Loving Her (Mitchell Family #9)(39)

Deciding it was best to stay out of her way, I gathered up the boys to help get them ready for school. Jake usually listened and did well being independent, where Jax couldn’t do anything by himself.

Our first challenge was to pick out something to wear that didn’t match what his brother was wearing. As much as their mother liked them to be exactly alike, they hated it.

Another difference in the two boys was that Jake liked to dress neat, where his brother never wanted to match. Today was a perfect example. Jake picked out a t-shirt with a superhero on the front, and a pair of jeans. He grabbed his sneakers and started putting on a pair of socks.

His brother kicked and fought me. Finally, after he’d pissed me off enough, I told him to pick out whatever he wanted and meet us in the bathroom. Five minutes later, he came in wearing a yellow striped shirt with a plaid vest over top of it. His pants had random cars all over them and he topped it off with a pair of cowboy boots that were bright red. I’m pretty sure my mother got them at the dollar store one day when she was watching them, because there’s no way Miranda would ever buy them.

“Boy, what the heck? Are you seriously telling me that, out of all the clothes in your closet, all you could find was what you have on?”

He shrugged and grabbed his toothbrush. “I got dressed, just like you said.”

“You don’t match. Your mom is going to kick my butt if I let you wear that to school.” I wasn’t kidding either.

“I want to wear it. I look like a rock star.” He waved his hands out like he was already performing.

I laughed at him, while Jake looked embarrassed to admit Jax was related to him. “You have to change. Everyone is goin’ to make fun of us, Jax.”

“Shut up, butthead. I can wear what I want.”

“You look ridiculous, Jax. Your brother is right.”

“No, he’s not,” Jax argued. “I’m an American Badass.”

I had to bite my tongue, because if I made a big deal out of him saying a cuss word, it would only make him want to do it more. “Jax, watch your mouth. Your mother’s going to hear you and beat your little butt.”

Jake pulled on his brother’s vest. “Take it off!”

I grabbed them and pulled them apart. “Alright, let’s not fight about it. If your mom says it’s fine, then let your brother wear it. It’s his body. If he wants to look like a complete freak of nature with a Kid Rock obsession, it’s his choice.”

I heard the door closing and the women coming into the house as Jax ran out of the bathroom.

By the time I reached where they were standing, Miranda had already gotten an eyeful of Jax’s choice of attire. “Seriously? Jax Mitchell, get your butt in that bedroom and put on normal clothes.”

He put his hands on his hips and stood still. “No! Dad said I can wear it.”

I noticed Izzy laughing, but as soon as our eyes made contact, she froze in place. It was as if there was no one arguing in the room. Only the two of us existed in a bitter stare down.

Miranda nudged me as she grabbed Jax by the collar and started walking him back into his bedroom. His arms were flailing around as he tried to fight free. Izzy followed behind them, heading straight to her room without saying a single word to me.

All I could do was stand there next to Jake, feeling like I meant nothing to her. I don’t know why I couldn’t help myself, but I followed her into her room, where she refused to turn around and acknowledge me.

I started to say something, when she suddenly turned around. She was focused on my face, but her demeanor wasn’t friendly. Her eyes looked like she was trying to telekinetically hit me with things. That knot in my stomach returned, but this time, it was filled with both pain and disappointment. “I just wanted to wish you a good first day back at school, Iz.”

When she didn’t reply, I walked out of the room, saying nothing more. In fact, I headed out to pick up Conner and start on our rounds without saying goodbye to anyone.

Conner, like every morning, was already outside. He was feeding the hunting dogs in their pen and giving them fresh water. “I thought you said you were going to make the girls start doing that.”

Conner turned around and rolled his eyes. “That shit lasted one day. They dumped the whole bag of food in the pen and left it there, and then it rained. These two idiots would eat themselves to death if they could.” He pointed to the two dogs.

“I’d rather be in there with them than at my house right now.”

Conner turned off the hose and wrapped it back up. “What’s that supposed to mean? Randa cut you off or somethin’?”

I blew air out of my mouth. “Shit, you know that’s not happening.”

“I heard about Bells. That’s messed up, man. I know how much you two wanted to take that to the grave.”

“Yeah.” I kicked around some gravel. “It would have been nice.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Everything is so f*cked up now. I don’t even know who to be mad at. I mean, I hate that Noah and Iz took it upon themselves to look into Tucker, but I can’t blame them. I would have done the same thing. Kids are curious that way.”

“Have you talked to her?”

“I tried. She slept at my parent’s house, and this morning she refused to speak to me. It’s never going to be the same again, man. I can tell. She’s never going to look at me as nothing more than a liar.” My throat started burning and I had to fight my emotions. It wasn’t like I wanted Conner to see me all vulnerable. He’d have a field day for weeks picking on me.