“I had no idea.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to call the cops, but I saw you kiss him.” Bethany sighed. “And as much as I wanted to scream at the man for touching my daughter, I had promised myself years ago that I wasn’t going to be that woman. I know what you’re feeling.”
“Nothing is going to happen though. He left.” She shrugged. “He doesn’t want me.”
“I don’t think that is true, honey. I think he does want you, but I also think sometimes love and commitment can be scary.”
“He left.”
“So did you.” Bethany reached out and tucked some hair behind her ear. “You know, it is finally good to talk like this. For the both of us.” She wiped away Teal’s tears. “I have wanted to talk to you for so long.”
Teal wanted to cry. She wanted to burst into tears andnever let it stop.
Instead, she stared at her mother, hoping this pain would disappear.
She loved Jaxson, and what they had was gone.
****
Jaxon hated life. It fucking sucked. The job was the same. His old apartment was home to him, but it wasn’t right. It didn’t feel right to him. All he wanted was Teal. His students weren’t a great distraction. They all wanted to get straight As from him, but he didn’t give a shit about any of them.
All he wanted was his woman.
“When the time comes that you have to leave or she has to leave, it will feel like your entire world has been stripped apart and that you can’t even breathe.”
On Saturday, two weeks before Christmas, Jaxson got in his car and drove back to his old house. To the two houses that he and Teal had lived in.
He parked his car several houses away and climbed out.
Hector Carter, the guy he spoke to, could he have been right? Were the houses cursed? Had the houses really found him his soul mate?
“I know you.”
He turned to see an older woman wearing a distinctive leather cut.
“Excuse me?”
The woman pointed at him and then smiled. “Teacher. You were the previous owner.” She gave a chuckle. “Hector told me about you. That you looked freaked out learning about the power of the houses.”
“I don’t know you.”
“I know. I’m Elizabeth. I used to live not too far from those houses. I have seen a great deal, but I know my time is growing short.” She sighed. “I’m an old lady, and I wanted to seethe houses before I have to go.”
Jaxson had no idea what was going on.
“It’s nice to meet you, Elizabeth.”
“I’m not usually so morbid, but we don’t always live forever. Hector told me new people had moved into the house, but he’s been busy, and I figured I would come and see.”
Jaxson didn’t know if he should stay or leave.
“You, young man, do not look like a man who is happily in love.”
He ran a hand down his face, not exactly sure what to say to this woman. “It’s complicated.”
“You’re the teacher who happened to live next door to his student. You fell in love with her, and yet, you’re not with her. That doesn’t sound complicated to me.”
“How did you—”