Last First Kiss Read Free Page A

sedate her.” He told them what Giselle said before receiving the shot to calm her.
    “ She didn’t mean that, and I doubt seriously if she’ll remember saying it,” Carrie insisted. “Toby’s poor girls...it makes you wonder what God could have been thinking, doesn’t it?”
    Bill, who’d been quiet up to now, stepped up suddenly. “Wait a minute. Is that the wife of your friend, Toby?”
    Jackson nodded slowly. “He died in the accident.”
    Bill’s head fell forward. “I’m sorry, Son. I didn’t realize. Isn’t she the one you pissed off at work a few years back?”
    “ That’s her,” Jackson said, giving his uncle another nod. “She already didn’t like me. After walking away from an accident that took Toby’s life, she may never forgive me.”
    “ She wouldn’t hold that against you,” Carrie told him.
    He raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t hear her.” He shook his head and pushed away from the window. “She was right about one thing, though. I was envious of their marriage.”
    “ Come on, Jack. Everyone was envious of those two. They were the perfect couple,” Carrie said. “Now, you need to go home, take a couple of aspirin, and go to bed.”
    “ I need to get to the Chevy dealership for a new truck. I’m not driving Chloe’s Vette around. I can’t get comfortable in that thing. Are you ready, Uncle Bill?”
    “ Are you released yet, Son?”
    “ All taken care of. Will you be here all night, Carrie?”
    “ I’ll be here until they release her.” She reached up to touch a bruise on his face. “I’m worried about you, Jack. You call me if you need to talk.”
    He leaned over to hug her. “If you need anything while you’re here, let me know, and I’ll get it to you.”
    “ I’ve got your number. Get your new truck then go straight home. Bill, maybe you ought to stay with him tonight.”
    “ I don’t need a damn baby sitter,” Jackson grumbled. He rose from the seat quickly and winced at the pain in his knee.
    “ Go ahead and sass me again, smart ass. Good luck, Bill.”
    “ Call me at home if you need anything, hon,” Bill replied.
     

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 2
     
     
    The two men walked into the elevator. “So that’s Giselle Granger,” Bill said as Jackson nodded and pushed the first floor button. “Any children?”
    Jackson had to swallow hard to keep his voice from shaking. “Two beautiful little girls...six and four.”
    “ Bad ages to lose their daddy.”
    Jackson didn’t trust himself to speak, so he nodded again. If anyone knew what those girls would have to endure in the coming months...years...decades...he knew. He still missed his own parents after thirty-one years.
    They drove in silence as Jackson attempted to deal with the multitude of emotions bombarding him. He closed his eyes and saw Chloe’s broken body, then pressed the palms of both hands up against his sockets, trying to block it out.
    He let his head fall back on the dusty seat of his uncle’s old truck as a sudden wave of sadness washed over him. He would have given anything to have a marriage like Toby and Giselle’s, but Chloe had been difficult to live with, so imbalanced, that any attempt to relax around her turned futile. In the best of times, he felt pity for his wife. In the worst, he had prayed to be free of her, but never this way. Swamped with guilt, he ran his hands brusquely through his hair. He winced as his fingers snagged the strands, still blood-caked and stiff.
    He had loved Chloe once. The first year had been good until she began developing symptoms of what became constantly changing diagnoses. Manic depression, chemical imbalance, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder...one quack had even suggested she was an exceptional actress. Whatever her condition was, it had made his life a living hell. Her threats to kill herself if he left had seemed real enough to make him stay. He couldn’t have lived with himself if she followed through. Jackson lifted his head as his uncle