Last First Kiss (12 page)

“
Sam and I have raised our children and we babysit enough for our grandchildren as it is. As much as we love your girls, we don’t want to start over.” She reached out, grasped Giselle’s shoulders, and pulled her to her feet.

They walked to the patio door, where Giselle hesitated until she established they were alone. She flinched as she stepped into the sunshine for the first time in three months. It took a few minutes before her eyes adjusted to the blinding whiteness of the scrubbed concrete patio, and the sunlight reflecting off the spotless glass topped table. She finally made her way to the table and sat gingerly in one of the chairs.

Carrie brought her a plate with a slice of pizza and a glass of tea. Giselle began to nibble slowly while Carrie sat across from her with a cup of hot tea.

“
Where are my girls?”

“
They went to the two o’clock feature at the mall.”

“
Who’d they go with...One of the twins?”

Carrie braced herself. “Jackson took them.”

Giselle met her friend’s gaze head on. “
He’s
got no business taking my girls anywhere without my permission.”

“
I asked him to.”

“
You had no right!”

Carrie shrugged and leisurely picked a piece of lint from her capris. “It was either that or wake Sam to come babysit your selfish ass, but my husband worked hard this week, and he deserves a rest. Besides...,” She looked straight into Giselle’s angry eyes, “Jackson was here, and happy to take the girls.” She watched as Giselle’s eyes narrowed in anger.
Oh, that’s good...Anger is better than nothing.

Carrie decided to take advantage of the situation. “Well, look at it this way. After you starve yourself to death, Jack would be all too willing to adopt those two. They’re crazy about him, and God knows he adores them. They’d miss you of course, but they’d get over it with the love of a good father-figure like Jackson.”

“
Those are
my
children! I’m their mother!” Giselle sneered.

Carrie cocked her head. “I’m glad you finally remembered. Maybe now you’ll start acting like it.” She put on her glasses and cleared her throat. “Now finish your lunch so I can go spend time with my husband, who actually
likes
having me around.”

Carrie’s temporary feeling of guilt vanished completely when Giselle finished a slice of pizza then took another from the box. She knew Jackson would catch hell over this, but if that’s what it took to bring Giselle back to the land of the living, there was no help for it. She’d get over it.

Carrie left her friend sitting at the patio table working a crossword puzzle, and drove home to meet Sam.

Sam seemed surprised when his wife walked into the door. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

“
It seems I’ve stumbled on the right motivation to get her up and moving. Too bad I had to piss her off to do it.”

“
What did you use to motivate her?”

Carrie grimaced. “I used Jackson,
and he won’t be pleased about it.” She told him about her and Giselle’s conversation.

Sam nodded. “Sounds like you did what you had to do. It was time.”

“
I think so. I just hope I haven’t done anything to damage Jackson’s cause.”

“
I wouldn’t worry about Jackson. That boy can take care of himself. Those little girls are all the motivation he needs to keep on plugging away at it.”

Carrie groaned in satisfaction as her husband pulled her into his arms for a big hug.

“
You know, I’ve never seen those two kids take to someone so quickly before,” Sam said. “And God knows he and Bill are crazy about them.”

“
Noticed that, have you?” she said, grinning up at him. “Now if their mom would soften her heart towards him, it may do them both some good.”

<><><>

Jackson pulled his Avalanche up into his driveway. “Here we are.”

As soon as he unlocked his door, they ran inside. “This place is nice, Jackson,” Mackenzie exclaimed.

“
I love your sofa! It looks so big and comfable for you. Is it?” Lexie asked him.

He laughed. “Yes, sweetie, it’s very comfortable for me.”

“
I like
this
one.” Mackenzie climbed into the oversize lounger. “We could
all
fit in this chair.”

Lexie ran down the hallway, paused to inspect the guest bedroom, his office, and then gasped as she made it all the way to his bedroom. “This is the biggest bed I’ve ever seen!”

Mac joined her sister. “Oh my gosh, Jackson, it’s beautiful. Did you pick it out, or did your wife?”

“
No, I picked it out. The bed I had before was small and ugly, and didn’t fit me.” “Because you’re not small or ugly,” Lexie said.

“
No, you’re big, and tall, and very handsome!” Mac said, with attitude to spare.

“
Yeah!” Lexie agreed.

“
Well, thank you very much ladies, I appreciate the compliment. Now let’s get you two set up watching some t.v. in the living room, while I shower and change.” He turned on his equally impressive large screen television set, and they watched the cartoon network while he showered quickly and changed into some clean clothes. He walked in the living room to see his uncle seated in between the girls, watching cartoons.

Mac’s eyes glistened with happiness as she met Jackson’s gaze. “Bill is coming with us!”

“
I thought you were out of town, or I’d have called you to help me. I’m kind of new at this stuff,” Jackson told Bill.

“
I got back and came straight here. Where are we going?”

“
The two o’clock feature at the mall. Let’s go.”

<><><>

Three hours later, Jackson and Bill were nearly back in Kenton with two exhausted and napping little girls buckled into the back seat. Both had fallen asleep before they even left the Lake Coburn city limits. Jackson was sure the earlier emotional upheaval had played a part in their exhaustion, despite the fact that they had a wonderful afternoon to counteract it. As for himself, he never thought he could get so much enjoyment out of a children’s animated film. The girls had laughed so hard at the characters, and he and Bill had laughed at them, in turn.

His heart ached because Giselle had missed out on it, and he prayed she would somehow find a way out of the depression that had taken hold of her. He didn’t expect her to care one way or the other that he had taken the girls to the movies. He expected her to be as despondent as ever. Only later would he remember a lesson learned from years of living with Chloe...to expect the unexpected. He did something he hadn’t done in years...He let his guard down, and as a result, he was unprepared for the fury awaiting his return.

CHAPTER 8

Jackson pulled his Avalanche up into the driveway at four forty-five that afternoon.

Bill opened Mac’s door, unbuckled her seat belt, and roused her from her nap. He kissed her on the forehead and lowered her to the ground so she could walk sleepily to the kitchen door. She waited at the door, almost as if she didn’t want to go in to face her mother alone.

Jackson released Lexie’s seatbelt before waking her. Still half asleep, she automatically reached for his neck, wanting him to carry her inside. He smiled and kissed her cheek as he carried her to the door where Mackenzie was waiting for him.

Mac had placed her hand on the handle to open it, when it jerked out of her grasp from the inside of the kitchen.

Giselle stood glaring at Jackson as if he had just committed some unspeakable crime.

“
You had no right to take my children out of town without my permission! Who the hell do you think you are?” she snarled.

He gazed down at her in shock. “Carrie asked me to. I thought she cleared it with you.”

“
She didn’t clear anything with me! She told me after the fact, when it was too late to do anything about it.”

“
You could have reached me on my cell at any time, and I would have brought them back immediately, Giselle. Carrie knows my number.”

“
I shouldn’t
have
to call. It should have been cleared with me first.”

Jackson spoke calmly. “I had no idea it wasn’t, and I’m sorry.” He lowered Lexie to the floor.

“
You’re damn right you are! You can’t be their father, Jackson, they already have a father.”

“
I’m not try...”

“
I don’t care
what
Carrie asked you to do!
I’m
telling you that I don’t want you to see them anymore...No more movies...No more ball games.” She grabbed her daughters’ hands and jerked them into the house.

“
Momma, nooo!” Lexie wailed.

Mackenzie turned pleading eyes to her mother. “Please, Mom! We love Jackson and Bill. Please don’t make them stop coming to see us...they’re all we have!”

“
You have
me
!” she answered viciously, her icy glare never leaving Jackson’s face. “Say goodbye to Jackson. You won’t be seeing him again.”

“
Noooo! I hate you!” Mackenzie screamed at her mother, who finally focused her attention on her daughter. “You don’t even love us anymore. You should be glad that Jackson and Bill want to spend time with us. I bet daddy’s glad! Daddy would have wanted us to be happy. Daddy wouldn’t have treated us like this. I wish...I wish...”

“
Mac...don’t..” Jackson warned, knowing what was coming.

“
I wish it had been
you
to die instead of daddy!” the child screamed at her mother.

Giselle grabbed her oldest daughter by the shoulders and leveled a glare at her. “Not half as much as I wish it.”

Jackson watched, in horror as Mac twisted out of her mother’s grip, and ran crying to her room, slamming the door behind her. Lexie stood there sobbing, and when he reached out to comfort her, Giselle grabbed her by the shoulders.

“
Go to your room, Lex.”

Lexie’s gaze swiveled frantically from him to Giselle, then back to him, her eyes wide and glittering with tears. He could see her reluctance to either leave him or disobey her mother. Her eyes pleaded silently for him to do something...anything... to make it better. Jackson clenched his hands into fists to keep from reaching out. He mouthed
I love you
to her and gave her a smile. She nodded, her little mouth quivering, and without another word or glance in her mother’s direction, ran to her bedroom in tears.

Jackson was helpless to do anything but watch, as the heartbroken child disappeared from his view...maybe from his life. Once Lexie was out of earshot, he looked down at the irate woman. “Please don’t take this out on them, Giselle. Can’t you see they’re hurting as much as you are?”

“
Oh, I doubt that. Because of you they don’t seem to even remember their father,” she accused.

“
They remember him. Didn’t you hear Mac?” He raised his voice, angered by her insult. “They remember exactly what a wonderful father Toby was.”

She shook her head like a mad woman. “You’re trying to replace him. They don’t even talk about him anymore!”

He walked to her and grabbed her shoulders, longing to shake some sense into her. “They
can’t
talk about him here!” he said angrily. “Those girls are terrified to speak his name around you, because it upsets you so much.”

“
It’s because of you!” she hissed, as she pulled out of his grip and tried to close the door.

Jackson pushed the door wide and glared at her. “For God’s sake, Giselle, are you so wrapped up in your own
misery that you can’t see their pain? Or is it the fact that they turned to
me
for comfort that upsets you so much?”

“
Don’t try to turn this around on me...this is your fault! Now, I mean it, Jackson. Don’t you come around my girls again.” She slammed the door in his face, and as an added insult, locked it.

Jackson stood there, shocked and silent...hands clenched, his entire body tensed, with his mouth open.
How in the hell had this happened?
He placed both palms flat on the door, wanting to knock, desperate to make her see reason. Out of nowhere, he heard Bill’s deep, calming voice speak words he could barely comprehend through his fog of despair.