I've Got You, Babe (Must Love Babies)

by Lynnette Austin

  “Does Luke know?”

  “A better question might be does Luke care. Honestly, I have no way to get in touch with him. He literally disappeared. I’m sure his family knows where he is, but they won’t tell me.”

  “Not all men are bastards, Elisa.”

  “I do know that.” She turned to him. “You’ve already done more for me than he ever did. And how sad is that?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t need or want your pity.”

  “Good, because you don’t have it. Believe me, what I’m feeling for you is a long, long way from pity. Anger at the situation you’re in? Yeah. Disgust for the miserable bum you married? You bet. Pity for the self-sufficient, brave woman you are? Never.”

  She blinked back unwelcome tears.

  “You had no safety net? Your parents refused to help?”

  “I refused to ask.”

  He stared at her, disbelief etched in that strong face. “Why?”

  “That would be another long, sad tale.”

  “I’ve got time.”

  “Maybe later. Bottom line, I can stay at Mom’s in Charleston until I find a job and get back on my feet…or until she comes home.”

  “You don’t know anyone there?”

  “No.”

  “Stay here,” he offered.

  “I—”

  Before she could say more, he leaned in, drew her to him, and kissed her. For one brief second, she hesitated, then opened to him, embracing the feel of him.

  “I’ve wanted to taste you again so badly I hurt.”

  It was probably a mistake, but she fisted her hand in his T-shirt, pulled him to her, and kissed him again. And again.

  His arms slid around her, one hand moving to the back of her head to draw her closer still.

  She wasn’t too disoriented to register the testosterone level—or the fact he was fighting it. What must it be like when he unleashed all that passion? Let it run free?

  She shivered, and he instantly pulled away. “Lissie, I—forgive me.”

  “Forgive you? I was right here, Tuck, and what just happened was mutual.”

  He shook his head, a strand of dark hair falling across his forehead.

  “I think it’s time for me to say good night, Tuck.”

  “Elisa?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Stay another couple of days. What will it hurt?”

  Let me count the ways, she thought.

  * * *

  Tucker woke feeling grumpy.

  Elisa wouldn’t take sex lightly. There’d be no one-nighters for her. She’d want and expect a commitment. The idea of that made him sweat…and take one step back, then another.

  He didn’t do long-term; he didn’t make commitments.

  That didn’t stop his heart from nearly leaping out of his chest when she walked into the kitchen dressed in black leggings and a long, lightweight cotton sweater the color of ripe peaches. Daisy trailed behind her, wearing a pair of hurt-your-eyes-pink pajamas.

  To keep his hands from doing anything stupid, he busied them pouring coffee. He handed a cup to her. “Morning, ladies.”

  “Good morning, Tuck.”

  “Morning, Tut. I slept all night.” Daisy wrapped the arm not holding her raggedy blanket around her mother’s leg. “Mommy’s proud of me.”

  “I’ll bet she is.” He gave her a thumbs-up and moved back to the counter. “Scrambled eggs and toast okay?” He looked over his shoulder to Elisa, sitting with Daisy in her lap.

  “Absolutely. How about I make the toast?”

  “Have at it.” He nodded toward the toaster. “Butter’s on the counter.”

  Elisa set down her coffee and settled Daisy on her chair.

  “Where you goin’, Mommy?”

  “I’m making toast for you.”

  “I like toast ’cause I’m a big girl.”

  “Yes, you are,” Tucker said. He nabbed the coffee cup from the table, emptied the remains in the sink, and placed it in the dishwasher.

  “What are you doing?” Elisa stood, one hand holding a butter knife, the other on her hip.

  “Fixing breakfast.”

  “What did you do with my cup?”

  “Your cup? I put it in the dishwasher,” he said.

  “I wasn’t finished with it.”

  “You set it down.”

  “I did, and I planned on a second cup. Oh boy, you are so fussy.”

  Tucker frowned. “I am not. I like things tidy. Efficient. That’s all.”

  “Right. Keep telling yourself that, Mr. Neat-Freak.”

  “The eggs are done.”

  And so was the conversation.

  Chapter 10

  Tucker wiped the worst of the grease from his hands, then dropped the hood. “That’s as good as it gets. Elisa’s chomping at the bit to head to Charleston, so I need to get this to her.”

  He chucked the rag into the hamper.

  “But?” Gaven asked.

  “But nothing. Doesn’t matter to me one way or the other.”

  “You’re really gonna stand there and hand me that bald-faced lie?”

  “You calling me a liar?”

  “Yeah, I think I am.” Gaven resettled the ball cap backwards on his head. “I see the way you look at her, at that little girl. You care about them, Tuck.”

  “Her life isn’t here.”

  “Understood. That doesn’t mean you won’t be sorry to see her taillights.”

  Tucker ignored his brother. “I’d intended to drive her car home tonight. Have you follow me, then bring me back for mine. Instead, I think I’ll pile them in mine tonight and take a ride, then pick hers up on the way home.”

  “Good idea. It’ll do you all good. It’s cooled off, so you can put the windows down and enjoy the nice evening.”

  “Yep. Blow the dust off the kid and let her run around out here. My house is taking a beating.”

  Gaven pointed a finger at him. “You’d better face facts, though, Tuck. Like it or not, you’ve invested a lot of yourself in Elisa and the kid. When I stopped by and saw you and Daisy eating cereal in your living room, I wondered if I shouldn’t send for Doc—for you.”

  “She was hungry.”

  “In the living room?”

  “The stools in the kitchen are kind of high. Sometimes she’s okay with them, other times they scare her.”

  Gaven hooted. “Like when she wants to eat Froot Loops in front of the TV. Oh boy, that little girl’s got you wrapped right around this digit.” He held up his pinky.

  Tucker stuck up a different finger.

  “You’ll need a cleaning crew to come in while you’re on your fishing trip.” Smile gone, his brother asked, “You are still goin’, aren’t you?”

  Tucker’s amusement died. “Yeah, eventually. I’d planned that trip BD—Before Daisy. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get away now.”

  “Sorry.” Gaven draped an arm around his brother’s shoulders. “I know what that trip means to you.”

  “I’ll survive. I always do.”

  * * *

  “Tut’s here, Mommy,” Daisy cried out from where she stood by the living room window.

  Like an old faithful dog, she’d taken to watching for Tucker when it was time for him to come home. Elisa worried about that. Her daughter had fallen head over heels for their knight in his dented and rusty armor. Sir Tut, on the other hand—and despite his protests otherwise—wanted nothing more than to scoot them out the door. The sooner, the better. Tucker Wylder wanted his tidy life back, and she couldn’t blame him.

  His soft leather sofa was buried beneath doll-babies, and no matter how many times she’d been told not to, Daisy had thrown the expensive toss pillows on the floor. Tucker’s cashmere afghan had been pressed
into service as a blanket for her dolls.

  Joining Daisy at the window, she watched as Tucker gave Daisy a happy little toot. Sliding out of his Mustang, he waved, then sauntered up the walk. He’d obviously put in a hard day’s work, but oh, it looked good on him. His hair was mussed, his black shirt and pants covered in heaven-only-knew, the scuffed work boots untied, and the lower half of his face dark with stubble.

  The key he wore 24/7 hung outside his T-shirt and piqued her curiosity. What secret did it hold?

  Just before he reached the door, her little girl hurried to it and threw it wide. She burst through the opening and launched herself at him from the top step.

  Elisa’s heart dropped to the floor but settled back in place when he caught her to him with a big grin.

  “I missed you, Tut!”

  Lifting her up, he put her on his shoulders, stooping to get through the door.

  “I missed you, too, Daisy.” He set her on her feet and did a quick scan of the room. She registered the wince he couldn’t quite hide, but he said nothing. Instead, he held out a set of keys. “Look what I have for your mommy.”

  “My car’s done?” Elisa asked.

  “It is, and it’s waiting for you at the shop.”

  “Thank you, Tuck.”

  Daisy twined her arms around his legs, then stood on his boots. “I’m tall.”

  “Yes, you are. Do you think we could talk Mommy into taking a ride? I thought we’d stop at the Dairy Queen for dinner—”

  “Dairy Queen?” Daisy clapped her hands. “I like Dairy Queen!”

  “I know you do, and after you eat your dinner we’ll run out to the shop and pick up the car.” He turned to Elisa, his eyes once again taking in the ruins of his living room. “The kid can run off a little excess energy there. If you’d rather not, Gav can follow me home tomorrow with it.”

  “No, it’ll do Daisy and me both good to get out.”

  “I desperately need to wash up.” He ran a hand over his chin. “And shave.”

  Daisy reached toward his face. “Are you scratchy?”

  He leaned to brush his cheek against her hand and she giggled. “Give me ten minutes. Will that work?”

  “We’ll be ready, won’t we, baby?”

  “Uh-huh.” Daisy sent Tucker a sweet smile. “Can I sit up front with you?”

  He grinned at her. “Oh, you’re good, but no can do. Gotta go with the law, sugar. I don’t want Deputy Sam or Sheriff Jimmy Don pulling me over and giving me a ticket.” He held out his hands, palms up. “Then I wouldn’t have enough money for ice cream.”

  Her eyes popped wide. “Ice cream? We’re gettin’ ice cream, Mommy! Tut’s buying us some.”

  A hand to his head, he sent Elisa a sheepish grin. “I should have asked you if that was okay.”

  “Probably.” She watched the little girl dance around the room. “All things considered, I’ll simply say thank you. You’ve made somebody extremely happy.”

  “Can Lug Nut come, too?”

  The dog, hearing his name, skittered around the kitchen corner. Tucker groaned. He’d forgotten about the darned dog, the one he’d had Brant drop off this morning because Daisy missed him. Lug Nut had come for a sleepover, but tomorrow morning he’d go back to Molly and Brant. In the meantime, though, here he was.

  “Absolutely. I’m not leaving that mutt alone in my house.”

  “We’re going for ice cream, Luggie.” Daisy skipped across the room toward him.

  Elisa grimaced. “Don’t kiss that dog, Daisy. I’ve already told you that a thousand times today.”

  “’Kay, Mommy.”

  The second Elisa turned her back, she heard Daisy giggle.

  Tucker laughed.

  “She kissed him, didn’t she?” Elisa asked.

  “Yep.”

  “And he licked her face.”

  “Yep.”

  When she sighed in resignation, Tucker sent her a jaunty salute and raced up the stairs.

  “Get your shoes, sweetie. We need to be ready when Tuck is.”

  As she held her squirmy little girl and tied pink sequined tennis shoes, Elisa tried very, very hard not to think about Tucker upstairs, naked and wet, in his shower.

  She lost the battle. Totally.

  On their way to dinner, the back window rolled halfway down and Lug Nut’s head sticking out, ears flapping, Tucker suggested they take a ride down Main Street.

  “It’s idyllic. I love the brick streets and the park in the center,” Elisa said. “Dee-Ann’s red-and-white diner is pure nostalgia.”

  “Wait till you see the town now. Over the weekend, it got decked out for fall,” he said.

  She smiled. “My favorite season.”

  “Really? Tell you what. How about we take a short walk through the median park? This time of night, the place is all but deserted. A person could roll a bowling ball down the street and not hit a thing.” He pulled up to the curb. “I’ll get Daisy.” He turned to Elisa, who sat quietly looking out the window. “You okay?”

  She sent him a smile. “I’m more than fine.”

  “You can say that again,” he mumbled.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

  “I said that’s great.”

  She looked up and down the street, taking in Darlene’s Quilty Pleasure shop, Henderson’s Drug Store, and the little gift shop. “This might be one of the prettiest small towns in America.”

  “It gets my vote. Brant outdid himself when he found the spot for our shop here in Misty Bottoms. Even better than the pretty, though, is the people. Best anywhere.”

  “I’ll miss it,” she said.

  “Let’s not talk about that right now.” He tipped his head toward the little girl he was unbuckling, then snapped a leash on the pup’s collar.

  “You’re right.”

  With Daisy riding piggyback and a firm grip on Lug Nut’s leash, he opened Elisa’s door for her.

  “Thanks. I’ll take Lug Nut.” Elisa reached for the leash. “You’re a good boy, aren’t you?” She knelt and scratched the dog’s head, sending him into waves of wriggling joy.

  Tucker couldn’t help himself. One hand behind his back to hold Daisy securely, he reached for her mother’s free hand with his other.

  When she laced her fingers with his, his world felt better than it had in a long, long time. They crossed into the park, and Tucker crouched down so Daisy could crawl off.

  Hand in hand, the three of them—four, if you counted the Lug—wandered along the path lined with vivid chrysanthemums and late roses, crunching their way through the fallen leaves. Daisy skipped and sang, Elisa smiled more than he’d seen before, and he found himself actually feeling like some damned hero. He half expected Julie Andrews to pop out from behind one of the trees singing “The Sound of Music” or “My Favorite Things.”

  Even Lug Nut seemed to appreciate the evening stroll, stopping several times to leave his mark.

  When they came to a display featuring a ratty scarecrow, a pile of pumpkins, and a cool wooden wagon, he said, “Hey, kiddo, why don’t you hop in that wagon and I’ll take your picture?” He whipped out his phone. “Kind of a souvenir of your time in Misty Bottoms.”

  “’Kay!” More than game, she ran to it and scrambled in. “Come on, Mommy. You have to be in Tut’s soupaneer, too.”

  “Honey, he doesn’t want—”

  “Yeah, he does,” Tucker said, his voice gravelly. “He’d like that. Very much.”

  “Tuck—”

  “Elisa—”

  Her laugh was sexy as all get out, and Tucker’s belly did a little flip.

  Elisa shook her head. “You’re as bad as Daisy when it comes to wheedling your way into what you want.”

  “I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be.”

  “I don�
��t doubt that for one second.”

  Still smiling, she moved to stand behind Daisy, who grinned up at her. Lug Nut licked Daisy’s cheek and Tucker captured the moment.

  “I wasn’t ready,” Elisa cried out.

  “Me, either,” Daisy said.

  Tucker laughed. “Say when.” He snapped again, but he knew it was the first shot he’d have printed for himself.

  His gaze traveled beyond where they stood to the town’s memorial to their lost soldiers. The newest addition was a granite marker commemorating two of the area’s young people who’d given their all in the Middle East. He touched the key at his neck. Nate, Angie, Jorge, and LeBron—his friends had given their all, too. They’d never walk through another park with the smell of autumn in the air, an arm wrapped around a special lady, or in Angie’s case, the good-looking guy she’d been engaged to. They wouldn’t play with their kids, their friends’ kids, nieces and nephews.

  His chest grew tight. He forced himself to breathe, deeply, slowly. Not tonight. He couldn’t think about it tonight. Not here. Not now.

  “You okay?” Elisa laid a hand on his arm.

  “Sure.” He sighed. “Why do you ask?”

  “You looked, I don’t know, sad. Lost for a minute there.”

  The woman was too sharp, too perceptive. “I’m good. You ladies ready to go?”

  “We are. This was nice.”

  “It was, but I’m starving. Time for dinner.”

  “Dairy Queen.” Daisy danced around them, then knelt to hug the dog. Jiggling the keys in his pocket, torn between the past and present, Tucker walked them back to the car.

  At the end of Main Street, Tucker turned left.

  * * *

  “I thought the Dairy Queen was in the other direction.” Elisa pointed behind them.

  “It is. As long as we’re out, though, I want to show you one more thing.”

  “I’m hungry, Tut,” Daisy whined.

  Lug Nut barked in agreement.

  “This will only take a couple of minutes, imp.”

  “’Kay.” Daisy patted the young dog’s head. “Just a minute, Luggie.”

  The dog whimpered and dropped onto the seat, his head lowered to his paws. Tucker shook his head. The peanut gallery was obviously not happy with him.

  They’d get over it.