Page 38 of The Last Second Chance
“They made me a partner in the stables.” Joey blurted it out and shoved part of a muffin in her mouth so she wouldn’t have to say anything else right away.
“What?” Summer said, trying to heave herself out of the chair. Gia, unrestricted by the weight of pregnancy flew at Joey, her arms outstretched.
“Oh, my God! That’s even more exciting than Jax!”
“It was the proposal, wasn’t it?” Summer asking, finally gaining her feet.
Joey nodded and chewed.
“So how soon do you get to start the breeding program?” Gia asked, releasing her to dole out the mugs.
Joey swallowed hard. “I guess immediately, seeing as how Jax had a trailer full of perfect equine specimens delivered today.”
“Jax bought horses?” Gia frowned.
Here Joey paused because it was here that trepidation warred with excitement. “He bought me two horses. As an investment.”
“Ohhh.” Summer and Gia got the implication immediately.
“I made a mistake, didn’t I?” Joey flopped down on the floor pillow next to the sleeping Waffles. “Damn it. I knew it.”
Gia placed a steaming cup and saucer on the coffee table in front of her.
“Why in the world would you think you made a mistake?” Summer asked, helping herself to a muffin.
“Because Jax,” Gia answered, delivering Summer’s hot chocolate.
“Why does yours smell better than mine?” Summer asked, sniffing the rim of her cup.”
“Because whiskey and Irish cream,” Gia grinned.
“That’s going on the Things Summer Gets to Drink After Babies list. Now, back to this mistake nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense,” Joey argued. “Gia agrees with me.”
“Uh-uh,” Gia said, using her parent voice. “Iunderstandthat you’reconcernedwith what Jax’s role is in all of this. That doesn’t mean I think you’re right to doubt yourself. Because you’re not.”
“Why don’t you walk us through the whole thing?” Summer suggested.
So she did, while stroking Waffles who had decided her lap was more comfortable than the pillow.
“Okay, so to summarize—can you tell I married an attorney?—Carter was so impressed with your proposal for a breeding program that he put it up for a vote to make you a partner. And Jax liked the plan so much that he invested in a pair of horses levels above where you hoped to start.”
Joey nodded at Gia over the rim of her cup, the hot chocolate warming her from the inside out.
“I want props for not dropping any of the dozen ‘looking a gift horse in the mouth’ jokes I’ve thought of in the last five minutes,” Summer told them.
“So what’s really bothering you?” Gia asked, watching Joey intently. “I mean, really this sounds like good business on all sides. Of course you should be a partner and of course you should start with the best stock possible. So what’s the real reason you’re crumbling your muffin into little pieces?”
Joey looked down at her flannel now covered with muffin. She looked like she’d taken eating lessons from Aurora.
“I’m worried that he’s serious.” Joey said the words before she could tamp them down again. “I’d almost talked myself into having a nice little fling with Jax. The sparks are still there and I’m not some wide-eyed eighteen-year-old kid anymore. I wouldn’t break this time. I thought it was only a matter of time before he packed up and left again.”
She paused, took another fortifying sip of hot chocolate. “But he’s not packing. He’s building a brewery and helping out around the stables, and rescuing dogs, and buying horses.” Joey took a breath.
“You’re worried Jax couldn’t handle something casual,” Summer said, her perfectly groomed eyebrows rocketing sky high.
“He told me he loves me.”
