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“Are you sure you’re just going for one night?” Bryce laughed as I leaned my case against the wall at the foot of the stairs.
As it happened, the boys were having their stag/bachelor party the same night. The reason we were doing this so far before the wedding was because it was a freak weekend when there were no matches until Wednesday, and since we’d been so careful with our planning, Richard had given the team an extra day off so we could enjoy our celebrations properly. Cody Rivera was flying in for the night, and most of the team would be crashing at my house.
The mess in the morning didn’t bear thinking about.
I sighed. “I swear to God, Bryce, it’s not possible for a girl to travel light.”
Shaking his head, he continued to laugh at me. “I don’t get it. A guy can take the smallest bag and be set for a whole weekend.”
“Guys don’t have to make their faces look pretty, or carry around a salon’s worth of hair crap to look good.”
“You don’t need all that either,” he said. “Besides, I bet Bree will bring her truckload of make-up anyway.”
He had a point, but there was no way I was unpacking again now. As I frowned in the direction of my suitcase, Bryce said, “You look real stressed for someone who’s having a bachelorette party tonight.”
I looked up at him with a grimace. “That’s not the part that’s stressing me. It’s the wedding dress part.”
“Ah. You have to cast away the ghost of the one you had to get rid of.”
“Yeah.” The thought of my delicate, and now blue, wedding dress made me sigh. “Can’t even get a duplicate now since Radleigh has already seen it. I need to start over, and… what if I can’t find one I love as much?”
“You will. I’ve never known you to go shopping and not come back with something you love.”
A smile broke through my concerned frown. “That’s true. And, not that there’s any chance of a repeat, but just to be sure, Freya is taking my wedding dress this time.”
“Good call. But Jen’s back in town, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah. She’s left Harley at home with James and she’s here with Jayden for a couple of weeks.”
“Radleigh said there might be a chance of her and James working things out.”
Jen had come over to the house the day she arrived, and told us she and James had been talking about getting back together. They were going to marriage counselling, and hoping to work through their issues. As far as I could see, Jen was the only one with an issue, and that issue was keeping her knickers on. But what the hell did I know? Maybe James was an asshole who didn’t pay her any attention. That wasn’t the impression I’d gotten from everything I’d heard, but it wasn’t my relationship to judge.
“Is it wrong that I don’t trust her?” I asked.
Bryce shook his head. “I think it’s wise. I don’t think there is anything she can do to you and Radleigh now, but I still wouldn’t relax just yet.”
“Radleigh thinks her getting back with James is for the best. It would save a lot of hassle for everyone if she settled down again.”
“Maybe. Or maybe it won’t make any difference.” I drew my eyebrows together in confusion and Bryce continued. “The trouble she’s caused had very little to do with her wanting Radleigh back. It had to do with her getting her way and moving here with the kids. Getting Radleigh back would have been a temporary bonus at best. She doesn’t want him, she just hates seeing other people happy. If she’s thinking about being with James again, maybe that’s only because it’s her only option now. She doesn’t want a custody battle on her hands. She wants what’s easy and what will benefit her.”
In all honesty, I knew he was right. But what a sad way to live. Moving towards whatever would serve her best. Not even what was best for her children. I could maybe understand her desperation if she was trying to make sure they had the best life, but even then, I wasn’t sure that was how it worked. One thing I’d learned over the last few weeks was that happy parents led to happy kids. Jessica had been unsettled and restless a lot of the time when Radleigh had moved out, because I was unsettled and restless. When he came home, after a fe
w days normality came with him, and since then Jessica had been back to her usual self. Jen didn’t seem to be looking for happiness, though. She sought out quick fixes in the form of shopping and casual sex, and as an added joy in her otherwise lame existence, she tried to find ways to tear others down.
“Whatever she decides, I just hope she can do it without causing any more trouble for us.”
“Radleigh won’t let her get near you again.”
“I know.”
Radleigh strolled into the hallway, carrying Jessica. Her t-shirt was smeared with what looked like mushed up biscuit. He grinned. “She wanted a snack.”
Smiling, I rolled my eyes. “Get her changed before you take her to your mom’s. Everything she needs is packed and the bag is in our room.”
“I will. Are you ready to go?”
I nodded. “Just about.” I glanced down at my case again. “It’s a good thing I have a big car. I’m picking everyone up, and everyone but Kayla will have at least one bag. Bree will probably have four.”
