Last First Kiss (19 page)

“
He’s from Carencro, Louisiana—near Lafayette...hence the name of the album. I like his style...down and dirty, rhythm and blues. You won’t believe his voice.”

“
Is he any kin to you?” she asked.

He grinned at her. “Not that I know of; Broussard’s are a dime a dozen in this state. I’ve downloaded those and converted them to MP3’s already, so you can keep those if you want.”

“
Thanks,” she said, studying the cases.

Jackson pulled into a parking spot near the field. He grabbed two chairs from the bed of his truck and set them up near the dugout.

Giselle seated herself as Mac’s team began to prepare for first bat. Jackson walked back from the concession stand with two bottles of water and handed her one, as Lex ran over to him.

“
Hey baby girl!” He scooped her up and kissed her forehead.

Lexie hugged him tightly then kissed his cheek. “Did you hear we’re having company?” she asked, excitedly.

He nodded. “Your mom told me. I bet you’re excited, and I
know
I can trust the four of you to be good and not give her any trouble.”

Lexie’s curls bobbed as she nodded. “We’re going to watch movies and eat a lot of popcorn.”

“
Clean up your own messes?”

“
Yes sir!”

“
Very good. Make me proud.”

“
I will Jackson, you and Daddy.”

He smiled tenderly at her. “Your daddy told me all the time how proud he was of you, your sister, and your momma.”

“
He did?”

He touched the tip of her nose. “Sure he did. He loved the three of you a bunch. He called you his ‘three girls’.”

She smiled and cocked her head to the side. “I sure do miss Daddy. I wish I could tell him.”

“
He knows you do, sweetie. He can tell what’s in here,” he said as he pointed to her heart. As soon as he put her down, she ran off to play. He sat down and stared ahead for a moment, then turned toward Giselle. “What?”

She grinned at him from behind her water bottle. “Have you
ever
been around little girls before?”

“
Nope. If we were invited to anything where kids were included, Chloe always came up with an excuse not to go.” He shrugged and shook his head. “I always thought...” His voice trailed off.

“
That she was upset because she couldn’t get pregnant,” Giselle finished for him.

He nodded. “I get so pissed when I think of how she manipulated me...Of how I
let
myself be manipulated. If she was still alive, I could tell her how I’ve felt nothing but pity for her for years. But, she’s gone, and I feel like I can’t...” He slapped the arm of the chair then sighed.

“
You can’t get closure.”

“
I guess that’s it,” he answered.

“
You need to find a way to deal with it.”

“
I have dealt with it. I‘ve removed every trace of her.”

“
Maybe that’s just denying it. Maybe you need to face it, like Bill made me face Toby’s death.”

He turned in her direction. “How do I do that, Giselle? How do I let a dead woman know that I regret our marriage? How do I
deal
with knowing I wasted fifteen years of my life?”

Not for the first time, she looked at him and felt how sensitive he was. He felt pain and frustration, just like any other person. It was a little disturbing to realize that she actually saw him as a man, rather than her supervisor. Of course, she had already
seen
him,
literally
. But, this man was confused, hurting, and frustrated because he didn’t know how to handle his feelings. His analytical, engineer mind was probably telling him there was a logical way to deal with it, but Giselle knew there wasn’t.

She leaned over and placed her hand gently upon his. “Maybe Bill could help you,” she suggested. “You should ask him.” His fingers curled around hers briefly, until she sat back in her chair, taking her hand with her.

Jackson stared at the arm of his chair. “No doubt he’ll have some mind-blowing revelation that’ll reinforce his sense of superiority over me.” He faced Giselle wearing a pitiful, hound dog expression. “Please don’t make me do that.”

She laughed. “You hate it when he’s right, don’t you?”

“
The annoying old fart loves throwing it in my face.”

“
Don’t call my honey an old fart,” she said.

“
He’s not
your
honey, he’s Carrie’s honey. I swear, if Sam ever messes up with her, she would be my aunt in no time flat. He’s got a real thing for her.”

“
Yeah, well she likes Bill and all, but Carrie’s got a real thing for Sam.” She laughed at Jackson’s exaggerated sigh of relief. “But...You could have an aunt and even a younger first cousin before it’s all over with.”

He raised a curious brow. “You know something I don’t?”

“
Carrie’s looking for a younger woman for Bill.”

“
How young?” he asked her with a frown.

She shrugged. “Young enough to bear children; he’s not too old, you know, and Bill’s in great physical shape. There’s no reason he can’t start a family right now.” She cast a sideways glance at Jackson’s puzzled expression. “Would that upset you?”

“
What? No, not in the way you mean, anyway. I’ve told him for years that he needed a wife and kids of his own.”

“
You did?”

He took a swig from his water bottle and recapped it. “Sure, I know he calls me Son, and I think of him sort of like a father, but, before my parents died, he and I were already tight. He was...Uncle Bill. It’s kind of hard to explain.”

“
I can understand that, but why are you upset?” she asked.

“
I guess I’m wondering if he passed up opportunities because of me,” he said.

She shook her head in denial. “I don’t think so, Jackson. He said he just never met the right woman. It may take some time to find someone good enough for Bill.”

Jackson rolled his eyes and huffed in disgust. “You and Carrie have kept him on that pedestal long enough. He’s not a saint, you know.”

She laughed again, and hesitated before asking, “What about you? Should we be looking for a woman for you?”

He turned a questioning gaze on her. “Where the hell did that come from?”

“
I don’t know, you’re obviously good with kids. It would be a shame if you didn’t have any of your own someday.”

He nodded. “I feel the same way. Unlike Chloe,
I
have always wanted children.”

“
Well, then maybe we should start looking around for a girl for
you...
Someone worthy of you who can give you a couple of precious little miniature Jacksons,” she teased.

Jackson cleared his throat and turned slowly towards her to peer over the rim of his sunglasses. “I’m a big boy, Giselle. I don’t need any help finding a woman.” The words that followed the look sounded serious enough, but hidden within the deep baritone of his voice, there seemed to be just a hint of tantalizing mischief...Or was it a promise?

“
Mom!”

Giselle jumped at Mackenzie’s bark. She turned to see her daughter, on deck and preparing to bat.

“
Knock it out of the park, Sweetie.”

She nodded, and adjusted her cap with one hand. “Hi Jackson, where’s Paw Paw Bill?”

“
He couldn’t make it today, but he sends his love.”

She smiled brightly as the batter in front of her hit a double. Jackson and Giselle watched with pride as she jogged easily to the plate. She took a few practice swings then got into her preferred batting stance, ready and tensed. She swung the bat and hit the ball off the tee, hard and straight, in between second and third bases. Mac ran all the way to third before someone threw the ball in to home.

“
Good hit, Mac!” Gretchen yelled, as she walked up to Giselle and Jackson, dressed in her work scrubs. “How’re you feeling?” she asked, bending to give Giselle a hug.

“
I feel wonderful, thanks, Gretch.”

“
If four little girls are too much for you to handle, it’s not too late to back out of tonight.”

“
No, it’ll be fine,” Giselle insisted.

The next batter hit a double that brought Mac safely home. She ran by the three adults grinning broadly as they cheered and clapped.

Mac and Allie’s team easily won the game, and when it was over, Jackson rounded up the girls to bring them all back to Giselle’s house. He placed the chairs in the back of the truck as the three little girls climbed inside.

“
Where are we eating supper?” Mac asked her mother. “I’m hungry for shrimp. Jackson, are you coming with us?”

“
I think your mom wants to have some girl time with ya’ll.”

“
Mom, can he come with us?” Mac pleaded.

Giselle climbed inside the truck. “Sure he can, I just didn’t know if he could handle this many females at one time.”

“
Now, how am I supposed to pass up a challenge like that?”

She buckled her seatbelt and smiled. “I guess you can’t, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Let’s go pick up Emmelia.”

Ten minutes later, they were walking into the local seafood restaurant with four rowdy little girls. Giselle brought them to the restroom to wash their hands before sending them back out to the table. She’d gone into a stall and was still inside when the door opened and someone occupied a stall at the end.

The door opened again and two women walked into the restroom. She immediately recognized the voices of Suzette Simon and Isabelle Allen, two women who were not high on her list of favorite people in Kenton. Isabelle, or Izzy, as she insisted people call her, had never missed the opportunity to throw herself at Toby, even going so far as to make a pass at him at a Christmas party the year before. Isabelle had a reputation for chasing married men, and getting them. With the help of a few weak willed men, she had instigated the break ups of more than a couple of marriages along the way. Giselle remained in her stall, hoping they’d leave soon.

“
Who is that fine hunk of man that Giselle Granger walked in with?” Suzette asked her friend.

“
I don’t know, but you can bet your ass I’m going to find out. My God, he is gorgeous, isn’t he? One thing’s for sure, that tramp didn’t wait very long before throwing herself at another man, did she? Poor Toby’s only been in the ground for five months.”

“
Honestly, I don’t know what he ever saw in her,” Suzette said. “He could have done so much better.”

“
Yeah, like
me
!” Izzy said, with a high-pitched cackle. “I would have worn Toby down eventually. He was just beginning to show some interest. What a waste. Let’s go, Suz...There’s a Bloody Mary with my name on it at the club.”

Giselle sat in silence as the two women walked out. She didn’t need to look in the mirror to know her face was on fire. Her stomach knotted with tension as she walked out of the stall and approached the sink. She washed her hands and splashed water on her face. When she thought her humiliation could not be more complete, the door of the last stall opened and Jeanette Ross, Amanda’s mother-in-law, walked over to her. One look into the woman’s eyes and she could tell Jeanette was furious.

The other woman washed her hands then gazed into Giselle’s tear-filled eyes before hugging her tightly. “Honey, everyone in town knows how happy you and Toby were together. He never would have looked twice at Izzy, I hope you know that.” Giselle nodded that she did. “Don’t you waste one tear on those two tramps, now come on.”

Giselle walked out in front of Jeanette, just in time to see Izzy exit the restaurant, wearing a barely-there top and a come-and-get-it mini-skirt. She thanked God for small favors, knowing she wasn’t up to facing either of them. They walked over to where Jackson sat with the four girls.

“
Hey, that’s my Granny Jeanette,” Emmelia said, getting up to hug her grandmother.

“
It is?” Jackson stood immediately. “You must be Joe’s mom. I’m Jackson Broussard.”

“
Yes I am...Jeanette Ross. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard good things about you. I’d talk longer, but I’ve got to get my husband back home now. Emmelia, you be a good girl for Giselle.”