Last First Kiss Read Online Free PDF

and cleared his throat.
    “So, what’s the deal with the furniture?”
    He told her how he had emptied his house of everything that reminded him of his wife.
    “So you purged your home of Chloe.”
    “You could say that. Now I can buy some decent furniture.”
    “God, she had horrible taste in furniture, didn’t she?”
    He nodded, refilling his coffee cup. “So, how’s Giselle? Does she hate me any worse today than she did yesterday?”
    “She doesn’t hate you. Maybe when she sees her girls, it’ll be better.”
    “Do they know?”
    “No, and they need to be told. I don’t know what to do. I hate to take too much of this on myself when they have a mother, but she’s still so out of it,” she murmured.
    “Do you have a photo of the girls here?”
    “No, I have plenty at home. Do you think that would help? I could have Sam bring some over.”
    Jackson stood up and fished his truck keys out of his pocket. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes or so.” He ran to catch the elevator before the doors closed.
     
    <><><>
     
    He returned a half hour later and knocked lightly on the door of Giselle’s room. Giselle was awake and subdued for the moment. She turned her head to look when he walked into the room then turned away again.
    “I don’t want to see anybody,” she said.
    Jackson stepped into the room. “I thought you may want to have this with you.” He held up the photo he’d taken from her office. “Giselle, look at me.”
    She turned to him, and her eyes widened. Giselle reached for the photo with both hands. “Oh, my babies!” She pulled the photo close to gaze at the photo of her girls. Silent tears trailed down her bruised cheeks and fell onto the glass covering the photo.
    “Do they know?” she whispered.
    Carrie sniffed and cleared her throat. “No sweetie. I didn’t want to do anything without talking to you first.”
    “I’ll tell them, but I want to do it at home. Do you think the doctor will release me soon?”
    “What’s her doctor’s name?” Jackson asked.
    “Dr. Allemand - I saw her in the hall a few minutes ago.”
    “I’ll find her.”
    Giselle never looked up as Jackson walked out of the room. After several minutes had gone by, she asked. “Why is Jackson here...is Chloe in the hospital, too?”
    “No, hon. Chloe died in the wreck. He’s here because he wants to help.”
    “I didn’t know,” Giselle whispered.
     
    Jackson entered the room silently, hidden by the curtain, wondering if it was okay to make his presence known. The sound of Giselle’s voice, heartbroken and tortured, droned on, as she explained about the malfunctioning light at the Civic Center. He smiled as she told Carrie how he’d let her and Toby into the long queue of traffic.
    “You know, if he hadn’t, Toby and I would have missed the accident,” Giselle murmured.
    Jackson’s breath froze as he witnessed Carrie’s anxious comeback.
    “Oh, honey! There’s no way of knowing that.”
    “But I do know,” he heard Giselle say, her voice lifeless and void of feeling. “Jackson let us out and Toby’s dead. This may have happened because of him.”
    Jackson’s heart plummeted to his toes. Miserable and unable to face anyone, he backed silently out of the room, and then caught the elevator to the lobby. He walked outside to his truck and pulled out his cell phone to call Carrie.
    “Hey, I wanted to tell you that I found her doctor. She’ll be in her room to discuss her release within a few minutes.”
    “Okay, but where are you?” she asked him.
    “I’m in my truck. I’m leaving.”
    “Why didn’t you say goodbye?”
    He paused for a moment. “I don’t think she wants to see me. She really does hate me more today than she did yesterday.” He waited through her prolonged pause then sighed. “I heard what she said.”
    “She didn’t mean that,” she said.
    He wiped roughly at his eyes. “That’s not how it sounded.”
    “Jack...”
    “I’ll talk to you later,” he said,