Last First Kiss (33 page)

“
Is it just pictures or video too?” Jackson asked.

“
Both,” she crowed.

“
Great, we can show Red what our all-stars look like in action,” he said, grinning with pride.

They showed Red video of both girls playing ball. When she got to videos of the tournament, they pointed out Allie and Cat, explaining that they were Carrie’s granddaughters. “They’re Gretchen’s girls,” Giselle said pointing out Carrie’s twins.

Red nodded. “I saw them just a couple of years ago at a ballgame in Gardiner—and who is that adorable child you’re holding, Jackson?”

“
That’s Lauren’s baby girl, Ava Grace, and she wanted to go home with me that day,” he said proudly. “Look at that! She was all over me.”

“
He always was great with kids, Giselle,” Red told her. “You should have seen him around my little sisters.” He shook his head in disgust. “If I brought him home with me for the weekend, I got totally ignored. It was all about Jackson.”

“
Hey, I can’t help it if women under the age of eight find me irresistible. Look, there’s Mac at bat. It’s just tee ball and she already has good form.”

Giselle smiled at the pride in Jackson’s voice.

They watched several videos and shots of Carrie and Sam with their grandchildren.

“
It’s a small world, isn’t it?” Red commented. “Who’d have thought we’d all have Carrie in common? My brothers and I were crazy about her. She’s the reason my oldest brother played the drums in band-that’s what she played. I can still see her in those tight hip hugger jeans with her long, wavy hair.”

Giselle looked at him. “Wait a minute, I’ve heard her speak often of a Vivienne and Pete McAllister from Gardiner.”

Red grinned. “That’s my folks. They think the world of her. When I was just a little kid, I remember my brothers and I hiding so we could hear mom and dad talking about how Dave was screwing around on her. My dad wanted to go whip his ass.”

Jackson looked at him in shock. “Not quiet, calm, Mr. Pete McAllister! I can’t see him getting that mad at anybody.”

“
He sure as hell did...My mom had to call him back in the house and calm him down. My brothers and I didn’t care too much for Dave after that.”

“
You must have seen her kids grow up, then,” she said.

Red nodded. “They were cute kids, too. When I graduated from LSU, Carrie brought me a card with some money in it and told us that she’d just earned her Associate’s Degree from a technical college in Lafayette. She was thirty four and I don’t think she had hired on with the company in Lake Coburn yet.”

“
No, she started when she was thirty-five,” Jackson said.

Red handed the camera back to Giselle. “The marriage with Dave had really taken its toll on her. She told us it was time for a change. I think they separated not long after that.”

Jackson nodded. “I’ve heard that story enough times. She filed for a divorce, got a good job, moved to Kenton, and married Sam, all in a year and a half.”

Giselle smiled at the two men. “If she were here, she would add
Thank God!
Carrie sure loves her Sam.”

“
My parents ask about her every time they see her mom, Mrs. Elaine. Carrie still visits them every now and then.”

“
I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to grow up in families the size of yours and Carrie’s,” Giselle said.

Jackson laughed. “Man, it was a blast going to his house on weekends. His mom would stuff me with food from the minute I got there until the minute I left, and she’s a hell of a cook. Ms. Vivi makes the best shrimp and okra gumbo in the world, and she used to bake her own bread. I never left there hungry.”

Red chuckled. “She always said Jackson was too skinny, and needed to put some meat on his bones. Wonder what she’d say if she saw you now.”

Giselle smiled at Jackson. “She’d still want to feed him, it’s a mom thing.” She stood and threw her sarong on the back of her lounge chair. “I’m going back in the water...who’s coming?”

Another hour of pool volleyball had Giselle ready to take her wrinkled digits out of the water for good. After toweling off, she stretched out on the lounger to relax. She placed a hand on her growling stomach as Jackson and Red stepped out of the pool to join her. “Hey Red, is there a pizza delivery place around here? All this swimming has me hungry again.”

“
I’m getting there,” Jackson said, as he draped a towel around his neck. “For some reason, I can’t stop thinking about Ms. Vivi’s shrimp and okra gumbo.”

Red sat across from Giselle. “You know, as many times as I’ve tried, I can never get mine to turn out like hers, and I can’t figure out why. I’m starting to think she’s holding out on me...leaving out some secret ingredient that gives it that extra kick.”

“
I use Carrie’s recipe, and it’s damn good. I guess I’ll have to cook one and invite the two of you over.”

Red leaned over to Jackson and whispered, “Watch the master in action.” He turned back to face her. “Sure, Giselle, you talk big, but can you deliver?”

“
Excuse me?”

“
I’ve got all the ingredients for a gumbo here, if you’re ready to prove it,” Red told her.

“
Are you serious?” Giselle put her head back and laughed. “You know, Red, I love to cook. All you had to do was ask.” She shook her head and mumbled, “Can you deliver? Has that line actually worked before?” She rose from her chair and laughed as she slipped a white gauzy cover-up over her head.

“
The
master...
” Jackson snorted, punching Red in the shoulder as the three of them entered the kitchen through the patio doors.

Giselle observed as Red brought out the ingredients for a gumbo. She held up a jar of store bought roux and faced him. “What is this?”

“
It’s roux...why, isn’t that a good brand?”

“
I know your mom doesn’t use this.”

“
No, she makes her own, but I never learned how. It’s the same, isn’t it?”

“
Haven’t you ever heard that the beginning to every good gumbo is ‘first you
make
a roux’?” she asked.

He shrugged a tanned shoulder. “It’s flour and oil, and I doubt it could make that much of difference.”

Giselle clucked her tongue and sighed. “I guess I’ll have to prove you wrong.”

Two hours later they sat in front of steaming bowls of gumbo. Red took a bite and rolled his eyes in ecstasy. “Just like Mom’s. It must be the roux.”

“
Told you so,” Giselle said, smugly.

They continued to enjoy their supper while Red and Jackson told her stories of their glory days playing college ball.

“
Before I saw that shrine to the LSU Tigers you have erected in that room, I couldn’t imagine Jackson as a teenager. I couldn’t see him cutting up, and drinking with the guys, but now I can.” She looked across the table to Jackson as she pointed at Red. “I bet he was a terrible influence on you.”

“
Oh, please,” Red snickered. “Nobody had to twist his arm, when it came to drinking.”

Jackson grinned at Giselle. “No, I liked my beer. I just didn’t like it as often as
he
did. I actually had to study to make decent grades, so I couldn’t spend every weekend recuperating from a hangover. Red could read through something once and he’d retain it. That’s a ‘Summa cum Laude’ graduate right there, Giselle.”

“
Oh, yeah, Mr. 3.98 GPA—you really had to struggle to make those grades,” Red interjected.

“
Summa cum laude—I’m impressed, Red. And a 3.9 GPA is nothing to sneeze at, Jackson. Carrie always said how brilliant you were, and how you were wasting your talents with the company.”

“
Speaking of the company,” Red interrupted, “I know you’re taking some time off, but how are you two going to handle it when you go back to work? I don’t know exactly what’s going on between the two of you, but...”

“
Nothing’s going on between the two of us,” Giselle said quickly, catching the hurt look in Jackson’s eyes. Slightly embarrassed by her tone, she tried to compensate. “Well, not yet, anyway, and the truth is, I’m not going back to work at all. I’m resigning.”

Jackson turned to her. “Really? I know you mentioned it once, but I was hoping you’d change your mind.”

“
I can’t see how I’d swing it, Jackson. I can’t leave town at 6:30 in the morning before the girls get to school. Their dad got them ready in the mornings. I don’t need the money, and besides, I love being home with them. Since the accident, being a full time mother has become important to me.”

“
I can see where that would be a problem,” Red told her.

“
To tell you the truth, it’s a lot easier than I thought it would be to walk away.” She saw the crushed look on Jackson’s face and realized how it must have sounded to him.

“
So, you’ve made up your mind then?” he asked as Red cleared his throat, uncomfortably and left the room. “Do you mind me asking when you came to this decision?”

“
Well,” she said, getting up slowly from her chair, “I realized it first on the dance floor last night, then again in the grotto earlier today.”

“
What the hell does that mean?”

“
It’s more than just the girls, Jackson. It’s you and me. It’s going to be too difficult to be around you at the office...to control ourselves...don’t you think?”

Jackson rose angrily from the table and stalked over to the sink. Turning, he leaned his hips up against the sink with both hands gripped tightly on the granite countertop. “What makes you think I couldn’t control myself around you?” he asked, in a tight and angry voice.

A little put off at his tone but knowing the reason for it, she sauntered over to stand in front of him. She gave him her most seductive smile. “What makes
you
think I could?”

Seeming to fully grasp the concept, he grabbed her shoulders, and spun her around until he had her pinned against the cabinet.

She put her hands on his waist under his shirt, pulling his muscular body even closer. Even with her face raised to his, he held himself back from her. She heard his sharp intake of breath as she dug her nails into his sides and whispered hoarsely. “For God’s sake, Jackson. Would you just do it?”

“
There’ll be no turning back for either of us.” His voice was rough as he tangled his fingers in her hair.

“
I know,” she murmured, sensing his struggle for control.

He shook his head. “No, you don’t, Giselle. You don’t know how I feel about you. So, don’t ask me to do this if you’re not serious. I couldn’t take it,” he groaned.

“
I know that Jackson!” she snapped. “Are you going to kiss me or...”

He cut off her words as he kissed her with the longing of a man that had waited too long for this moment. Their mouths and tongues joined in a mad plea for attention. When it seemed as if he would break the kiss, her hands came up and pulled his head down harder, demanding he continue.

He complied, kissing her with a renewed fervor. When they finally broke the kiss, he held on to her, resting his chin on her head.

“
Do you see why I can’t work with you anymore?” she gasped.

Jackson drew in a ragged breath. “Yeah, because after this, there’s no way in hell I’d be able to keep my hands to myself. It’s been years since I’ve been this close to anyone.”

She drew back to study his face, and could see the truth in his statement. His married life must have been so terribly different from the one she and Toby shared. He tore his gaze from hers, looking ashamed. She put both hands on his face and gently urged him to look at her. “That’s not your shame to bear, Jackson,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry you had to live like that.”

He lowered his forehead to hers then kissed her mouth gently, tenderly. “Don’t cry for me, hon. Honestly, having you and the girls in my life has already made up for it.” He dropped his head back, and groaned.

What is it?” she asked as she kissed his throat tenderly.

“
I’m just thinking how difficult it’s going to be when I’m around you, until we’re ready to take this a step farther.”

Giselle made a face. “I know and I’m sorry. I don’t know when I’ll be ready for that.”

He kissed her nose. “There’s no need to apologize,” he said, as they stood locked in an embrace, rocking, coming down slowly. “You ready to leave yet?” he asked finally.