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I shake my head, remembering how I chose to leave the conversation then and there. Poor Lex has no clue just how wild his daughters are despite them both being married.
And then I remember Austin and Ava’s wedding. How Jessa and Andy barely spoke a word to each other. They’ve been best friends for as long as I can think back, and yet the tension was palpable.
The first stop when we arrive back in the States is a meeting with Lex and Andy. Lex informed me yesterday of offering Andy a job. It made sense. We need a photographer, and Andy is the best person we all know.
During our meeting, we all get straight to the point despite me coming off eager when Andy asks when we want him to start. Kate shoots me an annoyed glance, but I ignore her.
And then, when Andy and I are alone in the room—I say what needs to be said. At least part of it. It wasn’t the moment to tell him it should’ve been him. It was always meant to be him.
Yet as I sit here inside Lex’s office, with Andy having just left, Kate is still on a call as Lex sits back in his chair with a deep sigh.
“I don’t like seeing my nephew like this,” Lex begins, tapping his fingers against the desk. “I didn’t want to mention anything in front of Kate, but when I saw him this morning, he wasn’t himself.”
“How so?”
“Late night partying, hungover, some unknown woman in his bed. Jesus, he couldn’t even remember her name.”
“We’ve all been there.”
“Right? And remember why we went through that phase? Random women and meaningless sex in our beds for just one night?”
I bow my head, my own time less than pleasant. It was a way to forget, bury ourselves inside some stranger’s pussy to forget a certain woman ever existed. I did it during my separation with Morgan and ended up with Nash. A blessing in disguise.
“Before I saw Charlotte again in the restaurant, I was destructive. Then, it all made sense, exactly what was missing.”
“Sure, but she wasn’t married nor had a son,” I remind him. “This complicates matters with Jessa.”
“You’re right. Eliminating Julian at the time was easier since they weren’t legally bound, nor did they have children. Noah, I’d never break up a family, but you’re telling me she’s not happy?”
“I know my daughter, Lex. She’s miserable.”
Kate walks in, interrupting our conversation. She’s intuitive and knows what we’re discussing but changes the topic to work for the rest of the afternoon.
* * *
Back in LA, it begins to eat away at me, and if anyone can give me more insight into this, it’s Morgan, Jessa’s mother.
“Noah?”
I stand outside Morgan’s office until she welcomes me in. She’s changed offices a few times as I haven’t been here before.
“Morgan, I need to discuss something with you.”
“Okay…”
“It’s about Jessa.”
Morgan draws her eyebrows together. “What about her?”
“Is she happy? With Benedict.”
Releasing a sigh, Morgan’s shoulders relax as she leans back into her white leather chair. Jessa looks so much like her—beautiful, of course. Despite our divorce and our turbulent past, Morgan is still an attractive woman.
“Unless my daughter expresses concerns, I don’t get involved. Noah, she’s not a little girl anymore, and you need to stop treating her that way.”
“I know she’s not a little girl, but she’s not fucking happy, okay? I saw her only last week. She’s not herself, and she’s given up her writing. I mean, the girl we knew who loved and only talked about writing has given it up.”
“Noah, she’s just had a child,” she reiterates, which seems to be everyone’s answer. “This is her first time being a mother.”
