Chapter Twenty-Eight
“H ope you saved us some of that watermelon.”
Jackson’s unmistakable voice rang out from the doorway, and they all turned to look. It really was amazing how the man seemed to fill a room with his presence. And Emily had the feeling he’d had the knack long before Stonewall had made him a household name.
“We did, Dad,” Jeremy explained, abandoning the last couple of bites of the bright red treat and running toward his father, who caught him and pulled him up into a big hug.
Nic walked in beside Jackson, and the smile on her old friend’s face as she watched the two men in her life told Emily all she needed to know about how well their marriage was going to go.
“Thanks for picking him up,” Nic said to Tucker.
Emily was startled when Tucker shrugged and said, “Thank Emily. She drove.”
Nic drew back slightly, but she was smiling even wider as she shifted her gaze to Emily.
“Lobo wanted to go, so we took my car,” she explained, and she knew from the tiny shift in her expression that Nic had noticed there apparently hadn’t been any question about whether or not she would be going too.
“And it was good that Lobo was here, wasn’t it, Uncle T?” Jeremy asked.
“Very,” Tucker said solemnly. “I think he took a lot of sass out of ol’ Splatter today.”
“In that case I owe you double thanks,” Jackson said with an eye-roll as he set Jeremy down again. “Got some schoolwork to show me?” he asked his son. The boy nodded and scampered over to the steps that led to the upper loft, and scrambled upward.
“How’d it go with the new kid?” Tucker asked.
“He’s pretty devastated,” Jackson said as they settled in, out in the living room.
“Understandably,” Emily said, aching at the very idea of a child losing both parents like that, and so young.
“But he showed some interest in the horses,” Nic said. “First thing in a while, his aunt said.”
“He’ll be back next week,” Jackson said, and Emily heard the note of great satisfaction in his voice.
“Good.” Tucker glanced at her before adding, “Emily said you should maybe talk to a local guy. Keller Rafferty?”
Jackson’s brow furrowed, but Nic immediately exclaimed, “Of course! Brilliant, I should have thought of that. Leave it to you, Em.” She flicked a look at Tucker as she added, “Emily is always thinking about who can help who here in Last Stand, and how to connect them.”
Emily thought she was probably blushing as Nic turned to Jackson and gave him essentially the same information she had given Tucker about Keller.
But Emily only heard it, because she couldn’t look away from the man beside her.
How could such a simple thing as being complimented in front of him unsettle her so much?
And more, how could him just saying her name make her react so strongly?
“I’ll text Keller and see when would be good,” Nic said.
She quickly sent the text. But being Nic, she wasn’t content with just sitting back and waiting for a response. Instead she looked at Emily rather archly, in that very Nic way.
“So,” she began brightly, and Emily braced herself, “you’re going to the inn Friday night, right?”
It took her a moment to make the switch, to remember. “Oh. Kane.”
Nic laughed. “Yes, Kane.” She shifted her gaze to Tucker. “Have you heard about him yet?”
“You mean the Kane? The singer?” Tucker asked. “Yeah, I have. A couple of the guys out west were fans, so I heard a lot of his stuff. Really good. And Jackson told me a couple of months ago he was from here.”
Nic laughed. “With his last name, where else would he be from?”
Tucker’s brow furrowed, then cleared. “Wait, it’s Highwater, right? He’s one of those Highwaters? Like the police chief?”
He looked at Emily then, and she again felt that jab at the scrutiny of those eyes. “His youngest brother,” she said. And then something else hit her, and she caught her breath.
But before she could speak Nic’s phone chimed a response. “Keller says right now would be good, because Sydney’s due home this afternoon.” She flashed a grin at Emily. “I’ll leave you to explain that one.”
Jackson called Jeremy down from the loft which, Emily gathered, served as his room. “We’re going over to the Raffertys’ place,” he told the boy.
Jeremy lit up. “Then Maverick has to go. He’ll want to see Mr. Chance.”
“I figured,” Jackson said with a loving grin.
The boy’s brow furrowed. “But what about Lobo?”
The shepherd’s head came up from where he was on the floor by the door. “He’s got a date with Chance on Wednesday,” Emily told him. “You go ahead and have fun.” She looked at Nic. “Tell Keller and Maggie hello for me.”
“Will do. Close up, will you?” Nic asked. “And if we don’t see you again before, see you both Friday night!”
The place seemed stunningly quiet after the three of them plus the golden dog had gone. Emily looked at Tucker, who was smiling as he watched them leave.
“Your friend,” she said with a slow shake of her head, “is a presence.”
“Yeah. He is.” He turned back to look at her. “What are you supposed to explain to me?”
It took her a moment—why did everything, when she was around him?—to remember what Nic had said. “Sydney Rafferty, Keller’s wife. Who happens to have built a worldwide business, selling artisan items from everywhere. Ever heard of The World In A Gift ?”
He blinked. “Uh…yeah. Heard about it all over Hollywood and L.A. That’s her?” She nodded. Tucker gave a slow shake of his head. “This place is…amazing. And Kane’s really your boss’s brother?”
“Yes.” Her mind was racing now, and she was glad she hadn’t blurted out the thought that had come to her earlier. It would be much more effective coming from the man himself. “And he’s doing a show Friday night, out at the Hickory Creek Inn. Where he used to work as a handyman.”
Tucker blinked. “He was a handyman at an inn?”
“Yes.” She grinned. “It was really something to pull in there in the middle of the day and hear him singing while he went about some mundane task like weeding or hauling trash. I confess, more than once I just sat there with the windows down, listening. Anyway, he does this now and then, puts on a show strictly for locals.”
“Leaves me out, then.” He sounded regretful, which gave her hope. “I’ve only been here two weeks, so I don’t count as a local.”
Emily blinked. Had it truly only been two weeks? How on earth had he occupied so much of her mind in such a short time? She shoved aside the unsettling thoughts and went for one thing she truly wanted.
“You do if you show up with a local.”
He stared at her for a moment. And when he spoke, there was a low, almost rough undertone in his voice that sent a shiver through her. “You asking me to go with you, Officer Emily?”
With an effort she kept her own voice light, but held his gaze steadily, even knowing what he might be able to read there. “Only if it means you’ll say yes. I don’t think I could handle a rejection.”
“Who,” he said slowly, “could ever reject you?”
Her heart gave a little leap in her chest. For a split second she thought of the man who had indeed rejected her at the last minute, but he didn’t matter anymore. Not one bit. The only thing that mattered was that Tucker hadn’t said no.
Which gave her the nerve to ask it more bluntly.
“Was that a yes?”
He gave her a smile she’d never seen from him before. Open, wide, and without hesitation.
“Yeah,” he said, “it was.”
It wasn’t until she was back in her car, with Lobo loaded up, and heading for the Baylor ranch gate, that she really let herself realize what had just happened. She had actually, impossibly, asked Tucker Culhane on a date.
Even more impossibly, he’d said yes.