Page 101 of Cougar

“Because of Zach?”

“No, because of Marcus. I gave her one of his letters, and it always makes her a little sad. Anyway, I was hoping if Zach wasn’t busy, he could take her out to lunch after her appointment.”

“I’ll mention it to him. Logan got in late last night, so Zach might drag him along.”

“She would love that. Is he just in town for the weekend?”

“Yeah. If he’s up before I take off, I’ll ask him if he wants to come to the party. You’ve never met him, have you?”

She huffs. “No.”

“All right. I’ll see you later, babe.”

“Bye.”

“Hey,” Zach greets as he walks into the kitchen, heading straight for the refrigerator and pulling out the orange juice.

“Hey, I was just about to wake you,” I tell him.

“Why?” He glances over his shoulder as he pulls a glass from the cabinet.

“I just got off the phone with Em. She said Jay was pretty upset this morning when she left for her appointment.”

“Why? Did Emerson finally admit to Jay that she has a boyfriend?” He smirks.

“No.” I narrow my eyes at him over the rim of my coffee mug before taking a sip and setting it down. “Jay gets a little sad when she reads one of Marcus’s notes. Em thought it would be nice if you took her out to lunch or something, after her appointment.”

Zach’s expression morphs into irritation. “Of course those notes are going to upset her. I get that Emerson is protective, but maybe she should back off a little and give Jay some space to work it out. It’s okay for her to be sad.”

I huff out a laugh because he’s right.When did he become so grown-up?“Believe me, I agree. Then again, I don’t have any children, so I don’t get an opinion. Em’s right to worry, though. Jay took Marcus’s death pretty hard.”

“I’ve heard.”

“Really?” I raise my brows. “She told you about the hospital?”

“Hospital?” He frowns and my heart sinks.He doesn’t know.

Closing my eyes, I exhale slowly through my nose. “What have you heard?”

“Just what I said. What happened at the hospital?”

Fuck.He’s not gonna let this go.“Nothing happened at the hospital. A couple of weeks after Marcus died, Jay was hospitalized for severe depression and dehydration. She was practically starving herself.”

Zach’s face pales. “What?” His eyes well up with unshed tears. “On purpose? She would never—” He shakes his head.

“She claimed she wasn’t trying to hurt herself on purpose. She was sad and hadn’t realized what she was doing.”

“Does Emerson believe her?”

“She does, mostly. At least she wants to, but that’s why she’s so far up her ass.” I shrug. “Jay’s all Em has left of Marcus.”

“I believe her. Jay would never hurt herself intentionally. She cares about way too many people to hurt them, let alone leave them.”

“How long have you two been sneaking over here to have sex?”

“Are you asking as awesome Uncle Cam or Emerson’s boyfriend?”

This kid.

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