Jackson’s Destiny(48)

“Bailey is different,” Jackson said as he walked around the counter and placed his hand on my hip. “She’s the cool aunt who’s with the cool uncle, and she ain’t gonna say shit. Are ya, babe?”

Before I could answer, he leaned forward and placed a kiss against my lips. Not one of those soft, sweet kisses but one of the hard, loud ones that was playful and full of silliness.

“Besides, I need her to run into town and pick up the tire after Booker gets it mounted and balanced.”

“Tire?’ I asked.

“Yep. Never yell ‘squirrel’ when a teenage girl is behind the wheel.” Jackson widened his eyes. “I should have just let her hit it.”

“There was no squirrel, you fool,” Olivia fired back, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I know. It was a reflex test, and darlin’, you failed that shit,” he told her with a chuckle.

I was so damn lost at this point. “Wait, what happened, exactly?”

“This dumbass yelled ‘squirrel,’ and I freaked out. But there was no damn squirrel. He just wanted to see how I would react.” She looked away from me and narrowed her eyes at Jackson. “He scared the hell out of me, and I ran off the road.”

“‘Ran off the road,’ hell,” Jackson barked. “She went down in the ditch and blew out my tire. Bent my rim to shit and crushed my running board.” He leaned over the counter, placing his elbow on the marble top. “Oh, and let’s not forget about the hood and windshield.”

“What happened to the hood and windshield?” I asked.

Jackson stared at Olivia, and she stared back at him. They were waiting for the other to explain.

“Fine,” Olivia huffed. “I hit Mr. Burk’s irrigation equipment. Well, just the side of it. It scraped the hood and cracked the windshield. But in my defense, it’s the dumbass’s fault for yelling ‘squirrel.’”

I could no longer hold back my laughter. I bent at the waist, and tears blurred my vision as I howled. Jackson was right; I wouldn’t say a word, but I sure as hell was going to take a few minutes to be amused by the situation he and Liv had found themselves in.



***



Jackson



“Your father always said Bailey would be good for you,” Ma said as we sat on my parents’ back porch, looking out at our new extended family. Amber and Ryan were in charge of cooking. Noah and Alena had been whispering back and forth all afternoon, so we all just let them have their time alone. Bailey and Olivia were sitting at the picnic table straight in front of us, making some kind of bracelets with materials that Olivia had brought. Bailey was so focused on the thread she held between her fingers that her nose and eyes were crinkled up.

“He was right. She is good for me,” I replied.

A comfortable silence set in as we observed everyone. I still missed my father, but each day that passed made the deep ache from his absence just a little easier to bear. I knew it would never truly fade. I would always regret the time I wasted, the times I ran around being the town playboy when I should have been being a man. I just hoped he knew in some way that he did right by me. Hell, he did right by us all; he’d made my brothers and me the men we are now—men that knew the value of family.

“I’m gonna ask her to marry me.” I had been rolling the confession around in my head for a while now, and without another thought I let my ma in on my little secret. “I bought the ring last week. I spent three days trying to find a way to find out her size without her noticing. She finally took that ring she always wears off when I convinced her we needed to paint the bathroom.”

I shifted my gaze to my mother, taking in her smile before continuing. “She was pissed when she thought she lost her ring, but I had to take it into the jeweler for the measurement.”

“Did you ever give it back to her?” She looked genuinely curious.

“I pretended to find it on the floor under the shelf. It was easy enough to pull off since that shelf is right next to the desk where she laid it.” I shrugged.

“So when you planning on asking?”

“When the time is right.”

“Well, the time is right,” she assured me. “Hell, son, with the pace you boys are all moving at, I’m never gonna have some more grandbabies to cuddle.” She slapped my shoulder. “Get your ass out there and get me another daughter-in-law.”

“Ma, I said when the—”

She narrowed her eyes, giving me that “boy, don’t mess with your momma” look.

I held my hands up, surrendering to the death glare. “Fine, woman, I’m going.”