Page 8 of Second Chance Dom

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Page 8 of Second Chance Dom

Jagger hugged him tight. “You’ll be okay. Afterward, maybe we can get some ice cream.”

“Dipped?” Kaden eyes widened in excitement.

“Whatever you want.”

“Okay.”

Kaden turned to Meg, who held out her hand.

“Let’s go see your mom.”

Jagger watched Kaden as he walked through a door to a back hallway. “I hate this.”

“I know. I do too.”

He turned to her, his expression lost. Intellectually, Chelsea understood Tanya’s desire to reconnect with her son, but in heart, Chelsea hated what she was doing to Jagger.

“Why don’t we get some coffee?”

He nodded and they walked back to his SUV. They drove the short distance to the local java joint, where he ordered a regular coffee and Chelsea ordered iced tea to cool off from the heat of the June day. They sat outside at an umbrella-covered table that offered shade but little to protect them from the humidity.

Jagger sat silently, his expression gloomy. Chelsea was still unsure how to respond to these moods. She’d only been able to break him of it one time, by having sex with him. That was no longer an option.

“Jagger, if you want silence and to be left alone, I can do that. But brooding doesn’t really fix or change anything. So, if you want, I can distract you from your doom and gloom and talk.”

He leaned his forearms on the table. “What do you want to talk about?”

She hadn’t thought that far ahead. She scrambled for something. “Why did you decide to rescue horses?” It was a dumb question, because she had already asked and knew the answer.

He stared at her for a moment but then sat back. “I own a horse farm. It seemed like it should have horses, but I didn’t want to train or breed them. Alexis suggested I could offer boarding. In researching and talking to Denny, he suggested taking in retired horses. The rescue started after a local animal control called looking for a place to care for several neglected horses they’d taken into custody.”

“Do you like it?”

He toyed with his coffee cup. “Yeah, actually, I do. It’s really the first thing I’ve done that’s mine.”

She smiled and, at the same time, felt sad for him. He was over thirty and only recently did something that was all his. Though he’d hinted earlier about the expectations placed on members of the Talbot family. “Your dad doesn’t like it.”

“My dad doesn’t like anyone or anything except money.”

“When we went to pizza after Kaden’s conference, you said you weren’t really settled in here, but seeing you in New York with your people, you didn’t seem to fit there either.”

He shrugged. “I don’t belong anywhere.” He turned away, his jaw clenched as if he didn’t like that he’d said so much. He turned back. “I left that life on purpose. I can’t complain. I’m rich, I’ve got my looks, and I’m raising Kaden. I’ve got everything anyone would want.”

“Belonging is fairly high on the hierarchy of needs.”

Jagger laughed but there was no humor in it. “You learn that in teaching school?”

“I was a psych major in college.”

He shrugged.

The nurturing part of her longed to soothe him, but another part of her was growing annoyed. He was right. He had a lot going for him. Yes, this situation with Kaden was difficult, but there was still a lot Jagger could do besides lament over the current state of things. “You know, if you got out more, like we did the week of the engagement, people would know you and include you.”

“I tried that.”

Chelsea scoffed. “A date with Dana Dalton doesn’t count as trying to assimilate into Charlotte Tavern living.” Her comment reminded her that she and Mitch had failed him by not trying harder to include him. “Maybe we can take Kaden to the park or city pool sometime. Or the library has some great summer programs he’d probably enjoy.”

“Actually, that’s a good idea. It could help my case too.”


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