Six days passed, and Jax had yet to feel like Gretchen was ready to see Caleb. Or maybe Jax just wasn’t ready. Gretchen’s behavior was consistent, but unpredictable, too. Her odd memories and lack of knowledge scared Jax, and she wasn’t sure she wanted him to be around her. What if he got hurt? But she supposed keeping him from his mother wasn’t exactly harmless.

“How about this,” Jax said, kneeling beside his chair. “You finish that waffle without throwing any more on the floor, and I’ll take you to see Mama later today.”

His amber eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yes.” She had to slow Caleb down when he started shoveling the waffle into his mouth. “Chew. You’re going to make yourself sick.”

Caleb dressed himself quickly and practically bounced out of Jax’s apartment into her truck. She worried Gretchen wouldn’t want to see him, and she would, again, be the bad guy in Caleb’s eyes.

She picked up her phone the moment she settled into her desk at the office. She dialed one of the few numbers she knew by heart and was relieved when Wyatt answered right away.

“Is everything okay?”

Jax laughed. “That’s a tough question to answer, but yeah, everything’s fine. I just needed to talk to someone who wasn’t Amanda or four years old.”

“What about Meredith?”

Jax knew Wyatt was teasing her, but she still felt it necessary to defend her relationship. “I can talk to Meredith about anything, but this is more best friend territory.”

“What’s up?”

She bought herself some time by opening her design programs and pulling up her latest project. “I know you’ve stopped by the hospital once—”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around more.”

“Dude, you don’t have to apologize for anything. I appreciate everything you’ve done, especially the supportive texts. I get it. Your wife is about to have a baby. That’s sort of big.”

“So is she. Don’t tell her I said that!”

Jax laughed loudly. “Listen, I was wondering if you could possibly stop by the hospital today. Even if it’s just for a few minutes.”

“I’ll talk to Carly and see what I can do. Other than Gretchen missing me, why the request?”

Jax shouldn’t have been ashamed of her motives, but she couldn’t help the icky feeling in her gut. “Gretchen’s memories don’t really add up, and I figured if you stopped by, you’d be able to get a feel of the situation.”

Wyatt was silent for a minute. “Are you asking me to see if she’s lying to you?”

“No,” she said quickly, but the word felt bitter on her tongue. “Not exactly.”

“Sure sounds like you are.” She could hear Wyatt’s displeasure.