Never again would she shed tears for others. Not the least bit for him. From now on, there would only be laughter and fun in her life. No complications. Not if he could help it.
As he made a step toward the door, he heard Harley shuffle on her bed.
"Daddy?"
Her small voice pierced right through his heart. He sat on the edge of her bed, tucking her pink bear back under the sheets with his daughter.
"I didn't mean to wake you, sweetheart. Go back to sleep." Jax brushed his lips over her forehead. "You feeling better?"
Harley nodded as she rubbed her eyes with the back of a hand. "Yeah. Cade and I just hung out today. We had a movie night."
"Oh yeah? That sounds fun." He wanted to ask about Cade, but he figured he could search for her himself and get her all alone.
Harley raised a questioning brow at him, followed by a smile. "She's not here."
"Who's not here?" Even he wouldn't believe that he knew whom Harley meant.
Sure enough, Harley barked out a laugh. "You do know I'm eight, right?" Jax feigned knowledge, drawing his brows together, and rubbing his chin. Harley rolled her eyes at her father. "Cade's not here. She had to go back to her apartment because of a flooding from a burst pipe or something."
An alarm went off in Jax's head. "She left you alone?"
Harley cocked her head to the side. "You and I both know that Cade would never do that. I barely had time to go to the bathroom without her checking on me." With a yawn, Harley stretched out her arms and wiggled her body back down under the blanket. "We had a movie night, then her landlord called about the flood. She called her friend Juliette to look after me while she was gone. We thought you'd be back tomorrow morning. Cade promised to return before you do."
"You really like her, huh?" Jax nudged Harley's chin.
"So do you." Harley yawned once again, before snuggling with her pink bear. "Make sure you don't go into Cade's room. I think Juliette is in there. She's very loud. She might wake up the neighbours if you wake her up."
"Har, we're on the top floor. We have no neighbours."
"Exactly. Goodnight, Dad. I'll see you in the morning."
"Night, Har." Jax waited for Harley's breathing to steady, a sure sign that she'd fallen back to sleep before he stepped out of the bedroom.
As Harley's door clicked closed, he heard murmurs coming from the open main floor. From the landing, Jax witnessed something he thought he would never see. There, in the middle of his living room was Zee and a woman in sleep clothes. Could this be Juliette? Jax assumed so.
What was surprising was seeing Zee with his head bent and his lips pressed against the woman's. The woman in a hot pink tank top and candy striper shorts wasn't someone Jax thought Zee would be interested in. But who really knew what Zee liked?
To avoid any awkwardness, Jax cleared his throat to make his presence known. Zee heard him right away, dislodging from Juliette and stepping as far away as he could, as though she was fire and he had been burnt.
Try as he might, Jax couldn't keep the grin off his face as he descended the stairs. "You must be Cade's friend, Juliette."
Juliette was a head shorter than Cade and beside Zee, she appeared much tinier, but her eyes widened as she saw Jax. "Oh my god!" Yep, Harley was right. Juliette was loud.
Jax eyed Zee, who was scratching the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable. He had his hand stretched out to shake Juliette's, but she pulled him in for a hug instead.
"Ju-ju," Zee muttered a low warning, "Calm down." Zee sent Jax an apologetic look. "She's a big fan of yours."
Juliette released Jax, straightening his shirt with the palm of her hands. "Number one fan. Oh! Cade's not here. I was just telling Zee. Well, I was going to, but we got … " She waved her hand in front of her face. "Never mind. Cade's at her apartment."
"Yes, Harley told me. Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she called when she got there. She said her place was a mess. I think most of her stuff is soaked. She's just going to clean up then come back as soon as she's done," Juliette explained. Not only was she loud, she was also a speed-talker.
Jax crossed his arms over his chest as he contemplated how he could see Cade without disturbing her, and without making it obvious to everyone that he was trembling in his boots from the anticipation. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Juliette beat him to it.