I examine the picture as Cassie pulls clothes from her dresser. She’s chatting about what she wants to do for her birthday party, and I’m half listening as I touch the frame. Cassie looks like she’s about three in the photo. My gaze roams to her mom. She’s breathtaking, and I can totally see the resemblance of mom and daughter, and definitely understand why Jaxon is still in love with her. A pang of sadness settles in my stomach.
Easy, Rach. This is a sex only affair with a timeline.
“That’s Mommy,” Cassie says flatly, and I lift my head to see her staring at me.
“She’s very pretty, Cassie. Like you.” I set the photo back down and listen to the voices down the hall as Jaxon speaks with his in-laws.
“Grandma and Grampa told me Mommy loves me.”
I hold my arms out to Cassie and she comes to me. I give her a hug, and pull the elastic from her hair. “I’m sure she loves you very much.” Cassie shrugs and I reach for the brush on her nightstand. As I run it through her long, blonde curls, Cassie frowns at the picture.
“Daddy wants me to keep this on my nightstand. He doesn’t want me to forget Mommy.”
“Mommies are very special.”
She goes quiet, and I wonder what’s going through that busy brain of hers. “Do you have a mommy?”
“Not anymore.”
“Do you miss her?”
“Very much.” Needing a chance in subject, I say, “I bet Gina is going to love her doll.”
“She’s going to love it.”
“Do you want your hair in a ponytail, or do you want to leave it down?”
“Down,” she says and bounds away, bouncing back from mommy conversation much quicker than me. I help her put all her clothes into her bag and follow her to the bathroom to get her toothbrush. Jaxon’s voice has lowered significantly as he speaks to his in-laws in the front entrance way.
Once ready, she runs down the hall and throws her arms around her grandmother and it brings a smile to my face. Judy lifts her head, and her smile falters a bit when she sees me. “Nice to see you again, Rachel,” she says.
“You as well,” I say, and smile at both her and Karl. I turn to Jaxon, who blinks quickly when he catches me studying him. I’m not sure what they were talking about, but it must have been serious, judging from the concerned look on his face.
“She has a party to go to at two tomorrow,” Jaxon informs them. “If you could have her back here at one.”
“We’ll drop her off at the party. Just let us know where.”
“You sure?”
“We want all the time we can get with her,” Karl says and picks up her bag. Jaxon produces the invitation. “The address is on here. I’ll pick her up at four when it’s over.”
“Perfect.” Karl bends to his granddaughter. “How about pizza tonight?”
“Yay, I love pizza.”
Jaxon gives his daughter a kiss and hug before her grandparents lead her out the door. Once gone, Jaxon locks up and turns to me.
“About those steaks.”
“Everything okay?” I ask and follow him into the kitchen.
“Yeah, sure.”
Between my father and my ex, I can easily tell when someone is lying or keeping things from me. It’s not my business, but Jaxon is clearly upset and I don’t like seeing him like this.
“Jaxon, what is it you’re not telling me?”
He lowers himself onto a kitchen chair and pulls me onto his lap. He takes a big breath, lets it out slowly and says, “I got a text from Sarah last week.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, came out of nowhere.”
“Why now?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say it had to do with our run-in with Jessica. They were best friends and maybe they’re still in contact.”
I stiffen in his arms. A text from Sara. Is that what had him distracted for the last week? Here I thought it had to do with either Cassie nearly catching us in bed together, or the incident at the school, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe the thoughts of seeing Sara again has him preoccupied. Why wouldn’t it? He still loves her and wants her to come back to them clean.
“Oh. What did she want?” I ask, not sure if I really want to hear the answer.
“Not sure. Judy heard from her too out of the blue. She’s said she thinks she might have been able to talk her in to coming home.”
“Oh, wow.”
“That could just be hopeful thinking, though. I didn’t want to burst her bubble or anything, but Sarah’s has a knack for saying what you want to hear. So many times she told me she was going to get clean. She convinced me every one of those times. I guess I just wanted to believe it, you know. There was a child involved.”
I nod as I think about that. “How did you two meet? You guys don’t seem…” I let my words fall off and Jaxon laughs.
“Don’t know how to say, I’m from the wrong side of the tracks, delicately?”
I crinkle my nose, and hope I hadn’t hurt his feelings. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I was, and I hung out at a bar. It’s now called Jericho’s after my buddy bought it. It’s not in a great neighborhood. Jericho and I go way back. He’s a good guy. Married to a great girl. You’d like her. I should introduce you guys,” he says like it’s
