The Last Second Chance by Lucy Score
11
Joey’s first day as partner was a busy one. Between feeding and turn out, she scheduled an end-of-the-day appointment with the large animal vet to check out Apollo and Calypso. She lent a hand with the mucking until Carter took over and then beat her head on her desk over lesson billing and paperwork for an hour before grabbing a thermos of soup and working her way through the stalls inspecting for damage that needed to be repaired.
She often thought of running the stables as playing housemother to a bunch of teenagers. They each had their own personalities and bad habits—including kicking the shit out of the boards beneath their food bucket—and it was her job to keep them as safe and happy as possible.
She collected the lightweight horse blankets from the stall hooks and, after a quick hosing, tossed them in the industrial washer in the supply closet. She’d let Colby deal with the heavier blankets later. Waffles divided his time between following her around like a shadow and sleeping in the dog bed she’d put under the desk in the office earlier that week.
Joey took an early afternoon break to groom a couple of the horses that wouldn’t be used for lessons that night and scheduled a potential tack cleaning pizza party for the end of the month. It helped to have extra hands, and in the past, she’d learned that students and their parents had no problem with lending said hands in return for pizza and a ten percent discount on lesson sessions.
She was reviewing the spring show schedule when she spotted a big blue pickup pull up to the stables on the security feed.
Dr. Sammy Ames was as good with animals as her mother, the original and now retired Dr. Ames. Joey was thankful that, unlike her mother, Sammy also had a way with people. During a particularly scary colic case two years ago, Joey and Dr. Ames had nearly come to blows. Thankfully, Carter had stepped in with his cool head and a cooler six-pack, saving Joey from a potential arrest.
She met the vet at the door and waved her in.
“How’s it going, Sammy?”
The woman yanked a red wool cap off her short honey blonde curls and tucked her gloves into the pockets of her down vest. “Not too bad, minus the wind chill. Were you aware that hell froze over, by the way? Other than that, it’s been a nice quiet day of vaccinations and well checks.”
“That’s a good day.”
“Sure is,” she said, bending down to ruffle Waffles’s ears and offer him a treat that she pulled out of her pocket. “We finally got the authority from Animal Control to cownap those emaciated jerseys over in Greenburg. Carter got any room for two hungry ladies?”
“I’ll ask him and let you know.” He would, Joey knew. Carter Pierce couldn’t say no to an animal in need.
“I’d appreciate it,” Sammy said. She let out a low whistle when they got to Calypso’s stall. “I feel like I’m meeting a unicorn who just won Miss Universe.”
Joey grinned, and Calypso tossed her head in sassy agreement.
“She’s gorgeous, and she knows it.”
While Sammy slipped into the stall and started her exam, Joey fired off a text to Carter about the cows and told him to get in touch with Sammy.
“Well, you’ve got yourself the perfect mare here,” Sammy said, finishing up in the stall. “I’m guessing you aren’t going to see anything odd health-wise during her quarantine.”
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say. Ready to meet the beast?”
Sammy grinned and rubbed her palms together. “Oh, yeah. Bring him on!”
If she’d been impressed with Calypso, Sammy fell head over heels for Apollo the second he lunged his big head through the stall door.
Joey didn’t bother cautioning Sammy to watch herself in the stall. The woman knew her way around bad-tempered livestock, and a seven-figure stallion was no different. She watched the exam with humor as Sammy had to outmaneuver Apollo every step of the way.
“Try that again and we’re gonna have words,” Sammy warned Apollo as he made a move to nip her back.
“He’s a bit of an ass,” Joey warned.
Sammy bent from the waist and slid her hand down the back of his front leg. “Come on, Sexy Ass. Gimmie your damn foot.”
Apollo balked at first, but the vet out-stubborned him.
“There. That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” Sammy asked, putting the foot back down and slapping the stallion on the shoulder.
Apollo gave a bad-tempered stamp in reply.
“I think I’m in love,” Sammy sighed, running her hands through her curls. She looked like a fairy with her waif-like build and green eyes, not someone who wrestled stallions and birthed calves.
Joey stroked Apollo’s velvet nose and gave him a peppermint treat for his only mildly offensive behavior. “Yeah, there’s something we women love about an arrogant ass.” Joey sighed. “Want a cup of coffee before you hit the road?”
Sammy glanced at her watch. “More than I want a foot rub. You got fresh?”
“It’s January. We’re making a pot every hour on the hour,” Joey said, leading the way back to her office.
“Have you had Sexy Ass out for a ride, yet?” Sammy asked.
Joey shook her head and poured a steaming mug from the pot in the office. “On my list for today.”
“I hear that list is getting longer now that you’re partner,” Sammy said, accepting the mug.
“How the hell did you hear that? It’s been twenty-four hours.”
“Please. It’s Blue Moon. Colby’s mom got her hair done at the Snip Shack with Elvira Eustace yesterday afternoon. Told everyone all about the new horses and job. If you hadn’t called me this morning, I was already planning on coming out to check ‘em out.”
Crap. That meant she needed to call her parents now rather than in a few days or weeks like she’d been entertaining.
“If your breeding fees aren’t too astronomical, I’ve got a pretty little mare at home ready for her first season this year.” Sammy cocked her head to the side.
“We’ll have to compare astronomicals sometime,” Joey told her.
Over coffee, they nailed down the quarantine period for Apollo and Calypso before they could be introduced to the rest of the horses and settled on a deworming plan for spring.
When she waved Sammy off in the drive, Joey was already reaching for her phone, which was already ringing.
“Hi, Dad.”
“So when were you going to decide to share the big news with your parents?” Forrest demanded gruffly.
Joey kicked the door and committed to a course of action.
“Who ruined my surprise? I’m going to kick their ass.”
“I thought it was common knowledge and you just couldn’t be bothered to share it with us. Your mother is very upset.”
It seemed both parents could play each other as the martyr.
“No one was supposed to know until I told you two. I was going to have you come here and check out the new horses and then tell you. I can’t believe someone ruined this! I wanted to be the one to tell you!” Well, that was mostly true. She bit her lip and waited to see which way her father would go.
“Now, Joey.” Her dad’s voice was placating. “You know you can’t keep secrets in Blue Moon. Those people know what you had for breakfast before you even get out of bed.”
“I just can’t believe someone ruined my surprise. I was so excited to tell you.” And more than a little nervous of his reaction.
“Well, tell me now,” Forrest offered. “I can act surprised over the phone.”
Joey smiled. As annoying as his bravado and protectiveness was, she knew that deep down all her father wanted was for her to be happy. And safe. And not dating Jax.
“Okay, but you have to sound surprised, or I’ll still be mad.”
“I’m ready.” He cleared his throat. “So, what’s new with you, Joey?”
“Well, Dad, I have some big news…”
The conversation went better than the cold call she’d anticipated making. Her father had pretended to be thrilled with the partner news and only asked her twice if she was certain it wasn’t some slick move by Jax to worm his way back into her good graces. After her assurance that she’d earned the honor all on her own and his fatherly warning to watch herself around the Pierces, he passed the phone to her mother so they could coordinate a visit to the farm to meet the new horses.
By the time she hung up, she had a headache and overnight visitors on the books.
* * *
By the timeher last lesson wrapped up at seven, the only thing Joey could think of was a medium rare burger with onion rings. She changed into mostly clean jeans that she found on the floor of her closet and a cozy flannel and pulled on fleece-lined snow boots that came to mid-calf to ward off the cold.
She gave Waffles an extra half scoop of food in his dish when he gave her the look of devastation at not being invited to dinner.
“Don’t look at me like that. You don’t want to go. You want to stay here and nap by the fire.”
She could have sworn that his furry lower lip trembled.
“I’ll turn the TV on for you, okay?” She grabbed the remote and flipped through the guide. “What do you want to watch? Cartoons? Sit coms?”
Waffles looked mildly interested in a Spanish soap opera, so she left it on and ducked out the front door.
Judging from Shorty’s parking lot, everyone else in Blue Moon had decided they weren’t cooking tonight either. She squeezed her truck into a space at the back of the lot and hustled through the cold to the front door.
She blamed her frostbitten eyeballs for the unfortunate fact that she claimed a barstool without recognizing her neighboring patron.
Jax.
“Well, well. You just made my night,” he said with the trademark Pierce grin responsible for melting the underwear off an entire generation of women.
She debated about getting up and taking a seat on the other end of the bar, but Ed had already shoved a menu at her.
“Didn’t know you had a date, Jax,” Ed Avila, the bartender and owner of Shorty’s, grinned.
“Not a date, Ed,” Joey said with a glare.
“None of my business if you two want to have dinner together,” Ed said. “Beer?”
“Yes to the beer.”
“Put it on my tab,” Jax said.
“Don’t you start,” Joey said, shifting her glare to him. “What happened to your elbow?”
Jax glanced down at his bloody sleeve and the makeshift gauze bandage. “I had a bad experience with a dark kitchen.”
“Run backwards into the knife block, Ace?” Joey took a sip of the beer Ed delivered.
“Even worse. I walked in on Carter and Summer on the kitchen island.”
“What were they—oh my God! That’s disgusting. Are pregnant people even allowed to have sex?”
“That’s exactly what I said. Apparently, it’s no big deal.”
Joey shuddered. “It’s probably a big deal to the babies who are getting poked in the face by—”
“And now I’m never getting that image out of my head,” Jax said, taking a healthy gulp of beer. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“How about heavy-duty sanitizers for kitchen surfaces?” Joey offered.
“How about horses?” Jax suggested.
Joey couldn’t stop the grin on her face from spreading.
“You take him out yet?” Jax asked.
“Today. I didn’t have a lot of time, but I put him through his paces in the ring. He’s—”
“Perfect? Incredible? The most amazing specimen of horseflesh you’ve ever laid eyes on?”
She let Jax have his moment. After all, he was the reason she spent a satisfying hour of her afternoon battling it out with the stallion. “Apollo is pretty great,” she admitted.
“Pretty great? That’s the best you can do?” Jax scoffed.
“Shut up. He’s freaking awesome. I’m surprised I haven’t seen you sneak in there with a saddle yet.”
“I wanted you to have the honors,” Jax said, nudging her shoulder with his. “But now that you have, I’ll be in tomorrow. Bright and early.”
“Early?” she said skeptically.
“Well, not first feeding early.” He winked.
“You haven’t been much of a morning person since you came back,” she observed.
“I’m on a deadline, and I write at night. But the clock will definitely say a.m. when I show my pretty face in your stables.”
“I’ll look for you at 11:59.”
“You two love birds ready to order?” Ed interrupted.
“What’ll it be, sweetheart?” Jax teased.
“I’m really tempted to take my business to Peace of Pizza right now,” Joey threatened.
“Only playing, Joey. I know you could take me if you wanted to,” Ed said.
“Keep that in mind when you’re running your mouth.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ed threw a salute. “What can I get you?”
She ordered her burger and onion rings and rolled her eyes when Jax ordered the same thing. “Seriously?”
“What? It sounded good.”
“I’ve been craving a Shorty’s burger and onion rings for the last seven hours. Change your order.”
“Nope.”
He was so good-natured in his response that Joey laughed.
“I’ve missed that sound,” Jax said, suddenly all smoke and heat.
She shook her head. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Go from friendly and benign to all come hithery in half a second.”
“Come hithery?” Jax grinned. “I forgot how much I like you.”
“Oh, so it’s like now,” Joey said, feeling a chunk of hope and maybe the slightest hint of disappointment.
Jax lifted his glass to his lips, wicked thoughts evident in his eyes. “I never forgot that I love you. But it may have slipped my mind how much I like you.”
Her stomach did a loop-de-loop.
“Here’s a thought. How about we have a nice, quiet dinner together without either of us pushing an agenda?”
“A truce?”
“A truce.”
“I’m willing to give it a shot,” Jax said, raising his glass to her. “To truces.”
She brought her pint to his. “To truces.”
In the low light of the bar, he looked like a handsome devil sent here with the sole purpose of tempting her. He was comfortable. And not just in jeans that probably emphasized his spectacular ass and a bloodied thermal shirt that fit across his muscled chest and shoulders like a tailor had sewn it to his body. Jax was comfortable in his skin. Confident, strong, and completely sure that he’d wear her down.
Why did she find that so sexy?
He had his hand on the back of her barstool, his knee brushing hers. She hadn’t realized that she was leaning in until she felt his breath on her face. He smelled like the outdoors and wood fires. His Arctic eyes were fixed on her face, and she was so close Joey swore she could hear his heartbeat.
She was weak with hunger. It was the only explanation besides her hormones revolting against her wasteland of a sex life. Either option was better than considering the possibility that she wanted Jackson Pierce as much as he wanted her.
“Hey, Jax. Hi, Joey.” The spell was broken by the skinny man with glasses and neatly pressed khakis who climbed onto the stool on Jax’s left.
Joey’s hand clamped down on Jax’s thigh. While Anthony Berkowicz looked about as harmless as a bucket of puppies, he was the son of Rainbow and Gordon Berkowicz and, as such, was second generation Beautification Committee, the nosiest, most meddling organization in town. He was also editor-in-chief of The Monthly Moon, Blue Moon’s community newspaper or tabloid. The exposé he’d done on Summer and Carter before they were dating predicted they would have a half-dozen children after Summer gave up her career in the city and moved to Blue Moon.
Huh, Joey thought.
Well, he sure as hell wasn’t getting any fodder on her, Joey decided.
“I’m going to the restroom, and he’d better be gone by the time I get back,” she hissed at Jax.
“If you don’t get your hand off my leg, we’re going to have a bigger problem than Anthony Berkowicz,” Jax whispered, looking pointedly at her hand. “A much bigger problem.”
“Funny.” Joey pulled her hand back faster than if she’d touched hot coals. “Nice to see you, Anthony,” she called over her shoulder as she headed to the bathroom.
* * *
“How’s the newspaper biz, Anthony?”Jax asked, willing the blood to return to his head.
Anthony’s head bobbed. “Not bad. Not bad. How’s the farm?”
“Good all around. What brings you out to Shorty’s on this frigid night?”
“Just doing a little digging.” Anthony slid his phone in front of Jax.
On the screen was a picture of him and Joey sitting side by side at the bar someone had posted to the Blue Moon Facebook group four minutes ago.
“Do you live upstairs or something? That’s a faster response time than the fire department.”
“I go where the stories take me,” Anthony said.
Jax drummed his fingers on the bar, debating for a second. “Anthony, I’m going to lay this on the line. I’m after Joey. I intend to marry that girl, but if she gets a hint that the Beautification Committee is sniffing around us, she’s going to head for the hills on principle. And if that happens and you’re the reason behind it, I’m going to hunt you down and fill your apartment and your newspaper office with all kinds of shit. Pig, horse, goat, dog. I have access to an unlimited supply. Now, on the other hand, if you find yourself somehow useful to my cause, I’d be happy to give you an exclusive on whatever you deem fit after Joey marries me.”
Anthony swallowed hard. “Uh-huh. I see.”
“Can I get you something, Anthony?” Ed asked, dropping Jax and Joey’s plates on the bar.
“Uh. Yeah. Can I get a diet?” He glanced at Jax. “To go, please.”
Jax clapped him on the shoulder. “Glad we’re on the same page.”
The slim man paused, holding his soda. “Oh, yeah. Just so you know, you might want to have the same conversation with Ellery.” He pointed in the direction of the ladies’ room as a woman dressed for a death metal concert pushed through the door.
“Shit.”
* * *
Joey grabbeda fistful of paper towels out of the dispenser in the ladies’ room and dried her hands. She had faith that Jax could get rid of Anthony… if he wanted to. There was, of course, the possibility that he’d want Anthony to print a bunch of fake crap about them getting back together in hopes that it would convince her to give him a second chance.
And if he did that, Jax knew nothing about her, she realized.
The door swung open, and Ellery, Beckett’s paralegal, strolled in, her chunky Frankenstein boots squeaking on the tile floor.
“Hey, Joey,” she said cheerfully. “I’d ask what’s new, but I already know. So I’ll just say congratulations.”
Freaking Blue Moon and its freaking big mouth.“Thanks.” Joey grimaced. “And before you say it, no, I’m not on a date with Jax. I didn’t even know he was coming here. So don’t you get any nosey BC ideas.”
Ellery leaned into the mirror to tug at her long spider leg lashes. Her hair was in braided pigtails, and she was wearing the reddest lipstick Joey had ever seen. “Got it!” she said triumphantly. She held a single lash on her fingertip. “God, that thing’s been driving me nuts since I glued these on.”
She dunked her hands under the faucet. “Anyway, what were you saying? Oh, yeah, you and Jax.” She laughed.
Joey frowned. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, it’s nothing personal. It’s just the idea of you and Jax dating. I know you probably get all kinds of pressure about it since you used to be all hot and heavy way back in high school, but I’m with you. You and Jax would be a huge mistake. I think you’re smart to keep your distance.”
“You expect me to believe you and your prying little group aren’t plotting right now to march me down the aisle with Jax?”
Ellery’s eyes widened until Joey couldn’t see her charcoal gray eye shadow. “Absolutely not. We take our matchmaking very seriously.” She laid a hand on her heart, her black fingernails glittering under the fluorescent lights. “And part of that is recognizing who does and doesn’t have potential for a long-lasting, happy relationship.”
“And you’re saying that Jax and I don’t have that potential?”
“Exactly. And it’s not like I’m saying anything you haven’t already said a hundred thousand times. You’re just too different. Besides, who knows how long Jax will decide to stick around this time? You’re being smart protecting yourself and just staying friends.”
“Then why did Anthony show up here four seconds after I sat down next to Jax at the bar?”
Ellery shrugged her shoulders in her pink skull cardigan. “Maybe he just wanted a Diet Coke?” Her eyes lit up. “Trust me. The BC already had a conversation when Jax moved back. You two just aren’t meant to be. Now, Jax and Moon Beam Parker? I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing sparks from those two.”
“Jax and Moon Beam?” Joey felt her right eyelid start to twitch and pressed the palm of her hand over it.
“Don’t jinx it.” Ellery grinned. “It’s in the early stages. Just imagine how nice it’ll be to have Jax chasing someone else and finally giving you your space.”
“Yeah. Nice.”
“Well, I gotta go see a man about a basket of cheese fries. See ya around,” Ellery said cheerily as she strolled out the door.
“Nice,” Joey said again as the door closed. She stared grimly at her reflection, not liking the feeling of doom that settled in her belly.
Back at the bar, her spirits lifted slightly when she noticed Jax no longer had a newspaperman for a neighbor.
“Is Anthony still alive, or do we need to dig a shallow grave?” Joey asked.
“He’ll live to write another day,” Jax promised, his gaze fixed to her face. “What’s wrong?”
Joey shrugged. “Nothing. Just hungry,” she said, reaching for the burger she no longer had any appetite for.
“I can still tell when you’re lying, Jojo,” Jax warned her.
She looked him in the eye and took a big bite. “Starving,” she said through a mouthful of meat and cheese and ketchup.
Jax shook his head and turned his attention to his plate. His knee pressed against her leg, the contact sending a zing through her veins.
“Do you do that on purpose?” Joey asked, dropping her burger on the plate.
“Do what?”
Joey looked down pointedly at their legs.
Jax grinned. “What do you think?”
“I think you do it on purpose to annoy me.”
Jax swiveled on his stool, pinning her knees between his legs. His hands rested on her thighs. “Or maybe it’s because I can’t stand to be so close to you and not touch you. Maybe when I’m touching you, everything feels better for just a second until the next breath when I need more.”
Joey’s breath was caught in her throat.
“Does that answer your question?” he asked, his grip strong on her legs.
Joey wet her lips. “What do you think of Moon Beam Parker?”
