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“I appreciate that,” I told them. “I don’t know how this will end, but I’d hate to lose you both.”
“Not gonna happen,” Mitch said, and I turned to him. “We don’t want that woman in Radleigh’s life on a permanent basis. We never liked her, and we ain’t gonna start liking her now. Seems to me she’s just the same as she always was. And if he is stupid enough to decide he wants to be with her…” He sighed and shook his head. “We think the world of you, sweetheart. She won’t get in the way of that.”
It was oddly comforting to hear first-hand how Mitch and Deanna felt about Jen. Nothing they said would make any difference to the way Radleigh felt about her, but knowing they were rooting for us helped lighten the tension I’d carried around.
Forcing a smile, I said, “It’s not all bad. You have a grandson now.”
Deanna nodded slowly. “Yes. And awful as it might sound, I really wish we didn’t. It’s not the boy’s fault, but that conniving witch will use him to get whatever it is she wants.”
“Have you met him yet?” Might have seemed like a silly question since Radleigh had only met him the day before, but with the rush Jen seemed to be in to introduce him to everyone, it wouldn’t have surprised me if she’d taken him over for breakfast.
“Not yet,” Mitch said. “We haven’t made any arrangements for that yet. I think we all need a little more time to get used to the idea.”
“That’s for sure.” I sighed again. “It’s all moving so fast.”
“That’s Jen for you,” Deanna said bitterly. “She doesn’t waste any time in making her presence felt. She breezed back to L.A…. what? A week ago? Two weeks tops, and we only found out a couple of days ago, yet already it feels like she’s been here forever.”
I couldn’t speak for them, but Jen’s ghost had been a reality for me for as long as I’d known Radleigh. Not that I was ever truly worried she might return, just that there were little things that happened between Radleigh and me that reminded me he still wore the scars she gave him. No different to any other relationship, really – I sure as hell had my own – but Jen was like this larger than life image I held in my head that I sometimes felt I’d never be able to compete with. Those thoughts never stayed for long; most of the time they never even occurred to me. But they had lurked in my sub-conscious. Seeing her in the flesh had only made those fears come to life.
“Tell me about it.” I took Jessica’s bag off my shoulder and handed it to Deanna. “Something tells me she isn’t going to make this easy on anyone. I intend to avoid her as much as I can.”
“Radleigh mentioned something about you meeting Jayden sometime. How do you feel about that?”
“I think that’s a question to ask in a few weeks.” A familiar twinge pulled at my insides. Who knew where Radleigh and I would be in a few weeks? He might have chosen Jen by then and there would be little need for any kind of formal introduction to Jayden. “Besides, Radleigh needs to spend more time with him first. This whole thing has to be confusing for Jayden. He’s been whipped away from the man he thought was his father, and suddenly he has a new one. He doesn’t need to add anyone else to the mix right now. So… yes. I would like to meet him, but it’s a bridge to cross when things have settled down.”
Deanna placed Jessica’s bag on the floor and gave me another hug, understanding what I meant without me having to say it out loud, and I clung to her for a moment, hoping to convey just how much I loved her.
“This is going to be okay, you know?” she said as she released me. “I did not raise the kind of man who walks out on his family.”
“Even if he’s walking into another one? One that is his too?”
“Jen isn’t his family, honey. She’s the woman who had his child and then lied about it for five years. But you? You’re home to him. Everything you’ve built together… that’s real. And he’ll see it eventually. I know he will.”
I only wished I shared her faith in our future. Because as I stood there in Mitch and Deanna’s entrance hall, what I felt was the slow crumbling of the life I thought I had with Radleigh.
“I shoul
d go,” I said, desperate for a change of subject and scenery. “I don’t want to be late for Bree.”
With an understanding nod, Deanna said, “Sure. You go have fun. We’ll be home all day so take as long as you need.”
“Thank you.” I smiled then turned towards Mitch and Jessica. Taking her hand, I leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “Be a good girl for Nanna and Grandad, okay?” She smiled at me and I sighed, reluctant as ever to leave her behind.
“Go,” Mitch said with a laugh. “Go relax and forget about everything for a few hours.”
Chuckling, I said, “Okay. Thanks. I’ll see you later.”
**
“I have two rules for today,” Bree said as I sat in front of her in what had now been designated her make-up room. It used to be a bedroom, but since she had taken her new career so seriously, Jude had had the room fitted with an enormous window to let as much natural light in as possible, plus expensive lighting just in case she was working on a dark day or in the evening. A huge mirror took up most of one wall, and the opposite wall had been fitted with shelving to house all of Bree’s supplies. In the centre of the room was a work station with chairs around it, and that was where I sat, waiting for her to work her magic.
“Okay,” I said. “What are the rules?”
She pushed her red hair behind her ears and focused her eyes on mine. “One - we don’t talk about anything that might be upsetting or stressful. And two – you have to be totally open-minded about this. I’m not planning to make you look like a clown, but if I use a little more make-up than you’re used to, just go with it. Trust me. How does that sound?”
Her infectious smile did its job and I laughed. “Perfect.” The last thing I wanted to think or talk about was the situation with Radleigh. Just for one day, I needed some breathing room. Obviously, it played on my mind that the reason for this little make-up session might be cruelly snatched away from me, but it hadn’t been yet, and I needed to keep going as if nothing had changed.
“Cool.”
