Page 93 of Second Chance

“Excuse me?” I snap, blinking in exaggeration at my son.

“First that Denton guy, and now Crusty Rusty Miller of Devil’s Edge. Mama, what’s going on with you?”

I stare at my son a second, mouth gaping in disbelief.

“There is no first or second here, Jaxson. I’m not running around with anyone.”

“The whole town’s talking about you and Denton. Some love reunited thing, and now this.” He waves flippantly toward the street. “Riding on the back of Rusty’s bike. Do you know what people will say next?”

“Jaxson Harrington, since when do you care what people think?”

While I don’t care for the gossip of the town, I’ve also hardly had it directed at me. If I think about it, I don’t want people talking about me as if I’m doing something wrong. Jax takes a huge breath and then exhales. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what the town thinks of me, but I do care what people say about my mother.”

Well, it’s nice to know he’s still protective of me in some manner. As if it’s okay for him to question my slut-itude, but if others suggest it, he’s upset.

“You frustrate me,” I mutter, recalling times when he was a child, and I just didn’t understand why he’d do what he’d done. Toothbrush down the toilet. Gum in Sandy Eberstein’s hair. A snake in the dishwasher.

“Mama, you frustrate me,” he mocks back as his hands slip into his jacket pockets. We stare at one another a moment, eyes the same color as mine focus back at me.

“Miss Caroline died,” I begin. “I was at Magnolia’s and didn’t have a ride home. I was getting ready to call Jordan when I saw Rusty leaving the house. I wasn’t thinking, other than it was a few miles away.”

A knowing look beams at me from my child, as if he’s the adult. “Why’d you want to leave there?”

“I’m not a fan of death.”

Jax nods in response. His expression softens. “What were you doing there in the first place?”

I pause, twisting my lips, thinking how best to explain myself to my son, and then rethinking—do I need to explain myself to my son?

“Miss Caroline was dying. Gran was there.” Close enough to the truth. No lie involved there.

“It was Denton, wasn’t it?”

“And what if it was him, Jaxson? His mother died! What’s this thing you have against the man beside some story your father told you that I know nothing about?”

“Dad said Denton loved you like him.”

I blink, utterly stunned at the revelation. “We were friends.”

“Mama, don’t be coy with me.”

“I’m—”

“Dad asked him to leave town.”

My mouth falls open again. “That’s not—”

“He said he was going to lose you to Denton and he didn’t know how he’d live without you. Told me I should always respect women but respect no one else when it came to keeping the one.”

I recall what Hollilyn told me and I’m flabbergasted at this advice from Chris to our child. I’m equally stunned Hollilyn knew something so intimate between father and son as Jaxson seems to always keep her at arm’s length.

“Why would your father say such a thing?”

“He said he knew one day I’d fall in love, but I’d find it hard to settle. Said I reminded him of an old friend in this manner. He told me if I wanted a girl bad enough to make her my only priority. Said because Denton left, it spoke volumes to his true feelings for you. He didn’t make you his priority.”

The words sting, although I try to find some sympathy in them for Chris. I’m puzzled by his concern that Denton would steal me and stung by his assessment that Denton’s leaving meant I didn’t matter to our oldest friend. He was probably right. Of course, he was right. Denton took Kristy, not me.

“It was all a long time ago, baby. None of it matters now.”