Sisters by Choice (Blackberry Island #4)(70)

He looked at Mrs. Bennet. “Probably something with cats, for starters. Maybe a local women’s shelter. Then leave a little extra for when the cute kids come by selling wrapping paper. Tell the organizations who ask to submit a proposal. Let your new office manager—”

“Tina,” she said.

“Tell Tina it’s one of her responsibilities. She listens to the pitches, writes up a report and presents it all to you in a single meeting. Then you decide.”

She pushed away from him. “Oh. That’s a really good idea.”

“I’ve got a million of them.”

“I never thought of delegating the charity stuff.”

“You never think of delegating anything.”

She ignored that. “I’m going to talk to her in the morning.”

“Excellent. Are you really not going to sleep with me?”

“I can’t. I know too much.”

“I figured. Want to go get some dinner instead?”

She smiled. “Sure, but you’re the rich one in the relationship so you can buy.”



Chapter Nineteen


Kristine had tried to figure out how to admit the truth, but despite lying awake for much of the night, she hadn’t come up with a single explanation that didn’t sound awful. Jaxsen wasn’t kidding about staying with his folks until she, as he put it, came to her senses. Her husband wanted to break her.

For the first few days she’d accepted that Jaxsen was still mad at her and wanted to punish her. As this wasn’t the first time he’d gone to his parents’ to sulk, the kids weren’t upset. She’d gone about her business, determined to wait him out. She’d cashed Ruth’s check, had met with Stacey to see the property one more time, but she hadn’t moved beyond that. She really wanted to talk to Jaxsen before she signed the lease. No, she wanted him to admit he’d been wrong and for him to support her. Only that didn’t seem to be happening.

Knowing she needed to talk to someone she trusted, she texted Sophie, saying she had a problem. Sophie texted she was on her way. A gratifying response that had her crying. She was still fighting tears when her cousin showed up at her house eight minutes later.

“What?” Sophie asked, bursting inside and grabbing her. “Tell me and I’ll fix it. Are you sick? Is one of the boys sick? Do you need me to give you a kidney?”

Kristine started laughing. “No kidney.”

Sophie stared at her. “Then why are you crying? Tell me.”

Kristine led the way into the kitchen. She poured them each coffee, then motioned to the stools at the island.

“Jaxsen moved to his folks’ house.”

Sophie had barely sat down. She immediately sprang to her feet. “What? That asshole. Is he cheating? I’ll have him beat up. I bet Bear knows someone who could beat the crap out of him. Let’s see how the young chickie likes him when he’s got two broken legs and some facial scarring.”

Kristine patted the stool. “While I love you so much, he’s not cheating. He’s being a jerk, but there isn’t another woman.”

Sophie sat down. “Should I start hating him?”

“Please.”

“Done. So what has your weasel husband been up to that’s bad enough to make you cry?”

“You remember the business plan I showed you?”

“Of course. It was brilliant. You’re doing it, aren’t you? You’re going to lease the space and open the bakery.” Her eyes widened. “Is Jaxsen telling you not to?”

Kristine felt her shoulders slump. “He’s been difficult about it.”

She told Sophie about the fight and Jaxsen leaving and the money from Ruth and how Kristine just wanted him to understand.

“Now I feel trapped,” she admitted. “He’s done this before—gone to his folks’ to punish me. But this is different. He wants me to bend, and I won’t. I miss him, but I’m not going to be the one to go talk to him.”

“Of course not. I can’t believe he said all that crap about you being a stay-at-home mom. You always wanted to do more and he was the one who stood in the way of that.” She squeezed Kristine’s arm. “You’ve been going through all this and didn’t tell me? I knew you were distracted before but I couldn’t guess why. You should have told me. I would have been here.”

Kristine ducked her head. “I was embarrassed about what he said. Plus, I thought he’d be back in like five minutes. By the time I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I didn’t know what to do.” The tears threatened again. “He’s being so awful. Has he always been like this and I didn’t notice?”

“Jaxsen’s an old-fashioned kind of guy,” Sophie told her. “He’s also really selfish. You take good care of him and the boys. You make it seem so effortless that he doesn’t understand all the time it takes. I’m sure he’s just as upset as you are, but he’s trying to wait you out.”

“That’s what I think, too. Which means what? He expects me to give in? This is my dream, Sophie. Don’t I get to have that?” She bit her lip before verbalizing her greatest fear. “Is it going to come down to whether I get to keep my marriage or have the career I want? Is it an either-or?”