Last First Kiss (8 page)

Lexie sighed like the drama queen she was. “I got up to ‘use the bathroom’ and I heard Sam talking to Bill and Jackson. I was so happy to see Jackson, I stayed up. Then I told Mac that Bill was here. Jackson’s my favorite, but Bill is hers.”

Giselle remembered her prayer asking God to send them help. Maybe these two men were the answer for her girls. Nobody would be able to take her pain of losing Toby away, but if her children didn’t suffer, she could bear it easier.
Thank you, God. I owe you one.
As soon as the thought formed, the pills seemed to take effect, and the pain eased off immediately. She breathed a deep sigh of relief.
I guess I owe you two.

“Yes, thank you.” She sat up and continued to eat the rest of her breakfast while listening to her daughters shamelessly manipulate the three men at the tale. Giselle laughed when Lexie went to give Jackson a kiss and burped, most unladylike, in his face, making him jerk back with surprised laughter.

“Whoa...That’s a first for me,” he commented.

“Sorry Jackson, that was on a
asscident
,” she said.

“Not a problem, Lex.” He laughed and accepted a kiss from her anyway. When Lexie attempted to climb up on his knee, Jackson swung her easily onto his lap.

“She’ll get strawberry sauce all over your nice suite,” Giselle told him. “She makes Toby late all the time...” She froze, as the reality of no more Toby hit her full force. “I mean...she
made
him late...he’d have to go change his shirt before he could leave the house in the mornings,” she finished in a whisper, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “Excuse me, I have to get ready.”

“Do you need me to call Carrie?” Sam asked.

“No, I’ll be fine. Could someone clean Lexie up, please?”

“I got that,” Jackson said, getting up to wet a paper towel and beginning to wipe the child down. “Between the three of us grown men, we could probably get the girls ready for you and give you and Carrie a break. I just can’t do their hair.”

“Mac can do her own hair, and I’ll tend to Lexie’s.”

“Mom, can you braid my hair today?” Mac asked, running up to her mother. “Daddy liked it in one long braid, and I want to look nice for daddy.”

“Sure baby, when I’m done.” Giselle gently smoothed the child’s bangs back away from her forehead. She suddenly pulled her daughter’s head close to her own body and hugged her tightly. “Daddy will like that.” She placed a kiss firmly on the top of the dark silky head that was so much like Toby’s. The action made her remember that she would never again feel Toby’s hair against her lips, and it brought tears to her eyes. She wiped at them hastily, and released her daughter before turning toward the hallway. “I’ll lay their clothes out for you.”

Lexie watched her mother walk from the room. “I wish momma wasn’t so sad.”

“I know. She’ll be sad for awhile, but it won’t last forever,” Jackson told her as he ran his fingers through her silky ringlets.

Bill and Sam watched Jackson as he brought a warm washcloth to Lexie’s face to wipe it thoroughly. “Maybe he will one day, Lex, but you can’t rush something like that. She really loved your daddy a lot. It’ll be hard for someone to come in and take his place.”

She scrunched her little face up in concentration. “My daddy always smelled good and so do you, and when he hugged me, I felt all warm and comfable. That’s how you make me feel. Did I ‘splain it good enough, Jackson?”

Jackson blinked quickly then cleared his throat. “Yeah, Lex, you explained it fine.” He kissed her lightly on the forehead. “I believe that’s the nicest thing
anyone
has ever said to me.”

<><><>

At eight o’clock, the group entered the funeral home, shaking the water from umbrellas and shedding raincoats. Toby’s girls were dressed in their finery, and hoped he approved from wherever he watched.

A somber Giselle dreaded the inevitable. She would never again run her fingers through the black silkiness of Toby’s hair, or gaze into the mesmerizing sexiness of his beautiful, brown eyes. Her daughters sensed her distress, and abandoned their ‘favorite’ men to remain by her side for the service.

All too soon, it ended, and the occupants of the funeral home vacated the viewing room, leaving only family members behind.

Giselle faced the final moment with her daughters pressed closely to her side.
God give me the strength to do this,
she prayed, as she stood to make the final viewing of the only man she’d ever loved. She stood staring down at Toby. “Hey baby, I guess it’s time to give you up now.” Her chin trembled and her entire body shook with her effort to control her emotions. She reached in and touched his hair one last time, then leaned over and kissed him gently. She patted his chest, straightened his tie, and touched each button on his shirt, anything to avoid leaving him. Her sobs grew louder as the pain of losing him became the harshest and cruelest of realities. She leaned over his casket to rest her cheek on his chest, the pain in her side nothing compared to the pain of her heart breaking.

Mac and Lexie ran to Jackson and Bill for comfort while Carrie and Sam’s family moved in around their mother to support Giselle through the traumatizing transition of letting go. When she’d finally gained control of her emotions, Jackson lowered Lexie to the floor and she and her sister rejoined their mother.

They somberly left the room to wait outside while the six pallbearers prepared to carry Toby to his final resting place. The five male members of Carrie’s family had known him for nearly seven years and thought of him as a brother...or a son, in Sam’s case. The sixth was Toby’s co-worker and close friend, Grant.

The rain diminished to a light drizzle by the time they arrived at the graveyard. People got out of their vehicles and began the walk to the tent, while the snap and pop of umbrellas opening punctuated the otherwise somber silence. The service was a heartwarming tribute given by Father Mitch, the local priest, another friend of Toby’s. As soon as he finished, the rain ended.

“You see?” Father Mitch said to everyone. “Toby doesn’t want his girls to get wet.” Giselle actually smiled and the girls giggled. It was just the thing needed to lighten everyone’s mood. Giselle hugged Father Mitch, and thanked him for the beautiful words that she knew had been difficult for him to say without breaking down.

Giselle stood next to the casket, both hands splayed over the glossy mahogany, her head lowered, and filled with the scent of the gorgeous spray Carrie and her family had donated. She finally straightened, and plucked three roses for herself and her girls before pulling away from the casket. As soon as she stepped from under the covering, several shafts of sunlight broke through the clouds like spears through tufts of cotton.

“I bet he did, baby. I bet he asked God to send us that rainbow so that we wouldn’t be so sad. He’s still taking care of us, isn’t he?”

“That’s just like daddy to do that for us,” Mac said.

“Yep, it sure is,” Lexie agreed. “Momma, can we go home now? I heard Carrie tell Bill that some daughters have brought a lot of food to our house, and I’m getting hungry.”

Jackson heard the comment and laughed.

Giselle grinned at her daughter. “The Catholic Daughters...nice ladies from our church, have brought food.”

“Oh...Jackson, are you coming to our house to eat some food the
Calflick
Daughters brought?” Lexie asked.

The atmosphere inside Giselle’s home was light-hearted, largely due to her youngest daughter. Once Lexie realized she had a captive audience, she kept everyone laughing with the antics and ‘Lexi-isms’ she was famous for.

“Momma, did you know that Bill has a ranch, and he has horses, and cows, and even some little piggy goats that don’t grow very big at all.”

“I think he may have Pygmy goats,” Giselle corrected.

“I guess so. Anyway, he also has a big pond on his ranch where we could go fishing. He wants to cook us all a barbeque when your rib doesn’t hurt you anymore. He said our whole family could go...Carrie’s and Sam’s too. Can we go, Momma?”

“It’s my idea,” Bill told her. He lowered himself onto the unoccupied chair next to her. “As a matter of fact, Mac told me she and Lex both have birthdays coming up in July. One’s on a Friday and the others is the next Tuesday. How about planning a joint party for them on the Sunday? I’d love it if you’d say yes, Giselle. It would give this old man something to look forward to for the next few months.”

She looked into the kind blue eyes of the generous man and felt a connection to him. Maybe it’s just that he and Jackson were as alone as she and Toby had been since the deaths of their adoptive parents. For whatever reason, her girls had seemed to form a bond with these two men.

“All right,” she said, nodding gratefully. Mackenzie brought the kitchen calendar to her so she could mark the date. Her two girls jumped around excitedly, and told anyone who would listen about their upcoming birthday party at Bill’s ranch.

That afternoon, Carrie tucked Giselle and her daughters into bed for a nap and went outside to meet her husband. She found him with Jackson and Bill, discussing some overhanging tree branches that needed to be trimmed.

“I thought you two went home an hour ago,” she said, stepping out onto the patio.

Jackson shook his head. “We’ve been discussing maintenance issues for this place. I told Sam that if the rain stops, I’ll come over on Saturday to do her yard work. He’s been showing me some things that I can take care of for her.”

“I’m sure she’d appreciate that,” Carrie told him. “You know, I’ve been thinking how rough it’ll be on those girls not to have their dad around for ball games. He’s gone to every tee-ball game since Mac’s been in it. This is Lexie’s first year, and I know Toby looked forward to watching her.”

“The girls would love it,” Sam added. “You know, I always thought it was odd that Toby didn’t play baseball, as much as he loved other sports. I guess you knew he was a star running back for L.S.U.” he told the other two men. “You ever played baseball, Jackson?”

Bill buckled his seatbelt and turned to his nephew. “
I
played some
? What the hell was that all about?”