by Leger, Lori
“Where are the girls? With him?” Giselle asked, her voice cold and angry
“Him? You mean Jackson? Yes, your daughters are outside eating with him. Which is where you should be, spending time with your girls and getting some sunshine.” She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “Did he try to get you to eat?”
Giselle nodded silently.
Carrie turned Giselle’s face toward her. “Let me guess, the sight of the table, all set for dining like that reminded you of how you all did that with Toby after finishing the yard work.”
Giselle nodded silently and squeezed her eyes shut.
Carrie nodded. “I understand that you’re upset, but he didn’t know. You need to eat, and you will eat. He only did what I asked him to do.”
“He’s not my boss over here. I don’t have to listen to him,” she sneered.
“You sound like a child. He’s not the boss of me!” Carrie stood, getting angrier by the minute. “I tell you what, honey. Maybe you don’t have to listen to him, but you will damn well listen to me. We’re all bending over backwards to help you, and we don’t mind doing it, but it’s time you start helping yourself. Now get up out of that bed.”
“I don’t feel like it right now.”
“Look, Giselle, I figure losing a man like Toby merits three months of feeling sorry for yourself, but your children are suffering too, and neither I, nor Jackson, is a good enough substitute for their mother.” She turned and walked back to the door. “As soon as they’re finished eating I’m going to clean them up and take them to a movie in Lake Coburn.”
Giselle threw her hand over her eyes. “Good, as long as you leave me in peace.”
Carrie turned, eyes narrowed. She left the room, a plan already formed in her mind.
Jackson had just helped the girls settle on a feature when Carrie came out to meet them.
“Jackson, how would you like to take these girls to a movie?” She didn’t miss the little girls gasps of delight.
“Sure, you need some help?”
“No, I mean you bring them while I stay here with Giselle. Would you two like that?”
“Oh Jackson, please!” Lexie pleaded.
“Say yes! Please say yes!” Mackenzie bounced like frisky puppy.
“I’d love to, but, did you clear it with Giselle?”
“You leave her to me. Have you all eaten enough?”
Mackenzie looked down at her plate. “Can I put a slice of pizza back? I want to save room for popcorn.”
“I ate all my chicken nuggets, but I’m still going to want popcorn.”
“Good, let’s get you cleaned up. What time does it start?” Carrie asked Jackson.
“In an hour and a half, but I need to go home and shower. I kind of reek.” He pulled his shirt away from his torso and made a face. “Would that be okay?”
She nodded as she herded the girls into the house. “I’ll get them ready. You want to come in and cool off?”
“I may not be welcome in there right now,” he whispered.
“Giselle’s in the bedroom. It’s safe for now.”
He nodded, then rose from the table as she went inside with the girls. Jackson boxed up the pizza and left it on the kitchen counter then cleaned up outside. As he waited at the door, he noticed a digital picture frame on the countertop. He reached over to turn it on and a slide show began of the Granger family in all kinds of candid moments. He laughed aloud when it got to shots of Toby dressed up in full princess regalia. His daughters had obviously draped every one of his upper extremities with dance costumes from their closets. Toby was grinning out from behind pink and purple feather boas, boasting a pair of pink, plastic, clip on earrings. Lexie was dressed in a lion costume and Mackenzie in her ballerina costume. There were shots of him in dance positions with his two girls, and shots of him tending to the gas grill set up in the back yard. Giselle must have set the timer, because she was in the last shot with her family, smiling and happy. Would she ever be that happy again?
Lexie ran to up him. “Jackson, can you buckle my shoes?”
“Sure, put your foot up here.” She did, and he buckled her sandals for her. Then he took the hairbrush and brushed her hair for her. When he’d finished, Mackenzie walked up and turned her back to him, expecting the same. He brushed her hair until it resembled black, glossy layers of silk.
Carrie watched the interaction between the three, in amazement. It looked as though they had been around each other for years instead of a few months. She stepped up and cleared her throat. “It looks like you’re ready to go. You girls be good. Don’t fill them with too much candy, Jack.”
He got them both buckled into the back seat and climbed back in to the driver’s side. “We’re going to the two o’clock feature at the mall.” He leaned over to Carrie. “You sure she’s alright with this?”
“She’ll be fine.” Carrie leaned in and gave him a hug through the door of his truck. She started to release him then hugged him tighter. “You’re a Godsend, Jackson Jamison Broussard.”
She watched them drive off then went to Giselle’s room.
“Okay, Giselle, I hope you’re hungry. There’s plenty of pizza left.”
Giselle rolled away from her. “I’m not hungry.”
“That’s too damn bad, because I outweigh you by a good sixty pounds, and I say you’re going to eat anyway.”
“Leave me alone, Carrie. I just—I just want to die.”
“Do you?” she asked, not bothering to hide her anger. “Do you really? Think about what you’re saying, Giselle. I understand your grief, but those girls are part of Toby. Do you really think he would want you to lie here and waste away while you force his daughters to watch?” She pulled Giselle’s shoulder so that she partially faced her. “Do you really want them to be left alone in this world?”
“They wouldn’t be alone, they’d have each other,” Giselle said, without meeting her gaze.
Carrie released her and straightened. “I cannot believe you just said that. That falls unbelievably short of having a mother who loves you, don’t you think?”
Giselle met Carrie’s gaze. “They’d have you and Sam.”
“Sam and I have raised our children and we babysit enough for our grandchildren as it is. As much as we love your girls, we’re not looking to start over.” She reached out, grasped Giselle’s arm, and pulled her to her feet. “You’re eating, and you’re going to do it outside on the patio. You need sunshine.”
They walked to the patio door, where Giselle hesitated until she established they were alone. She flinched as she stepped into the sunshine for the first time in three months. It took a few minutes before her eyes adjusted to the blinding whiteness of the scrubbed concrete patio. The sunlight reflected off the spotless glass-topped table. She finally made her way to the table and sat in one of the chairs.
Carrie brought her a plate with a slice of pizza and a glass of tea. Giselle began to nibble slowly while Carrie sat across from her with a cup of hot tea.
“Where are my girls?”
“They went to the two o’clock feature at the mall.”
“Who’d they go with? One of the twins?”
Carrie lowered her cup. “Jackson took them.”
Giselle met her friend’s gaze head on. “He’s got no business taking my girls anywhere without my permission.”
“I asked him to.”
“You had no right!”
“Would you be as upset if they’d gone with Lauren or Gretchen?”
“No.”
Carrie shrugged and leisurely picked a piece of lint from her capris. “Then I don’t see a problem. It was either this or wake Sam to come babysit their mother. But my husband worked hard this week, and he deserves a rest. Besides,” she gave Giselle a self-satisfied smile, knowing she was about to cross a line. “Jackson was already here. He was more than happy to take the girls.” She took some satisfaction at the angry narrowing of Giselle’s eyes. Anger was better than nothing.
&n
bsp; Carrie decided to push the envelope. “Well, look at it this way. After you starve yourself to death, Jack would be all too willing to adopt those two. They’re crazy about him, and God knows he adores them. They’d miss you of course, but they’d get over it with the love of a good father-figure like Jackson.”
An angry flush infused Giselle’s face. “Those are my children. I’m their mother.”
Carrie cocked her head. “I’m glad you finally remembered. Maybe now you’ll start acting the part again.” She put on her glasses and cleared her throat. “Now finish your lunch so I can go spend time with my husband. He actually likes having me around.”
Carrie’s temporary feeling of guilt vanished completely when Giselle finished a slice of pizza then took another from the box. She knew Jackson would catch hell over this, but if that’s what it took to bring Giselle back to the land of the living, there was no help for it. She’d get over it.
Carrie left her friend sitting at the patio table working a crossword puzzle, and drove home to meet Sam.
Sam seemed surprised when his wife walked into the door. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”
“It seems I’ve stumbled on the right motivation to get her up and moving. Too bad I had to piss her off to do it.”
“What did you use to motivate her?”
Carrie grimaced. “I used Jackson, and he won’t be pleased about it.”
Sam nodded when she explained the situation. “Sounds like you did what you had to do. Something had to give.”
“I think so. I just hope I haven’t done anything to damage Jackson’s cause.”
“I wouldn’t worry about him. That young man can take care of himself. Those girls are all the motivation he needs to keep on plugging away at it.”
Sam wrapped Carrie in his arms. “It’s amazing how quickly Mac and Lex took to them.”
“I know, right?”
“And God knows he and Bill are crazy about them.”
“Noticed that, have you?” Carrie grinned at her husband. “Now if their mom would soften her heart towards him, it may do them both some good.”
Jackson pulled his Avalanche up into his driveway. “Here we are.”
As soon as he unlocked his door, the girls ran inside. Mackenzie surveyed the living area and gave him a brief nod. “I love your house, Jackson.”.
“I love your sofa! It looks so big and comfable for you. Is it?” Lexie asked.
He laughed. “Yes, sweetie, it’s very comfortable for me.”
“I like this one.” Mackenzie climbed into the oversize lounger. “We could all fit in this chair.”
Lexie ran down the hallway, paused to inspect the guest bedroom, his office, and then gasped as she made it all the way to his bedroom. “This is the biggest bed I’ve ever seen!”
Mac joined her sister. “Oh my gosh, Jackson, it’s beautiful. Did you pick it out, or did your wife?”
“I picked it out. The bed I had before was small and ugly. It didn’t fit me.”
“Because you’re not small or ugly,” Lexie said.
“No, you’re big, and tall, and very handsome!” Mac’s comment had attitude to spare as Lexie agreed.
“Well, thank you very much ladies, I appreciate the compliment. Now let’s get you two set up watching some tv in the living room while I shower and change.” He turned on his equally impressive large screen television set, and they watched the cartoon network while he took a quick shower and changed into some clean clothes. He entered the living room a short while later to find his uncle seated between the girls, watching cartoons.
Mac met his gaze, her eyes sparkling with delight. “Bill is coming with us.”
Jackson figured his uncle didn’t need much convincing. “I thought you were out of town, or I’d have called you to help me. I’m kind of new at this stuff.”
“I got back and came straight here. Where are we going?”
“The two o’clock feature at the mall. Let’s go.”
“Are they out already?”
Bill turned in his seat to check on both the girls. “Yep. Out like a couple of just fed kittens. All that laughing must have worn them out.”
Jackson nodded. “That, along with a little emotional upheaval earlier today. Poor things must be exhausted.”
“What happened?”
“Giselle happened. I never thought I’d get to the point where I’d actually lose patience with her. But her treatment of those girls this morning …” He stopped, shook his head. “Poor babies.”
“You gonna tell me what the hell happened or leave me hanging?”
Jackson made sure the girls were completely out before filling in the blanks for his uncle. He finished and wiped his face, as if by doing so, he could wipe out the memory of those couple of minutes when Giselle had uttered those ugly accusations at her daughters and then him.
“The girls were heartbroken. I’m talking total devastation.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Shit.”
“What’d you do?”
“Whatever I could to smooth things over. Not with Giselle, of course. She crawled back into her hole, and cried. I hugged the girls and tried to make them laugh. Eventually they did. Carrie came over to take them to the movies. She went to tell Giselle and next thing I knew, I’d agreed to take them for her.” He tapped his steering wheel with the heel of his hand. “I mean, I know she’s sad. She’s lost a good man, the love of her life. But she’s missed out on three months of her daughters’ lives. They need her.”
“It’s past time she got some help,” Bill growled. “Hell, I’m surprised she let you take the girls to the movies after that episode.”
“Seriously, I doubt she cares one way or the other who takes them where right now. I expect after her little outburst, she cried herself to sleep, and woke up as completely despondent as she has been for the last three months.”
Only later would Jackson realize his mistake. Somehow, in the few months of spending time with Mac and Lexie, he’d grown lax. Let his guard down. Somehow, he’d forgotten the harshest lesson he’d ever learned from his miserable existence with Chloe.
Always expect the unexpected.
Jackson pulled his Avalanche into the driveway at 5:15.
Bill opened Mac’s door, unbuckled her seat belt, and roused her from her nap. He kissed her on the forehead and lowered her to the ground so she could walk sleepily to the kitchen door. She waited at the door, almost as if she didn’t want to go in to face her mother alone.
Jackson released Lexie’s seatbelt before waking her. Still half asleep, she automatically reached for his neck, wanting him to carry her inside. He smiled and kissed her cheek as he carried her to the door where Mackenzie waited for him.
Mac had just gripped the door knob when it was ripped out of her grasp from the inside. The door swung wide, and Giselle appeared, looking like she was ready to spit fire. Mac backed away from the door, sidled up next to Jackson as though seeking protection from the one person she should never fear.
But Giselle’s angry glare was aimed directly at Jackson—her animosity concentrated at maximum force—as though he’d just committed some unspeakable crime.
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
Jackson shifted Lexie in his arms. “Excuse me?”
“You had no right to take my children out of town without my permission!”
“Carrie asked me to take them to the movies. I didn’t have anything else to do so I said yes. I thought she cleared it with you.”
“She didn’t clear anything with me. She told me after the fact, when it was too late to do anything about it.”
He pulled his phone from his pocket. Waved it in front of her. “You have my number, Giselle. All you had to do was call. I would have brought them back immediately.”
“I shouldn’t have to. You should have asked me first.”
Jackson spoke calmly. “I had no idea Carrie didn’t, and I’m sorry.” He lowered Lexie to the floor. Sh
e joined her sister, both of them hiding behind him from their own mother.
“You’re damn right you are. You can’t be their father, Jackson, they already have a father.”
“I’m not try—”
“Yes, you are. And I don’t give damn what Carrie asked you to do. I’m telling I don’t want you to see them anymore. No more movies. No more ball games.” She grabbed her daughters’ hands and jerked them into the house.
“Mama, nooo!” Lexie wailed.
Mackenzie turned pleading eyes to her mother. “We love Jackson and Bill. Please don’t make them stop coming to see us. They’re all we have!”
“You have me.” An icy glare aimed at Jackson accompanied her vicious reply. “Now say goodbye, girls. You won’t be seeing him again.”
Mackenzie pulled free from her mother and cried out. “Noooo! I hate you!” The outburst finally got Giselle’s notice. Rather than shrink from her mother’s undivided attention, Mac let loose on her. “You don’t even love us anymore. You should be glad that Jackson and Bill want to watch us play ball and take us to movies. I bet daddy’s glad! Daddy would have wanted us to be happy. Daddy wouldn’t have minded if we said your name. I wish—I wish—”
Jackson’s stomach lurched, knowing what was coming. “Mac! Don’t.”
But Mackenzie was past listening. “I wish it had been you to die instead of daddy!” she screamed.
Giselle grabbed her oldest daughter by the shoulders and leveled a glare at her. “Not half as much as I wish it.”
Jackson watched in horror as Mac twisted out of her mother’s grip, and ran crying to her room, slamming the door behind her. Lexie stood there sobbing, and when he reached out to comfort her, Giselle clasped her shoulder, pushing her back and away from him.
“Go to your room, Lex.”
Lexie’s gaze swiveled frantically from him to Giselle, then back to him, her eyes wide, her lashes wet with tears, her plump cheeks covered with them. He could see her reluctance to either leave him or disobey her mother. Her eyes pleaded silently for him to do something, anything, to make it better. Jackson clenched his hands into fists to keep from reaching out.