8

Jax and Tara's Unexpected Christmas

Author's Note: If you haven't read Tara's Story or Tara's Perfectly Imperfect Christmas, you can still understand this story. I'll fill in the information you need to understand the story, but this story fits into all the stories that I write and it also stands alone. And, there's a guaranteed happy ending or your money back.

THIS IS A REPOST OF THIS STORY. I POSTED CHAPTER 3 A FEW DAYS AGO. I WAS LOOKING AT THE SITE WHEN I DISCOVERED THAT MY STORY HAS MYSTERIOUSLY VANISHED AGAIN. THE FIRST CHAPTER DISAPPEARED FOUR TIMES. NOW MY ENTIRE STORY HAS DISAPPEARED AGAIN. I DID TRY TO UPDATE THE STORY, BUT IT DIDN'T WORK.

Chapter 3 Like a Kicked Puppy

I stood my ground. It would have been easy to leave the kitchen, but I wasn't about to let Gemma think she had hurt me. My unhappy time away from Charming had begun to toughen me up. Heartbreak will do that.

"I wouldn't know about Satan's birthday, but I'm sure you'll find out one day when you meet him."

I hoped Gemma got that I had just told her that one day, she would go to hell.

"I thought goth was out," Gemma said, trying again to wound me.

"It's more in than badly striped hair. Your hair is a cross between a zebra and a tiger. Really, Gemma, striped hair is for animals of the non-human variety."

Gemma was rocking a particularly bad highlight job. Her hair was dirt brown with thick burnt orange highlights in a striped pattern. I counted eleven stripes.

I'd never been so openly mean to Gemma, but now, it really didn't matter how much she hated me; I didn't have to be nice to her for Jax's sake anymore. I was going to leave town and what Gemma thought of me didn't matter.

Gemma smiled and it was the scary smile that meant that she had just come up with something that she was sure would crush me.

"Do you know how many girls Jax has screwed since you?"

It was too bad for Gemma that I had already figured out Jax had drowned his heartbreak inside every available girl. Jax liked girls and they were drawn to him. We hadn't been together when he was with them.

"OK, this is fun," I said with a smile. "Do you want me to guess the exact amount? It's a little creepy you keeping tabs on your son's sex life. If you're keeping a list, add my name back in. Do you need to know positions and time?"

Gemma's lips stretched into a scary clown smile. This was going to be her supreme crushing blow.

I braced myself for impact. The advantage of being raised to not show emotion was I didn't show emotion. Gemma couldn't gauge whether her attacks had wounded me. So far, I was unscathed.

"Jax's been with hundreds of girls."

OK, that number was a lot higher than I liked, but it meant that Jax hadn't found someone to love. If he'd fallen in love with someone, he wouldn't be screwing around.

"Do you know why Jax has been with hundreds of girls? Do you, Gemma? It's because he's trying to find a girl that can compare to me. I have mad, mad sex skills."

It was my turn to give her a big smile. Jax walked into the kitchen.

"It's nice to see you two getting along," Jax said.

"We've had a really nice talk," I said.

Gemma just stood there blinking, her eyes looking dazed and confused like a wild animal that had just been hit with a tranquilizer dart. She shook her head as if to clear it. The conversation had taken an unexpected turn and she was the one who had been burned.

One of the best gifts a man can give a woman is sexual confidence. Jax made me feel hot as hell and like a sex goddess. My father's weekend life as the lead singer of the 80's cover band, The Fire Ants meant he was gone every Friday and Saturday for about fifty weeks a year. Once we started having sex, Jax spent almost every Friday and Saturday night with me and we spent a huge amount of time discovering each other's bodies and having sex.

Jax hadn't wasted much time at my house before we hit the sheets, so that meant to me that he wanted me and he hadn't found anyone that satisfied him. I didn't like the number of girls, but it was a lot better than one girl because that meant it was a relationship.

It was stupid for me to even worry about this because I was going back to school and leaving Charming. My time with Jax was just a fling. He just didn't know it.

Jax and I sat with Donna and Opie. She and Opie were bubbling over with happiness. He proposed to her on Christmas Eve and she accepted his proposal. Opie was a little shy about all the attention, but Donna was proudly showing off the delicate diamond engagement ring.

Jax and Opie were going through the buffet line again.

"Jax was so happy that you were back in town," Donna said.

"I didn't even see you," I said.

"My back was turned and I was looking for bleu cheese. Tell me something, how did you handle the MC?"

"You have to accept it. Jax and Opie will never leave the MC. They were practically born into it."

"Opie is always vague about what they do. I know it's outlaw, but how outlaw?"

"They do more than breaking the speed limit and parking in red zones. Much more than that, I don't know," I said, lying to Donna.

Donna was so happy, I just couldn't take that away from her. I thought about telling Donna what I knew about SAMCRO, but Jax told me things in confidence and I couldn't break that confidence.

Looking back, I wonder if I had warned her away from Opie and the MC if she would have listened. If I were in her place, I wouldn't have listened. Love can make you deaf, dumb and blind. I had been all three.

My father was waiting for me when I got home. He was sitting in his chair, looking like a kicked puppy. He may not have been the best father, but I didn't like to see him hurt.

I poured us both some iced tea.

"You back with Jax?"

"I guess. He's coming by later this evening and I'm staying with him tonight."

He nodded.

"I thought I was going to tell you that I was getting married," my father began, "but I got a surprise on Christmas Eve."

My father had fallen in love this past spring with a singer in a Fleetwood Mac cover band. It was the first time he'd had a girlfriend in many years. He preferred one night stands with groupies—yes even cover bands have groupies and my father was a handsome man with rugged good looks, dark hair and hazel eyes.

"You caught her cheating?"

"I didn't catch her cheating, but she probably did because she told me she was dumping me for a guy who plays bass in a Journey cover band. The guy doesn't even sing."

"I always hated Fleetwood Mac," I said. "Maybe she'll change her mind. Maybe it's just a fling."

He shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. I don't want her back now."

I didn't know what else to say. I didn't have enough life experience to help him. I couldn't help myself either.

"I'm done. No more relationships for me."

"There's a bright side. You never have to listen to Fleetwood Mac again and she was a crap singer."

He had sent me a clip of her singing a Fleetwood Mac song and she was doing the whole Stevie Nicks thing in a long shapeless floral dress, frizzy permed hair and platform shoes. She turned in circles a little too fast and almost crashed into the keyboard player.

My father laughed.

"Yeah, she was," he said and laughed again. "I hate Fleetwood Mac."

"See, she did you a favor. Never having to listen to Fleetwood Mac or hear her screechy voice makes you the winner."

My father smiled at me.

"You are a good daughter, Tara."

I wasn't a good daughter or I might have helped him live a better life, but I was barely functioning since Jax and I split.

"Christmas presents," I said. I crawled over to the tree and got out the presents.

My father's invitation had been so last minute I had already sent him his presents. I checked the presents I'd gotten for him to see if he'd unwrapped them and then rewrapped them, but they were perfectly intact. The ones he'd gotten for me were also under the tree.

We took turns opening our presents. I always tried to find some great British comedy TV series because he loved English humor. I got him the complete set of "The Young Ones" and the first five seasons of "Trailer Park Boys." "Trailer Park Boys" wasn't British. It was from Canada, but I thought he would like it.

He got me his usual Amazon gift certificate for me, but this time he also got me a more personal gift—and a scarf and hat set in a beautiful shade of merlot.

"I thought that color would look pretty on you with your dark hair and eyes," he said.

"Thanks. I love the color. It's perfect."

"Tara, I know I haven't been much of a father."

This wasn't the first time he'd said this to me. I wondered where this conversation was going to head this time. If the past predicted the future, it wasn't going to go anywhere good.

Author's Note: This was supposed to be the final chapter, but it was running long and I had some other things I wanted to add. There will be one final chapter that will be posted on Valentine's Day since it will have the much promised and already written happy ending.