Page 78 of The Last Second Chance
“I am pretty great, aren’t I? Say hey to Jax for me.”
“Will do. Thanks, Mom. I mean it.”
With that done, there were two more women who needed to know under penalty of murder.
Joey decided a text would do.
Hadsex with Jax last night.
She debated adding a smiley face, but decided that would be too weird. There. Summer and Gia were now in the know. Short of posting a post-coital selfie in the Blue Moon Facebook group, she’d done what needed to be done to share the news, control the spin, and hopefully shove Moon Beam Parker onto some other unsuspecting soul with a dick and a wallet.
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“Now, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but—”
Jax cut Carter off and tossed a bale of straw onto the third tier in the barn. “You don’t want my relationship with Joey to mess things up around here.”
“Yeah,” his brother nodded and hefted a bale onto clean pallets to start a new row. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy for you.”
“I can tell,” Jax said sarcastically.
“Don’t be a dick. It’s been so long coming, I think I kind of thought it wouldn’t happen.”
“Don’t underestimate the Pierce charm.” Jax reached for another bale. “Joey did.”
“Total rookie mistake.” Carter shook his head. “So, where do you see this going?”
“Are you seriously giving me the talk?” Jax wasn’t sure if he should be amused or offended.
“It’s like a spin on the talk. A weird spin,” Carter told him. “You know I’ve known Joey her entire life and I love her like a sister so if you fuck with her again I’m going to feed you to Clementine. But, youaremy brother and I love you. And I think you’re hoping for marriage and kids and stuff here, so if she ruins that and sends you packing, I’m going to have to at least force her to babysit the twins every week so Summer and I can have more sex in the kitchen.”
“You’re very creative with your choice of punishments.”
“I started a list for the twins so I don’t have to think of anything on the fly when they steal Summer’s car or set the drapes on fire.”
Jax grimaced. “I forgot about that. Mom wouldn’t let us watch TV for a month after that bit of arson.”
“Yeah, and she made us reenact all of her favorite episodes ofThe Golden Girls.”
“You made a really great Blanche,” Jax recalled. “Mom was insane.”
“I hope I’m half as insane as she and Dad were raising us. Then at least one kid will turn out okay.”
Jax thumped Carter on the shoulder. “Don’t forget. You’ve got Summer and she’s way more organized and diabolical than Mom and Dad ever were.”
Carter smiled. “Remember all of those bologna sandwich dinners because no one could ever remember who was supposed to cook?”
“Your kids will have memories just as good,” Jax predicted. “Except it will be like disgusting soy tofu sandwiches on organic bread with vegan cheese.”
“AreGolden Girlsreruns are still on?” Carter wondered wistfully.
“I don’t know, but did I tell you I walked in on Mom pulling a Blanche this week?”
19
While Jaxand Carter finished stacking the straw bales, Joey placed a call to a friend of a friend who happened to be director of a racing stable in New Jersey to see about scheduling a facility visit. Waffles snoozed under her desk.
She was just wrapping up when Gia and Summer’s excited faces plastered against the glass of her office door.
