She gave me a puzzled look. “I don’t remember leaving anything. What was it?”
“Just random stuff. A phone charger under the bed and a pair of boots. Oh! And a tube of red lipstick called Ruby Woo by MAC.” I furrowed my brow as I recalled the fiery color. Jada and I were both a darker complexion and I couldn’t imagine her wearing it.
“Red? That must be yours because I don’t wear that color. You know that.”
“Well, it isn’t mine. Maybe it’s Lara’s,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. Lara hadn’t been over for months, but the tube was dusty when I pulled it from behind the plant by the back door.
I let out a sigh and turned back to the glass. My house felt so empty without Jada. She had lived with me after her divorce from Decker and I missed having her around. I found myself spending less and less time there . . . and more time with Max.
But the more time I spend with Max, the messier things get.
“I’m not prying, but is everything okay? You just seem . . . off. I know I’m married and having a baby, but I’m still your sister. And I also know that I’ve not always been there for you like I should have been, but I want to be now.”
“Everything’s fine. I’m not going to burden you with my stuff.” I turned to face her.
“You are never a burden to me.”
I blew out a breath. “I just think all this marrying and baby making from you and Cane is putting ideas in Max’s head.”
Jada laughed. “And the problem with that is what again?”
“Things with Max were never supposed to get to this point.” I let out a sigh. “It’s not that I don’t want to live with Max, I just don’t want him to get the wrong idea. But it’s Max, so he would. He’d have a nursery painted before I got my boxes unpacked.”
“I don’t get it. Why in the world would you not want to settle down with Max Quinn? He’s gorgeous and charming and successful and adjusted-”
“He’s perfect. I get it. I know.”
“So? What’s the problem, Kari?”
“Max comes from this big family. He wants a wife in the kitchen, babies at his feet, Sunday family dinners. It’s just,” I swallowed and looked away, “not something I see for myself.”
Jada touched my shoulder. “You might not want that right now and that’s perfectly okay. But . . .”
“But what?”
“But you need to figure out what you want. If you’re sure you don’t want Max for the long-term and he does, then you have to consider that.” A frown touched her lips and I could see she was torn. She was trying to be honest with me, but knew it wasn’t the easy answer I wanted to hear. “Have you talked to him about this?”
“Constantly. He asks me to move in nearly every day. And I would, Jada, I really would. But then that leads to the next step and that’s the one I don’t want to take.”
She tilted her head and frowned deeper. “You don’t want to get married?”
I looked at my sister’s hand on her tummy. “I don’t think I’d mind getting married.” I took a deep breath. “But I don’t want to have a family.” The words came out softer than I would’ve liked, but saying it too loudly would’ve given my voice too much room to crack.
”I never knew you didn’t want kids,” she breathed, looking at me like I was a stranger. Whether she realized it or not, she was right. There were things about me she had no clue about.
“Yeah, well . . .” I moved the box from one arm to the other, looking everywhere but at her. It was so much easier keeping things from her when she lived in Boston. “It’s just . . . complicated.”
MAX
“Joe Montana was the greatest quarterback that ever played football. Now that,” Cane said, tipping his Corona towards me, “is a fact.”
“I’m still going with Tom Brady. He has four Super Bowl rings and we both know the Patriots should’ve beaten the Giants in the other one. That was a loss I’ll never believe.” I sat my red plastic cup down on the end table.
“I’m sorry. I can’t handle you liking the Patriots.”
“Jada likes them, too,” I pointed out, watching his face twist in disgust.
“Fuck that. She only likes Julian Edelman and I think that has very little to do with football.”
I busted out laughing, glancing at my watch. “You’re probably right about that. Hey, it’s getting late and we should probably get going. I’m sure Jada needs to rest and I need to look over a few things for work tomorrow.”
Cane ran his hands through his short blond hair. “I got a letter from the court yesterday. Simon plead guilty to the drug charges against him and conspiracy to commit murder.”
“That makes it easier, right?” I asked, watching him try to keep his shit together. Simon Powers and Cane had a long, twisted history that had ended with a kidnapping and enough drama to write a book. I told Cane a number of times that there was no way Simon would get out of jail, not after everything that happened. I hoped this would settle him down a bit.