keep the album. I have a few pictures for the kids if they want them when they’re older and that’s all. She shouldn’t be my problem, Harris. I’m not the one getting married. I keep telling her to talk to you but she claims men aren’t into the details, which is true, but so what. I don’t want to have to deal with Lindsey. Talk to her and tell her to back off.”
Her ex visibly flinched. “I can’t say that to her.”
Jax did her best not to roll her eyes. “Because you’re scared of her?”
“A little. You’ve met her. The woman is intense.”
“If she weren’t bugging me, I’d find your fear amusing.”
His mouth twisted. “Thanks for the support.”
Jax grinned. “Hey, except when it comes to the kids, supporting you isn’t my job anymore.” She let her humor fade. “You’ve got to do something. I don’t want to be involved in your wedding. I barely know Shawna, so it’s not like she’s a friend. Yes, there’s the whole stepmother thing, but I want to put off dealing with that as long as possible.”
Harris leaned forward and grabbed her forearm. “I can’t do it, Jax. You have to help me. I’m in too deep and it’s getting out of control and I don’t know what to do.”
Uh-oh. Despite finding Shawna and her mother two of the most annoying people on the planet, Jax felt a flicker of concern for them both.
“What are you saying?” she asked quietly.
Harris looked around as if confirming it was still just the two of them, then said quietly, “They’re taking it all too seriously. With the planning and stuff.”
