The Last Second Chance: A Small Town Love Story (Blue Moon Book 3) (8 page)

She was still gasping when Carter handed her a paper towel.

“What did you say?” Joey choked out, pressing the towel to her face.

Carter moved the coffee mug out of her reach. “We’ve decided to make you a partner in the stables.”

“I’m…not sure you’re speaking English. Or if I’m awake. Or having a stroke. This is a
family
farm, Carter.”

“You’re family. Always have been, always will be. Regardless of who you are or aren’t sleeping with.”

Joey slapped a hand to her forehead. This had Jax’s fingerprints all over it.

“Before you say it, this was my idea,” Carter said, reading her like a billboard.

She closed her mouth with a snap.

“I pitched it, my brothers were on board.”

“Simple as that?” Joey asked.

Carter nodded. “Simple as that. You want it?”

She wanted it more than the box of candied bacon she’d squirreled away in the bottom desk drawer. Joey took a slow breath, let it out. “That depends. You swear on the lives of your twins that Jax didn’t put you up to this? Because if you lie, you’ll be punished with hellion children.”

“It’s me and Summer, we can only create hellion children,” Carter cracked.

“Har har. Swear?”

“Swear. But Jax is obviously in favor of it. He told me it was ‘about fucking time’ and then went horse shopping.”

Her father’s words chose that moment to cycle through her head.
You’ll never be anything to them…

But she was. She was a solid, fucking investment, a friend. She was family. She had a bright future. Here, with the Pierces in her corner and she in theirs.

“Okay.”

Carter grinned. In it she saw the likeness of John, of Jax. Men she had loved. She couldn’t predict how this would go, but it was worth the risk.

“Now let’s talk compensation.”

T
hat evening
, Joey found herself on Gia and Beckett’s wide front porch, clutching a bag of fresh applesauce muffins and Waffles’ leash. She felt like an idiot.

But this was what you did with good news when you had friends. You shared it over baked goods and coffee.

Joey stabbed the doorbell with her finger and listened as little feet and paws pounded toward the front door. Giggles and barks met her when the door swung open.

Diesel, the floppy, fluffy puppy tripped over his fat feet in his bid to sniff Waffles’ butt. Aurora, looking like a five-year-old version of her mother, danced in place on the threshold.

“Hi Waffles! Hi Jo!” She was wearing orange and pink leggings and a teal hooded fleece with cookie crumbs smeared all over it.

“Hey, Roar,” Joey said in greeting. “Your mom around?”

“She’s in da kitchen wiv Bucket. Dere puttin’ a hole in da door.”

Of course they were.
In Joey’s opinion, marriage made people do weird things. She sighed and stepped inside, bringing both dogs with her, and shrugging out of her fitted down jacket.

Diesel and Waffles continued to play, weaving in and out of her feet, while she shucked off her boots.

“Yeah? Well, maybe next time you should consult me before you go and add two members to our family.” Gia’s voice carried as she shoved open the kitchen door and marched down the hallway toward her. “Don’t even think about it, Diesel!” She may have been dressed in cozy leggings with hearts all over them, but there was steel in her voice. Gia’s command was delivered with a stern point of the finger at the puppy that had one of the boots Joey just discarded in his mouth.

The puppy dropped the boot and flopped over on his back, tail wagging. Gia rolled her eyes and rubbed the fat little belly. “You need to behave yourself,” she said sternly. “Or I’ll send you to Puppy Siberia.” Diesel thumped his tail, immune to the threat.

“Hi,” Gia said, finally shifting her focus to Joey. She gave her a hug before reaching down to scratch Waffles behind the ears. “See? This is what a good boy looks like,” she crooned. “I bet you don’t pee all over your mama’s yoga clothes, do you?”

Joey wisely hid her grin and let Gia usher her into the parlor where a fire crackled cheerfully in the hearth. Here she could see the melding of Beckett’s traditional tastes and Gia’s eclectic style.

The room itself was an eyebrow raiser with its high ceilings and ornate woodwork. Thick carved moldings and wainscoting in a sedate navy were complimented by shimmering gold and silver accents that picked up the tones in the fleur de lis wallpaper.

Kitschy and antique finishes topped tables and filled shelves. Two overstuffed tangerine floor pillows occupied the space between the fireplace and the low, square coffee table.

Candles flickered golden in a trio of cracked glass holders on the mantel already crowded by family photos. Gia and Beckett on their wedding day. The kids with Franklin and Phoebe at Christmas.

A bluesy song poured from a docking station tucked between leather bound volumes and trashy romance paperbacks on the built-ins flanking the fireplace. Joey made a mental note to browse Gia’s library to see if they could make any trades.

“Nice,” Joey said, handing over the muffins.

“Thanks.” Gia surveyed the room with pride. “This is my sanctuary. No kids, no pets, no Beckett, unless specifically invited.” Aurora and Diesel chose that moment to scramble in. The little girl supermanned onto a footstool while the puppy attacked the fringe on the cream colored throw tossed over the arm of the sofa.

“Uh-uh,” Gia said. “You take your furry friend here and go bother Beckett in the kitchen.”

“But, Mama!” Aurora’s eyes were wide with the pain of rejection. “I want hot chocolate!”

“If you stop the whining this second and promise to take Diesel outside to do his business before your brother comes home, you can have hot chocolate.”

“Yay!” Aurora jumped up, fueled by enthusiasm and the promise of liquid sugar.

“In the kitchen,” Gia finished. She kept her expression stern while her daughter’s shoulders slumped.

“Deal or no deal?” Gia asked.

Aurora sighed pitifully. “Deal,” she pouted.

“Good. Now go take your four-legged monster to see Beckett.”

“C’mon, Diesel,” Aurora said, hefting the roly puppy in her little arms.

Waffles, sensing a possible eviction, curled up quietly next to the fire.

“Don’t give the puppy any hot chocolate,” Gia called after her.

“Awh.”

Gia yanked the pocket doors closed. “You and I will be enjoying adult hot chocolate laced with booze,” she announced.

“Are you sure tonight is a good time for you?” Joey asked, skeptically.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Aurora said something about a hole in the door and you seem a little insane.”

“The hole is for the cat door so poor Tripod can escape to the basement when Diesel torments him too much. The insanity is just a side effect of raising children and being married,” she grinned, looking much happier than her words suggested.

The doorbell rang. “That should be Summer,” Gia said, sliding one of the doors open. “Or half of the town council. You never know, living in this house.”

She reappeared moments later with a bundled up Summer in tow. The pocket doors slid shut and Joey wasn’t certain but she thought she heard the snick of a lock. Summer started shucking off layers starting with a purple knit cap and her buff-colored Uggs. She had a white fleecy sweater stretched tight across her rounded belly. The cheery scarf around her neck was next. “I’m so glad you guys called. I spent all day in the office and then all of dinner I divided my time between arguing with Carter and ignoring two sets of beggy eyes.”

“What are you two fighting about?” Joey asked.

“Oh, no!” Summer wagged a finger at her and Joey wondered if the commanding finger was some kind of maternal trait. She’d have to ask her own mother. “I want to hear your news first,” Summer said, easing herself down on one of the armchairs.

There was a thump from the rear set of doors.

“Hold that thought,” Gia said. “Hot chocolate’s here.” She slid the doors open to reveal a tray-wielding Beckett. “There’s my handsome butler.”

He was still in his office attire. Neatly pressed gray pants and a light blue button down. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. “The two mugs on the right are the good ones,” he said, dropping a kiss on Gia’s cheek.

“Thank you, Jeeves,” she said. “Have everything under control?”

“Rora and I are taking the demon hell spawn outside for a potty break, after which we are convening to the third floor for homework and video games. Evan should be home in the next five minutes or he’s grounded.”

“God, you’re sexy when you know stuff,” Gia sighed. She took her husband’s face in her hands and gave him an R-rated kiss.

“Ladies,” he said with a wink as he sauntered out of the room.

The second the pocket doors slid shut, Joey found both Summer and Gia staring at her.

“Well?” Summer prodded.

Suddenly awkward, Joey cleared her throat. She wasn’t very comfortable talking about herself. It was easier to maintain a safe distance if she didn’t go blabbing about herself all the time.

“I…uh…”

“Slept with Jax?” Gia offered.

“Joey shook her head vehemently. “No!”

“Made out with Jax?” Summer tried.

“No, well yes. But no.”

“Definitely coming back to that one,” Summer said, fluffing her blond hair.

“They made me a partner in the stables.” Joey blurted it out and shoved part of a muffin in her mouth so she wouldn’t have to say anything else right away.

“What?” Summer said, trying to heave herself out of the chair. Gia, unrestricted by the weight of pregnancy flew at Joey, her arms outstretched.

“Oh, my God! That’s even more exciting than Jax!”

“It was the proposal, wasn’t it?” Summer asking, finally gaining her feet.

Joey nodded and chewed.

“So how soon do you get to start the breeding program?” Gia asked, releasing her to dole out the mugs.

Joey swallowed hard. “I guess immediately, seeing as how Jax had a trailer full of perfect equine specimens delivered today.”

“Jax bought horses?” Gia frowned.

Here Joey paused because it was here that trepidation warred with excitement. “He bought me two horses. As an investment.”

“Ohhh.” Summer and Gia got the implication immediately.

“I made a mistake, didn’t I?” Joey flopped down on the floor pillow next to the sleeping Waffles. “Damn it. I knew it.”

Gia placed a steaming cup and saucer on the coffee table in front of her.

“Why in the world would you think you made a mistake?” Summer asked, helping herself to a muffin.

“Because Jax,” Gia answered, delivering Summer’s hot chocolate.

“Why does yours smell better than mine?” Summer asked, sniffing the rim of her cup.”

“Because whiskey and Irish cream,” Gia grinned.

“That’s going on the Things Summer Gets to Drink After Babies list. Now, back to this mistake nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense,” Joey argued. “Gia agrees with me.”

“Uh-uh,” Gia said, using her parent voice. “I
understand
that you’re
concerned
with what Jax’s role is in all of this. That doesn’t mean I think you’re right to doubt yourself. Because you’re not.”

“Why don’t you walk us through the whole thing?” Summer suggested.

So she did, while stroking Waffles who had decided her lap was more comfortable than the pillow.

“Okay, so to summarize—can you tell I married an attorney?—Carter was so impressed with your proposal for a breeding program that he put it up for a vote to make you a partner. And Jax liked the plan so much that he invested in a pair of horses levels above where you hoped to start.”

Joey nodded at Gia over the rim of her cup, the hot chocolate warming her from the inside out.

“I want props for not dropping any of the dozen ‘looking a gift horse in the mouth’ jokes I’ve thought of in the last five minutes,” Summer told them.

“So what’s really bothering you?” Gia asked, watching Joey intently. “I mean, really this sounds like good business on all sides. Of course you should be a partner and of course you should start with the best stock possible. So what’s the real reason you’re crumbling your muffin into little pieces?”

Joey looked down at her flannel now covered with muffin. She looked like she’d taken eating lessons from Aurora.

“I’m worried that he’s serious.” Joey said the words before she could tamp them down again. “I’d almost talked myself into having a nice little fling with Jax. The sparks are still there and I’m not some wide-eyed eighteen-year-old kid anymore. I wouldn’t break this time. I thought it was only a matter of time before he packed up and left again.”

She paused, took another fortifying sip of hot chocolate. “But he’s not packing. He’s building a brewery and helping out around the stables, and rescuing dogs, and buying horses.” Joey took a breath.

“You’re worried Jax couldn’t handle something casual,” Summer said, her perfectly groomed eyebrows rocketing sky high.

“He told me he loves me.”

“Of course he does,” Gia smiled. “Anyone can see that.”

“I don’t want him to love me. I want things to be simple, uncomplicated. I can’t seduce my business partner. I can’t keep things casual with a man who thinks he loves me and wants to have some kind of future with me.”

“Sure you can,” Summer grinned. “It’s called being honest. Jax is a big boy. And if there’s a family resemblance down there, he’s a very big boy.”

Gia snickered.

“Sorry, pregnancy hormones. Where was I before the penis sidetrack?”

“Honesty,” Gia supplied.

“Right. If you’re honest with him about what you do want—like his hot body and impressive genitalia—and don’t want a long term relationship with said hot body, then it’s up to him to deal with that.”

“Huh,” Joey said. “Are we just going to pretend that it’s not weird having Summer giving advice about honesty in relationships?”

“Har har. Very funny. I’ll have you know I’m a reformed dishonest relationship haver.”

“Joey, what Summer here is trying to say between penis jokes is that you could have everything,” Gia told her.

“Hmm.”