Loving Jackson (Wishing Well, Texas Book 10)

by Melanie Shawn

Jackson

  “Life is what you make it, darling, so you might as well make it fun.”

  ~ Josephine Grace Clarke

  I flipped the switch on the mic pack. “Testing. One, two, three. You’re all set, Mrs. Myers.”

  “Please, call me Bonnie,” she said for the second time.

  It was a tough call. The Southerner in me did not feel comfortable using her first name, but I’d also been raised to respect what people wanted. I smiled and just figured I’d steer clear of using any name at all when addressing her.

  Mrs. Myers sat down beside her husband on the impromptu set that Josie had created when we arrived. She’d pulled two of their deck chairs into the living room and borrowed a rug from the dining room. Added three plants and some throw pillows. So besides being on-air talent, and producer, she could also add set-designer to her resume. These past few days, I’d been in constant awe of her ability to make things work with whatever she had.

  She truly was the best producer I’d ever worked with, and that had nothing to do with our after-hours activities. She was just an incredible human being.

  “I can’t believe you dragged me into this.” I heard Mr. Myers whisper into Mrs. Myers’ ear, a teasing quality to his voice. He hadn’t said it loud enough for anyone to overhear, but since he was mic’d, I was able to.

  Mrs. Myers sat up straighter and gave her husband a no-nonsense look. “I didn’t drag you anywhere. I said that I was going to do the interview. You can do whatever you want.”

  Mr. Myers’ eyes lit up at her response and he squeezed her knee and leaned closer. “Oh, can I? Can I do whatever I want?”

  “Dad. Stop!” Jessa called out from across the room.

  “What? I didn’t say anything.” Mr. Myers held up his hands wearing a half-grin on his face.

  Jessa rolled her eyes, even as she smiled at her dad.

  When I’d told Josie that I’d seen what real love, what true love looked like firsthand growing up, I wasn’t just saying that as a way not to answer the question she’d asked me. My parents had the real deal. So, it was easy for me to spot it. I didn’t have to think about it. I couldn’t give you a list of what to look for, but I knew it when I saw it, and John and Bonnie Myers had it in spades.

  It was in the way they looked at one another. The energy around each other. Their body language. There was an indescribable connection that was impossible to put into words but also impossible to miss.

  The interview began and I found myself staring at Josie in the monitor. I just couldn’t keep my eyes off of her.

  “So how long have you two been married?” Josie began after introducing the couple to the audience.

  “Forty-one years.” Bonnie smiled.

  “From what I’ve heard, you are the town’s official mascot for hashtag relationship goals. And that’s saying a lot since you live in a town known for its fairytale themes. So that begs the question, do you think you found your happily-ever-after?”

  “I hope so, because it’s a little late to back out now.” John squeezed Bonnie’s knee.

  She smiled at her husband.

  “What would you say the secret to love like yours is?” Josie shifted her legs, and I couldn’t help but remember what those legs had felt like wrapped around me.

  All day I’d been having flashbacks of the night before. Even when I’d been surrounded by elderly women grilling me, I’d been picturing a naked Josie beneath me and the face she’d made when I slid inside of her. I just couldn’t seem to help myself.

  Bonnie tilted her head thoughtfully. “I’m definitely not an expert on the subject, but I can tell you what’s worked for me. I mean, a lot of them are clichés, but I guess clichés are clichés for a reason. Marry your best friend. Love and accept your partner for who they are, don’t try to change them.

  Don’t expect one person to fulfill every need you have. That’s way too much pressure to put on any relationship. Just like the idea that women are expected to work full-time, cook, clean the house, and take care of the kids is insane, so is expecting a man to be an alpha, protector, provider who is also sensitive, funny, and wants to hear every detail of your day. It’s unrealistic. That’s why it’s so important to have friends and family that meet those needs.

  Take responsibility for your own happiness. Always remember that love isn’t just a feeling, it’s a commitment. Somedays you feel it, of course—”

  “I feel it every day.” John squeezed her knee again.

  “Dad,” Jessa warned from off-screen.

  I hadn’t picked up on his double meaning, but after I saw the look on Jessa’s face, I knew that there had to be one.

  “What, I didn’t do anything?” He shot back incredulously.

  “Sorry,” Jessa cringed. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Can you edit that?”

  “Of course,” Josie assured her.

  Bonnie continued, unfazed by the interaction. “But on the days that you don’t necessarily feel the love, instead of focusing on the negative, try to remember why you fell in love with the person you’re with. I think that’s part of what makes our relationship work is that neither of us take the other one for granted. We both know what we have, and we protect it and honor it. When you have all those things, then you’ve got a good shot at growing old together.”

  Growing old together.

  As the interview continued, I couldn’t get that phrase out of my head. For all of my adult life, l had lived in fragments. Each segment was the duration of whatever job I was on. I never looked farther ahead than my next job, because there was no point.

  But the more time I spent with Josie, the more my thinking was changing.

  Could I have a future with her?

  What would that even look like?

  And would it be something that she was interested in?

  I had no idea what she was thinking or feeling about anything. Sure, we’d spent the night together, but she’d made no indication that she wanted anything more than that. Even if she did, what did that mean? Would she be interested in continuing anything once we wrapped?

  With all of my past relationships, and I was using that term loosely, I’d been so clear on where they fit in my life. I’d been able to communicate what any woman could expect from me, which wasn’t much. If I was seeing a woman, the most I promised was exclusivity. I wouldn’t see other women, but in no way did I make a relationship a priority in my life. My career came first. My family, although my mom might not agree, came first.

  But this was different. I wanted more with Josie. The question was, how much more?

  My mind was so preoccupied with questions I had no answers to that before I knew it, the interview was over and we were heading to my cousin’s house for a barbeque.

  We arrived at a cute cottage style bungalow, which was blue with white trim and had a large porch. In the center of the front yard sat a mature oak tree complete with a tire swing. We stepped over two bikes that were lying on their sides as we made our way up the brick path to the front door.

  I lifted my hand to knock, when Josie gasped beside me.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I didn’t bring anything. I meant to stop at the grocery store, but I totally forgot.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.”

  The door opened before my knuckles made contact, and a boy who I assumed was my cousin’s stepson Trevor shouted, “They’re here!”

  A woman with chestnut brown hair and a bright smile appeared behind him. “Sorry about that. He’s been waiting all day, come in!”

  I placed my hand on Josie’s lower back as we stepped inside. The gesture hadn’t been a conscious decision, but it felt right.

  “You must be Jackson and Josie. I’m Sara, this is Trevor, and that is Charlotte.”

  A girl with huge blue eyes sitting at the kitchen table looked up and waved, but then immediately looked back down at the book she was coloring in.

  “She’s shy,” Sara mouthed.

&n
bsp; “I was shy when I was her age, too,” Josie relayed. “I still am, actually.” She let out a forced laugh.

  I hadn’t really thought about what Josie was like as a child. But I would imagine that being the granddaughter of, and living with, Josephine Grace Clarke may not have been the ideal environment for someone who was shy. Knowing how reserved she was also made her decision to go on the reality show for her grandmother even more of a selfless sacrifice. And it shed a brighter light on what happened after the show, and just how traumatizing that must’ve been.

  We all said our hellos and then Sara motioned to the back of the house. “Austin is out in the back on the grill, follow me.”

  As we trailed behind my cousin-in-law we passed by the fridge. It reminded me of my fridge growing up. It was cluttered with papers and magnets. There was a chart that looked like some sort of chore schedule with stars on it. There were colored pictures and several photos and a Save the Date wedding invitation.

  The fridge in my furnished studio apartment only had magnets I’d collected over the years from productions that were holding up take-out menus. I’d never thought about my fridge before, but I did now. I wondered—if Josie and I lived together, what would we have on our fridge?

  Did she want kids?

  Did I want kids?

  Was I actually having a mid-life crisis?

  Or maybe an existential one?

  “Hey!” Austin left his post at the grill and pulled me in for a one-armed man-hug after greeting Josie.

  “Thank you so much for having us,” Josie looked between Sara and Austin. “I’m so sorry that I showed up empty handed.”

  Sara waved off her apology. “Stop! You’re family.”

  Josie’s eyes shot to mine, and I saw uncertainty there. If she thought I was going to correct Sara, she was mistaken. I thought her being included in my family had a nice ring to it.

  “Do you want to see my magic trick?!” Trevor jumped up and down.

  “Like I said, he’s been waiting all day.” Sara ruffled her son’s hair.

  “Of course, we do!” Josie enthused.

  Sometime during the magic show, Charlotte slipped outside to join us and sat on the table on the other side of the deck. When Trevor announced it was intermission and he needed to go get ready for his grand finale, Sara excused herself to go help him and Josie made her way over to Charlotte.

  I hung back with Austin who handed me a beer from an outdoor fridge that was built into the elaborate outdoor grill area.

  “How long are you in town?” Austin threw some slabs of meat on the barbeque.

  “We fly out to California tomorrow.”

  “Where are you staying?”

  “I think at a hotel by the airport.” I hadn’t really paid attention to the itinerary, but I thought I’d heard Josie mention something about that.

  “You should stay at the B&B.”

  Austin inherited a bed and breakfast from his grandparents. That’s why he’d ended up in Whisper Lake after he’d retired from the Marines. And that’s where he’d met Sara and the kids.

  “Thanks, man.” I popped the top of the beer. “I appreciate it.”

  I’d have to double check with Josie, but she’d seen the B&B on our drive in and had said that it looked adorable.

  “It’s a really nice setup you got here.” I commented, and not just about his state-of-the-art grill and massive deck overlooking a backyard that could easily be a neighborhood park. I was talking about all of it. The house. The kids. The wife. The family.

  I’d never wanted any of those things, but now, I had to admit, I saw the appeal. And I was even a little envious of what Austin had.

  “I’m a lucky man.” Austin flipped several burgers. “So, what about you? You ever think you might want to settle down one day?”

  I sipped my beer and glanced over at Josie, who was now getting her nails painted by Charlotte. The girl who could barely look at us when we’d walked in was laughing and talking up a storm. Once again, Josie’s magic was evident.

  “No.” I hadn’t thought about it before meeting Josie and it seemed too new to admit that I might be thinking about it now. I could feel my cousin staring at me and when I glanced over, I saw the smirk he had on his face. “What?” I asked, a little defensively.

  “Nothin’, man.” He shook his head. “Good luck with that.”

  “With what?”

  “Denial.” Austin chuckled.

  I wasn’t in denial. I just had no idea what I was thinking. But I knew that I only had a few more days to figure it out before my ass was on an international flight halfway across the globe.

  For the first time in my life, I wished that I didn’t have a new job lined up. I wished I had more time. More time with Josie. And I sure as hell wasn’t in denial about that.

  Chapter 24

  Josie

  “When you go back for seconds at a buffet, it’s because you’re still hungry. The same applies for seconds in the bedroom.”

  ~ Josephine Grace Clarke

  The sounds of my suitcase wheels rolling over the rock path that led to the front porch of the B&B rumbled behind me. I was still uncomfortable with Jackson carrying all the luggage himself. But after meeting Dolly Briggs, I’d concluded that being a gentleman must’ve been programmed into him from the time he could walk, so I’d stopped trying to argue with him.

  Before I’d even made it to the bottom step, the door to the Princess and the Pea B&B flew open. A woman with a long salt-n-pepper braid that hung down to her waist and deep laugh lines that hinted at her age, but also showed that she’d lived a happy life, stepped out and lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the setting sun.

  “Austin told me to expect you. I’m Karen Carpenter, not the singer!”

  I smiled at her introduction as I put my foot on the first wooden plank of the steps up to the porch. “Hi, Mrs. Carpenter, I’m Jos—”

  “Oh, my word!” She gasped when I reached the top and blocked the sun that had been directly in her eyes. “You sure are the spitting image of your grandmother!”

  “Thank you.” I was relieved that she recognized me from looking like my grandmother and not the reality show. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

  I reached my hand out, but she immediately swatted it away before pulling me into a hug. It was official, hugging was definitely a thing in small towns. After a tight squeeze she stepped back but held onto my forearms.

  “The resemblance is uncanny! I bet when your granny looks at you it’s like travelling back in time for her. She must feel like she’s living in a constant state of déjà vu.”

  My first thought was that my grandmother would not love being referred to as “granny.” And the second was that I’d never asked her if it was strange for her that we looked so much alike. Karen continued to stare, and I was starting to feel uncomfortable under her scrutiny.

  “Jackson Briggs, ma’am.” Jackson stepped beside us. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Carpenter.”

  Karen blinked twice, as if his words had snapped her out of a trance. Then she pivoted toward Jackson and pulled him into a hug. She wasn’t able to get quite the same grip on him that she’d been able to have on me since he was loaded down with our luggage.

  “Oh, please! Call me Karen! And you…” She swatted his biceps. “…you are a strapping young thing! You look just like your cousin. There’s some good DNA in that bloodline!”

  Karen was absolutely right. Every male that I’d met in the Briggs family was tall, muscular, and good looking. But I definitely thought that, out of all of them, Jackson was the best looking.

  We followed Karen inside. “Just drop your bags there, my hubby will bring them to your rooms,” she instructed before taking us on a tour of the charming home.

  She walked us through the dining area, kitchen, and then upstairs where there were four guest rooms and a sitting area with bookshelves. Each room we entered, she had an anecdote for. In the last one, she explained that that was the room she a
nd her husband Sly had spent their wedding night, and where she’d been deflowered.

  I felt like that might’ve been TMI and, from the look on Jackson’s face, he agreed.

  “And your rooms are back downstairs. I have the King suite and the Crown Jewel ready for you. You know, those are the same suites that Austin and Sara stayed in when they met and look how that turned out.” Karen’s eyes bounced between Jackson and me.

  With each step I took as we descended, the winged butterflies in my stomach fluttered faster. I had no idea what would happen tonight with me and Jackson. Would we go to our separate rooms and sleep? Would he show up at my door? Would I show up at his?

  I wished I had more experience with these things. What was the protocol to turn a one-night-stand into a two-night-stand? I’m sure my grandmother would have a lot to say on the subject. But unlike the fans of her show, I did not look to her for advice on my personal life.

  “You’re just down this hall.” Karen announced as we reached the bottom of the staircase.

  We rounded the corner and ran straight into a mountain of a man.

  “Sly!” Karen jumped and grasped her chest. “I will never understand how someone so large can be so quiet.” Karen turned back to us. “This behemoth ninja is my husband Sly.”

  He didn’t appear to be the type of man that would appreciate his business being broadcast to strangers, but since he’d been married to Karen Carpenter, not the singer, for over fifty years, I supposed he was okay with it.

  “And this is Austin’s cousin Jackson and his lady friend Josie. Who does she look like to you?”

  As sweet as Karen was, I had to admit I didn’t love being called Jackson’s lady friend, and also the “who does she look like” game, was one of my least favorites. Mainly, because it always consisted of people staring at me as they tried to figure out the answer. Sometimes it would go on for a long time.

  Sly looked at me and I could see that there was zero recognition in his eyes.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Sly,” Jackson interjected as he stepped up next to me and placed his hand on my lower back.

  It was the second time he’d done that today. The first time was at his cousin’s house. Both times the weight of his touch and heat from his palm spread through me like a shot of whiskey. I felt it from my head to my toes.