I've Got You, Babe

by Lynnette Austin

  “Positive.”

  “You must have a very understanding boss.”

  He rubbed the toe of his work boot over a seam in the hardwood floor. “Actually, my brothers and I own the shop. We, ah, restore vintage cars and motorcycles.”

  Red flushed her cheeks. “So you’re not a mechanic. I apologize.”

  “No need to. Nothin’ wrong with being a mechanic. Without them, we’d be in a world of hurt, wouldn’t we?”

  She nodded.

  “Besides, the restorations require a lot of mechanical work, so I’ve done more than my share of engine overhauls. In fact, I was in the middle of a brake job when you stopped by.”

  “Stopped by?” She smiled. “Polite, aren’t you?”

  “I can be. I can also be an SOB.”

  Studying him, she said, “My guess is that side only comes out when it’s prodded.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I’d like to think so, but…” He shrugged again.

  “Well, speaking for Daisy and myself, I’m truly glad we met.”

  He jammed both hands in his pockets, uncomfortable with being thrust into the role of hero. “I’m glad I was there for you this morning, but I sure as heck hope you don’t intend a repeat performance.”

  “None planned, believe me, and I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused…and more than a little embarrassed.”

  “Don’t apologize.” He held up a hand. “You were sick. You are sick. It’s a damned good thing you pulled in when you did.”

  “Yeah, Mommy, a damned good thing.”

  “Daisy Elizabeth! That’s a bad word.”

  “Tut said it first.”

  He grimaced. “Your mama’s right. It is a bad word, and I won’t say it again.”

  One corner of Elisa’s mouth lifted. “I do believe your pants are on fire, Mr. Tut.”

  He laughed out loud. “I do believe you’re right.”

  “On fire?” Daisy asked.

  “Your mama’s havin’ fun with me.”

  “’Kay.” She laid a hand on her mother’s cheek. “I had fun with Tut, too. He colored with me.”

  Elisa mouthed her silent thanks.

  He nodded, holding her gaze. “Back to what I was saying—before the bad word. You and your daughter must have had a guardian angel riding in that Escort with you. If you’d passed out while you were driving, well, ’nuff said, right?”

  The hair on the back of his neck stood up, the memory of Brant’s call the night of his sister’s accident fresh in his mind. Different circumstances, but still. Elisa and Daisy could both be in the hospital and in a lot worse shape.

  “You’re right. I screwed up. Big time.” Arm wrapped tightly around her daughter, she said, “I think we introduced ourselves before, but, well…I’m almost certain you didn’t give Tut as your name.”

  “You were at a slight disadvantage.” Holding out a hand, he took her small one in it. “I’m Tucker. One of the Wylder brothers.”

  “Wylder?” She tipped her head. “Is that a name or an adjective?”

  He chuckled. “My younger brother would be the wilder one. For me? It’s just a name.”

  “Military?”

  He frowned.

  She patted her own head. “The hair. It’s a little long on top, but it still says military. I’m a service brat.”

  “Ahh. Well, that would be ex-military. I’m out. For good.” He fought to keep the bitterness from his voice and hoped he’d succeeded.

  “What’s this, Mommy?” Daisy ran a finger over the bandage on her arm. “Does it hurt?”

  “No. The doctor needed a little bit of my blood to help me.”

  “How’d he get it?”

  “With a tiny little needle.”

  The child’s eyes widened. “I don’t need any help, Mommy.”

  “No, you don’t, sweetie.”

  Daisy didn’t look convinced, and Tucker tried to avert his eyes from the evidence of the needle that had drawn that blood. For all his bravado, he didn’t do well with needles. They made him nauseous, but he’d admit that only under threat of death.

  “Tut said I wouldn’t get no shots.”

  Elisa kissed her daughter’s forehead. “You won’t.” She turned to look at Tucker. “Sounds like you two have done a lot of talking.”

  “Oh yeah.”

  She almost smiled at his valiant attempt not to roll his eyes.

  He reached into his shirt pocket for his phone. “Do you need to call someone? Let them know you’ll be late?”

  “No. There’s no one to call.”

  That caused him to stumble. No one? Regardless of how tough things got, his family had his back. Always had, always would.

  It would suck to be totally alone.

  He flashed back to Daisy asking if he was her daddy.

  “Won’t your husband be worried?” And yes, he was fishing, but he had to know.

  A bitter expression washed over her face. “No husband.”

  A knock sounded at the door just before Doc Hawkins stuck his head inside. He held up a sheet of paper. “We need to talk, Elisa.”

  Back in the waiting room with Daisy, Tucker checked his watch. Again. Anxiety roiled in his stomach. Test results. What bad news was Doc sharing with that beautiful woman? She’d already had one hell of a morning. Was it getting worse?

  The doctor had been with her for what felt like hours, but in truth had been barely fifteen minutes. Patients, though, had started to stack up in the waiting room. Sick people. Tucker started to feel more than a little antsy.

  He took a second to answer Brant’s text.

  Kid’s ok. Not sure about her mom. Still waiting.

  “I wanna see Mommy again!” Daisy tossed her purple crayon on the floor.

  Uh-oh. Tucker alerted like a dog on point and hit send.

  “In a minute.” He reached under the table, snagged the crayon, and laid it out of little fingers’ reach. Every eye in the room turned to him and the child.

  “I want my mommy now! Mommy!” Fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

  He tried to pick her up, but Daisy wiggled and carried on till Tucker wanted to scream right along with her. Yet when Brinna stepped from behind her desk and reached for the little girl, she refused to go to her, burying her face in Tucker’s shirt, her tears soaking into the cotton.

  “Somebody’s tired,” the receptionist said.

  “Yeah, I am.”

  Her mouth dropped opened. “I didn’t mean—”

  “I know. Just kidding. She needs a nap.”

  “No, I don’t.” Daisy’s lip jutted out and she swiped at her tears.

  He rubbed his eyes and wished himself anywhere but here.

  “Why don’t you take her back and sit outside Ms. Danvers’s room? That might help.”

  “I’ll try anything at this point.” A plastic chair in one hand and a squirming toddler in the other, Tucker strolled down the hall. “Shhh. Listen. Can you hear Mommy?”

  The child nodded.

  “Let’s be really quiet so we’ll know when we can go in, okay?” he whispered.

  “Okay.” Daisy popped a thumb in her mouth and snuggled into Tucker. He looked down at her, his irritation fading. Oh yeah—it would be real easy for one of these tiny creatures to worm her way under a person’s skin.

  With Daisy silent, Tucker became aware of a major snag in Brinna’s plan. The old house hadn’t been built as a doctor’s office, and the walls were thin. Too thin. He could hear Elisa and the doctor, and he was hearing way more than he should.

  “I can’t afford any of this, Doctor. I can’t pay you for your services today, let alone any more tests. I—” Her voice broke.

  Right then and there, Tucker decided that one way or another he’d help Elisa Danvers until she could get her feet under her
.

  “Don’t you worry about that, Ms. Danvers,” Doc said. “Right now, I want you to take this glucose tablet. Then you need to get something to eat—protein. It can be as simple as a peanut butter sandwich. Come back tomorrow for that fasting test, and let’s get you better.”

  “But—”

  “No buts. Here in Misty Bottoms, we take care of our own.”

  “I’m not from here, sir.”

  “No, but you’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”

  Pride rose in Tucker for his adopted hometown. He and his brothers had definitely picked the right spot for their business expansion. Lady Luck had been with them.

  She’d sure botched it with Elisa, though. What had driven her to hit the road with no money and no one to help? Where were she and Daisy headed? To what? When his mom had her stroke, the whole family pitched in and worked through it. Same thing with his sister Lainey and her alcohol problem.

  Even if Elisa had no husband, there should be someone to help her. Where was her family? Her mom and dad? Siblings?

  A few minutes later the door opened and Doc stepped outside, closing it quietly behind him. He studied Tucker’s face. “I didn’t realize you were out here.”

  “Daisy wanted her mom. We figured this might calm her down.”

  The doctor nodded and, voice lowered, asked, “How much of that did you hear?”

  “Enough to know Elisa and this little one are in trouble.”

  Hawkins nodded. “That’s putting it mildly. Here’s the deal. That young lady in there is going to be fine, but I need to run some tests. Tomorrow.” He met Tucker’s eyes. “You no doubt heard what she had to say about that.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’d prefer she stay in town for a couple of days so I can keep an eye on her.”

  “A couple of days?”

  “I’ll have Brinna call around. See if she can find a room for them.”

  “Her and the kid.” Tucker silently raised a brow and nodded toward Daisy, who’d worn herself out and had, with a child’s innocence, fallen fast asleep in his arms. “I doubt you’ll find anything. There’s a big wedding this weekend at Magnolia Brides and most of the party were coming in today, along with some of the guests. My guess is that every room in town is filled.”

  “You’d know, since Molly’s part of the family now, wouldn’t you?”

  He nodded, proud of his new sister-in-law. “All the gowns are from her boutique.”

  Doc jerked a finger toward the closed door. “Weddings aside, Elisa needs that test, and the sooner the better. If she had a doctor in Charleston, I’d tell her to wait.”

  “That’s where she’s headed?”

  Doc nodded.

  “But she doesn’t have a doctor there,” Tucker said.

  “Nope.”

  “There has to be some way we can make this work.”

  Doc’s face softened. “Beneath that stern demeanor you display to the world, Tuck, you’re a good man.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You didn’t ask what she could do. You said we.”

  “Semantics. You’re wrong about me, Doc. But that woman in there can’t take care of herself, let alone this one.”

  “Not your headache, is it?”

  Tucker’s temper bumped up from simmer to boil before he realized the doctor was baiting him. He turned down the heat. “Yeah, well—”

  He didn’t know what to say and couldn’t decide why he felt responsible for a woman he hadn’t even met till a couple of hours ago. He did know that, aside from the scarcity of rooms in town, Elisa probably couldn’t afford a couple of days’ hotel room charges.

  “I’ll take them home with me. I’ve got plenty of space.”

  The instant the words left his mouth, he could have hacked off his tongue with a rusty saw. What was he going to do with a kid and her sick mother? Throw in his nighttime habits, and this spelled trouble.

  “She might not like that.”

  Neither did he, but he’d committed, and he’d carry through. “The way I see it, she doesn’t have much choice.”

  “Do you have any idea what you’re biting off?”

  “No,” he answered truthfully. “And I’ve got a hunch I’m better off staying clueless as long as possible.”

  The older man tossed his glasses onto the small hall table and rubbed tired eyes. “You don’t know her.”

  “And she doesn’t know me. The way I see it, she and I are both gonna have to operate on faith.”

  Hawkins studied him and the little girl in his arms. “Why would you do this?”

  “Let’s just say I have some paying forward to do. This is as good a place as any to start.”

  Doc grunted. “One more thing you should know if you’re determined to throw yourself into the middle of this. I’ve already discussed it with Ms. Danvers. Actually, we argued more than discussed, but it’s nonnegotiable.” His jaw set sternly. “Until I get tomorrow’s test results back, I don’t want her driving. There’s no way she should have been on the road this morning.”

  “Agreed.” Tucker nodded. “That shouldn’t be too hard to finagle—with or without her permission. Her car’s in no better shape than she is. The only reason she pulled into our shop this morning is because it started acting up. I told her I’d take a peek at it, but we’ve got a big project with a tight deadline.” His eyes narrowed. “Don’t think I’ll be able to get around to it till, oh, say this weekend at the earliest. Then it’ll take another day or so to fix whatever needs fixing—if we can get the parts we need in town.”

  Tucker looked at the doctor. “Will that give both you and her enough time?”

  The doctor smiled. “That’ll do it. Thanks.”

  “Thank you.” Tucker’s gut screamed at him to abort. The mission had gone south, and it was time to pull out. Instead, he asked, “What time do you need her here tomorrow?”

  * * *

  Hypoglycemia. Low blood sugar. Elisa chastised herself. She should have known. Doctor Hawkins believed it wasn’t diabetes related. Tomorrow’s test would verify that diagnosis. Please let him be right.

  Her grandmother had had diabetes, and Elisa was all too aware the disease was genetic. But for right now, she felt better. The glucose tablet had helped. The lightheadedness and sweating were gone along with the pounding heartbeat. The headache, though, lingered.

  If only she’d been able to make it to Charleston.

  But she hadn’t.

  Although even if she’d made Charleston, she’d still have a problem and still be alone.

  Tears swamped her eyes, and she angrily swiped at them. Self-pity wasn’t her go-to MO. But life had dumped a lot on her lately, a veritable monsoon of disasters. At least she was the one sick this time. Her sweet little girl had been doing so much better.

  She glanced at the purse someone had carelessly dropped on a chair. That worn faux-leather bag held her entire life savings, all one thousand seven hundred dollars and twenty-three cents. As a single parent, it took everything she earned to make ends meet. Daisy’s situation made things even more complicated.

  When funding had been cut for Bowden, Alabama’s, new library, the school board had no option but to trim staff. Her. Even though she’d worked there for five years, she was the new kid on the block. The rest of the staff had been on board since shortly after Noah built his ark.

  All the new initiatives, the updated technology, and the streamlined buying process she’d put in place would no doubt go down the drain right along with her job. Without her prodding, the staff would revert to what they’d always done and return to their comfort zone.

  None of that was her worry anymore. However, how she would manage to stay in town for the tests she couldn’t afford was her worry. She had no way to contact her mother, who, last she’d heard, had flown into some re
mote area of Mexico to unearth relics from the past, relics she cared for far more than the well-being of her daughter and granddaughter. That’s the way it had always been, the way it would always be.

  She rubbed at the worry lines on her forehead with trembling fingers.

  Her father? Lt. Col. Harold Eklund was unavailable, physically and emotionally. Period. End of story.

  And Daisy’s father? She wouldn’t even go there. As far as she was concerned, love was a fairytale fed to young girls. Happy ever after? A bald-faced lie.

  A knock sounded on the door.

  “Yes?”

  “You decent?”

  Tucker Wylder. Why did the man have to be so—well, manly? So masculine, so sure of himself. His hair was thick and dark. Incredibly long lashes framed fascinating eyes that were not quite brown, not quite green. Underneath, though, she’d swear she read something in those eyes that ate at him and kept him up at night.

  “Elisa?”

  She sighed. “Yes, I’m decent.”

  “May we come in?”

  “Yes. Is Daisy okay?”

  The door opened, and he stuck his head inside. “She’s fine.” He stepped in, a sleeping Daisy cuddled against him. “Seems to me you have a problem.”

  “I’ll handle it.”

  “Really? Exactly how do you intend to do that?”

  She chewed on her lower lip.

  Looking decidedly uncomfortable, he stepped closer, all but filling the space in the small room. “I’ve got you covered. You can bunk at my place till you’re able to hit the road again.”

  Elisa’s stomach sank. “What?”

  “You and Daisy can go home with me. That way, you can take care of the tests Doc wants to run and do whatever else he thinks best. We’ll get that car of yours healthy, too.”

  “You want me to move in with you?”

  “Temporarily.”

  “I don’t know you.”

  “I might say the same, but I’m willing to take a chance. How about you?”

  Even feeling half hungover, with most of her wiring frayed, her early warning detection system activated. “I don’t want to go home with you.”

  “Then we’re on the same page. I’d be lying if I said I’m ready to do handstands at the prospect of a woman and a kid moving in. The way I see it, though, neither of us has a choice.”