Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
TUCKER
“ W hatcha cookin’?” Dean hollers across the yard.
Scarlett is standing on her dad’s deck. There are some seriously delicious smells coming from Rick’s grill, and my stomach growls. I should probably think about making something for dinner. Chloe got home from school an hour ago, and she’s probably starving. The girl is growing like a weed. She’s also trying to eat me out of house and home.
“Burgers.” Scarlett lowers the lid of the grill then sets the spatula down and leans a hip against the deck railing. “What are you guys doing?”
“Just hanging out. I’m spending time with my brother and my favorite niece.”
“I’m your only niece,” Chloe says, giving her uncle Dean a look.
“Then I guess you win by default, huh, kid?” Dean ruffles her hair and laughs when Chloe slaps his hand away.
“I’m not a kid.”
“You’re telling me,” I quip, remembering the tween drama I had to deal with not too long ago.
Chloe rolls her eyes and looks at Scarlett. “Any chance I can have dinner with you and Rick so that I can get away from these two?”
Scarlett laughs. “Come on over.”
I love watching Scarlett interact with Chloe. She’s so good with her. Natural.
“Yes!” Chloe sticks her tongue out at Dean and runs across the yard. “Thanks, Scarlett.”
“You bet. Can you run inside and hang with Dad for a few minutes while I finish up these burgers?”
“Sure.” Chloe disappears into the house while Scarlett flips the patties. When she’s done, she pulls her hair up into a loose knot on top of her head. The move causes her already short shirt to rise up, revealing her stomach.
Scarlett is gorgeous with curves for days, and one of the things I love most about her is her confidence. She’s not stick-thin, her ribs aren’t showing, and she’s not obsessed with food. She eats what she wants, when she wants, and is comfortable in her own skin.
“You’re one lucky bastard, you know that?” Dean whispers, not bothering to hide the fact that he’s openly ogling my girlfriend.
Girlfriend.
I like the sound of that. I smile to myself and nod.
“I know.”
“Are you two hungry?” Scarlett asks.
Dean nods and rubs his belly. “Starving.”
“Well then, get over here.” Scarlett waves us over. “I’ll throw on some brats and a few more burgers.”
“That’s it. I’m stealing her.” Dean takes a purposeful stride toward Scarlett, and I dart after him.
“The hell you are.” He laughs when I knock him out of the way. “Get your own girl.”
“But I want yours.” I growl. “I’m joking.” He laughs, holding up his hands and taking a step back. “I don’t think any man in this town would be stupid enough to go after her with you prowling around.”
“Smart men.”
When we get to Scarlett, I wrap an arm around her waist, pull her close, and kiss her. “Are you sure you don’t mind us crashing your dinner?”
“Are you kidding? The more, the merrier. You two watch the grill while I grab some more food.”
She walks inside, and Dean lifts the lid to the grill, revealing giant Angus burgers. They’ve been dipped in barbecue sauce and look mouthwatering.
“She’s sexy, smart, funny, successful, and she knows how to grill.” Dean shakes his head and whistles low as he shuts the lid. “You hit the fucking jackpot. Better not let this one go.”
“I don’t plan on it.”
“Don’t plan on what?” Scarlett says, walking out with a plate of meat.
“Letting you go.”
“Good.” She smiles, pushing onto her toes to kiss me. “Because I don’t think you could get rid of me if you tried.”
I’m damn glad to hear that, especially after the shit she tried to pull a few days ago. Honestly, I think she just got scared. All she needed was a gentle reminder that she’s doing a good job of taking care of her dad and that we’re perfect together. Now, my girl is happy, I’m happy, and for the first time in over a decade, all is right in the world.
“Want some help?” I wrap my arms around her stomach and rest my chin on her shoulder. She angles her head so that she can kiss my nose.
“No, thank you. I’ve got this.”
Dean plops down onto a patio chair, but I’m comfortable right where I am, watching Scarlett cook.
“Where did you learn to grill? I assumed you had a chef who cooks for you while you’re on tour.”
“Oh, I do. Bernard is great.”
“He taught you?”
“No.” She smiles up at me proudly. “I taught myself.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
I lift a brow. “This morning?”
“Yep. Don’t look so surprised,” she says, laughing. “Daddy wanted burgers from the grill for dinner, and I’m not about to let him down again—Lord knows I’ve done that enough—so, I did a Google search, pulled up a few recipes, and voila!”
“Wow. I’m impressed.”
“Let’s save the compliments until we taste the food.”
“I’m sure it’ll be great.”
“This is gonna get old fast,” Dean mumbles.
“What is?” I ask.
“You two acting lovey-dovey all the time.”
Scarlett turns in my arms, wraps hers around my neck, and smiles at Dean before kissing me full on the mouth. Lips, tongue, teeth clacking, the whole nine yards.
Dean gags, and we’re interrupted when the back door flies open.
“Oh my God,” Chloe screeches. “Ew. Gross. I can’t un-see that.”
Scarlett pulls back and touches her lips, just as affected by the kiss as I am. Her glossy eyes dart to my daughter, who is making an exaggerated gagging sound.
“What’s all the commotion about?” Rick says, walking onto the deck from the house.
Chloe wrinkles her nose and looks at Rick. “Dad and Scarlett were making out.”
“Oh, yeah?” Rick looks way too happy. “That’s not a bad thing, Chlo.”
“I know it’s not, but I don’t need to see it.”
“Remember that when you start dating,” I say.
I kiss Scarlett on the side of the head and walk across the deck to pull out a chair for Rick.
“Atta boy,” he whispers, giving me a wry smile as he sits down. “I knew you and Scar would end up together.”
“Dad, don’t—” Scarlett’s words taper off. I turn around to see why, and that’s when my eyes land on Alexis.
She’s walking toward us with the same scowl she’s been wearing since Scarlett’s return home. A second later, her kids walk around the corner, pushing and shoving at each other, but they perk up at the sight of Scarlett.
“Aunt Scarlett!” they yell in unison, darting across the yard.
Scarlett runs after them, meeting them in the middle and scoops them both into her arms. I can’t see her face from where I’m sitting, but I’d bet just about anything that she’s fighting back tears.
“I missed you both so much,” she says, pulling back so she can look at them. “Look at you guys. You’re getting so big.”
“I’m bigger,” Declan says, puffing out his chest.
Lucy answers him with an elbow to his stomach. “You might be bigger, but I’m older and stronger.”
“Stop fighting and go give your grandpa a hug,” Alexis says.
Scarlett turns and watches the kids run toward Rick. She swipes a finger under her eye and looks at Alexis, but she doesn’t get a word out because Alexis is faster.
“Well, isn’t this cozy? A nice little family dinner.”
“It wasn’t planned. We were all just outside and decided to eat together.”
I hate that Scarlett feels the need to defend herself and what’s happening. Alexis needs to pull the stick out of her ass and get over whatever grudge she’s holding onto.
“Well, the kids and I won’t stay long.”
“Don’t go,” Scarlett says. “Stay. Have dinner with us. I can make some hotdogs for the kids.”
Alexis frowns. “My kids don’t eat hotdogs. Have you seen what’s in those things?”
“Oh. Right. Of course. I’m also making burgers and brats, and I think Daddy has some chicken in the refrigerator. I’m sure we can find something for them to eat if you’ll stay.”
Alexis’s gaze lands on all of us before it returns to her sister. “I don’t know.”
“Please.” Scarlett rests a hand on her sister’s forearm. “It would mean a lot to me if you’d stay. I haven’t gotten to see the kids in a long time, and I’d really like to spend some time with them.”
I’m about to tell Alexis to swallow her fucking pride when she finally relents. “Fine, we’ll stay. Jason got called in to work today, so it’s just the kids and me.”
“Yay!” Scarlett squeals and throws her arms around her sister. Alexis, however, doesn’t return the sentiment. Her arms hang limply at her sides.
“Is it just me, or does Alexis look constipated?” Dean murmurs, softly enough for only me to hear.
I punch him in the arm, and he laughs. “What? She does,” he whispers. “That woman needs a beer and a good, hard fuck.”
“Dinner was great, sweetheart.” Rick tosses his napkin on the table and rubs his belly.
“Thanks, Daddy.” Scarlett grabs his plate and kisses the top of his head. After putting his plate in the sink, she turns to grab mine, but I shake my head and stand up.
“No, ma’am. You cooked. You’re not cleaning up after me.”
“The dishes can wait,” Rick declares. “It’s too nice outside to spend the evening indoors. Let’s take this to the deck. Chloe, I’ll take you in a game of rummy.”
“You’re on, old man,” she says.
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Dean pushes away from the table and deposits his plate in the sink. “Rick, do you have any beer?”
“There’s probably a few in the refrigerator. Grab me one, too.”
“Daddy, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Alexis says.
Rick cuts a hand through the air. “One beer isn’t going to kill me.”
Chloe, Rick, and Dean move outside to the deck. Scarlett’s niece and nephew go to follow, but she stops them.
“Wait. I have something for you two,” Scarlett says, ignoring Alexis when she rolls her eyes.
Scarlett disappears and returns a minute later with two perfectly wrapped gifts. She hands one to Lucy and one to Declan.
“You didn’t have to get them anything,” Alexis says, crossing her arms over her chest.
Scarlett doesn’t look at her sister when she responds, she’s too focused on the kids, who are plowing through the shiny wrapping paper. “I know I didn’t. I don’t see them very often, and since I wasn’t invited to their birthday parties, I thought I’d pick them up a little something.”
She wasn’t invited to their birthday parties? I knew things were rough between the sisters, but I didn’t realize it was that bad.
“You sent them each a thousand dollars on their birthday.”
“That was for their piggy bank. Today, they get their gifts.”
“Cool!” Declan yells, holding up a white box with a picture of an iPad on the front.
“Yes! This is so awesome,” Lucy says. “My very own iPad. I asked for one last Christmas, and Mom told me no.”
“Thank you, Aunt Scarlett,” they both say, wrapping their aunt in a hug.
“You’re so welcome. The iPads are already set up and loaded with lots of games and age-appropriate books, and there’s a five-hundred-dollar credit on each tablet so you can buy some more fun games and things.”
“You’re the best.” Lucy hugs her one more time and then nudges Declan. “Come on, let’s go show Grandpa.”
The smile on Scarlett’s face is priceless as she watches them bounce out of the house. Her love for those kids is endless, and anyone can see it. Except maybe Alexis, who looks like she wants to throttle her sister.
“Are you trying to make me look bad?” Alexis says.
“No.” Scarlett shakes her head, her beautiful smile falling into a frown. “I’m trying to buy them a gift. I never get to see them.”
“Oh, that’s right, you just buy everyone’s love.”
“Alexis,” I warn.
Scarlett looks at me with glossy eyes. “Will you give me a minute alone with my sister?”
Is she fucking crazy? I don’t trust Alexis as far as I can throw her. I’m about to tell her just that when Scarlett says, “Please.”
“Fine.” I kiss her softly, a reminder that I’m here if she needs me, and I have her back, and then I give Alexis a pointed look and step out of the room. I don’t go far because I want to be here in case Alexis turns into an even bigger bitch.
I hover in the hall, close enough to catch every word.
“I always let you walk all over me, and I’m done. God, Alexis, I can’t do anything right with you. Everything I say and do is wrong,” Scarlett says.
“I—”
“Would you just shut up for one minute and let me talk?” Scarlett says, interrupting Alexis.
Damn, it turns me on when she stands up for herself. I adjust my crotch. Down, boy.
“I don’t know how to make you happy. You get pissy because I don’t see the kids enough, but when I try to spend time with them, you don’t let me.”
“They’re too young for you to fly them out to one of your shows.”
“Maybe, but you didn’t even send me an invitation to their birthday parties.”
There’s a long pause, followed by a sigh.
“You were on tour. I didn’t think you’d come,” Alexis says.
“You also didn’t think I’d come home to take care of Daddy, but here I am. I would’ve found a way. I love Lucy and Declan, and I want to be here for stuff like that. I want to know when they get an A on a test or score a home run during one of their games. You shut me out at every turn, and I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t send you an invitation.”
I have to hold onto the wall to keep from falling over. I bet it hurt Alexis down to her core to give that apology.
“Thank you,” Scarlett says softly.
Lexi clears her throat. “And for what it’s worth, not everything you do is wrong. It’s not your fault that Daddy fell. It would have happened whether you were here or not. It’s those damn rugs he insists on having. But please don’t leave him by himself again.”
“I won’t. Trust me, I’ve learned my lesson. Now, about the kids?—”
“Maybe we can set up FaceTime on their new tablets, and they can call you once a week.”
“I’d really like that.”
“As for everything else, let’s just take it one day at a time. That’s all I can give you right now.”
“I can live with that.”
I hear footsteps followed by the backdoor opening and shutting.
“You can come out now,” Scarlett says, giving me the eye when I walk into the kitchen.
“What? I wasn’t about to leave you in a room alone with your sister, especially with the way she’s been acting lately.”
“Thank you.” She leans into me and rests her head on my shoulder. “She exhausts me. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to please her, Tuck.”
“It’s not your job to please her. Alexis is responsible for her own happiness, not you.”
“You’re right, but it still hurts. I love my sister, and I want us to be close. I think a part of me always hoped that we would eventually get there, ya know? But I don’t see that happening.”
“For whatever reason, Alexis is holding onto a lot of resentment, and until she lets that go, I don’t see it happening either.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“Sorry, sweetheart.” I kiss her nose. “Just being honest.”
She sighs. “What do I do? Should I try talking to her?”
“I don’t think so.” I push a strand of hair out of her face. “I think you should wait for her to open up to you.”
“What if she doesn’t?”
“She will.”
“But what if she doesn’t?”
“Baby, you could what-if this to death. This is Alexis’s problem, not yours. She’s still adjusting to you being home. Give her time. Your sister might be a complete bitch, but she does have a heart.”
“Are you sure about that?” Scarlett smiles at her snide remark and then covers her mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“You can say anything in front of me. I’m your safe place. Always. Now, enough about your sister, let’s talk about us.”
“My favorite subject.”
“Good answer.” I reward her with a kiss. “What are you doing this weekend? Chloe is staying with my mom on Friday night, and I’d love to take you out.”
Scarlett frowns. “I wish I could, but I have to fly to L.A. for the weekend. Didn’t I tell you about that?”
“No.” I shake my head and tighten my arms around her.
“Sorry, I must’ve forgotten to mention it. Things have just been so crazy. There’s a movie premiere. One of my songs is on the soundtrack, and I agreed to attend the premiere months ago. But I won’t be gone long. I’ll fly out Friday, and I’ll be back by Sunday afternoon.”
I hate that she’s leaving. I hate it even more that I won’t be with her, but I have to remember that this is part of her life. It’s her job, and she does stuff like this all of the time.
“Who is going to stay with Rick?”
“My aunt, Clarice, offered to stay the weekend.”
“That’s nice of her.”
“Yeah. Dad will enjoy having a new face around for a few days.”
“I’ll probably still pop in and check on him a few times.”
Scarlett smiles up at me. “I figured you would. Thank you for looking after him.”
“Your dad is like family to Chloe and me.”
“I know he is. And he feels the same way about you two.”
Scarlett kisses me, this time pushing it a little deeper. When she pulls back, I groan and rest my forehead against hers.
“This is going to be the longest weekend of my life.”
She giggles. Music to my ears. “It’ll fly by.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“You’ll see. I’ll be home before you know it.”
“Dad!”
I’m in the kitchen, tidying up from dinner. Scarlett’s only been gone for roughly twenty-four hours, and I’m already going out of my mind. I hate that she’s not just a few yards away where I can see her or talk to her or hold her whenever I want. She belongs here, in New Hope, not across the country.
And I’m a dick for feeling this way. I know it. She’s just doing her damn job, the same way I do when I put on the uniform every day and get into my squad car.
I have to share Scarlett with about forty million of her fans.
I’ve just never been very good at sharing.
And I’m taking my frustrations out on an innocent skillet, scrubbing it to within an inch of its life.
“Dad, did you hear me?”
“What’s up, Chlo?”
“You have to see this! Scarlett’s on the red carpet!”
I reach for a towel to dry my hands and hurry into the living room, where Chloe’s watching some entertainment show.
And sure enough, there’s my girl. Scarlett is dressed in a form-fitting red dress that stops about mid-thigh. Her legs are bare, and she’s in a pair of red shoes that I can easily picture dangling from her feet as her calves are propped on my shoulders.
Down, boy.
“Oh, she’s so pretty! That dress is just…wow. There’s no way you’d ever let me wear something like that. Who’s the guy she’s with?” Chloe asks with a frown, and for the first time since I walked into the room, my gaze shifts from the woman I’m in love with to the man she’s draped around. “Wait. That’s Chase Walker. Holy crap, he’s amazing , Dad! I have all of his songs on my iPad. And he’s hot. Like, beyond hot. The way he dances is just dreamy. Do you think she could get me an autograph?”
“First of all, you’re too young to look at men like that.” She rolls her eyes, but I keep talking. “And second, shush.”
My eyes narrow. They’re both being interviewed, but I can’t hear the questions over the roaring in my ears. Scarlett, my Scarlett, is sidled up next to this idiot, leaning into him as if they’re more than just friends, while she smiles at the interviewer.
Do I have things wrong? Is she just fucking around with me while she’s here in town, just something to keep her occupied until she goes back to her real life and this Chase dude?
My immediate reaction is hell no. We mean way too much to each other for that shit.
But my eyes can’t deny what’s right in front of me.
I shake my head and turn back to the kitchen.
“Dad, don’t you want to watch this?”
“No,” I reply, my voice flat. “I don’t have any interest at all in watching that.”
I feel like a chump. Of course, Scarlett freaking Kincaid isn’t interested in anything long-term with me. I mean, look at her life. She’s all premieres and award shows. Tours and studio recordings.
She lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Not New Hope, South Carolina.
She’s here to take care of her dad. End of story.
And it’s best for everyone if I remember that.