Chapter Twenty-One:

I was sitting in the office speaking to Gemma when an unfamiliar car pulled into the lot, drawing both of our attention.

"Oh, you're kidding." Gemma snarled when she looked at the black Cadillac.

My eyes went from the car to her. "What?"

"That would be the cum-dumpster that tried to ruin your relationship." She snarled, lips upturned.

I watched with a sinking feeling as the familiar beautiful brunette got out of her car and fixed the cardigan that was wrapped around her slim figure.

She was as stunning as she had been that day in the diner, I could see it from my limited view point in the office, and it made my insecurities rise to the surface.

"You going out there to put that bitch in her place, or are you just going to stand in here all day?" Gemma's voice pulled me from my thoughts.

She followed me out to the parking lot, but hung back a few paces to give me space to talk to her.

"Hi, can I help you?" I put on my best fake smile.

Tara looked me up and down, confusion evident on her face while she tried to place me. I wasn't dressed like the Crow Eaters, so she knew that I didn't belong to them, she just couldn't figure out why I was there. She obviously hadn't taken much notice of me when she'd been too busy making love eyes at my boyfriend. "Uh, no. I'm actually looking for someone."

"Yeah, I think you're lookin' for my Old Man." She flinched when I held out my hand. "I'm Ellie, Jax's Old Lady. Anything I can do for you today, Tara?"

She looked down at my hand like she would get a disease if she touched me before she met my gaze again. "I thought the two of you broke up."

"We worked it out." I put my hand back to my side and tilted my head. "Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to-"

I cut her off bluntly. "Go and see the man who you screwed and broke up his relationship, then listened to him tell you that he doesn't love you anymore. Why won't you just leave us alone?"

"Is that what he told you?" She smirked a nasty smile on her face. "Did he mention that he had me bent over my couch last week?"

It took all of me, but I managed to keep my face blank and not show her that I had the urge to vomit on her heels. "I think you should be leavin' now. I don't think there's anythin' here for you."

She didn't move from her spot and I smiled cruelly. "Fine, I'll go and get my Old Man for you."

"Baby-" I pushed past Gemma and ignored her as I stormed into the garage, bypassing Happy's look of concern until I walked to the back where Jax was bent over an old Falcon.

"Did you fuck Tara last week?"

He wiped his hands on the rag by his side and looked at me in disbelief. "What?"

"Tara's out in the car park and she told me you had her bent over her couch last week. Did you fuck her, Jackson?" I snapped. "Did you do it again? I swear to fuckin' god, I will-"

His eyes burned with uncontrollable rage as he stormed past me and out to the concrete slab where Gemma and Tara were standing across from each other, looking like the other was vermin.

"What the fuck, Tara?!" Jax's loud voice boomed over the empty space and a few of the members dawdled out from the garage to watch what was happening. "I told you to leave me the fuck alone, and then you come here and lie to my Old Lady?!"

The smile on her face when Jax had first come outside disappeared and she at least had the decency to look embarrassed. "Jax-"

"No!" He put his hand out and grabbed me harshly around the arm, then tugged so I was standing next to him. "I fucked up by being with you, it was a mistake. I told you that night, and I told you again in the diner. You need to back off!"

Happy flanked my other side and glared at her, silently daring her to say anything and give him a reason to lose control.

"Jackson, please." Her bottom lip twitched and, for a single moment, I let myself feel sorry for her. "I shouldn't have left-"

"Yes, you should have. You leaving was the best thing you could have done, because I wouldn't have met El if you hadn't." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, okay? I led you on, and I didn't mean to do that. But I love her. There's nothing between us anymore."

Her face was one of pure devastation like she was actually listening to him for the first time and she nodded slowly.

Before she walked back to her car she locked eyes with me and smiled sadly. "What I said before didn't happen. I'm sorry for saying it."

"I know." I returned her sad smile.

She'd made it into the drivers seat before it got the better of me and I knocked on her closed window. She looked uncomfortable and weary, like she was expecting me to throw a punch, but rolled it down.

"For whatever it's worth, I don't hate you. And a little part of me does feel sorry for you because I can see that your heart is breakin'." She let out a strangled noise. "I have a lot of faith, so I know that Jackson is meant for me, but that means that there's someone out there that's for you, too. I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but there's someone just waitin' on you to find them. And I hope you do."

Tara looked at me silently for a long time before she gave me a timid smile. "I'm glad that he's getting his happy ending. You're good for him, I can tell."

"I am." I confirmed with a nod. "You were, too, at one point. You got the boy, I got the man. He's not the same person you fell in love with, but you helped shape him being his first love, so I've got to thank you for that."

Tara's eyes gleamed with unshed tears, and I reached through the open window and squeezed the hand that was gripping the steering wheel. "You're goin' to be okay, honey."

"I came to tell him that I was leaving town." She breathed out. "I only came back to be with him, and since that's not going to happen, I've taken a position in Nevada."

I looked behind me at Jax who was watching us talk with narrowed eyes, far enough away that he couldn't hear us. "Do you want me to go and get him so that you can tell him?"

"No. You do it for me." She started the engine and began to reverse. "Take care of him, Ellie."

"I will." I promised, even though I knew she couldn't hear me.