Sisters by Choice (Blackberry Island #4)(101)

“Of course. Let me know.”

“I will.”

She drove across the island and pulled into Kristine’s driveway, then raced inside. She found her cousin curled up in a corner of the sofa.

Sophie pulled her close and held her as tightly as she could. “Start at the beginning and tell me what happened.”

An hour later Sophie managed to get her into the kitchen where they sat at the island drinking hot tea.

“He didn’t leave you,” Sophie said for maybe the twentieth time. “He went to his parents’ house. He saw the boys and lived his life. He didn’t take out any money or stop his paycheck from being deposited. He wasn’t hanging out with his friends or looking for an apartment. He didn’t leave.”

Kristine shook her head. “He said he did. He said he knew I could walk out without a word because he did that to me.”

“He’s just being a guy. Come on. You know that. Jaxsen is great, but he has flaws, and manipulating you is one of them. He wants to get his way and he’s not always fair or mature about it.”

And when this was over, Sophie was going to find someone to beat the crap out of Jaxsen, that was for sure. He’d handled this badly from the very first second.

“Where did the two of you talk?” she asked.

“What?” Kristine reached for another tissue. “At the store.”

“And why was he there?”

“He knew Jerry was sick and—” She blew her nose. “Him helping me doesn’t mean anything.”

Sophie raised her eyebrows. “Right. Because if he didn’t care about you why would he bother giving up a few days off to make things right for you?”

“But he left.”

“He didn’t leave. He was a jerk. He’s been a total jerk. But he’s your jerk and from what I can see, now he’s trying to make things right.”

“He never said that. He never said he loved me or wanted me back.”

“No, he said he lived in fear of you leaving.”

“But I would never do that.”

“He thought you would.” Sophie really hated taking any guy’s side, but desperate times and all that. “Let’s walk through it another way. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Jaxsen really was thinking you kept your grandmother’s money separate as a way to leave him. Can we start there?”

Kristine nodded slowly.

“If he genuinely believed that, then having you come to him with a well-thought-out business plan would be his worst nightmare. What if you did it? What if you were successful? What if you made more than him? There are a lot of guys who can’t handle that. Jaxsen is pretty traditional. Maybe he saw your potential success as yet another threat. If he believed he was losing you, then the business was more proof you were heading in that direction. He got scared and he reacted.”

She deliberately wasn’t mentioning her conversation with Jaxsen. Not only had it not gone well, but he had been a total asshole. But maybe what she’d said had gotten through to him, at least a little. After all, he’d shown up to help. She could only hope that standing up for him wasn’t going to be a giant mistake.

“He didn’t react. He left.”

“He went to his mother’s. Come on, it’s not as if he was going to do anything while he was there.”

“I know what you’re saying and I get it, but all this time I thought he was sulking and trying to wait me out. I didn’t think it was real.”

“You two really need to talk.”

“I know.” Kristine looked at her. “Sophie, I’m so scared. What if this is the end?”

“What if it isn’t? What if you two finally sit down and talk about things? What if you come to a better understanding?”

“I don’t think we can.” Kristine sounded lost and hopeless.

“Sure you can. And until that happens, let’s pretend we’re moving in that direction. Where are the sleeping bags?”

“What?”

“The sleeping bags. Where do you keep them?”

“In the basement. There’s a big storage closet.”

“Great. I’ll go get three of them and air mattresses. You text Ruth and ask her to keep the boys tonight. You’re going to come home with me. We’ll play with kittens and hang out and have a sleepover. It’ll be like when we were kids. Heather’s staying with me and she can join us. We’ll get drunk and if something happens, Heather can be our designated driver.”

“I have a lot of stuff to do.”

“Nothing that can’t wait. You’re coming with me and that’s final.”

“But I—”

Sophie raised her eyebrows. “I’m not kidding.”

Kristine nodded and got out her phone. Sophie headed downstairs. She found the sleeping bags and carried them out to her car, then she texted Dugan to explain what was happening.

Rain check, he texted.

You mad?
No. You want me. You’ll be back.
She smiled and tucked her phone in her jeans, then went inside to get Kristine. Later she was going to give Jaxsen a piece of her mind and maybe a swift kick in the ass. Stupid man. But Kristine loved him and despite what she thought right now, Sophie knew he loved her back.