by Carrie Elks
“I’ll think about it,” he said, his voice almost robotic as he spoke to his mom.
“Oh thank you, darling. I knew you loved me really.” She gave a little laugh.
“I have to go. I have work to do.” His voice was dull.
“But I thought you were at the mall,” she said. Realizing she’d gotten what she wanted, she quickly changed direction. “Never mind, maybe I misheard. I have to go, too, but I’ll send you a text right now. Love you, baby.”
“You, too.” He ended the call and stuffed the phone back in his pocket, his mind still dazed by his sudden revelation about Lydia Paxton.
Though he knew part of it was untrue – she wasn’t like his mom. She was too kind, too empathetic for that. But it didn’t matter, because the protective shield he’d built up, the one that stopped him from feeling hurt or abandoned ever since his mom had left him, was slowly rising back up.
It only had one job. The same job it always had where relationships were concerned. To stop him from getting hurt.
7
“Can I ask you a question?” Lydia asked Autumn later that evening as they were walking along the boardwalk. Lydia was pushing Skyler in her blue stroller, as they headed toward Angel Ices for dessert.
Griff was still out on his charter, due back in to dock at nine, so the sisters had taken advantage of the time they had to spend together.
“Sure. Shoot.” The boardwalk was empty, save for a lone jogger running up and down from the pier to the coffee shop. Lydia had no idea what kind of training he was doing, but he sure did look miserable doing it.
“What do you know about Jackson’s mom?” she asked.
Autumn turned to look at Lydia. “Well, that wasn’t the question I was expecting.”
“What were you expecting?” Lydia pulled her jacket around herself a little tighter. A breeze had picked up, blowing in from the ocean, making the air smell salty. As the sun slid down the sky, the temperatures had dipped, turning the evening distinctly chilly.
“I have no idea,” Autumn admitted. “That’s the fun thing about you. Nothing you say is what I expect.”
“So do you know anything about his mom?” Lydia asked again. She was still wondering why Jackson had been so silent on their journey home. She’d made a few silly jokes that had made him smile, but for the most part he’d been quiet, letting the music fill the silence that dominated the space between them. And when Lydia had asked him to come in to try the coffee machine out – a genuine, non-sexual offer, thank you very much – he’d declined, saying he had way too much work to do.
It was like he couldn’t get rid of her fast enough. Though she’d still managed to shout at his retreating back that she’d be over tomorrow evening to walk Eddie. She owed him that much.
“Why do you want to know about her?” Autumn asked, leaning into the stroller to stroke Skyler’s cheek. Skyler laughed and kicked at the blanket covering her chubby legs.
“He was really quiet on the way home from the mall,” Lydia said. She’d already told Autumn about her accident and need to replace the coffee pot. “And I’m not sure if it was my fault, or if it had something to do with his mom. She called while we were there.”
“Well, I don’t know much about his family situation, but I know his mom left him and his dad when he was pretty small. For most of the time growing up it was the two of them.”
“Oh. How sad.” Lydia blinked. Poor Jackson.
Autumn shook her head. “You have way too much empathy, do you know that? You’re feeling sorry for him, and his mom is still around, when ours died while you were a baby.”
Lydia glanced down at Skyler. She was only a few months younger than Lydia had been when their mom died. “Yeah, but Mom didn’t choose to leave us. It must be hard growing up knowing your mom’s still alive but doesn’t want you.”
Autumn gave her a strange look. “I guess it is.”
“At least he’s got Eddie around now. So he won’t be lonely.”
“Jackson’s never exactly wanting for company. He’s always surrounded by women.”
“That’s what I don’t get. He doesn’t come off like a player.” Lydia sighed. He was a still lake that ran deep. Strange how she wanted to dive beneath the surface and see what was there.
“I don’t know what a player looks like.” Autumn shrugged. “I know assholes, because I was married to one.” She grimaced at the memory of her ex-husband. “But Jackson isn’t like Josh. He’s just… lonely, I guess.”
“When was the last time he had a girlfriend?”
Autumn shrugged, as Lydia veered to the left to avoid a skater. “Not since I’ve known him. But he’s a flirt. He could charm the tail off a donkey.” She laughed. “He’d probably flirt with a plant if it gave him the eye.”
“He doesn’t flirt with me,” Lydia said quietly. Not unless you counted the situation between them in Doggy Couture. But that was make believe. The rest of the time he treated her with kid gloves.
“Maybe because he knows better than to try that with you.” They’d reached the ice cream parlor, and Lydia maneuvered the stroller over the front step.
“What does that mean?” Lydia asked, as they walked inside Angel Ices.
“He knows better than to mess with you since you’re related to me. It’s the bro code. Griff would probably kill him if he tried it with you. And anyway, you’re out of his league.”
Lydia shook her head. “But he’s hot. I mean, really, really hot.” She thought of the way his arm had felt beneath her touch. Warm, soft skin stretched over thick, knotted muscles. Did the rest of him feel that way?
“Oh no.” Autumn shook her head. “No, no, no.”
“What have I done now?” Lydia rocked the stroller back and forth as they waited in line. “Skyler, your mom has finally lost it.”
“I haven’t lost it, but I might if you do something I’ll regret later.” Autumn sighed. “You don’t have to live here, but I do. And I’d be really grateful if you didn’t mess with Jackson, or make Griff upset. I love you, Lydia, but you have this tornado effect. You leave devastation in your wake.”
“I do not.” Lydia frowned. “When have I ever left devastation?”
“How about when we went out to celebrate my divorce and you made me drink all that tequila?”
“Hey, I didn’t force them down your throat,” Lydia pointed out. “And you needed loosening up.”
“I bought a pier while I was drunk,” Autumn reminded her. “That’s not loose, that’s bat shit wild.”
“And look at you now. Thanks to buying that pier, you moved here and met Griff.” Lydia blew a kiss at Skyler. “This little chunk of gorgeous baby wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t been wasted. So before you say I leave devastation, maybe you should thank me.”
“You’re right.” Autumn’s voice was quiet. “I’m sorry. And thank you.” She hugged her sister. “I just worry about you. And it sounds stupid, but I worry about Jackson, too. He’s Griff’s best friend. I just want him to be happy.”
“I know.” Lydia hugged her back. “I want him to be happy, too.” The thought hit her like a fist to the chest. She really did want to make him happy. By the time she left Angel Sands, Jackson Lewis needed to be smiling a heck of a lot more.
She just needed to work out how to make it happen.
“Can I help you?” the woman at the counter asked, as they wheeled the stroller up to the counter.
“Hey, you’re the new owner, right?” Autumn leaned over to offer her hand. “I’m Autumn Paxton, I own the pier. I’ve been meaning to come say hi. This is my sister, Lydia, and my daughter, Skyler.”
“I’m so pleased to meet you. I’m Meghan Hart. And the little girl sitting in the office there,” she said, pointing through the door behind her, “is my daughter Isla.”
“Are you local?” Autumn asked her.
“No, we just moved here. And to be honest, everything’s still a little weird.” Meghan grimaced. “We were due to move into our apartme
nt last week, but the upstairs neighbor flooded it, so we’ve been living in a motel until everything’s repaired.”
“So sorry to hear that,” Lydia said, grimacing. “What a nightmare.”
Autumn pulled out a business card. “If you need anything, call me. I remember what it’s like to be new in town with nowhere to stay. And maybe I can introduce you and Isla around to some of my friends.”
The woman took her card. “Thank you so much. That would be wonderful. Now what can I get you both?”
“I’ll have a scoop of vanilla in a waffle cone please,” Autumn said
“And I’ll have three scoops,” Lydia added. “Pistachio, lemon, and chocolate in a cup, please. With extra chocolate sauce and sprinkles on top.”
“And now you see the difference between us.” Autumn grinned. “Two sisters summed up by an ice cream order.”
“You only live once,” Lydia pointed out.
“You’re right,” Autumn agreed. “But I’d like to live without fifty extra pounds.”
They ate their dessert while walking home. Lydia had chosen the pistachio first, and she closed her eyes as the cool nutty ice cream coated her tongue, and slid down her throat. “Imagine,” she said to Autumn. “Skyler hasn’t tasted ice cream yet. She has no idea what an amazing life she has in front of her.”
“I’m kind of dreading weaning her,” Autumn admitted. “Right now all I have to do is flash the boob. It’s so easy. And portable.”
“Aww, but imagine her face when she gets to taste real things. Like chocolate and cake and candy.”
“And carrots and peas and potatoes,” Autumn added. “I want her to eat healthy.”
“She’s such a peach,” Lydia said, as Skyler waved her hands in front of her, staring at them like they contained the answers to everything. “You seem so happy. Are you happy?”
Autumn smiled. “Yeah, I am. Moving here was the right thing to do. I can’t believe I put up with living with Josh for so long.”
“Griff is a dreamboat.”
“Yeah.” Autumn took a lick of her vanilla ice cream. “He’s finding it tough getting through the night without sleep though. He has such a physical job. He needs rest.”
“You should definitely let me babysit this week. You two deserve a break.”
Autumn nodded. “I’ll think about it.” She looked over at the beach. “Hey, look, there’s Riley. Ally’s stepdaughter.” She lifted a hand to greet her.
It was funny, but they could hardly walk a yard without Autumn seeing somebody she knew. Lydia knew a lot of people in a lot of cities, but her sister knew everybody in Angel Sands. It was a different kind of life.
And it made Autumn happy. There was something to be said for that.
Jackson woke in the middle of the night to find something hard and heavy on the mattress next to him. It took a moment, and a few blinks, to figure out that Eddie had managed to push open the bedroom door, and jumped up beside him at some point in the night. He was lying diagonally, his paws resting on Jackson’s chest, snoring happily as Jackson winced at the smell of his dog breath.
He thought about waking him up and sending him back to his bed in the kitchen, but he didn’t have the heart to move him. Eddie was clearly enjoying whatever dream he was having. His tail was twitching, and his tongue lolling over his teeth, as long heavy breaths escaped from his mouth.
Gently removing the paws from his chest, Jackson turned over to check his phone. Three a.m. Great. It was supposed to be his first full night of sleep for a week, and now he was wide awake. He unlocked the screen on his phone and scrolled down, his eye catching on Lydia’s message
Thank you again for all your help at the mall today. I was wondering if I could repay the favor by taking care of Eddie tomorrow? – Lydia.
His first instinct had been to refuse her help. He didn’t need any complications, and as much as she entertained him, she was one big complication with a capital ‘C’, wrapped up in a pretty package.
Jackson blew out a mouthful of air, looking over his shoulder at Eddie. His mouth was moving now, like he was eating something he couldn’t get enough of. How easy it must be to be a dog. Nothing to worry about except eating and walking. But then he remembered how he’d been lost, and it had taken Lydia’s eagle eyes to spot him in the brush. Yeah, maybe being a dog wasn’t that much fun.
And that brought his thinking around to Lydia once more. It didn’t surprise him – she’d been in his thoughts ever since he’d dropped her off at Griff’s house after their shopping expedition. He’d tried to shoo away the thought of her with numbers and coding, as he leaned over his laptop with his reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, his eyes too tired to focus on the screen without them.
He really had to work. They wanted to run this new application next week, to test it and work out any bugs. Without his part of the coding, it wouldn’t work.
Yet… every time he tried to concentrate, there she was. Just like she was now, when he should be asleep until his six a.m. alarm. Instead, he was thinking about the way she’d danced in the middle of the mall, just to make him smile.
Ah, smiling was overrated anyway. Let’s face it, he had no time for things like that. Not when he had a business to run, and a dog to take care of.
As if he knew Jackson was thinking about him, Eddie let out a low growl and rested his muzzle on Jackson’s shoulder. It was strange how comforting it felt.
Jackson quickly tapped out a reply on his phone, because he knew himself well enough that he’d forget to reply by morning.
I’m taking Eddie to the office, but if you want to take him for a walk in the evening, he’ll be waiting for you at seven. - Jackson
And if that meant Jackson had to wait with him? Well, wasn’t that what good dog owners did?
“Oh my god, what’s that?” Lisa asked the next morning, as she walked into the office to find Eddie curled up at Jackson’s feet.
“It’s a banana,” Jackson replied, looking up from his laptop. He’d been here for almost an hour, having arrived after taking Eddie for a long stroll on the beach. And of course, Eddie had run into the ocean, making himself wet and sandy, which meant an impromptu shower in the office bathroom.
“Shut up, it’s a dog,” Lisa said, her face lighting up as Eddie slowly stretched and stood, then padded over to her and started sniffing her legs. “Aren’t you a gorgeous thing,” she said softly, ruffling his ears. “But who are you and what are you doing here?”
There was silence. Jackson shook his head and looked back down at his laptop screen, as Lisa fussed over Eddie, making cooing noises as she cupped his furry face.
“So why have you got a dog?” she asked, her voice a little louder this time.
Jackson sighed. “He’s a stray. We found him in the brush and I agreed to take care of him.”
Lisa snorted. “You’re taking care of a dog?” She looked down at Eddie again. “You poor little baby,” she said in a cooing voice. “Has he even fed you?”
“Yes, I’ve fed him,” Jackson said, swallowing down a sigh. “And I’ve walked him, washed him, and now he was trying to sleep until you walked in.”
Eddie’s tail started to wag like a metronome, hitting the trashcan and almost knocking it over. “Sit!” Lisa called out.
Much to her – and Jackson’s – astonishment, Eddie did exactly as he was told, slamming his behind on the tiled office floor as he looked at Lisa with a pleased expression.
“Oh wow. I’m good, right?” She grinned. “Let’s try another. Lay down.”
On cue, Eddie folded his front legs, and rested his chin on the tile.
“He’s well trained,” Lisa said, looking up at Jackson. “Somebody must be missing him.”
“I guess. We’ve put in feelers at the vets and the animal shelter. If they find the owners, they’ll let me know.”
“You should put an advertisement up,” she said. “Maybe post in the community Facebook page. Somebody has to know who he is. I bet his
owners are missing him.” She stroked Eddie’s head. “Because you’re a gorgeous little thing, aren’t you? Especially with that cute neckerchief.” She pulled at it. “Was he wearing this when you found him?”
Jackson swallowed hard. “No.”
She grinned. “So you bought it for him?”
“Kind of. It’s a long story.” One he didn’t intend to share with his assistant. If she ever found out he had a matching neckerchief in his bottom drawer at home, he’d never live it down. “Hey, why don’t you take his photo and post it wherever you suggested. And while you’re at it, I took a look at those résumés you gave me. There’s three I think are worth an interview. I spoke to Derrick, and he said he’d be happy to ask the technical questions when you interview them.”
Lisa slowly looked up, her eyes wide. “You looked at the résumés?” she asked, her voice lifting with surprise.
“Yeah. You asked me to, so I did.”
“But you never do anything I ask.”
Jackson shrugged. “Maybe you asked nicely this time.”
“And maybe you’re some kind of cyborg that Jackson created so he can toy with my emotions.” Her brows knit together as she walked over and tapped him on the head with her knuckles.
“Ow, that hurts.” He shot her a dirty look. “What was that for?”
“You can’t fool me. I’ve seen Ex Machina. In fact, I think I saw it at your house when we had that team building session. How do I know you are who you say you are and not a robot version of yourself?”
“Because I’m the only one who can drive you crazy like this. A cyborg couldn’t do that. And anyway, if I was a robot, wouldn’t Eddie notice? Dogs always bark at robots in the movies.”
“Hmm.” She narrowed her eyes. “Maybe. But I’m keeping my eyes on you, Jackson Lewis. Just in case.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He shook his head. But Lisa was too busy angling her phone and sweet talking Eddie again as she snapped photos of the dog, ready to upload to the community social media page.