Read Last First Kiss for Free Online

Carrie, how is she?”
    “ Released and home. The doctor came in right after you left. Apparently, you made enough of an impression on her that she rushed to do your bidding. Must be that fantastically fit body of yours and those big blue eyes. I swear she kept looking for you the entire time she was in the room with us.”
    “ Your ass...So how is she?”
    “ Better now that she’s with her girls. You were right, it made all the difference.”
    “ Have they been told?”
    “ Yes, I brought her home first to get her settled, then brought the girls to her.”
    Jackson heard her pause and squeezed his eyes shut. Knowing how Toby felt about his daughters, he knew it was bad. He didn’t press her, but waited until she was ready to talk.
    “ Those poor babies,” she said, sobbing quietly into the phone. “Mackenzie will be seven soon and she understands. Lexie is only four, almost five. I’m not sure if she realizes how...permanent this is.”
    “ Believe me, if she doesn’t understand everything right now, she will soon. That’s the age I was when I lost both my parents.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Toby’s girls...” he murmured. “Man, I’d give anything to have him alive and well.” He heard Carrie sniff and pause before she answered.
    “ I know you would. He thought the world of you, you know. He was always trying to get Giselle to forgive you.”
    “ No chance of that, now, is there?” he said dejectedly.
    “ I’m going to have a talk with her about that.”
    “ Don’t upset her, Carrie. She’s been through enough.”
    “ So have you. I won’t let her hold that against you.”
    He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “God, I’m tired, Carrie.”
    “ Get some sleep, Jackson.”
    He considered whether or not to let her in on Chloe’s secret. Finally he spoke, his voice coming out in a tortured whisper. “She was pregnant, Carrie. Chloe was pregnant. I found a letter from her doctor. And then...” he swallowed the disgust he felt for his dead wife. “She had an appointment for an abortion yesterday in Beaumont.”
    “ I don’t understand. If she was on the pill...”
    “ She took two rounds of antibiotics last month. It must have weakened the effectiveness of the pills,” he explained.
    “ I’m sorry, Jackson. I know how badly you wanted a child.”
    There was an extended pause before Jackson began to speak again. “The thing is, I thought she was bi-polar all these years...manic depressive...chemically unbalanced...call it what you will, but I thought she couldn’t help the way she acted, you know? She was adamant about not taking any medication as long as there was a chance she could get pregnant.” He stood and began pacing with the phone.
    “ This may sound crazy to everyone else, but I thought if she could make that sacrifice for us , I was obligated to stay with her. I kept thinking if we could just have a child, she could get the treatment she needed and be normal.” He burst into hysterical laughter. “Now, I find out it was all an act.”
    “ What the hell are you talking about? What act?”
    He thought about the letter tucked inside his wallet. “It was all an act, Carrie. She explained it all in her letter.”
    “ I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but I sure would like to read that letter.”
    “ Maybe one day,” he said. “Not now, though. There are things in it that are...too...personal.”
    “ I’m sorry, Jackson. I know you have your reasons, so I won’t ask again. I uh...” She took a deep breath. “I called to tell you about the funeral arrangements.” She gave him the time and location of the funeral home in Kenton.
    “ She won’t want me there,” he said.
    “ I think you should be there.”
    “ I don’t want to upset her.”
    “ You need to go. She’ll hold it against you.”
    He closed his eyes and sighed. “She may hold it against me if I do.” He heard her sigh in frustration. “All right, I’ll go.”
    “ I knew