7

Chapter 489 All Apologies

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Today was going to be a good day for Tara. She'd gotten the call from an assistant district attorney telling her that they were officially ruling Kohn's death self-defense and she wouldn't face any charges. They were sending her a letter to make it official. She thanked the attorney for calling her. Tara shut her eyes and was so thankful that she'd gotten away with killing Kohn. She didn't think of it as murder. It was self-defense—proactive self-defense as Scarlett put it.

She would never have to worry that Kohn was going to show up in Charming. She'd faced the worst of things with Kohn and gotten through them. It gave her a sense of power and accomplishment. She'd felt like a powerless victim. Now she felt like a strong woman who could handle life on her own without having to run to Jax or anyone else to help her.

That was Scarlett's doing. She'd forced her to deal with Kohn and make the decision to either call the police or kill him and then call the police. She owed Scarlett for helping her and keeping to their agreed story when she was interviewed by the county sheriff's deputies. Scarlett could have really screwed her over if she'd wanted to.

It was time to make things right with Jax and Scarlett. When they had talked to her the words hurt as the harsh truth often does. She drove to see Jax first. He noticed her pulling into TM and walked out to meet her.

Tara got out of her car and watched Jax walk over to her. He still had that swing to his hips when he walked that she always found sexy as hell only now he didn't have a thin adolescent body but the more muscular body of a man that made it even hotter.

"Car trouble?" he asked.

The sun reflecting off his hair turned it into gold and his sky blue eyes squinted at the sun. He looked even better as an adult than he had as a teenager. She could appreciate his appearance like a beautiful ocean view, but he wasn't hers anymore. It was OK though. She had love for him, but she wasn't in love with him.

"No, I'm here to apologize for trying to drag you into the Kohn mess. It hurt when you told me that you were always rescuing me because it was true. It was just an automatic reaction to call you even after all these years."

"It has to stop," Jax said in a surprisingly gentle voice.

"Of course," Tara said nodding quickly. "I do have some growing up to do. I won't drag you into things. I'm grateful that Scarlett was there."

"I'm grateful that Scarlett was there because I don't know what I would have done if I'd gone to your house."

"Never again. I promise. Can you forgive me?"

"Yeah," Jax said, "I can forgive you. Scarlett is still angry."

"She's protective of you. I never was. I was too busy playing the damsel in distress."

Jax rubbed his hand over his chin deep in thought.

"It wasn't completely one sided. I enjoyed being your rescuer. It made me feel like a hero, so you aren't all to blame for everything that happened."

"Thank you, Jax. I appreciate everything that you've done for me and telling me I need to stand on my own to feet now. I hope we can still be friends."

"As long as you understand, that's all it can ever be."

"I do. I'm going to go by Scarlett's shop and apologize to her now."

"Good luck with that," Jax said, his lips tilted in a faint smile.

She watched him walk away again just to appreciate the beauty of Jax Teller. She didn't want to rekindle their relationship but she wouldn't have turned down some meaningless sex. Her body remembered him and wanted to get reacquainted. That was all, but she would never act on her desire for meaningless sex. She understood that he was with Scarlett and that made him off limits to her because Scarlett was her friend. She wasn't one of those girls that would chase after friends' boyfriends.

As she made the short drive to Scarlett's store, she tried to figure out what she was going to say to her. It was going to be more difficult talking to her, but she wanted to keep her as a friend. By forcing her to make the decision over Kohn, Scarlett had empowered her. She didn't see herself as a victim anymore. That was being a good friend.

She tapped on the glass door of Scarlett's store. Scarlett was sitting in an armchair working on her laptop. She looked up and called to Sack to let her into the store. He came to the door and looked outside carefully before unlocking the door. He locked the door as soon as she was inside. Tara wondered about the security precautions. It seemed odd, but she didn't give it anymore thought; she was too focused on making things right with Scarlett.

"You want me to stick around?" Sack asked Scarlett.

"No, go back to putting together the display," Scarlett replied.

Again, Tara thought it was an unusual exchange. She wondered if something could be up with the club and Sack was watching over Scarlett. This was part of being with Jax that she didn't miss. Back in her time with Jax, there had been a war with the Mayans. She'd been terrified for months.

"I got the call from the county officially clearing me of Kohn's death."

"I'm glad that it's officially over," Scarlett said coolly.

Tara picked up on Scarlett's change of attitude. She couldn't really blame her for being cautious.

"Is there somewhere we can talk in private?"

Scarlett led her to a robin's egg blue tufted sofa.

"If we talk quietly, Sack can't hear us. He's in the back of the store putting together a display of pillows."

"I've thought a lot about what you and Jax said to me. You're right. I always ran to Jax to bail me out of whatever situation I'd gotten myself into. When things happened with Kohn, it was just a reflex to call Jax."

"That's part of why I'm so angry with you," Scarlett admitted. "I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't been there."

"When Jax and I were together, I never protected him. It never even occurred to me. I was too busy being the damsel in distress and being rescued by him. I've always been afraid to get into trouble. Jax never minded getting into trouble for me or at least it never occurred to me that he minded."

"If he had helped you that night, it could have destroyed your life, Jax's life and my life," Scarlett said her voice tight with anger.

Tara nodded. Scarlett had every right to be angry with her.

"You're right. I was so mad at you because you wouldn't call Jax so he could fix everything and rescue me again. You were right that I needed to fix the Kohn problem myself. I didn't see it then, but I do see it now. Scarlett, I don't know how to adequately tell you just how sorry I am for trying to drag Jax into the Kohn mess. I'm glad you were there to prevent that. You saved all three of us that night and I learned I could stand on my own two feet and get through a tough situation. Thank you for that. I hope you can forgive me and we can still be friends."

Scarlett looked out the window and thought over what Tara said for several moments.

"If you make things right with Jax, we can still be friends. You did save his life and that was a risk for you."

"I apologized to Jax before I came here and Jax doesn't owe me for saving his life. He's done so much for me in the past and it's a different situation. I knew helping Jax was low risk. No one was going to tell on me. I didn't even think about Kohn's car and how they would trace him using it. We would have gotten caught. All because I was too afraid to risk getting into trouble. Going through everything with the investigation has been a nightmare, but I had to find the strength to get through it. I feel so much stronger now like I can do anything."

"I know the feeling," Scarlett said drily.

"I am glad you and Jax are together and that you look after him."

"We look after each other. As long as you don't try to use Jax to fix your life again, we can be friends. Everyone makes mistakes. Just don't make that mistake again."

"Thanks, Scarlett. I'd really hate to lose your friendship."

"I'd kind of miss you too."

Tara left Scarlett and returned to her home. It was good to be back home and out of a motel, but the master bedroom wasn't renovated yet. She was sleeping in her old bedroom. Her father had left it just as it was when she'd left for college. She didn't think it was out of any sentimental reason. He just never bothered to redo it when she'd moved out.

Staying in her old bedroom was bittersweet. She had a lot of good memories from high school and a few bad ones. Most of the bad memories were when she'd left high school and she and Jax were breaking up.

She was officially over Jax. She wasn't even the slightest bit jealous that he was with Scarlett. Her high school friendship with Jax had turned into something more, but at the heart of it, they were really just friends that cared a lot about each other. She was glad she'd been able to salvage friendships with both Jax and Scarlett. Still, she yearned to find love like Scarlett and Jax had found with each other.

Next she called Margaret to share her good news that she was cleared of any wrongdoing in Kohn's shooting. She was sure that Margaret would be anxious for her to return to St. Thomas and begin earning money for the hospital again.

The call with Margaret hadn't gone as she thought it would. Margaret didn't sound enthusiastic about her return to work. She told her that she had to stay on paid administrative leave until she could bring the hospital the original of the district attorney's letter so they could make a copy for the hospital's files.

Tara couldn't get over Margaret's reaction to her returning to her job. Why wasn't Margaret happy that she was going to be able to return to St. Thomas soon?