Her Ex: The Braxton Brothers Series Read online

  It wasn’t long before he pulled into the driveway and killed the engine. He took a moment to gather his thoughts as he scrubbed his face and pushed his hands through his hair.

  He wasn’t sure what he’d expected from Isabel when he got there that morning to help outfit her house, but watching her recommit to her fiancé hadn’t even entered his mind.

  Perhaps, he’d hoped she would see him showing up as some grand gesture. That she would see he’d changed. That she would see what he’d known all along.

  They were perfect for each other.

  But that didn’t happen.

  Jackson let out a groan as he pulled on the door handle and climbed out of his car. After slamming the door a little too hard, he clenched his hands into fists. None of that made him feel any better. If anything, it made him feel worse.

  No amount of anger was going to bring Isabel back to him. She was Bobby's fiancée, and after this weekend, she would be his forever.

  “You okay, sweetie?” Sondra’s voice drifted from the porch.

  Jackson waved his hand in his mom’s direction as he kept his head down and quickened his pace toward the garage.

  “Excuse me, young man,” Sondra said in a tone that made Jackson stop in his tracks.

  He knew that voice.

  “Sorry, Ma,” he said, turning and heading to where she stood. She had her hands on her hips and a concerned look in her eye.

  “Get up here and have some cookies and milk with your mother,” she said, pointing her finger down next to her.

  Jackson glanced up at her. He took deep breath in and then nodded. There was no use fighting her. Sondra Braxton got what Sondra Braxton wanted. She always did.

  “Okay,” he said, making his way around to the porch steps. After he climbed them, he walked over to where she stood.

  She glanced up at him for a moment, as if she could read him like a book, and then wrapped her arm around his and led him toward the back door. Jackson twisted the handle and held the door for his mom, following in after her.

  Once they were in the kitchen, Sondra waved him toward the table. He watched as his mom busied herself grabbing the milk jug and glasses in one arm and the cookie jar in the other.

  Wanting to help his mom, Jackson stood, pulled out the chair next to him, and then helped her unload the food and drink.

  After the milk was poured and Sondra set a handful of cookies in front of Jackson, she settled back in her chair with an expectant look on her face.

  Jackson picked up a cookie and dipped it into the milk as he tried to gather his thoughts. He knew his mom wanted answers, but he really wasn’t sure how to give them.

  “Best to start at the beginning,” Sondra said in an encouraging voice.

  Jackson took a bite of his cookie and nodded.

  “Bobby’s back,” he said, figuring it was probably best to just cut to the chase.

  “Who?”

  Jackson shifted in his seat as he fiddled with the crumbs on the table. “Bobby. Isabel’s fiancé.”

  When he glanced over at his mom, he saw that her eyebrows were raised, and she looked as surprised as he felt. “Really? When did he get back?”

  Jackson took another bite of his milk-soaked cookie. “Just after everyone left. He came rolling up in a taxi right when…” He let his voice drift off as the memory of his conversation with Isabel replayed in his mind.

  He had been ready to tell her everything. Tell her how he felt—how he’d always felt. Tell her about her dad. Tell her about how leaving her was the worst thing he’d ever done.

  And there was a moment there when he thought that she might admit the same…until Bobby showed up.

  “You were going to tell her that you love her,” Sondra said, matter-of-factly.

  Jackson closed his eyes for a moment as his mom’s words washed over him.

  Love.

  Yes. That was the truth. He loved Isabel. Body and soul. And time didn’t seem to change that. How could it? It had been eight years since he’d seen her. But all it took was a few days, a few hours, to fall back in love with her.

  And now he was right back where he’d been eight years ago, but this time there were two men standing in his way instead of one.

  The feeling of his mom’s hand on his caused him to open his eyes. He glanced over to see her soft smile. It amazed him how just being around his mom helped calm him down. Like she was there for him, willing to shoulder this burden with him, and it helped.

  “Did you tell her?” Sondra asked.

  Jackson cleared his throat. “Tell her what?”

  Sondra tsked. “Tell her that you love her.”

  Jackson thought back to their conversation. “Not exactly. I told her that I cared about her.”

  Sondra gave an exaggerated sigh. “Honey, you can’t afford to play around. If you love someone, you tell them. Openly and honestly. You can’t expect her to know how you are feeling if you don’t tell her.”

  Jackson blinked a few times as fear crept up inside of him. “But…”

  How could he tell his mom that he was scared? It might be ridiculous, but it was the truth. If he told Isabel he loved her, he wasn’t sure what she was going to do with that information. He needed to protect himself.

  Sondra sighed as she held his gaze. “She’s not a mind reader, love. She needs to hear the words. If what I saw earlier today was any indication of how she feels, I’d say she never truly gave up on you either.”

  Jackson’s heart squeezed at his mom’s words. Was that true? He parted his lips to speak, but Sondra beat him to it.

  “Listen, you both are in the business of protecting your hearts, I get that. But at some point, one of you is going to need to take the plunge and risk being vulnerable.” She said it so simply that is startled Jackson.

  One of them would need to be the first to take the risk. He drummed his fingers on the table as nervous energy built up inside of him. “But—”

  “I know Isabel Andrews. She loves her father, but she also loves you. Whatever Dirk Andrews felt eight years ago doesn’t matter anymore, and I’m pretty sure it never mattered to Isabel. You need to give her the chance to walk away, not take it from her by running away first.” Sondra picked up a cookie, gave it a good dunk, and took a bite.

  She seemed so relaxed. But Jackson felt like a jumble of nerves.

  Jackson leaned back in his chair as he folded his arms, his mom’s words rolling around in his mind. If he were honest with himself, he knew what Sondra said was true. He had yet again taken away Isabel’s ability to make a decision about their relationship.

  Eight years ago, he’d left. The fear that Isabel would repeat her father’s sentiments had dictated his decisions. He’d made the choice for the both of them. It had been selfish, an act of self-preservation.

  And now he wanted to give her the chance to decide what she wanted, except that chance was gone. “Her fiancé is here, and they are moving up the wedding,” Jackson said as he covered his hands with his face.

  Sondra chuckled.

  Confused, Jackson dropped his hands to stare at his mom.

  She took another bite of cookie as her laughter lingered in the air. Then she brushed the crumbs off her fingertips and smiled at him. “Oh, my son. You have such little faith in your mother.”

  Jackson studied her as her words settled in around him.

  When he didn’t respond right away, she sighed and straightened. “I don’t consider myself a meddler when it comes to my children’s lives, but I would classify myself as an encourager. Sometimes, it takes an outsider to see exactly what a person needs.” She waved to her body. “Outsider.”

  Jackson chuckled as he leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

  A slow, cryptic smile spread across her lips. “Just leave that to me. You focus on what you’re going to say to Isabel.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Jackson gave his mom a hug and walked out through the back door and over to t
he garage apartment. He climbed the stairs, unlocked the door, and slipped inside.

  Jenna was sitting on the couch in the living room. She was curled up with a blanket and pillow, and she looked…sad. There was a rerun playing on the TV, but she didn’t really look like she was watching it.

  Jackson plopped down on the chair next to the couch and let out a sigh. Jenna startled as if she hadn’t noticed him coming in. She quickly swiped at her cheeks and cleared her throat.

  Worried that there was something wrong, Jackson leaned forward. But his concern was met with Jenna’s forced smile.

  “How was your evening?” she asked, beating him to the punch.

  The day’s events rushed back to him, and Jackson flopped back in exhaustion. “Long. Confusing. Stressful.” He leaned his head against the back of the chair, tipping his face toward the ceiling. He closed his eyes and relaxed.

  “How did things go with Isabel once we left?”

  “Her fiancé came back.”

  There was a pause. “What?”

  Jackson met Jenna’s gaze. “Yep. He wants to speed up the wedding. They’re planning it for this weekend.”

  Jenna stared at him for a moment and then let out her breath. She pulled the blanket up around her as she snuggled in deep. “We should have just stayed away,” she said softly.

  Confused, Jackson studied her. “We?”

  Jenna didn’t meet his gaze as she returned her attention to the TV.

  “Jenna, what is going on? Why are you so sad?” Worried about his sister, Jackson stood and joined her on the couch.

  Jenna shifted away from him, wrapping her arms around her chest. “It’s nothing. I’m just overwhelmed by being here.”

  He didn’t believe her. Jackson leaned forward to catch her gaze. “You’d tell me, wouldn’t you? If there was something wrong?”

  Jenna kept her gaze glued to the screen, but Jackson could see the strain in her neck as she swallowed. Something was definitely up, but he could tell from her body language that he was the last person she was going to tell.

  So he sighed and leaned back, bringing one foot up to rest on the coffee table in front of them. He watched the screen for a few minutes before he turned to study Jenna one more time.

  He hated that his sister seemed so upset. And he hated that she wasn’t going to tell him what was going on. It was strange for her to be so standoffish. They’d never been like that towards each other.

  It was probably his fault. He’d promised to be her buffer this weekend, and yet, he’d spent most of his time trying to sort out his feelings for Isabel.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  Jenna furrowed her brow as she glanced over at him. “For what?”

  He looked at her for a moment. Had he misread the situation? Then he shook his head. It didn’t matter. He felt bad about ditching his sister, and he should apologize. “For abandoning you this weekend. I know I was supposed to be there for you, and I wasn’t. I’m sorry.”

  Jenna held his gaze and then sighed. “I know. And I’m not mad about it. You had to do what you had to do. I get it.” She turned her attention back to the TV.

  Jackson stared at her, trying to figure out what was the matter. If she wasn’t mad at him, why was she so upset? And then it dawned on him. He knew that look. He knew that feeling. She’d had her heart broken.

  “Who’s the guy?”

  Jenna snapped her attention over to him. “What?” she asked, her voice rising an octave.

  Yep, that confirmed his suspicions. He poked her in the side as he smiled. “You can tell me.”

  Jenna jerked away from him as she raised her hand. “There is no guy.”

  Jackson gave her a look. He didn’t believe a word of it. “Really?”

  Jenna scooted toward the other end of the couch as she buried herself again in the pillows and blanket. “No. No guy.”

  There was no way that was true, but he’d let her say that if it made her feel better. “Okay,” he said with a sarcastic tone. He leaned back on the couch and brought up his ankle to rest on his knee. Then he threaded his fingers together and laid them on his chest.

  Still not satisfied with his conversation with Jenna, he glanced over at her. “If there was a guy and he hurt you, you know I’d never let him live it down, right?”

  A protective surge rushed through his body as he studied his little sister.

  Jenna didn’t move to look at him. Instead, she just pinched her lips together and nodded. “I know,” she said.

  That was as far as they were going to get, so Jackson sighed and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. If Jenna wanted some privacy, he’d give it to her. After all, he hated it when people poked their noses into his stuff.

  Besides, he needed to focus on exactly what he was going to do tomorrow and what he was going to say. He loved Isabel, and he was ready to tell her that, no matter what she said in return.

  If she turned him down, it would crush him, but at least he would know he’d done what he could. And that was all he could expect from himself.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The next morning, Isabel woke up with a knot in her stomach. She lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling above her. Last night, after Bobby had spun into her life and asked if she wanted to get married this weekend, they relaxed and watched a movie.

  Bobby fell asleep on the couch and Isabel tried in vain to wake him, but he was no doubt exhausted from the jet lag.

  And Isabel wasn’t too heartbroken. She liked her privacy, liked waking up alone in her own bed. Here, she could think. When Bobby was around, he had a tendency to take over every conversation and shift situations to benefit him.

  Which she was normally okay with. After all, it was his take-charge personality that had attracted her in the first place. He could make decisions when she felt indecisive.

  And that was exactly how she felt. Nothing about yesterday had made her feel like she was making the right decisions in any part of her life.

  It was so nice to have the Braxtons show up to help with her house. A weight had been lifted off of her chest now that she was finally one step closer to bringing her dad home. And the fact that Jackson had initiated it…well, her whole soul swelled at the prospect of what that meant.

  And there had been a moment last night when she thought he was going to finally open up and be honest with her. When he was going to confess his feelings for her—and she’d wanted to do the same. But it never happened.

  Instead, he left her with Bobby, so she’d given the only rational answer she could have to his proposal. She’d said yes.

  Feeling frustrated with herself, Isabel threw off the covers and set her feet on the ground. She took in a few deep breaths and then made her way toward the bathroom for a shower. Hot water sounded like heaven right then.

  Fifteen minutes later, she emerged from the steam, wrapped in a towel. She padded over to her dresser and changed into a pair of cut-off shorts and a flowy top. She pulled her hair from the towel that was wrapped around it and studied herself in the mirror.

  She looked tired and stressed—a typical look for her. Reaching up, she tugged at her eyes and scrubbed her face with her hands. The pit in her stomach still remained. It seemed as if there wasn’t much that was going to ease the dread that filled her whole body.

  The dread that she might be making the wrong choice.

  Sighing, she tugged a brush through her hair and then applied some mascara and lip gloss. She braided her hair and pulled a few wisps loose to frame her face. After staring at her reflection, she sighed and shook her head.

  What was she going to do? How was she going to follow through on the one thing that she thought she wanted? Getting married to please her father had seemed like a good idea…until Jackson came back.

  She’d begun to doubt that she could replace love with responsibility. At least, not when her feelings for Jackson were back in full force.

  But he didn’t feel the same. At least, he wasn’t rea
dy to commit like she so desperately wanted him to. And his inaction had left her to try and figure out what she was supposed to do. Which part of her heart she was going to be true to? Her love for her father or her feelings for Jackson.

  “Ugh,” she whispered, hoping that would help silence the ache inside of her.

  Maybe after some breakfast and coffee, she would feel better. She opened her bedroom door and padded down the stairs to the kitchen.

  She half expected to see Jackson sitting at her table as he’d done a few days before. Instead, her kitchen was empty. The only sound she could hear was Bobby’s loud snore coming from the living room.

  She swallowed, hoping to push down her disappointment. She needed to accept that they were never going to be anything more than friends. They weren’t meant for each other. They’d had their chance and they both needed to move on.

  Grabbing her coffee pot, she slipped it under the faucet and turned the water on. She stood there, in a sort of trance, as the pot filled up. Then she busied herself with starting the machine.

  She wasn’t sure what she even had in the fridge for breakfast, so she grabbed a slice of bread and slipped it into the toaster. Just as the bread popped up, a deep voice filled the air.

  “Darn it, you’re already up.”

  Isabel yelped and turned to see Jackson standing in her kitchen with a white bag in one hand and a coffee carrier in the other. He looked so good in his dark blue T-shirt and jeans. He kept glancing up at her and then back down as if he was embarrassed to be there.

  Isabel’s heart picked up speed as she shifted her weight. This was not how she was supposed to be feeling for Jackson, and yet she couldn’t help herself. The sight of him caused her heart to gallop.

  Hoping to calm her nerves, she leaned against the counter and folded her arms. “Are you making a habit of this?” she asked, unable to hide the teasing in her voice.

  Jackson studied her for a moment and then walked over and set the white bag and coffee on the countertop. “I was here yesterday. I saw the state of your groceries. I thought I’d pick up some breakfast and drop it off before you got up.” Jackson rested his hands on the counter and tipped his face down. His shoulders rose, and she could see the stress emanating from him.