We all needed a goal. Lisa was going to become mine.
I drove to the other side of town, which was a very short drive, and stopped in front of Jax’s house. Lisa reached over and touched my leg gently.
“I’m so happy for you, Kenny. Jax seems to still be a great guy, and I’m really glad that the two of you found each other again. Both of you deserve it. I just hope, if there is a fucking god somewhere in the universe, that he will bring me a man who looks at me the same way that Jax looks at you.”
“We’ll search the world until we find him.” I put my hand on hers and held it there for a moment.
“Ok, that’s enough maudlin for the rest of the week. Let’s go make Jax have some fun.”
She opened her door, and I got out of the car and walked around to meet her. We climbed the small set of stairs up to the front porch, and I knocked on the door. I heard someone inside, and a few seconds later, the door opened.
“Hey, Tammy. I was coming by to…”
“You were coming to see Jax. I know, honey. Sadly, he’s not here.” She frowned at me. That was weird.
“Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“I can’t believe he didn’t call you.” Ok – Tammy sounded annoyed. “I swear, sometimes that boy has rocks in his head.”
“What’s up Tammy?” I asked, concerned about what was happening. It couldn’t be, could it?
“Hi Lisa, honey. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. I heard you teaching at the school. I hope they know how lucky they are to have both of you.” She reached over and patted her arm.
“Thanks, Tammy. It’s good to see you again.”
“You too, honey.” Tammy smiled and turned to look at me. “I’m afraid Jax isn’t here.”
“When are you expecting him back?”
“Well, he didn’t really say. I guess sometimes before Christmas, but he didn’t tell me exactly when.”
“What?” He was just here! What the fuck?
“Honey, he had to go back to LA really fast. He said it was about his job. Apparently, the team wanted him to come back for a meeting.”
“He left today?”
“I was gone and found a note. I would have thought he would have at least texted you, honey. I’m sorry. It must have been something urgent.” She held out the note, and I looked at it. “I just got home a few minutes ago and found it on the fridge.”
“He’s not going to be here tomorrow. I guess he decided to take the coaching job with the team. Good for him.” I couldn’t hide the sadness in my voice.
“I don’t know what he’s doing. It would have been nice to have had some information or something. It’s just like him, though, isn’t it?” Tammy crossed her arms. “Do y’all want to come in? It’s quite chilly out here. Looks like it might even snow some.”
“No, that’s ok, Tammy. If you do hear from him, will you tell him that we stopped by?”
“Of course.”
Tammy walked in and shut the door, leaving me and Lisa standing on the threshold.
“Wow… And there’s the surprise.” Lisa frowned. “Coaching job?”
“I guess I have a lot to tell you.”
He didn’t even text. Maybe I didn’t mean as much to him as I had thought. He ran back to LA without even a goodbye. Dad would be crushed. I knew Principal Woodenhall shouldn’t have invited him. It was never going to end well. He didn’t belong here anymore, even if he didn’t want to admit it.
Maybe he didn’t belong with me.
Maybe this time, it would be him that broke my heart.
