Page 81 of Xander

“I feel pretty good about them, but I won’t know for another week.”

“You’ll crush it,” Xander said. “You always do.”

I watched them, almost in awe. Xander took an interest in Jasper’s life in a way Henry had never bothered to. In a way, he took on the father-figure role that Henry had willfully ignored.

Since he returned to my life, it had become abundantly clear that Xander was no longer the boy I once met. His personality was the same, and the unspoken rapport we shared hadn’t changed either, but he was now an established man who acted far beyond his age. The exchange with Jasper only solidified my theory.

It broke my heart that Henry couldn’t see him as the respectable man he had turned out to be and held him to impossible standards that basically guaranteed failure. He must take after his mother, I thought, watching him set the table while exchanging light banter with Jasper.

While they continued to catch up, I took the quiche out of the oven. It was perfectly baked. I always thought cooking was about intuition and baking was about instruction. If you could read a list on paper and follow directions, you could bake. That was what I loved about it.

Jasper insisted on dressing the salad, looking to me for approval as he held up a lemon balsamic vinaigrette. Neither of them had ever looked this relaxed at home.

“This looks amazing, Jordan,” Jasper said happily, loading his plate with a slice.

“It’s super easy to make,” I said with a laugh, pleased. “This was my mother’s recipe.”

“It’s good,” Xander said. “Really good. I’m impressed, jailbird.”

Jailbird.

I flinched at the nickname. I hadn’t realized how much I had let myself relax until I felt my shoulders tense and remembered our reality.

I glanced at Jasper, who had looked up from his plate with his fork in the air. He frowned at the nickname that had accidentally slipped from Xander’s mouth. Though he said nothing about it, he instinctively sensed the change in the atmosphere the way only a boy with a father like Henry could have.

The sound of a phone broke the tense silence. Xander reached into his pocket, excused himself, and went to the hall.

“Henry texted me after I got home,” Jasper said once Xander was out of earshot, looking at me with big eyes.

I stilled.

“He saw us on the jumbotron and wanted to talk,” he explained. “But I didn’t respond,” he added quickly.

I nodded slowly. “Thank you.” I couldn’t imagine a world where Jasper would betray me for Henry.

“I’m sorry again about my father,” he said. It was evident the guilt had been eating him alive since he found out.

“It’s not your fault, sweetie,” I said, staring at my own plate. I had served myself too much, and finishing it now seemed daunting. “I don’t think any of us could have known what a monster he’d turn out to be.”

Jasper scoffed. “Oh, we knew. We just didn’t think you’d believe us.”

I couldn’t argue the fault. Xander did warn me about Henry, and I hadn’t listened. I’d been convinced he didn’t want me to marry Henry because he thought I was a gold digger.

But it was never about money or even a great love story. The truth was that I married Henry because I felt indebted to him for taking over my conservatorship. If I had truly loved him, I’d be devastated about my marriage falling apart. As it stood, I was more worried about not falling into the same trap.

“No, don’t move her,” Xander said from the hallway. “I’ll be right there.”

I glanced at Jasper, who appeared to be listening just as intently. His mouth tightened.

Xander’s grim expression matched Jasper’s when he returned to the room, holding his phone in a tight, white-knuckled grip.

“Mom?” Jasper asked, and Xander nodded grimly.

“They were showing a movie in the break room that set her off. She had another episode. Apparently, she hit another patient and got pushed onto a table. It made her head bleed.” His eyes went to the remnants of our dinner, and he shook his head. “I have to go check on her.”

“Do you need me there?” Jasper asked, not appearing overly enthusiastic even as he made the offer.

I had never met their mother—Eirini—face-to-face. However, I’d heard she suffered bouts of irritation and anger from her brain damage, which generally ended with her throwing a fit. Jasper loathed dealing with the fallout, and I think Xander knew it, too.