Page 49 of The Last Second Chance
“Sorry, Summer,” Jax said, without a hint of contrition.
She shot him a frown.
“Is that your mom look? Because it’s pretty fierce.”
She brightened. “Really? Good. Because if these two monsters are anything like you and your brothers I’m going to need all the weapons I can get.”
Carter stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, his hands resting on her belly. “Honey, the twins aren’t going to stand a chance against us.”
“Please. Have you seen your brother look at Aurora? He’s lucky she’s a sweetheart, because she could set the house on fire and steal a car and run over some old ladies and he’d be putty in her little hands. What if we have two adorable little girls and you’re so busy being wrapped around their little evil fingers that I’m the one who has to be the bad guy?”
“You could have two boys who are idiots and decide they want to see how deep the hay has to be in order to survive a jump out of the loft in the barn,” Jax suggested.
“Oh my God. I hadn’t thought of that. What if we have two boys who run around trying to murder each other?” Summer asked, spinning around in Carter’s arms.
“We’ll make your parents move in with us. Five adults against two kids.”
Summer nodded as if actually considering it. “Okay. That’s a good option. Good thinking.” She leaned into her husband’s chest. “I love that you’re a problem solver.”
Carter met Jax’s gaze over Summer’s blonde hair and he slowly shook his head. Jax grinned and winked.
He took his Nova just to be sure his mother wouldn’t insist on driving and he wouldn’t have to puke before they got to the theater. They’d yet to have their first big snowfall of the season, so his rear wheel drive was fine for the night and the car’s beefy heater pushed out tropically warm air.
He wondered if Joey was going to the movie night. She hadn’t said anything about it at dinner last night. It had felt like a date, he thought with a smile. It was clear that the heat between them wasn’t all just anger anymore. He had never had the patience that his father had. He was his mother’s son in that aspect. The fact that he’d been willing to chip away at Joey’s resistance for six months proved that she mattered. More than anything else that he’d wanted in this lifetime. He just hoped he wouldn’t still be chipping away in ten years. The woman had the resolve of a steel girder, unbending, never wielding. And he loved her for it.
He just needed to keep chipping away. And maybe pay Ellery a visit to find out what she said to put the shadows in Joey’s eyes last night.
Jax got to Phoebe’s townhouse a few minutes early and let himself in the front door. Mr. Snuffles peeked around a cardboard box near the front door. His corkscrew tail wiggled when he spotted Jax and he trotted over on his stumpy little legs. He made a grunt of approval when Jax bent to pick him up.
“I see the snot is clearing up nicely,” Jax said to the dog.
Mr. Snuffles grunted a happy reply.
There were half-packed boxes everywhere. Phoebe and Franklin had been in the process of moving in together for months now while their search for a house was ongoing. Now that they were building a place on the farm, it would take another six months or so. At this stage, he couldn’t tell if she was in the process of packing or unpacking and decided not to mention it in case she tried to enlist his help.
Jax had moved around enough in his time on the West Coast that he kept his personal belongings to a minimum. The house he’d bought furnished and he’d sell it the same way. He had no attachment to anything in it. He had a small storage locker with clothes, personal items, and files that he’d have shipped home when he returned next month.
Maybe it was time to start looking for his own place to live,he considered. Carter and Summer deserved to have the house to themselves with the babies on the way. And he was going to need his own space at some point. A garage. An office. A king-sized bed. He’d have to think about it.
He heard a thumping noise upstairs.
“Mom? You ready to go?” he called up. Mr. Snuffles wiggled in his arms so he set the dog down in the kitchen.
There was no answer from Phoebe, but there was another thump. She was probably in her closet. Jax took the stairs lightly two at a time. “Mom?”
Her bedroom door was ajar.
“Hey, Mom, are we going or—”
“You’re early!”
“Oh my God.” Jax turned to run out of the room and tripped over a box in the hallway. He almost went head first down the carpeted stairs, but managed to catch himself on the railing only skidding down two stairs on his stomach.
“Jax, honey, are you okay?” his mom called.
“Don’t come out here! Not until you put some clothes on.”
“Sorry about that, Jax. Didn’t realize it was so late,” Franklin peeked out of the bedroom. His lack of wardrobe was blatantly evident.
