“I know things haven’t been great.”

“Filing for divorce is a little beyond not great. Just yesterday morning we fought over whether Caleb should bring carrots or apples to preschool. I accused her of not caring about him the way she cares about her clients. Over snacks!” Shame overwhelmed and choked her. “That was the last thing I said to her.”

“It’ll be okay.”

“I shouldn’t even be here. We’re barely in each other’s lives, and we wouldn’t be at all if it wasn’t for Caleb.”

“You’re here because she’s still the woman you’ve loved since your freshman year of college. It’s been, what? Sixteen years?”

“Seventeen.” Jax looked at the shiny floor in thought. “Fourteen were happy, but the last three have felt like walking through the darkest valleys of hell.”

Wyatt chuckled. “It couldn’t have been all that bad.”

“It was.”

Wyatt looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time. “How did I not know?”

“I didn’t want to burden you. You and Carly are in such a good place. I didn’t want to scare you away from the altar with my marriage woes.”

“What happened?”

She blew out a long breath and looked around at the strange faces passing her. Where should she start? “We fought a lot and never really healed after—” She stopped herself from saying more and pressed her fingertips to the glass. “The worst part was how she was never around to even try. Her work came first. Always. I hated seeing Caleb come in second, and I couldn’t handle being in third place. I didn’t even want to talk to her when she eventually came home.”

“I’m so sorry, bud.” Wyatt placed his hand on Jax’s shoulder.

Jax waved off his caring expression and the tears that traveled down her cheeks. “Enough about me and my soon-to-be ex-wife who may or may not live to sign the divorce papers.” Jax felt detached from reality as she laid her situation out in one sentence. “How’s Carly feeling?”

Wyatt shifted, clearly skeptical of the sudden mood and subject change. “She’s ready to not be pregnant anymore, but we still have about five weeks to go.”

“I’m really excited for you two.” Jax really was, but she could barely muster up a smile. “Speaking of kids, I should probably get mine that cookie I promised.” Jax started to get up, but Wyatt stopped her.

“I hope we’re good parents.”

Jax let out a small, sad laugh. The idea that Wyatt wouldn’t be a good father was ludicrous. “You will be.”

“I see how you are with Caleb, how Gretchen was—is.” He cleared his throat. “I want to be that good.”

Jax finally stood. She took Wyatt’s empty coffee cup and tossed it out along with her full cup. She patted his shoulder. “You got this.”

They walked through the small café one last time to grab Caleb’s snack and started back toward Gretchen’s room. Just outside the door, Jax paused and looked at Wyatt.