Chapter 16
TUCKER
THE SOUND of a diesel engine near the main house draws my attention, and I see the familiar red of my sister, Breanna’s, huge truck that can pull any size trailer. I guess Dad called her about Frost, who hasn’t been feeling well for the past couple of weeks.
Taking my gloves off and tossing them on top of a stack of feed bags in the barn, I walk out to see her.
Breanna had just turned twelve when I joined the Air Force, so I haven’t got to see her nearly enough over the past fifteen years.
I saw her a couple times a year when she was in high school when I would come for leave, but once she went to college, I was lucky to see her once a year.
When she was a little girl, she found out Mom died after giving birth to her and somehow got it in her head that she killed Mom. It was really hard on her, and Dad made her see a therapist for years, she was still seeing her when I enlisted.
Now, she’s this tiny woman who barely stands five foot two and the only one in the family to have naturally curly hair. Her facial features are like Marley and Kinley, and she has Dad’s eyes, but somehow, she got a short gene from one of our ancestors somewhere.
Walking through the back door of the house, I hear excited chatter and babies laughing.
Marley and Breanna are in the kitchen, each holding a twin, and Breanna is spinning and dancing with Niki as she squeals.
Sofi is on Marley’s hip laughing, but content to be with her mama.
It always takes her a minute to warm up to people she doesn’t see daily.
I walk around the island at the same time Dad, Gray, and Mason come in the way I just came. Breanna looks at me, and her face lights up. “Tuck!”
She walks to me, and I give her a bear hug, lifting her off the floor, while scratching my beard on Niki’s cheek as I do, making her squeal again. “How you doin’, shorty?” I mumble and kiss her forehead.
“I’m good.” It looks like she’s about to say more, but when I put her down, Dad steps in behind me and gives her another hug, so I take a step back and let Mason and Gray through.
Marley is also standing back out of the way, and I end up next to her. She holds Sofi out to me. “Will you take her for a second? I need to check my roast in the oven.”
Sofi comes to me easily. They are almost three, but they both have long blond hair the same color as Jax and the same icy blue eyes.
After some of the stories I’ve heard about him, I feel sorry for the boys in their future who come sniffing around, because they have their mama’s features, and are both definitely going to be beautiful.
Appearing next to me again, Marley tilts her head and talks loud enough for me to hear. “Noticed you left late last night.”
Turning to look down into her ocean blue eyes, I lift my eyebrow. “Yeah?”
She bumps her shoulder into my arm and smirks. “Did you go see a certain redhead?”
That redhead has been on my mind every second since I left her last night. The way her soft body melted into me when I pulled her in for a hug was the closest thing to heaven I think I’ve got to. But hearing the sigh as she relaxed against me, everything in me wanted to claim her as mine.
Of course, my sister just happened to be up when I left. She knows where I went, and I’m not gonna play games with her. “What if I did?”
She shrugs with a smile. “I just think she’s sweet, and since she’s been around, you smile more, it’s the first time you’ve relaxed some in almost a year.”
She’s right. Some of the maddening thoughts that have controlled my thinking have been replaced with thoughts of her. Thoughts of having her next to me permanently. Inwardly kicking myself, I remember I don’t even know her.
My sister is only doing what sisters do, but I don’t really want to talk to her about this, so I hand Sofi back to her and turn to the back door to go back to the barn.
As I’m walking back down to the barn, birds are chirping in the trees that are swaying and swishing in the north wind that kicked up this morning. But the sound on replay in my head is that soft fucking moan when I was kissing Nora last night.
My dick was already hard when I kissed her, but when I heard that, the frenzy of wanting her so fucking bad wanted to take over. I had to leave before I pushed her against the wall and nipped that hard little nipple that was poking my chest with my teeth.
My phone buzzing in my back pocket pulls me out of my thoughts. Private number. I get unknown numbers all the time because of my past in the military, but not private numbers. Then I remember Mason telling me that his boss, Callum, would be calling me.
“Harlow.”
A deep voice on the other end asks, “Tucker Harlow?”
“Yeah. Who is this?”
“Names Callum. We’ve met a few times in the past, but it’s been a few years.”
Walking past the doors to the barn, I walk around the back of the building for privacy. “I remember. What can I do for you?”
He chuckles. “Right to the point. Mason said you’re a man of few words these days.”
“I’m also a man of little patience.” No need to act like someone I’m not; it’s true, patience is something I’ve run short of lately.
“I’m calling you because one of the guys on my team, our pilot, is leaving the team for personal reasons, leaving me short. I know you can fly, and I wondered if we could meet and have a conversation.”
The question comes out of left field. I thought my military days were over. I know Callum’s team is off the books, and not technically part of the U.S. Government, but they have subcontracted for jobs in the past.
For some reason I can’t explain right now, Nora comes to mind and the possibility of this ruining any chance I have with her. Shaking the thought loose, I return my focus to the call. “Sure. Let me know when and where.”
“I’m actually flying over Oklahoma on my way home today and can stop for a quick meeting this evening if you’re free.” That’s when I hear a flight attendant in the background asking him if he wants a drink.
I already plan to be at Stony’s for dinner this evening. “I’ll send you the address where I’ll be.”
“Good, see you then.”
As I slide my phone back in my pocket, I realize I’ve walked to the edge of the wide stream that curves through our property. It was perfect when the ranch was a cattle farm, but my grandfather switched to horses when he was working the land, and now it’s just a part of the landscape.
When we were kids, we spent a lot of time wading into this stream and catching crawdads from behind rocks.
I have fuzzy memories of my mom wading into the water with us while my dad was in the barn.
The sun is warm on my face as I remember a time when everything was simple. We were all so happy back then.
I’m not sure why old memories have been resurfacing so much lately. I rarely think about my younger days, and to be honest, I don’t want to. No need in wishing for something that will never be.
With a sigh, I shake off the melancholy that usually comes with those memories and turn back to the barn to finish out my day.
When I walk into Stony’s that evening, Callum is already sitting at the bar nursing a beer.
Nothing about him has changed since the last time I saw him.
His dark hair is still high and tight, and he still looks like he spends half his day in the gym.
He lifts his bottle in greeting when I see him, and I tip my chin as I point at the table in the back corner.
“You want your usual, Tuck?” Stony asks from behind the bar.
Turning to Callum, I ask, “You want a chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes and gravy dinner?”
His hand goes to his stomach, and he laughs. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
Nodding at Stony, I lift my hand with two raised fingers. “Can we get two?”
“Sure, Tuck.” He walks back to the kitchen as we go to my table.
As I sit, the one thing I’ve been looking forward to most is walking toward my table with a large mug of beer in her hand. Her long red hair is in a braid again today and hanging down her front. A small, shy smile is tipping her lips, and I realize I’m smiling right back.
She sets my beer on the table, leaning toward me, and the familiar soft floral smell of her perfume wraps around me as I take a subtle deep breath. “Thank you, sugar.”
Her eyes flick up to mine and then to Callum as her smile slips, and she takes a step back. “You’re welcome.”
As she’s walking away, I watch her curves sway, my fingers itching to touch her.
“Pretty girl.” Callum interrupts my not so nice thoughts, and I look at him with my eyes narrowed.
He almost laughs as he sits back in his chair with his big, beefy hands raised. “Just an observation. I’m happily married. Not only am I faithful to my wife, but she would slit my throat in my sleep if I even thought about another woman.”
Looking back at the vision standing at the bar picking up one pen after another to scribble on her notepad, trying to find one that works, I stand up. “I’ll be right back.” I say it to Callum, but I don’t take my eyes off Nora.
She swivels her head in my direction when I get closer to her, and her eyebrows go up her forehead in surprise when I grab her hand and pull her into the short hallway to the restrooms. It wasn’t my plan to kiss her when I pulled her in here, but I grab her narrow waist and back her against the wall to kiss her like I’m a suffocating man, and she’s my air.
Her small, cool fingers grip my biceps as she melts into me again, and I inhale her sweet scent like a drug. Just being close to her calms all the crackling nerves I deal with every day, but being able to touch her and kiss her sends every anxious thought from my head.
Slim hands cup my cheeks, and she breaks the kiss with a smile. “I’m working.”
Gripping the soft hips that invade my thoughts more than I care to admit, I nod, my eyes glued to her beautiful green orbs. “I know. I didn’t plan to kiss you when I pulled you in here; it was involuntary.”