Page 104 of The Last Second Chance
“Your recipe for your raspberry cream cheese coffee cake.”
Phoebe gasped in mock horror. “Never! I’ll take that recipe to my grave.”
“That can be arranged,” Joey told her. “I can just pump the little one full of espresso right before you go home. Summer showed me how to make it.”
“You’re diabolical,” Phoebe said, bringing the back of her hand to her forehead. “Cruel, cruel world, making me give away my award-winning recipe.”
“One recipe and the kid gets zero caffeine,” Joey reiterated.
“Fine,” Phoebe grumbled. “I’ll email it to you.”
“Oh, no. I fell for that once before. You sent me some random Pinterest recipe after I went with you to Frieda Blevins sex toy party, which I might add you said was a kitchen party. I want to see your handwritten recipe card.”
“I don’t know whether to be proud of you or disappointed in you twisting an old lady’s arm like this,” Phoebe said, patting Joey’s hand. “I suppose it’s time to pass on my recipe to a new generation of scheming women.”
“And no scribbling a new one down and making it look old, either. I’m not falling for that again.”
“Fine,” Phoebe grumbled. “You know, a glass of wine would probably make me feel slightly less terrible about breaking my promise to Great-Aunt Felicia.”
“I will get you a glass so you can drown your shame.”
Joey poured Phoebe a glass of wine and watched out of the corner of her eye as Jax held a conversation with Evan about the plot points of a movie they’d both seen while juggling Aurora from knee to knee and answering her thousand “but why” questions. He looked like a natural, completely relaxed and engaged. She wondered if he wanted kids and remembered when Summer had come to her to ask if she knew whether Carter wanted a family.
At the time, Summer thought she couldn’t have kids. Thought it would be a deal-breaker for Carter and had ended up leaving him to go back to the city. And now there were twins on the way.
Joey had never really thought about the future in those terms. She’d always had plans and goals for the stables. But she’d never really considered whether or not she wanted a family. She didn’t like that watching Jax hang out with his niece and nephew had her contemplating such topics.
She poured herself a glass of wine and went to stick her nose in Franklin’s chicken parm.
They ate family style around Carter and Summer’s dining room table, the dogs waiting patiently for scraps to fall. They passed dishes back and forth, taking turns cutting up food for Aurora and shoveling seconds and, in Jax’s case, thirds onto their plates. Joey snapped a picture of the table and texted it to Summer and Gia so they could see that the house was still standing and the dogs and children were not suffering from malnutrition.
“So, Jax,” Phoebe began. “You and Joey are…” she shot a furtive glance at Evan and Aurora. “Planting a garden together?”
“Uh, what?” Jax frowned.
“You know,” Phoebe stared at him pointedly. “That garden you started a long time ago? You’ve decided to replant?”
Jax looked a Joey in confusion. “Are you planting a garden? Why don’t you just plant stuff in the big garden out back?”
Joey rolled her eyes. “Phoebe’s talking about a different garden. The garden we had when we were seniors in high school.”
“We didn’t have a garden—”
Phoebe cleared her throat and tilted her head in Evan and Aurora’s direction. Evan was watching them with interest while Aurora was driving a breadstick through marinara like it was a speedboat.
Joey kicked Jax under the table.
“I wouldn’t say we’re interested in growing a full-blown garden at this point,” she said to Phoebe. “We’re just experimenting with a few… uh, raised beds at this point.”
“Raised beds?” Phoebe asked.
Jax finally caught on. “Oh,gardening. Right…Actually I think planting a big garden is the way to go. I mean we both like…” he glanced at the kids. “Watermelons and watermelons require a lot of space. So why not start a garden?”
“I don’t like watermelons,” Joey said pointedly. “And I don’t like the responsibilities that come with maintaining a big garden. I thought we’d agreed to just enjoy our small, low-maintenance raised beds.”
“I thought I made it clear that I’m in this gardening thing for the long haul. I think we should plant a whole damn orchard,” Jax’s voice raised to a low roar.
“What do you hope to grow in your raised beds?” Phoebe broke in.
