Sisters by Choice (Blackberry Island #4)(102)

  Kristine went around in a fog. On the fourth day she woke up with the realization that she couldn’t simply abdicate her life. Whatever was happening in her marriage, she still had responsibilities. She had her kids and the store and everything else.

It was barely six in the morning. She showered, then went downstairs and fixed a hot breakfast for the boys. Once they were fed, she made sure they had what they needed for school and got them there with time to spare.

She reached the store and parked in front. She hadn’t heard from Jerry and she needed to follow up on that. The work had to get done so she could open. She also added talking to Jaxsen to her to-do list. They needed to sit down and find out where they were and what the next step was going to be.

The thought of having that conversation terrified her, but she knew there wasn’t a choice. They’d both been avoiding the hard stuff and that was getting them nowhere. If they were going to stay together, they were going to have to do better and if they weren’t... Well, she couldn’t think about that. Not and keep breathing.

She walked to the front door and unlocked it, then stepped inside. At first she thought she was in the wrong place. Everything looked different. The marble counter and display case were in place. Glass shelves gleamed and someone had even put in the pretty serving platters she ordered. The walls were painted the pale yellow she’d chosen. Underfoot the new flooring gleamed and there were baseboards and new wide windowsills.

She ran into the back. The cooling racks had been delivered and stood against the wall. In the pantry, the shelves were repaired and everything was freshly painted and clean. The store was ready—all it needed were supplies and her.

She pulled out her phone and dialed Jerry.

“I know, I know,” he said when he picked up. “I’m still running behind. We’ll be back by the end of next week, I swear. We’ll work over the weekend and get the place done.”

“It wasn’t you,” she breathed, a truth she’d known since she saw the place, but hadn’t been willing to believe. The band around her chest loosened and for the first time in days, she was able to draw in a full breath.

“Me, what?”

“The work. It’s finished. It’s perfect. Thank you, Jerry.”

She hung up and turned in a slow circle. Jaxsen had done this. He’d obviously taken off more than a couple of days to do it all. Something she would have known if she’d bothered to come by. He’d done this for her. He’d done this because he knew it would make her happy. He’d done it because he was a man and this was how he said he still cared.

Relief and love and hope flared inside her. She reached for her phone, then realized he would be at work already. She only called when there was an emergency. But texts were okay.

Thank you.
She wanted to say more, but not like that. Not so impersonally.

When did you finish?
Last night. Do you like it?
It’s perfect. Even better than I’d imagined.
I’m glad.
There was so much more she wanted to tell him. So much they had to talk about. He could have told her he was sorry. He could have said a lot of things, but this was so much more Jaxsen-like. There was still work to be done—both on the store and between them—but she no longer had that horrible weight on her heart.

  Sophie glanced at the clock on the wall and tried to stifle her impatience. Amber was late for their meeting. She wanted to say her cousin was just busy with work, but she knew the truth. Amber was exhibiting her usual signs of passive-aggressive behavior because it suited her purpose. That or she was avoiding her, and that wasn’t very good, either.

Amber showed up at seven minutes past two. She walked into the office and took a seat.

“It’s not true,” Amber began, crossing her arms over her chest. “Not any of it.”

Sophie frowned. “What’s not true?”

“Oh, nothing. How are you?”

Sophie thought longingly of the days when Amber had been a thousand miles away. That had sure been easier. Not that she regretted returning to the island. She really liked being close to Kristine and the boys, and being here made her feel more comfortable than LA ever had, but Amber was a giant pain in her patootie.

“I want to talk about Heather.”

No, what she really wanted to do was bang her head against the desk, but that would hurt a lot and might scare the rest of the employees.

“What about her?”

Sophie glared at her cousin. “Why did Heather leave?” She thought of Amber’s opening statement. “What did you do?”

“Nothing. I didn’t do anything. Come on, Sophie. You know how Heather is. It’s all about her. We have important things to be dealing with like being forced out of our home because my mother’s being selfish. Do you know what that’s like for me?” Amber’s eyes filled with tears. “I brought my baby there and raised her. Sweet Heather. Remember how pretty she was? Such a good baby. We all loved her so much and now we’re going to be homeless. I can’t deal with it. I just can’t. I can’t find a decent apartment because I don’t make enough and you won’t help me and now Heather’s gone.”

Tears trickled down her cheeks. While Sophie had been all in with Kristine’s pain, she was less sure about Amber’s. As for there not being enough money for an apartment, Sophie didn’t know what to think. She knew that CK paid its employees well and there were nice benefits. Amber should be able to afford an apartment on her own. Maybe not a luxurious one...