Page 123 of The Last Second Chance
“Uh, Mom?” Joey’s voice was a squeak.
April stood at the end of the aisle, nervously twisting her hands. “It didn’t go as well as I hoped, sweetie.”
Forrest slapped a crumpled newspaper against the wall in front of Joey. It wasThe Monthly Moon.And there above the fold was a picture of Joey and Jax in their movie premiere finery.
“So you’re back with this one, are you?” Forrest demanded, his tone fanning the flames that sprang to life inside Jax. This wasn’t going to happen again. He wouldn’t let it.
Jax tucked Joey behind his back and stood toe-to-toe with the man who had changed the course of his future with one threat.
“I’m going to ask you to lower your voice,” Jax said calmly.
“I’ll speak when and how I want, especially when it comes tomydaughter.”
“Yourdaughter is an adult and what makes you think that showing up at her work and causing a scene is the best way to approach her?”
Forrest went a deeper shade of red.
“I told you to stay away from her.”
“And I did. For eight years. I’m back. I’ve earned my way back.”
“You’ve earned nothing.”
Cyrano’s nerves got the best of him and he tried to rear up in the crossties.
“Enough!” Joey’s voice cut through the fog of battle that had settled between them. “I want all three of you to walk out that front door right now.”
“I’m your father. You can’t throw us out,” Forrest began.
“You’re scaring my horses. Go outside, don’t say a damn word, and wait for me to put Cyrano back in his stall,” Joey said, her jaw set like granite. “All of you. Now!”
Jax led the way, stalking out the front door while April dragged Forrest with her and murmured her apologies. Anger kept him warm against the bracing breeze.
Jax waited until Forrest and April walked past him and took his position just outside the door. No one was getting to Joey without going through him first, not even her own father.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing with my daughter?” Forrest spat out, pacing three steps out and back. Forrest Greer was built like a brawler. Anger snapped off of him like electricity through downed wires.
“I plan to marry her.” Jax’s announcement was emphasized by a puff of breath that nearly made the words visible.
“The hell you will,” he growled. “You’re not good enough for her. You never were. I meant it then and it still stands now.”
“No argument here. No one is good enough for her,” Jax agreed. He kept his hands at his sides in case push came to shove. “But I make her happy. If she chooses me, you have to find a way to deal with it.”
“You almost killed her. You think I’m going to stand by and let it happen again?”
“It was an accident. You know I would never hurt her on purpose.”
April wrung her hands. “Forrest, you need to let this go.”
“I made you leave once. I can make you do it again.”
“What the hell did you do?” Joey’s voice snapped out. She was standing in the doorway of the stable.
“I made sure he never had the opportunity to hurt you again!”
Forrest may not have sensed the fact that he was pouring gasoline on a bonfire, but Jax sure did. He took a step toward Joey but she held up her hand, stopping him in his tracks. He didn’t want her to hear it this way. Wished she didn’t have to hear it at all.
“You were laying there in a hospital bed that he put you in.” Forrest pointed accusingly at Jax. “You wouldn’t have left him. You would have forgiven him like a lovesick teenager. I couldn’t lose you. He had to go.”
