Chapter 31
TUCKER
SINCE RHYS and Swan left, Nora has been a bundle of nerves. So when Marley suggested making S’mores around the firepit with the kids after dinner, I could have kissed her.
As usual, Marley put us to work. She sent us outside to carry the chairs from the porch to sit next to the Adirondack chairs and start the fire.
We couldn’t come outside without Dawson and Beckett following, so they have been tossing small sticks they find on the ground into the pit as Gray follows Dawson around. He’s two, and Gray is overprotective as it is, so that boy doesn’t do anything without his Daddy’s shadow.
Beckett, on the other hand, is just as rowdy as Mason, who is protective but just a little more hands-off than Gray.
“When are you going to Tennessee?” Mason stacks an armload of wood next to the pit that he brought from the rick by the house.
“Wednesday. Callum sent a link to a realtor that his wife knows. The return tickets are for Saturday.” I’m squatting next to the pit on my good leg, setting up the wood on the small kindling that I tossed in.
Jax sets down the last chair from the porch and practically throws himself into it, his long legs flopped out in front of him. “If I’d known you were going to be moving there, I wouldn’t have sold my house. It was remote, and I had it built, so it was pretty kick-ass. I miss it sometimes.”
Dawson squeals behind us, and we turn to see Gray tossing him into the air.
Yearning spreads through me, and I imagine doing the same with a child of my own.
A redheaded boy or girl calling me daddy.
The thought warms and frightens me at the same time.
What if all my issues make it impossible to be a good father?
Can I be a protector and provider if I can’t run to my child if hurt? Or my wife? It’s a miracle if I get through a day without being angry, will that block my ability to bond with my child? What about fun stuff? With time, would I be able to chase them and toss them in the air?
Looking away, I busy myself with the wood in the pit again before I respond to Jax. “You never know how things are going to work out.”
The back screen door slams, and Niki runs across the yard to Jax. “Daddy! Daddy! Mama’s got a big bag of marshmallows and she says we’re going to put them on sticks.”
Jax sits forward on the chair and grabs his little girl to set her on his lap. She’s so small that his hands wrap around her ribcage, reminding me just how delicate she is. She makes herself comfortable in what she perceives to be the safest place in the world.
He chuckles and says, “So I heard.” He starts to speak his native Serbian tongue with her, and she responds in kind as they have their own conversation.
When I first heard both of the girls speaking fluently with him, I was shocked that they picked it up so easily, but Marley says they’re sponges and the best time for them to learn languages is when they’re small.
She says he’s been talking to them in Serbian since he started talking to her stomach while she was pregnant.
Mason and I work in silence for a few minutes, the sounds of squealing from Dawson and Beckett getting louder as Gray chases them around the trees close to Marley’s stables. It’s loud enough that we didn’t hear the back door open again.
Mason hands me the flint, and I pop a few sparks into the dried grass at the base of the wood around the kindling. “Did Callum say when he needs you to be moved out there? Cody said he could only fill in through the end of next month.”
A gasp behind us has us both swiveling our heads in that direction. Nora is standing there with a few blankets in one arm and a box of graham crackers in her hand. Marley is next to her with a tray holding a bag of marshmallows and bars of chocolate.
Tears fill her eyes as the look of betrayal almost knocks me over. Just what I need, first she’s scared to death about tomorrow, and now she thinks I’m leaving her. I stand up, and Mason does the same. Her throat moves when she swallows, and I take a step toward her. “Nora, wait.”
She pushes the blankets and the box of cracker at me and says, “Excuse me.” She turns on her heel, her hair flying around her, and walks toward the house.
Fuck.
Turning to Mason, I shove the blankets and crackers at him and follow her.
She’s walking fast, her shoulders squared and stiff, and her hands balled at her sides.
I’m pretty sure she’s rushing on purpose to keep me from catching up to her, and my limitation pisses me off.
Pushing through the pain, I walk faster, which exacerbates my limp.
“Nora.” I say it low since we are passing Dad, holding Sofi’s hand, Sloane and Elly walking across the yard with Lainey Rai.
I’m pretty sure my dad chuckles as I pass.
Fucker.
She jogs up the steps, the globes of her perfect ass peeking out from under her sweatshirt, and when she goes through the back door, she glances over her shoulder and pushes the door closed.
Damn it. I haven’t jogged up stairs in a year, but I need to catch up with her and nearly fall on my face when my leg almost buckles from the pain slicing through my thigh.
When I go through the door, I see her red head disappear around the doorway from the kitchen. “Nora! Stop!”
“Fuck you.” She shouts from the hall.
She’s halfway up the stairs when I get to the bottom. I won’t be able to go up the stairs, if I try, it will take longer than I want her to be out of my sight, so I tell her what I need to tell her here. “I want you to come with me.”
Her hand grabs the banister as her body comes to a halt mid-step. Slowly turning to face me, there are tears streaked down her cheeks, and it’s like a knife to my heart.
“What did you say?” She swats her hand across her cheek to wipe the tears, and her voice is wobbling.
Transferring my weight onto my good leg, I take a deep breath.
“I have a plane ticket with your name on it. I was trying to figure out how to ask you to come with me.” Attempting to step up on the bottom step sends a shock of white-hot pain through my body, making me wince, and I decide to stay put.
Guilt flashes in her eyes, and she steps down to the bottom step, making her almost eye level with me. Her neck moves with a swallow again, and she clears her throat. “You want me to come with you?”
I slide my fingertips across one of her wet cheeks and then the other and let my hands fall to my sides.
“Sugar, the past year has been one dark day after another.” I tilt my head, my eyes locked on her beautiful green ones.
“Since I met you, life has meaning again. I went from feeling like an empty shell to feeling alive. I love you, Nora, and I want you with me always.”
Her chin wobbles, and more tears slide down her cheeks, which makes me wince again. “Don’t cry, sugar, I hate to see you cry.”
Without a word, she throws her arms around my neck, and I have to grab the banister next to me to keep us from falling over while grabbing her waist with my other arm. Her cheeks and nose are cold and wet against my neck, and then she peppers kisses under my ear, across my jaw and to my lips.
Tilting her head back, her nose almost touching mine, she smiles through her tears. “I love you too, Tuck. Wherever you go, I go.”
Letting go of the banister, I slide my hand up her spine to her neck as she presses her lips to mine again. Letting her set the pace, her full lips are soft and warm. She slides her tongue across my lip, and my dick swells in my jeans.
Just as I’m thinking about taking her into one of the rooms on the first floor with a lock, the kitchen door slams and Dad steps into the hall. “Are you two lovebirds going to join us? The kids are already covered in chocolate.”
Touching my forehead to hers, I smile. “Since there’s no chance of me walking up the stairs right now, we might as well.”
She pulls her head back, and her brows knit together. “I’ve been leaning on you for weeks. From now on, if you need help, you can lean on me.”
Smiling back, I try not to show my bruised ego. “Aren’t I supposed to be the strong one?”
She nods. “You can be strong in everything else, but let me help fill in the gaps. Deal?”
Kissing her softly, my heart swells as I nod. “Deal.”
***
After spending two excruciatingly painful hours around the fire while the kids ran off their sugar high, I finally made it into a hot salt bath.
Chasing Nora across the yard and into the house made my thigh swell, even three beers and ibuprofen haven’t touched the edges of the ache that is ricocheting up and down my leg.
Reclining my head against the tile wall behind me, I sip my beer and let my arms rest on the sides of the tub. With a deep sigh, I close my eyes.
She loves me.
A smile tugs one side of my mouth. Chasing after her was worth it to hear her say it.
However, I need full use of my leg for the meetup with her ex tomorrow. I know my brother will have that asshole in his crosshairs the whole time, but I want to be able to move fast if needed.
It doesn’t take long for the water to lose its steam, so I pull the plug and wrap a towel around me, but when I grab the little jar of Tiger Balm from my medicine cabinet, the self-sabotaging thoughts sprout in my head.
Is it fair to her? Will she want to be attached to a half-cripple a year from now?
I’m only thirty-four, but I already smell like an old man covered in ointment.
She hasn’t really seen the scar in the light of day yet, will it be a turnoff?
As my insecurities mount and swirl in my head, my mood turns sour in a matter of minutes. I don’t want to lose her, but what if she gets her fill of me and decides to walk away? The ache in my leg moves to my chest, and I rub my palm over my heart to try to ease that pain.
A soft knock on my bedroom door interrupts my downward spiral. I already know it’s her; I can feel her, like stepping into home.