in Red. The former Mad M en actress has never disclosed the father
of her 5-year-old boy, Xander, and says that raising her son without
a dad on the scene has real benefits. “It’s good to have strong
women around a man, to teach him to respect women,” says
Jones, 39. “He doesn’t have a male person in his life saying ‘Don’t
cry’ or ‘You throw like a girl.’ All those lousy things dads accidentally
do.” Jones moved to a gated community in Topanga Canyon,
a wooded hippie enclave in the Santa Monica Mountains, to get
away from the prying eyes of paparazzi, and she and Xander live a
highly structured life together: Jones leaves the set of her TV series
every day at 5 p.m., and spends time with Xander before putting
him to bed. Right now, she’s in no rush to find Xander a stepdad.
“People want to set me up all the time, and I’m like, ‘No way.’
Something else would suffer if a relationship came along. Yes,
I’m willing to make that sacrifice for the right relationship—I just
don’t feel I need a partner. Do I want one? Maybe. But I don’t feel
unhappy or lonely. It would have to be someone so amazing that I
would want to make room. Someone who would contribute to my
happiness and not take away from it. My life is so full.”