Chapter 7 - Tucker
I can't believe how things are going.
When I planned this… Well, when I panicked about this yesterday and called Wade at eleven PM asking for advice, I imagined taking Marley to Maria's for dinner.
Wearing my one good button-down shirt that doesn't have any stains on it.
Sitting across from her at a candlelit table, trying to remember proper table manners and not spill anything on myself.
Something classy. Something I'd hate every second of but would endure because she deserves it.
Instead, we're sitting on a blanket on Frank's hill, eating sandwiches and pasta salad out of Tupperware containers, and it's perfect. Better than perfect. This I can survive. This I can actually enjoy.
I've always loved this view. The way the valley spreads out below us, the mountains in the distance, the ranch buildings looking small but incredible. Frank used to say you could see your whole life from up here if you looked hard enough.
But right now, I can't take my eyes off Marley.
She's sitting cross-legged on the blanket, her dark hair catching the sunlight, those glasses slightly crooked on her nose. Her lips are curled at the ends as she takes in the view, and there's something about the way she looks—content, peaceful, like she belongs here—that makes me genuinely happy.
"This is beautiful," she says, turning to look at me. There's something vulnerable in her expression. "I know this might not be the best moment to ask you this and I'm okay if you don't want to talk about it, but... I'd love to know what happened with Emma's mother. If you're comfortable sharing."
I haven't talked about Jenna in a very long time. The guys know the basics. She left, that she never looked back, but I don't discuss the details. Don't let myself think about it too much because thinking about it means feeling it, and feeling it means remembering how I failed.
But Marley deserves to know the truth. This is how you build a relationship or get close to one: by sharing personal stuff. By letting someone see the ugly parts along with the good.
I'm just not used to it.
"Her name was Jenna," I say, staring out at the valley instead of at Marley.
"We met when I was thirty-two. She was twenty-five, working at a bar in town, and I thought she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
We got married eight months later. Too fast, everyone said, but we were in love and stupid and thought that was enough. "
I pause, trying to find the right words.
"Emma came along a year after that. We were happy about it.
Or I thought we were." I run a hand through my hair.
"I was working crazy hours back then. Frank was getting older, needed more help with the ranch.
I'd leave before Emma woke up and come home after she was asleep.
Jenna was alone with a baby all day, and I didn't... I didn't see what it was doing to her. "
Marley's quiet, listening.
"One day I came home and Jenna was gone.
Just packed her bags and left. No warning, no conversation, nothing.
She left a note that said motherhood wasn't for her, that she'd made a mistake, that she needed to figure out who she was without us.
" My jaw tightens. "Emma was three years old.
Three. And her mother just... walked away. "
"Tucker—"
"I blame myself," I continue, the words coming faster now.
"I was working too much, neglecting my marriage, not paying attention to what Jenna needed.
But Emma..." My voice cracks. "Emma didn't deserve to lose her mother because of my mistakes.
She was just a baby. And Jenna never looked back.
Sends a birthday card once a year and that's it. No phone calls, no visits, nothing."
I finally look at Marley, and her mouth is open in a big O, clearly surprised. Maybe horrified. I don't blame her.
"I'll never forgive her," I say quietly. "If I could delete her from my mind, I would. But she's part of Emma's story, and Emma deserves to know the truth when she's old enough to understand it."
Marley's eyes are shining with unshed tears.
"Tucker, your ex-wife made an insane mistake.
Not being happy in a relationship is one thing, that happens, people grow apart.
But leaving your daughter? That's a whole lot more than just being unhappy.
That's... I don't even have words for what that is. "
"Yeah." I look back at the valley. "I try not to think about it. It's in the past. Emma barely remembers her. She was so young when Jenna left. Sometimes I think that's a blessing. Other times I wonder if it's worse, not having any memories at all."
"I'm sorry for asking," Marley says softly. "I didn't mean to bring up painful—"
"It's fine." I turn back to her. "If we didn't have this conversation today, it would come up later. As much as I hate talking about it, it's part of who I am. Part of what made me the kind of father I am now. Terrified of screwing up, terrified of letting anyone into Emma's life who might leave."
Marley adjusts her glasses, and I can see her processing this, understanding what I'm really saying. That letting her in is scary. That this matters more than just a casual date.
"Can I ask you something?" I say, needing to shift the focus away from my failures.
"Of course."
"Why did you come to Blackwater Falls?"
Her face flushes, and she looks down at her hands. "It's embarrassing."
"I just told you about my wife abandoning our daughter. I think we're past embarrassing."
She laughs softly, then takes a breath. "I fell for the wrong man.
His name was Richard. We worked together at a veterinary practice in Denver.
He was one of the senior partners, I was an associate.
We started dating, and I thought... I thought it was real.
He told me he loved me, that we'd build a practice together, that I was different from everyone else. "
Her voice goes bitter on that last part.
"Turns out he had a wife. And three kids. In the suburbs." She looks up at me, and there's pain in her eyes. "I found out eight months into the relationship when his wife showed up at the clinic. She knew about me. Apparently, I wasn't the first, but she wanted to make sure I knew about her."
"Jesus, Marley."
"My friends told me I should stay in the city, ignore what happened, keep living my life.
But I couldn't." She wraps her arms around herself.
"I felt like an awful person for almost ruining a family, even though I didn't know.
And I felt stupid for believing his lies.
I needed a new challenge, a new place to start fresh and be my own person without judgment. "
"Why a small town?" I ask. "Why Blackwater Falls specifically? This place isn't exactly thriving. We've got the Savage Riders MC clubhouse on the outskirts, half the businesses on Main Street are boarded up—"
"I have no idea, honestly." She smiles slightly.
"When I was looking at places to move, Blackwater Falls just..
. popped up. Felt right. And it was one of the few places I could actually afford to buy a property and start my own practice.
" She pauses. "Maybe it was the 'Black' in the name that attracted me. I was in a pretty dark phase."
I can't help but chuckle at that. "Black for a dark phase. That's some poetic irony."
"Right?" She looks up at the clear blue sky. "Do you believe in destiny, Tucker?"
"I don't know. Do you?"
"I never did. My father taught me to believe only in what I could see and touch. Science, facts, evidence. But lately..." She trails off. "Lately I've started to think there might be something else. Whatever it is... The universe, God, destiny, I'm starting to have faith in it."
I look at her sitting there on the blanket, the sunlight in her hair, those lips curved in a small smile…
"You make me want to believe in everything," I say.
She blushes and adjusts her glasses. "I'm not used to getting compliments."
"I'm not used to giving them." I lean back on my hands. "I haven't been on a date in so long I've forgotten how to act. Pretty sure I'm screwing this up."
"You're not." She smiles at me, "You're doing great, Tucker."
We finally start eating. The sandwiches I made, the pasta salad, some grapes and strawberries Marley packed. I try to focus on the food, on the conversation, on anything other than how beautiful she looks sitting across from me.
But then she picks up a strawberry and bites into it, and I watch her plump lips wrap around the fruit, sucking the juice, her tongue darting out to catch what drips down her chin.
Fuck.
My mind goes places it absolutely should not go. Places involving those lips wrapped around my cock, sucking, those gentle brown eyes looking up at me from below while I thread my fingers through her hair and—
I need to fucking stop.
But I can't stop. Can't stop imagining what she'd look like naked, all those curves on display. Her soft skin under my rugged, work-worn hands. It's such a mismatch. She’s smooth and perfect, and I’m rough and scarred, but I'd treat her right. I'd worship every inch of her.
Unless she asked me to be rough. Then I'd unleash everything on her. Pin her down, make her beg, show her exactly what years of pent-up desire feels like when it finally breaks free.
My cock is straining against my jeans now, hard and throbbing, and I shift uncomfortably on the blanket. I feel like a fucking teenager who's never had sex before, about to explode just from watching a woman eat fruit.
I still have desires, of course. I'm not dead. But I usually just take care of them in the shower, quick and efficient, thinking about nothing in particular. I don't remember the last time I got a hard-on in front of someone, let alone someone I actually want.
Images keep flooding my mind. Marley naked beneath me, those full breasts in my hands, her thighs wrapped around my waist. The sounds she'd make when I push inside her, the way she'd gasp my name—
"Tucker?"
I startle, nearly dropping my sandwich. "What?"
"Are you okay? You look... distracted."
"I'm fine." My voice comes out rougher than intended. "Just... enjoying the view."
She blushes again, looking down at her lap, and I realize she thinks I meant her. Which I did. Fuck, I absolutely did.
"Can I ask you something?" I say, needing to know before this goes any further.
"Of course."
"Does it bother you? That I have a kid?"
She stops eating, her eyes going wide. "What?
No. Tucker, it's the opposite. I'm thirty-two, I've always wanted a family, and I'm starting to think I'll never have one.
" She pauses, then adds softly, "If whatever this is goes somewhere.
.. I'd love to take care of Emma. Not as a replacement for her mother, but as someone who cares about her. About both of you."
Fuck. She's incredible. She always has the right answers. How could I ever resist her? I lean closer, and she imitates me, our faces inches apart now. I want to kiss her. Want to taste those lips, feel her tongue against mine, hear the little sounds she'd make.
But when was the last time I kissed someone? So long ago that I'm afraid I'll look like an idiot. Afraid I've forgotten how.
She must realize this because she asks, "What do you want to do now, Tucker?"
I don't miss a beat. "I want to kiss you."
She swallows drily.
"Saying it out loud is probably stupid," I continue. "Maybe even cowardly. But I want to make sure I'm doing everything right. That you want this too."
She smiles, and it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. "You're doing everything right. And I've been waiting for you to kiss me since we sat down here."
I reach up and place my hand on her face. My hand is so big that my fingers go past her head, cupping the back of her skull. Her cheeks are rosy and warm, soft under my calloused palm.
She closes her eyes first, leaning into my touch, and I move forward, closing my eyes halfway because I want to see her, want to watch her react.
Our lips meet, and she tastes like strawberries and something sweeter, something that's just her. One kiss turns into a second, and a third, and we can't stop. My other hand finds her waist, pulling her closer, and she makes a small sound in the back of her throat that goes straight to my cock.
My dick throbs, hard and demanding, and I clench my free hand into a fist, keeping myself under control. This is a passionate kiss, nothing more. I'm not going to ruin this by pushing too fast, by letting my desire override my common sense.
But fuck, she feels good. Tastes good. Her lips are soft and eager, her tongue sliding against mine, and when she grabs the front of my shirt and pulls me closer I nearly lose it.
When we finally break apart, we're both gasping for air, eyes half-lidded, mouths ajar. Her lips are swollen and red, and I want to kiss her again, want to never stop kissing her.
"Was that as good as you expected?" she asks breathlessly.
"Better." My voice is rough, strained. "So much better. I wish we didn't have to stop."
"We don't have to stop." She's still gripping my shirt, her knuckles white. "We don't have to stop doing anything. We can just... go on."
I blink at her, unsure I heard right. Did she mean—?
"We could..." I stumble over my words like an idiot. "We could always go back to the house. To my bedroom. If you want. No pressure, but—"
"I'd love that."
The words are so sweet, so certain, that I almost can't believe them. She wants this. Wants me. Wants my cock as much as I want to give it to her.
"Yeah?" I need to hear it again, need to be absolutely sure.
"Yeah." She leans in and kisses me again. "Take me to your bedroom, Tucker. Show me how much you want me."
Fuck. I'm going to die. I'm going to actually die right here on this hill because Marley Williams just said those words and my heart can't take it.
I stand up, pulling her with me, and we leave everything on the blanket. The food, the containers, all of it. I'll come back for it later. Right now, all I care about is getting Marley to my bedroom before I lose what little control I have left.
We practically run down the hill, hand in hand, and when we reach the house I'm thanking every god that Boone took Emma somewhere far away.
I unlock the door and pull Marley inside, and the moment it closes behind us I'm kissing her again, backing her against the wall, my hands everywhere—her waist, her hips, her ass.
She gasps into my mouth and I swallow the sound, pressing my hard cock against her so she can feel exactly what she does to me.
"Bedroom," she breathes. "Tucker, please—"
I don't need to be told twice.