still planning to share custody, but everything was written out, right down to the time she was required to drop him off and who was going to pay for the stamps for him to send letters to his grandparents. It sucked that, after almost eight years of co-parenting, it had come down to that. Lauren was none too happy about the changes, but considering there was a for sale sign in my front yard so her selfish soon-to-be husband could take a new job, she didn’t have much of a leg to stand on.
She’d reluctantly signed it, but it only made my reality that much more bitter.
“It’s going to be fine,” Lex said, giving my hand a squeeze. Dread pooled in my stomach as she skillfully guided the Chevelle into an empty spot in front of the departure’s terminal.
“It’s not going to be fine. It’s going to suck!” Jack complained from the back seat.
He’d been raising hell since Lauren had broken the news of our move to him. He’d seemed relieved when I’d told him I’d be moving too. But leaving behind literally everyone else, including Lex, had been a hard sell, one we were still working on.
“Relax, buddy, I’m just going to get the ball rolling on things. You’ve got another week before you have to leave.” I unbuckled and climbed out, leaning the seat forward to let Jack out while Lex rounded the hood.
I grabbed my bag out of the trunk and he stared at me like a disappointed father picking his son up from jail. “A week isn’t going to be long enough. These people are a mess, Dad. Mimi is going to cry again, and Grampa David will just stare at me a lot. Don’t get me started on Uncle Cal. Every time I see him, he gives me another twenty bucks. I am not complaining about the extra cash, but I know he’s only doing it because he’s sad and that makes me sad. This sucks!”
It did suck. So fucking much.
Especially when I looked up and saw Lex leaning against the hood of the car, her red hair cascading over her shoulders and a blank expression doing nothing to hide the tear-filled sparkle in her eyes.
My throat got thick, but I shot her a wink and did my best to swallow it down.
“Why do we have to move?” Jack continued. “I’m gonna hate Portland, and you know it. I won’t even have the guys to back me up at the new school.”
“You mean Nolan?”
“Yeah,” he huffed.
Setting my rolling suitcase beside him, I dropped into a squat to meet him eye to eye. “Bud, you gotta bring it down a notch. We’re all struggling here, and I know Portland is going to take some getting used to, but I promise, this time next year, I’ll have to drag you away from your new friends to come back to Atlanta for summer vacation.” I cupped the back of his neck and drew him closer. “You’ll learn to love it. I promise.”
He shuffled his Converse and turned his gaze to the sidewalk between us. “And what about you? Aren’t you going to miss Lex?”
My stomach wrenched. I would miss that woman every minute of every day. Every other week, while Jack was with his mother, I would sit alone in my new house, regretting my decision not to kidnap her when I’d had the chance. And most of all, there would be a gaping wound in my chest. One that I had absolutely no way to fix without her.
But he didn’t need to know all of that.
“Of course I will.” I caught her gaze over his shoulder. “But Lex is going to come visit. A lot.” Until it becomes too time consuming and we inevitably fall out of touch. “And we’re still going to be together.” Until the distance becomes too hard and she meets someone else. “And we’ll FaceTime all the time.” Until the agony of seeing her gorgeous face becomes the only pleasure I know. “We’re all going to be fine. You just have to put on a brave face and trust me and your mom to take care of the rest.”
“Ugh!” he groaned, throwing his arms around my neck. “Fine, but my brave face is not a smile. I hope you can live with that.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I chuckled and gave him a tight hug until he squirmed in my arms. “Listen, Lex is taking you to Cal’s to swim with the rest