Page 42 of Rival Hearts

“Of course, sweetheart,” Jett said. “I watched her put it up, myself.” In fact, Riley had made Jett stop by the store on the way home to pick up a set of magnets because she realized midway on the drive home that she didn’t have any to hang up a picture with.

Jett had smiled as she helped Riley put her leftovers in the fridge, and Riley made Jett help her position the picture in just the right way.

She had constantly been asking if it looked right or if Jett thought Natalie would like it.

Jett had thought it was sweet, but now her heart clenched. How could she have thought that Riley didn’t like her family?

* * *

“Jett, have you got a minute?” Lucinda asked and Jett knew from the look on her face she wanted to talk in private. Everyone else was busy chatting, they wouldn’t be missed.

Jett nodded and lead Lucinda upstairs to her childhood bedroom. She knew something was up as soon as she saw her Aunt Becky follow them up the stairs.

Uh oh…

When Jett got to the bedroom that was currently being renovated and redecorated so that Jett’s mom had a place for Emma when she came over, Jett left the door open so that Lucinda and Aunt Becky could come inside. Becky closed the door and stood in front of it with her arms crossed.

Jett gulped. She felt like a child being scolded again. She wasn’t sure what she had done wrong, but she was sure they would tell her.

Lucinda was the first to speak. “So the other day Riley asked me if anything had happened in the family. Apparently she was worried because you were barely talking to her,” Lucinda said.

Jett’s heart dropped. They were here to talk about her relationship. And maybe she needed it, but Jett definitely didn’t want to be lectured.

“Of course, I told her that nothing had happened,” Lucinda continued, “but what on Earth is going on between you two? Has she done anything? Has she hurt you?”

“Uh, nothing,” Jett said, but she didn’t sound so sure of herself. “I promise. Riley has been nothing but kind to me. Nothing is going on.” Becky rolled her eyes quietly and Lucinda scoffed.

“I might not see you very much at work, but Lucinda does,” Becky said. “So then, tell me why she’s said she’s hardly seen you and Riley together since last Sunday?”

Jett didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know,” she said. She did care for Riley, she really did, but she wasn’t sure if that was enough.

Becky sighed. “I know you’ve had a hard week, but you can’t neglect people who care about you because of it,” she said.

Jett lowered her head. She was genuinely starting to question if her relationship with Riley could work with her career. Jett deeply cared for her job, but now she found herself having negative feelings toward Riley for no reason because of it, and then there was the hospital gossip.

“Look,” Becky said, “I know how you are. I’ve seen how you handle relationships, and it’s not healthy. You can’t just avoid people when you start to develop too many feelings and you can’t just hide yourself in your career. If Riley has done anything wrong, or you don’t have feelings for her, that is totally fine. But, I see you, Jett. I know when you are running away from something.” Becky’s sharp eyes bored into Jett’s very soul. Nobody knew her, really knew her, like her aunt.

Plenty of people loved her, but it was her ever astute Aunt Becky that truly saw all of her- the good and the bad.

Lucinda nodded. “A career can give you a sense of purpose and it can be something that you love, and that’s okay, but your job will never love you back,” she said. “You need something in your life that you will.”

“Of course, you have us as your family,” Aunt Becky said, “but having a devoted partner can only help you.”

Jett wasn’t sure about that. She knew that opening her heart to new people not only was scary and required vulnerability, but it also required a lot of work. She wasn’t sure that she could do the work, and she was terrified of dedicating that time to someone, just for her to mess it up in the future.

Jett was with Sky for years before they finally called it quits, and she wasn’t sure she could handle that kind of heartbreak again.

“I think your whole life, you are afraid of loving in case you lose them like you lost your father. That kind of trauma never leaves us, Jett.”

Jett nodded slowly looking down at the carpet and picking at the threads on her sweater sleeve. She did miss her dad. Every day. “I just don’t want to get hurt,” Jett said, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Becky pursed her lips and frowned. “Are you saying that you’re not already hurting?”

That gave Jett pause, because no, she definitely was, and she had been for a long time.

“Let me ask you a question,” Becky said.

“Okay,” Jett said.

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