Page 9 of Hargrave Artistry
He planted his hands on his hips. “Now, see, that doesn’t sound sincere. I’m legit now.”
“Not a chance.”
He sighed, as if she had always been the problem. “I came by as a courtesy.”
She tapped the stick against her palm, hoping she looked threatening.
His boy-next-door friendliness flicked off, a downright ugly defiance coming over him. “If you say anything negative about me, I will sue you for slander.”
“I have only ever spoken the truth,” she reminded him. In court and everywhere else—though she preferred not speaking his name at all.
She’d taken herself to therapy, gotten her head screwed back on straight, and had no intention of letting him mess her up again. Though she held his gaze, she saw the movement behind him. She wasn’t alone, no longer easy-pickings. “You’re trespassing, Jackson.”
Brayden Leggett, Veronica’s best friend and currently part of their security team, jogged up behind Jackson. “Nat! Hey! I’m glad I caught you.” He skidded to a stop. “Oh, gosh. Am I interrupting?”
“Not at all,” she said, smiling despite Jackson’s protest. “What’s up?”
Brayden was giving off an excellent all-innocence vibe, though he couldn’t hide his fit, intimidating bearing. She couldn’t wait to tell Roni about this.
“We’ve got more firewood coming. I wanted to be sure I wouldn’t be in the way.”
“Perfect timing,” she said. “Thanks.”
Jackson stuck out his hand and introduced himself. “I’m Natalie’s husband.”
“Ex-husband,” she corrected him. Talk about slander! She shifted her attention to Brayden. “He doesn’t remember me talking about you way back in the day. His poor listening skills are only one reason we divorced.”
“Oh,Jackson.” Brayden repeated the name as if it finally clicked. “I thought he was in jail.”
Her ex glared at them. “I’m right here.”
“As if it matters,” Natalie huffed. “You came by. Noted.” Tossing the stick, she shooed him away. “You can go.”
With Brayden there, Jackson couldn’t try anything stupid. He didn’t even toss out any threats about stopping by later, though she was sure he would try.
“Want to talk about it?” Brayden asked when Jackson drove off in his fancy car. “The team got the update that he isn’t welcome here.”
She threw her arms around him, suddenly trembling. “Thanks. Sorry.” She stepped back. “Thanks for rushing to the rescue.”
Brayden studied her with sympathy. “He’s trouble?”
“Mostly just to me. He’s a con man. A good one,” she admitted. “I can’t imagine why he’d even try to pull something here.” She lifted her chin.
“What did he want?”
She shrugged. “To warn me, I guess. Involve me somehow. He promised to sue me for slander if I bad-mouth him.”
“You should tell Jess all of that,” Brayden suggested. “It’ll help her build a file.”
“Right. Okay.” Nat sniffed. “She’ll want to know he came back. Thanks again.”
She reached for her phone as he walked away, but she couldn’t bring herself to make the call. Why did it feel so challenging? She’d done more difficult things than give good people a warning about Jackson’s bad behavior.
Probably because this time he was being a jerk in the place she called home. Seeing him near the house where they’d built so many wonderful family memories stirred up her fury. She couldn’t let him contaminate this place she loved.
With a series of deep breaths, she calmed herself down. This incident was a blip on the radar, not a hardship ready to drop on her. She gave herself a pep talk that it was natural to feel emotional and out of control as some of that old baggage bubbled up.
One more layer to release.
