The Last Second Chance: A Small Town Love Story (Blue Moon Book 3) (29 page)

At least nothing green and slimy had flown out of his nose.

“Sorry for bothering you guys so late,” Joey told Franklin as he took her coat.

Franklin, dressed in flannel pajamas and slippers, tut-tutted. “You’re always welcome, Joey.”

The ever-present moving boxes had been neatly stacked along the wall behind the dining table. Phoebe and Franklin’s quest to move in together seemed like it was taking longer than a college education. But Calvin was ready to break ground on their new home in a sunny pasture back on the farm. And soon Franklin would be watching TV or whipping up a gourmet Italian meal in those pajamas in their brand new house. Probably with grandkids and granddogs underfoot.

Phoebe, in fleecy pajama bottoms decorated with pink flamingos, bustled out of the kitchen and wrapped Joey in a hug. “It’s good to see you, sweetie.”

“I’ll start the tea,” Franklin said, winking at Phoebe and dropping a kiss on her cheek.

Phoebe blushed prettily.

“Oh, crap. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Joey asked, embarrassed that she might be crashing a pajama party.

“No, dear. We finished anything worth interrupting before you called,” Phoebe winked.

Joey smirked. Love knew no age, that was for sure.

“Come on in and make yourself comfortable,” Phoebe said, leading the way into her living room. “You sounded upset on the phone.”

Joey sank down on the couch. “I was. Am. I’m sure you heard by now about…everything.”

Phoebe nodded. “I heard Jax and your father had a bit of a run-in the other day.”

“Did you know Jax is writing a screenplay about me?”

Phoebe’s eyes widened behind her glasses. “I had no idea! Oh, I bet it’s wonderful!”

Joey rolled her eyes. “Yeah, let’s put the maternal pride on hold for a second. He started it before he came back and has it sold to a studio already. It’s our whole story. From kindergarten on up to present.”

“He let you read it.”

Joey nodded. “Most of it. He kept the ending. But he did include John’s write-up of the accident.”

“Smart boy,” Phoebe said proudly.

Joey shot her a look.

“Sorry,” Phoebe grinned. “But you have to admit that’s a pretty creative apology. Giving you the other two sides to what happened the night of the accident.”

“Yeah, yeah. Creative. Whatever. How did you forgive John for letting him go and not telling you?”

Now it was Phoebe’s turn to roll her eyes. “Oh, Joey. That situation taught me more about love and forgiveness than any other I’ve ever been in. I was heartbroken that Jax left and I was so angry at John for letting him.”

Phoebe shook her head at the memories. “I felt betrayed by them both for quite some time.”

“How did you get unbetrayed?”

“I had to trust that John felt that the decision was the right one. Now that’s completely different from agreeing with the decision. Because to this day I don’t. But I knew deep down, John never would have let him go if he thought it wouldn’t be in Jax’s best interest.”

Joey frowned, her brain contemplating the areas of gray. “So even though you thought he was wrong, you didn’t bash his head in with a frying pan?”

Phoebe nodded. “Exactly. Oh, I was furious with him when he came clean. To know that he’d driven Jax to the bus station and given him money and just sent him off into the unknown. Knowing he got to say good-bye and I didn’t have that chance? There were many times I picked up the metaphorical frying pan. But what finally got through to me is the pain that John carried for that decision, even though he still believed he was right.”

Joey gave a half-hearted “Hmm.”

“You and your mother and I would have solved the entire thing in seconds if they’d bothered to bring us into their testosterone fueled pow-wow of idiocy. Instead, we all had to live with the consequences of their decisions. But what it all boils down to is each of them thought they were doing the best they could for the people they loved.”

Joey flopped back against the couch. “I get what you’re saying. I do. But, my God, how do you forgive stupidity like that?”

“It takes a long, long time. And a lot of wine. But once you get to that point of understanding, everything starts to hurt just a little bit less. I honestly believe that they didn’t do any of it to hurt you. They both thought they were protecting you in their own stupid, misguided way.” Phoebe patted her leg.

Franklin entered the room carting a tray with steaming mugs, Mr. Snuffles on his heels. He’d sliced up lemon and added a little bowl of honey and a pitcher of cream.

“Thank you, handsome,” Phoebe said, grinning up at her husband-to-be.

Franklin smiled sweetly back at her and Joey wanted to gag a little. Everyone was happy and in love except for her. Stupid Blue Moon.

“So what are you going to do?” Phoebe asked, after Franklin left them again.

Mr. Snuffles jumped up next to her on the couch and cocked his head as if he was waiting for an answer too.

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Do you love Jax?”

Joey shrugged. “I guess. But that sure didn’t get me very far either time with him. We’re obviously missing something key to a successful relationship. Any ideas?”

“If I had to hazard a guess, I’d put my money on communication,” Phoebe offered.

“Relationships would be so much easier if we didn’t have to communicate,” Joey grumbled. It was true. She and Jax rarely had a conversation that didn’t begin or end with an argument. And if they weren’t fighting, they were naked. Solid relationships couldn’t be built on just sex, could they?

She hadn’t realized she’d asked the question out loud until Phoebe snorted in her tea. “No, but they sure go better than the ones with terrible sex. And you know what? You can learn to communicate easier than you can learn to be more interesting in bed.”

“You may have a point,” Joey said, picking up her tea and sniffing it. “One last question. You knew all this time why Jax left. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Phoebe sighed long and low. “I’ve been dreading this question for years. Not telling you makes me seem disloyal to you. Like I was protecting Jax over you.”

“Maybe a little. I mean, he is your son and all, but you still should have told me.”

“It was for Jax and your father to tell. Coming from anyone else, including me?” she shook her head. “The only way to save either or both of those relationships is for them to tell you the truth. Me telling you would have robbed them of that opportunity and it would have quite possibly effectively ended one or both relationships.”

“But my relationship with Jax was already over.”

Phoebe smiled. “Honey, you two could run off and marry other people and have six kids apiece and you still wouldn’t be over. There are so many strings tying you two together I pity anyone who tries to keep you apart.”

“John seemed to think that me loving Jax in high school was kind of like a prison.”

“Leave it to a man to describe love as a prison,” Phoebe sighed.

“Do you think I trapped him?”

“I think the decisions you both would have made together would have put you in different places than where you are now.”

“So Jax wouldn’t be a big-time Hollywood screenwriter?”

“And you wouldn’t be a partner in the stables you helped build,” Phoebe pointed out.

Joey couldn’t imagine a life without her horses, without Pierce Acres, without her cozy home tucked away on a hill.

“Hmm. Well, you know there’s really only one thing that’s going to repair your relationship with me since you’ve been lying to me for all these years,” Joey said, delicately sipping her tea.

Phoebe rolled her eyes and pulled a battered recipe card out from under the couch cushion. “Mercenary,” she said.

“Thank you Great-Aunt Felicia,” Joey said, triumphantly holding up the raspberry cream cheese coffee cake recipe.

T
he day
of Blue Moon’s 45
^th
Annual Sit-In And Good Cause Carnival dawned crisp and bright with temperatures promising a balmy high in the mid-forties.

To Joey it was both a ridiculous and entirely enjoyable tradition in town. Forty-five years ago, the town’s library had faced a funding crisis and shutdown was imminent. The librarian at the time, Mrs. Manypenny, had somehow formed a bond with Blue Moon’s newest flower child residents, allowing them to sell crafts in the library’s basement, helping them with job applications, and pointing them toward the right resources for their many endeavors of the moment.

Mrs. Manypenny had helped Willa secure a loan to open Blue Moon Boots. She’d ordered beekeeping books when Elvira Eustace, then Elvira Sharpinski, wanted to start her own beekeeping enterprise. She’d arranged for guest speakers to address Blue Moon audiences on topics as vast and varied as raising growth hormone-free livestock, hydroponics, transcendental meditation, and what to do when you hadn’t paid income tax.

So when the library faced closure, the hippies decided to show their support of the library and Mrs. Manypenny in the way they knew best. They staged a sit-in at the library with the highlight being two young lovers, Sheldon and Lenore Fitzsimmons—Fitz’s parents— who handcuffed themselves to a shelving system of Nancy Drew books. The entire town showed up to see what all the fuss was about and someone started passing a hat. The five o’clock news did a brief clip on the protest and eleven hours after the sit-in started, the protestors had raised enough money to fund the library’s operating budget for another year.

The townspeople had so much fun they decided to do it again. And so every year since, they staged a sit-in for a different cause. And every year, the town chose a “lucky” couple to be handcuffed together as the Cuffed Lovers. Thankfully, the town had voted in favor of reducing the cuff time to two hours to better accommodate things like bathroom breaks.

This year, Furever Home Animal Rescue would be the recipient of the funds raised. The sit-in had outgrown its humble beginnings over the years. The library could no longer hold the crowds that invariably showed up, so the event was now hosted at the high school where booths, dancing, and food stands spilled over from the gymnasium into cafeteria and, in unseasonably warm years, the parking lot.

Joey had no intentions of attending this year’s sit-in. Not since everyone in town knew she and Jax had imploded yet again. And especially not since there was barely a whisper of their breakup on Facebook. The Beautification Committee was probably hoping to cuff Moon Beam Parker to Jax to finally set their diabolical and horribly misguided plan into action.

Unsure of what her feelings actually were, she’d yet to reach out to Jax after reading his screenplay. She felt a softening around the edges of her anger. And he’d continued to give her space, staying out of her way. She hated that she missed him. On her couch, in her stables, in her bed. His absence was noticeable and uncomfortable. Jax might live in Blue Moon, but it was as if he had vanished from her life again. And this time it was at her request.

Jax would be there at the sit-in, she was sure of it. And as much as she missed him, she still wasn’t ready to face him. She couldn’t be sure that she wouldn’t take out the metaphorical frying pan and bean him with it in front of witnesses. Nope. There was no way she was showing her face at the sit-in. At least, that’s what she thought until Mrs. Penskee of Furever Home called her personally to invite Joey and Waffles to be their special guests of honor. Well, Waffles would be the guest of honor; Joey would hold the guest of honor’s leash.

“It would be such great publicity for the rescue,” Mrs. Penskee had told her. “And you and Waffles are one of our happiest stories. It would mean the world to us if you’ll be there.”

Joey had grudgingly agreed and then ordered Waffles a fire hydrant print bowtie for him to wear for his big day. And since the dog was dressing up, Joey thought she should take a little extra care with her appearance. It had nothing to do with the fact that Jax would probably be there. She didn’t need to look extra good for him. She was doing this for herself. At least that’s what she told herself as she traced eyeliner over each lash line. She pulled part of her hair back from her face so her dark curls fell down her back and she chose a soft scoop neck sweater in a deep plum to go with her jeans and suede boots.

Armor in place, she gave a nod to her reflection in the mirror and marched out the door. At the high school, Waffles hopped out of the truck and pranced down the sidewalk with her as if he was walking the red carpet.

Several people called out greetings to her and Joey realized she’d been avoiding town for quite a while now. It was kind of nice to be back around people…as long as none of them brought up a certain Pierce’s name.

Gia and Summer flagged her down at the entrance.

“Hey! You came,” Gia said, leaning down to pat Waffles.

“Waffles, I’m going to say hello from up here,” Summer said, patting her belly. “I haven’t been near my own shoes in weeks so take a rain check on the petting.”

“Are you okay?” Joey asked. Summer looked exhausted and uncomfortable.

“As okay as eight-plus months pregnant with twins can be,” she said with a pained smile. “I’m here for the food and then I’m going home to work from my couch.”

“Where are the husbands?” Joey asked, hoping that the answer would be “on the farm with Jax.”

“Oh, they’re around here somewhere,” Gia said, waving at the crowd around them. “I assume they followed Jax and the kids to some kind of deep fried lard and sugar-by-the-ton stand.”

Great. There was the J word. Well, at least she looked good.

She and Waffles followed the girls inside the school’s gym where it looked like the entire town had congregated. The diehards dressed for the occasion in a rainbow of tie-dye, a sea of bellbottoms, and a mountain of fringe. There were retro Lennon sunglasses and faded bandanas everywhere.

Fran’s band was playing again, this time without Gia’s ex-husband, and Joey recognized nearly every couple on the dance floor. Games were set up carnival style all over the polished gym floor. A giant inflatable obstacle course took up half the basketball court and looked like it was raking in the bucks.

“Fitz, isn’t that just for kids?” Joey called out. Bill Fitzsimmons was finally in style. His strict adherence to sixties fashion worked for him one day of the year. He was wearing patched bellbottom jeans and a yellow, skintight Peace Love Music t-shirt. Both looked like original pieces, as was his scraggly rattail. Fitz was standing in line with a dozen kids under the age of seven. He was counting quarters in his hand.

“Grown-ups can play too,” he yelled back. “Besides, I need a rematch with the Delroy boys.” Two little blonde boys taunted him by sticking out their tongues.

They continued on, giving wide berth to the Higgenworth Communal Alternative Education Day Care stand that was selling what looked like hand woven leashes. A script handwritten sign listed the prices for the colorful “child safety tethers.”

Joey thought back to the annual daycare field trip to Pierce Acres and shivered. “There’s something wrong with those kids,” she whispered to Summer.

“Yeah, guess where these two aren’t going to daycare,” Summer whispered back.

There was no sign of Mrs. Penskee or the Pierce men in the gym so they followed the long hallway of lockers to the cafeteria.

“There’s Phoebe and Franklin with the kids,” Summer said, pointing to a fried cauliflower stand. Phoebe and Franklin were both sporting colored sunglasses and matching tie-dye.

Gia grimaced. “Well, at least it’s a vegetable. There’s the rest of them,” she said, pointing to the vegan eggroll stand.

Joey hazarded a guess that they were in line for Carter’s lunch seeing as how no one else in their right mind would willingly put that crap in their mouth.

Except maybe Jax who had just bitten off half of one of said eggrolls. Well, if he was eating garbage that meant he too was suffering from their latest break up. That made her feel marginally better.

God, he looked good. And the three of them together made quite the picture. Jax in his fitted long sleeve t-shirt. Carter in his flannel. And Beckett sporting his usual crisp button down.

Joey realized Gia and Summer had stopped next to her to admire the picture the Pierces presented.

“Damn,” Summer sighed happily.

“Yeah, we have really excellent taste,” Gia agreed.

“I’m gonna go find Mrs. Penskee,” Joey said, pulling Waffles with her before she could be drawn in by Jax’s sexiness like a tractor beam.

She finally found the woman in front of the stage. Mrs. Penskee was wearing some kind of bellbottom pantsuit decorated with paisley pineapples and a matching headscarf. She was barking orders into a headset.

“I understand that he crawled under the bleachers himself, but that doesn’t mean we can just leave him there…Well, then send a skinny ten-year-old in after him.”

Between her tight, graying curls and her wire-rimmed glasses, she was a shoe-in for Mrs. Claus and always rode shotgun to Ernest Washington’s Santa in the holiday parade.

“Those Higgenroth kids,” Mrs. Penskee sighed. “Little Wahlon crawled under the bleachers and won’t come out. There’s got to be an easier way to raise money than this.”

“Sounds like Wahlon’s parents should have invested in one of those handy child safety tethers,” Joey said.

“Next year we should handcuff all the kids together and give their parents two hours of peace and quiet.”

Joey was fairly certain Mrs. Penskee was joking, but the woman made a “hmm” noise and pulled out a little notebook from her back pocket. “Handcuff the children,” she muttered to herself as she wrote.

“So, where would you like Waffles?” Joey asked, distracting Mrs. Penskee from a potential felony.

“Oh, up on stage, please.”

“Now?”

“We can do our little announcement and ceremonial kickoff now and distract everyone’s attention while someone fishes Wahlon out from under the bleachers.” Mrs. Penskee ushered Joey and Waffles up the stairs onto the raised stage. Joey instantly felt conspicuous and she could tell the exact second that Jax spotted her by the way her nipples came to attention. She saw him making his way through the crowd toward her, a shark scenting blood in the water.

Her pulse ratcheted up another notch as their eyes met. Waffles’ tail thumped happily on the stage.
Traitor
, Joey thought. Jax climbed the stairs and Joey’s heart was thudding out of her chest. Shit. This wasn’t just anger. This was deep in the bone, ‘til the day I die love. And it hit her like a well-placed hoof to the heart.

She loved Jax. But when in their history had that ever been enough?

“Hey,” he said, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

“Hey yourself,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Waffles did his seated wiggle so he could lean lovingly against Jax’s leg.

“Hey, buddy,” Jax said, leaning down to ruffle Waffles’ fur. The dog dissolved into a puddle of happiness and flopped over onto his back so Jax could rub his belly. “I missed you and your mom.”

“He
may
have noticed your absence,” Joey said grudgingly.

“What about you?”

Joey shook her head. “No, it’s been party, party, party for me. Didn’t even realize you weren’t around the past few days.”

His gray eyes warmed at her sarcasm. “Same with me. Too busy partying to miss you.”

“You’re missing me right now,” she shot back.

“Okay, if the rest of you can just fill in behind them,” Mrs. Penskee interrupted with a clipboard and a microphone. She directed Phoebe, Franklin, Carter, Summer, Gia, Beckett, and the kids to line up behind Joey and Waffles.

“Great. That’s perfect. Ladies and gentlemen, if I can have your attention?” She tapped the microphone, which let out an ear splitting shriek. Waffles buried his head in his paws and gave a short, sharp yip.

The crowd quieted.

“Whoops! Sorry about that. Anyway, I’d like to welcome you to the 45
^th
Annual Blue Moon Sit-In and Good Cause Carnival. This year’s proceeds are going to a very worthy cause if I do say so myself,” she said, pointing at the Furever Home Rescue banner behind them.

Mrs. Penskee chattered on about the work her rescue had done over the years and Joey tried to stay tuned in, but having Jax next to her, his shoulder resting against hers. The back of his hand brushing her arm. Joey stared hard out into the sea of time-forgotten hippies as she tried to hold on to the hurt, the anger. Those feelings would protect her against future pain. Keeping her safe and separate.

But safe and separate left no room for Jax.

“As you all are well aware, thanks to the Pierce family, our little rescue had its most successful day ever with the adoption of six of our pets, one of which is on stage now.”

Waffles seemed to understand that they were talking about him. He sat up straight with his ears perked and a happy doggy smile above his bowtie.

“We at the rescue couldn’t think of a better way to thank you for your kindness and generosity than this.”

Joey didn’t even realize Donovan Cardona was on the stage until she felt the cold metal close over her wrist with a snap.

“No!” Joey’s arm recoiled and she stared in horror as Jax’s arm went with it. They were cuffed together and the crowd was cheering.

“Let’s give a warm welcome to this year’s Cuffed Lovers, Joey Greer and Jackson Pierce.”

The applause drowned out Joey’s expletive-laden gasp. She stared at Jax who didn’t look remotely surprised. “You son of a bitch,” she growled.

Jax grinned and raised their cuffed hands to wave to the crowd. Joey tried to yank her arm down to no avail. Anthony Berkowicz pushed through the front row and snapped a picture of them with an oversized digital camera. Between the camera flash and rage, Joey was temporarily blinded. Jax dragged her off stage and handed Waffles over to Mrs. Penskee.

“How about you take the guest of honor around?” he suggested to her.