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Chapter 463 Ball Bust

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Author's Note: This is a repost. I had a working chapter and I'd had a scene between Jax and Scarlett that I decided to change and move to another chapter. I saved the chapter and when I posted it, the wrong chapter got posted. The wrong chapter wasn't finished. I hadn't finished the editing and rewriting process. I always check that I've uploaded the correct chapter, but not this one time and I screwed up. Everything is all fixed.

Jax felt a need to make amends to Decker. It was his fault that his daughter was almost kidnapped today.

"You know the situation that happened with Esai was my fault. He came for Scarlett because she's with me."

"I'm not busting your balls over this. I don't blame you."

"It happened because she's with me."

"Did you do something to Esai's girlfriend, old lady, wife or kids?"

Jax shook his head.

"He had no right to come after Scarlett then."

"Old ladies and families are supposed to be off limits. This Esai guy doesn't have boundaries. This should never have happened."

"Scarlett had the situation under control. That's why she follows procedures. It's why she had weapons training. I didn't know that guy was going to shoot her with blanks. He wears a vest because he knows that sometimes you can get injured with blanks and then he shoots Scarlett and she's not in a vest. I didn't hear about that until we'd left."

Despite the passing of years, Jax heard the unmistakable anger in Decker's voice. He didn't blame him. He probably would have gone and punched the guy if it had been him.

"It was a tough lesson."

"I have to give the old bastard his due; Scarlett looks at the hands and not the face. What happened to her today reminds her that she can handle whatever comes her way. It builds her confidence."

"Are you OK with Scarlett and me being together?"

"I suggested she marry her psycho ex, so I don't really have the right to tell Scarlett who she can and can't be with. I trust Scarlett to make the right choices in her life. If the choices don't work, I trust her to fix it. And I'm always going to support her."

"Just between us, are you OK with my life and Scarlett being with me?" Jax persisted. Jax thought Decker was OK with him but after what Scarlett went through with Gemma, he wanted to know. Scarlett would never get Gemma's approval and that was fine by him, but he wanted Decker to approve of him and Scarlett being together. He was the only person Scarlett had in her life. He wanted to have a good relationship with her father for her sake and he genuinely liked Decker.

"Scarlett's never been in love before. She was with a couple of guys in college, but she realized that she was mistaking friend feelings for love. I'm happy that she's found love. There aren't many men who could understand the kind of life Scarlett's led or why she has to live like she does. She's found that in you. She told me for the first time, she doesn't feel numb inside anymore. That's a good thing."

It wasn't the same as Scarlett telling him that she loved him, but in some way hearing her father tell him how Scarlett felt made him love her even more and it made him want to protect the love they had for each other even more fiercely.

"When I first met Scarlett, she used to tell me she was defective."

"She told me that all the time. She didn't think she could fall in love. Good looking, smart guys and she felt nothing until you."

"Are you worried that I'll break her heart?"

Decker shook his head.

"No. If you break her heart, Scarlett will cry and grieve and be heartbroken, but she'll get over it. She's strong. She won't curl up and die."

Jax remembered Gemma telling him that she had to open the envelope Scarlett had left for him because if Scarlett was dumping him, he would need her. Jax felt the muscles in his jaw tighten and fury at Gemma surged through him. She really did think he was mommy's little pussy.

Decker could teach Gemma a lot, but Gemma would never change. She took pride in being the same and never changing. To her, it was an accomplishment and not a defect.

"My mother doesn't believe in me. She's worried that Scarlett will crush me by breaking my heart. She doesn't think I'm enough of a man to handle heartbreak. She doesn't want her baby to get hurt," Jax couldn't keep some of the bitterness he felt from leaking into his voice.

"When Scarlett was born and I held her, I wanted to protect her from every bad thing in life that could come her way. They took her away to another room with a window. They stabbed her little newborn foot with a needle and she was crying. I wanted to punch the nurse. It was devastating when I realized I couldn't protect her from everything. Your mother can't protect you from life. She needs to learn that and believe in you and your ability to handle whatever life throws at you."

There was something easy about talking to Decker partly because he wanted Scarlett's happiness and he was on his side. Gemma was on her own side.

"Gemma tells me that she's my mother and that gives her this magical ability to know what's best for me."

"And Scarlett's not what's best for you."

"Not according to her. I love Scarlett. She brings out the best in me. She makes me happier than I've ever been."

"Those are the reasons your mother hates Scarlett. She sees you and maybe you are changing a little. She sees it as Scarlett changing you. You are happier and she isn't the reason for that happiness."

"She told Scarlett I was hers and to get out of my life. I think she wants me to be the only woman I love. It's crazy. There's something wrong with her."

"I'm glad that Scarlett has more love in her life. I'm not going to live forever and I like the two of you together."

"I wish Gemma could get it through her head that I can love her as my mother and Scarlett as my old lady. I told Gemma to stay out of my life and the first chance she got, she told Scarlett to get out of my life. First chance. It was probably at most an hour."

"You need boundaries for her with clear consequences. She chooses the behavior and she gets the consequences."

"That's how my dad approached things. Gemma was the parent that hit. My father was the parent who would talk it over. Sometimes I used to misbehave just to have those talks. You remind me a lot of him."

Decker didn't look like JT. JT had dark hair and eyes and Decker had lighter hair and amber eyes, but it was that calm reasoning approach that reminded him of his father. He was sensible and he didn't act on emotion. He had always been the fair parent. Gemma had been all emotion.

"I know you will figure things out with your mother. You may have to just back away from her and make her earn her way back into your life with good behavior. You are a smart guy. As long as you don't tell Scarlett that you expect her to do what your mother tells her to, you'll be OK with Scarlett and she can handle your mother."

"She shouldn't have to handle her. My mother should behave like a decent human being. If she had my best interests at heart, she'd be glad I'm with Scarlett."

"I'm a decent human being," Decker said with a faint smile, "I'm glad you're with Scarlett."

"I would protect her with my life."

"I know. I remember you staying with her when she thought a grab team was there to get her. I knew then that you two were in love. You hadn't figured it out yet, but it was only a matter of time."

"I never even imagined a girl like Scarlett existed," Jax said.

"We just need to keep her safe from the serial killer hunting women."

"Amen to that," Jax said with heartfelt fervor.

Jax wasn't sure why he didn't put it together until that moment. If Louise was killed by the serial killer, the killer could be someone who shopped regularly at the convenience store. Maybe he had even passed him in the store. Was it possible the killer still went to the convenience store to watch Louise's co-workers reactions?

He was going to start going to the convenience store again. If he could find the killer, he wouldn't have to worry about the killer hunting Scarlett.

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COVID Note: I haven't seen much about this on the news, so I wanted to share this and since I don't have social media, I'm doing it here. My nephew had back and leg pain. The next day he had a slight cold. He had NO FEVER and he tested positive for COVID. He lost his sense of smell and still no fever. He had a second test and again tested positive. I'm not seeing a lot of news about people having COVID without fevers.

Hope this info is useful.