Last First Kiss (18 page)

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly, and the group finally broke up around four o’clock. When Jackson and Bill offered to drive Giselle and the girls home, she accepted. After pulling into her driveway, Jackson walked Giselle and the girls to their door.

Feeling slightly self-conscious, she bit her bottom lip, mumbled goodbye, and stepped into her kitchen. She closed the door quickly behind her, leaving a slightly bewildered Jackson staring at the closed door.

CHAPTER 11

The next morning, Giselle was busy doing some light dusting and housekeeping, feeling uplifted by her recent phone conversation with her co-workers. The self-dubbed ‘Designing Women’ were a close knit group, more like friends than co-workers. They’d called her, wanting to plan one of their afternoons of dinner and a movie. She had agreed to the next Friday, and found herself looking forward to it. She’d just made a mental note to find a babysitter in case she got home late, when the ringing telephone interrupted her thoughts.

“
Hello” she answered cheerfully.

“
Mrs. Granger?” asked the voice at the other end.

“
Yes, this is Giselle Granger.”

“
This is Delores Touchet from Kenton Jewelry and Gifts.”

“
Yes ma’am, what can I do for you?”

“
Mrs. Granger...I don’t know how to put this. I was terribly sorry to hear of your husband’s passing, he was such a nice man.”

“
Thank you Mrs. Touchet,” she said, still waiting to hear the purpose of the call.

“
Well, I waited a while to call you—I didn’t want to upset you. Your husband purchased something for you with specific instructions for engraving. It was meant to be a Mother’s Day gift and we’ve been holding it for you. Your husband paid for it in advance, and I just wanted to let you know that you could pick it up anytime you felt like it.”

Giselle stood there, unable to speak for several moments. Finally, after taking a deep breath, she managed to reply. “Yes, Mrs. Touchet, I’ll pick it up now. Thank you for calling.”

Once she reined in her emotions, she grabbed her purse and car keys, and drove to the jewelry shop on Main Street. She entered the store and accepted the bag with a box tucked inside. Giselle thanked the woman and opted to open it at home.

After driving home with a lump in her throat, she sat down at the island with the bag in front of her. Separating the delicate folds of tissue, she pulled out a black velvet case. She opened the lid to find a lovely silver filigree locket in the shape of a heart, about an inch in diameter. She pressed the catch and it popped open to reveal a photo of her and Toby on one side and another of the girls on the opposite side. The frame with the girls’ picture also swung out to reveal a flat surface behind it. On that surface were the words Toby had engraved,
Love You Forever, My Girl – Toby
. Giselle’s face crumpled as her tears flowed.

“
You always knew my heart,” she whispered, through her tears. She passed her fingers lovingly on the color snapshot that Carrie had taken of them this past Christmas—two people, happily unaware of the tragedy waiting to happen less than one month later. She kissed it gently then did the same to the photo of the girls Carrie had taken the same night.

It was beautifully constructed and attached to a sturdy chain. He knew how hard she was on chains. He knew her, inside and out. How would she ever find someone who knew her as well as Toby did? She put the necklace on and smiled as the weight of the silver heart settled above her cleavage.

When her phone rang, she wiped her nose with a tissue and answered it, sounding slightly nasal.

“
Giselle, are you alright?” Carrie asked. “I found myself thinking about you, and thought I’d call to see how you’re doing. Is everything okay?”

“
Yes, the jewelry shop called a little while ago. It seems Toby purchased something for Mother’s Day and they were holding it for me. I just opened it.” She heard Carrie’s gasp.

“
The locket! Oh Giselle, he told me about it. He asked me for some pictures,” she said, beginning to cry. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that alone. Do you need someone there?”

“
I’m okay. It was just a shock, you know? Did he tell you about the engraving?”

“
No, what did he put?”

“
Love you forever, my girl—Toby,” she said quietly.

“
Oh God, that sounds just like him,” Carrie said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“
I’m fine.”

“
I’m proud of you, hon.”

Jackson had walked in on the end of the call and stood waiting to hear what happened. He watched as Carrie hung up and popped a tissue from the box on her desk. “Is she okay?”

Carrie dabbed at her eyes and explained about Toby’s gift. “She’d already had a good cry, but she seemed to be over it.”

“
That’s good,” he said, releasing a breath.

“
We’re having our ‘Designing Women’ get together next Friday. She’s meeting us here at eleven o’clock.”

“
Good, she needs to get out more. Bill and I are picking her up tomorrow on our way to the ballgame.”

“
That
is
good news. She’s going to be fine, now.”

Jackson shoved his hands into his pockets and shifted, nervously. “Did she seem a little edgy at your place yesterday?”

Carrie didn’t look up as she gave him a curt answer. “No, she seemed just fine.”

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Jackson and Bill picked Giselle and her girls up for both games the next two weeks. It had taken several days, but Giselle had finally relaxed enough around the two men to develop an easy banter with them. She found herself growing quite fond of Bill, who adored his ‘adopted’ granddaughters. As much as Mac and Lexie loved Bill, they were even more attached to Jackson. She was amazed at his ease with her girls, especially for a man unaccustomed to being around children.

As summer neared, so did the end of the school year. Giselle was seated on the patio when the girls got off the school bus their last day. They ran to her, loaded down with two full backpacks.

“
Mom, our teacher gave us a party!” Mackenzie said. “We got candy and gifts—we forgot to buy our teachers gifts this year, but mine said that she understood.”

Giselle’s face twisted in a grimace. “We sure did. How about if we send them both nice gift certificates in a card?”

“
To where?”

“
Mmm...I’m thinking the spa in Lake Coburn.”

Lexie dropped her bag on the patio chair. “Have I ever seen a spa, Momma?”

Giselle laughed and adjusted the barrette in her daughter’s curls. “No, you haven’t, sweetie. A spa is a place where you go to relax. You can get a massage, or a manicure, or even a pedicure for your feet.”

“
That’s perfect,” Mackenzie said. “I heard my teacher say she needed to relax after this past year.”

“
I’ll bet she does,” Giselle said with a knowing grin.

Lexie turned her face up to Giselle and twisted her mouth. “Miss Melanie didn’t say anything about relaxing,” Lexie said. “She just said she needed a good stiff, drink.”

Giselle burst into laughter. “Trust me, it means the same thing. Mac, do you have all your baseball stuff together? Gretchen, Cat, and Allie are picking you up for team pictures.”

“
Yes, ma’am, I remembered. Allie asked me if I could spend the night with her tonight, would that be okay?”

“
I have a better idea. How would you like Allie to spend the night here with us? We can all go to supper after the game and rent a movie.”

“
Could Emmelia come too?” Mac asked.

“
Sure.” After making the necessary phone calls to Gretchen and Amanda, the plans were set for the evening.

By the time Jackson rang her doorbell later that afternoon, Giselle was alone in her house. “Hey” she told him when she opened the door.

“
Hi, you ready to watch some ball? Where’s Lex?” he asked, looking around.

“
She went on to the park with Gretchen and the other girls. It’s just little old me. Can you live with that?”

“
I’ll manage,” he said, grinning down at her. “Let’s go, then.” He walked to the passenger side of his truck and opened the door for her.

“
Where is Bill?”

“
He had some business to tend to in Houston.”

She settled herself inside and buckled up. “I have to tell you what Lex said today, Jackson.”

“
Another ‘Lexie-ism’?”

He gave a hearty laugh when she told him about her ‘stiff drink” comment. “How long has she been coming up with those?”

“
Her vocabulary kicked into overdrive around four. That’s about when she started popping out with the most embarrassing things.”

“
Momma, did I mortify you again?” he mimicked, in as much of a little girl’s voice as he could manage with his baritone.

“
Exactly! Get the picture now?” she asked.

He chuckled. “I believe I do.”

They slipped into a rather uncomfortable silence, when Jackson suddenly spoke up. “I was thinking, since the game won’t be over until after seven, how about if I take you and the girls to a restaurant for supper afterwards?”

“
Allie and Emmelia are coming over to spend the night with my girls tonight, kind of a ‘no more school’ party. I told them I’d take them to a restaurant then rent some movies afterwards.”

He nodded. “Oh, it’s no big deal. I thought I’d keep you from having to scrounge up supper for them. Do you think you’ll be able to handle all four girls?”

“
I’ll be okay. It’s better some days, and nights, to keep busy.” Her left hand worked at the locket as she kept her eyes focused on scenery outside the truck window.

Jackson reached over and turned the radio on to hear the number one song on the country chart playing.

“
Ooh, I love this song,” she said. “Do you mind?” She reached over and turned up the volume.

Jackson began to rummage in the console storage compartment. “I just bought the CD. Have you heard it?”

“
No, I planned to. Is it good?”

“
I like it. It’s kind of rock/country cross over.” He found what he was looking for and handed her a couple of CD cases. “I picked these two up at the same time.”

“
Marc Broussard,” she said, looking at the second case, “He’s from around Lafayette, isn’t he?”