Suddenly a Father, page 7
A businesswoman.
A mother.
And a hell of a friend.
He wouldn’t push her for more than she wanted to give. That didn’t stop him for wishing things were different. That when he’d asked her out before he’d kept trying, even after she’d said no repeatedly.
Mrs. Matthews used to say, if wishes were horses beggars would ride. But when Jason’s family had taken him in and made him one of them, he’d discovered that sometimes wishes came true. He simply had to remember that because it happened once, didn’t mean it would happen again. Lightning only struck once.
Before he could begin, Lou and Mr. Tucker came in.
“Good to see you back.” Lou sounded genuinely pleased to see him. “We’ve got a lot on at the moment.”
“Can I talk to you before you start working?” Mr. Tucker asked.
“Sure.” He followed Angelina’s father outside.
George Tucker had always seemed a bit larger than life. But he seemed smaller these days. It wasn’t the diet Angelina had, according to sources, put him on, it was the fact he’d been ill. He suddenly looked his age. Balding, white haired and less robust. He still maintained an air of joviality, that was now replaced by seriousness. “I wanted to tell you again how sorry I am for your loss.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Angel tells me she volunteered to help with the baby,” he said slowly, studying Tyler with an uncomfortable intensity as he said the words.
Tyler nodded. “Yes, but I don’t want you to think I’m going to take advantage of her offer. I’m looking for a sitter already and—”
“That’s not what I was going to say, Tyler. I was going to say, thank you. Angel, she needs to realize there’s more to life than the business. In the past, she’s had Bart to balance her out, but he’ll be gone in a few months, and maybe spending time with the baby will remind her there’s a lot out there for her, if she’ll only go for it. I’ve been trying to talk her into letting me sell my share of the business to someone. A partner would allow her to have more time for a life. I’m hoping Jace will help me convince her of that.”
“Sir, I know I don’t know your daughter that well, but it seems to me, if Angelina wanted something, she’d go after it.”
“Oh, you’re right, but the thing is, she’s never known anything other than working at the shop and hanging out with us. There might be more that she wants, only she doesn’t have enough experience to recognize it.”
“I see your point.” Still, Tyler believed that if Angelina felt shorted, she’d go out and rectify that.
“I talked to the guys,” Mr. Tucker continued, “and we’ll all pitch in until you can work out something else for the baby.”
“Thank you, sir.” Tyler didn’t know what else to say. “I mean it, thank you. For everything. For the job in the first place, for letting me take last week off, for the help. Just thanks.” There was nothing more to say after that. He headed back to the Ford.
George Tucker called, “One more thing,” and stopped him in his tracks.
“I’ve seen how you look at my daughter.”
Tyler immediately started to argue. “I—”
Mr. Tucker cut him off. “There’s no use denying it.”
Before Tyler could come up with a response, George Tucker clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I like you, son. Always did, and it had nothing to do with the expensive cars you drove and the business you threw our way. I liked you. That hasn’t changed. I believe in second chances, but I also believe my daughter deserves more than someone who’s had trouble with the law. Do I make myself clear?”
Tyler nodded. “Crystal.”
“Fine. Now, I’m going to see if Tucker will loan me Jace for a bit. We’re going to pull some weeds in my garden. It’s shady enough this time of the morning, he won’t get burned.”
“Thank you, sir.”
They went inside and Tyler watched Angelina’s father stroll toward her office.
He totally understood Mr. Tucker’s concern. The man had been good to him, offering him a job when no one else would. Pitching in to help with Jace until he could get things settled.
But more than a good friend, he was a great father who only wanted the best for his daughter. Some men might take offense at his concern, but Tyler didn’t. He wanted the best for Angelina, too. And he, better than anyone else, knew that wasn’t him.
For a while he’d thought he’d overcome his past, but here he was, exactly where his father had been—an ex-con who worked in a garage with a kid who was relying on him.
Oh, he didn’t drink like his father, but otherwise he’d have to be blind not to see the similarities.
Angelina deserved more than he could ever give her.
So, he’d accept her help for his godson’s sake, but he’d look hard and fast for another alternative.
Angelina had been thrust into adulthood when she was little more than a child herself. When Bart went to college in the fall, she’d finally have the opportunity to live for herself. To be independent.
He wanted that for her.
That and so much more.
Tyler went to work on the truck, and tried to put thoughts of kissing Angelina out of his mind.
He didn’t need her father to warn him off.
He’d see to that himself.
“HEY, POPS. YOU TWO done in the garden?” Tucker asked a few hours later as her father came into her office.
“We got most of the weeding done. Jace finds worms highly entertaining, and slightly edible.”
She must have looked upset because he hurried to assure her, “Don’t worry. I didn’t let him eat it. But it was a near thing.”
“I’m pretty sure Bart ate a few things I’d find less than palatable, so I’ll try not to sweat it. But maybe we should get you something better to snack on?” she asked Jace as she took him into her arms, then turned back to her father. “I got finished the Burhenn’s paint job on that Jeep. It’s the first time someone asked me to airbrush a Jeep.”
“When you’re good, you’re good. Doesn’t matter what your canvas is.”
“Thanks. I’m going to try to get Jace down for a nap, then make some calls. The guys all said they’d stagger their lunches, so he can play with them and I can go back to the paint room.”
“Sounds like you’ve got it all under control.”
“I think so. Bart’s home at three and said he’ll get him then.”
“It takes me back to when we were all juggling him,” her father said. “Hard to believe he’s graduated now.”
“Yes, it’s hard to believe,” Tucker murmured and handed Jace a sippy cup of milk, followed by a handful of Cheerios. They read Russell Hoban’s Bread and Jam for Frances together, and within minutes, he was down for the count.
She tucked the baby into the porta-crib, turned on her iPod in its dock in order to provide some background noise, then returned to her desk.
Maybe she should consider her father’s suggestion that she take on a partner. If she kept controlling shares, and had someone else to do the books, it might not be too bad. She could hire someone to do them without letting go of any of the business, but she wouldn’t for the same reason her father never had—it was tough to trust someone who didn’t have a vested interest in a company.
Bart was off to college as an undeclared major, but had talked about doing something with business, or numbers.
Maybe he’d get his MBA? A degree in accounting?
She sighed. That was years down the line, and odds are he wouldn’t want to work in the shop. As much as she might fantasize about having a partner who didn’t mind paperwork, odds are she’d never give up any control in the company. No partners for her.
Paperwork was in her future.
She sighed again and scanned her call-back list. She’d started dialing the first number when Eli appeared in the doorway. Eli Cartwright Keller had been the teacher who’d helped Tucker so much when she’d found out she was pregnant. Three years ago, Eli had found herself unexpectedly pregnant. Even though Eli had been long-past teenhood, she’d gone through a lot. The baby’s father had deserted her, which gave Zac Keller the chance he’d been waiting for. He was raising her son as his own, and they’d adopted a little girl together.
“Shh,” Tucker warned her friend, and pointed to the baby sleeping in the crib.
“Something you want to tell me?” Eli asked softly, sinking into the chair across from Tucker and nodding her head at the baby. “I know I’ve been caught up in the end of school year chaos, but…?”
Tucker wasn’t sure where to start. Hell, she wasn’t sure why she hadn’t called Eli and filled her in on the whole situation earlier. “Remember that guy who kept asking me out a few years ago?”
“A lot of guys ask you out, Tuck.”
“Yeah, this was the one I wouldn’t go out with. Mr. Designer Suits?”
Eli laughed. “Oh, him I do remember.”
Tyler had been pestering her for a date at the same time Zac was trying to win Eli over. Zac had succeeded, Tyler hadn’t. “Well, Tyler works for us now and…” She launched into the story.
Eli studied Jace a moment. “So, you’re helping him out with the baby?”
“Yes.”
“And he kissed you and you kissed him back?”
“Only once, and only a little. I don’t think it meant anything,” Tucker justified. “He was upset and needed comfort.”
“And you?”
“Huh?”
“He was upset, and I get that. People want to feel connected to someone else when something horrible happens to them. He reached out to you. That explains him kissing you. But you kissing him?”
Tucker started and sputtered to aborted explanations for a moment, then finally settled on, “I…I was only being nice.”
Eli burst out laughing. “You can tell yourself that all you want, but I’m not buying it.”
“You’re saying I’m not nice?”
“I’m saying that in all the years I’ve known you, you have always been nice, but that kindness didn’t include kissing for comfort. Name one other man you’ve ever kissed out of mere compassion because they were traumatized?”
Tucker didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t even know why she’d mentioned that barely mentionable kiss to Eli and deeply regretted that she had. Eli was going to blow it all out of proportion.
“So, what’s standing in your way now?” Eli asked. “If he’s working here, he must have retired the fancy outfits, right?”
“His life’s in turmoil. He’s barely got out of jail, lost a friend and inherited a baby. That is not a good candidate for dating.”
“And you?” Eli pressed.
Tucker blustered, “What about me?” She knew she sounded defensive. Too defensive.
Eli Keller had fallen head-over-heals in love a few years ago, and now was terminally afflicted with fantasies of happily-ever-afters.
“What about you?” Eli repeated. “It’s all him and his problems standing in the way of you dating him, hmm?”
“Sure it’s him. I don’t have any problems.”
Eli’s teasing evaporated, and she looked serious. “Tucker, we’ve been friends for years. I’ve watched you with men—”
“Hey, don’t say it like that. You make it sound like I’ve had a long line of men.”
“No, that might not be as troublesome as the fact that the few guys you go out with are men you’d never seriously consider anything long term with.”
“I’ve dated some very nice men.”
Eli nodded. “You did. But you didn’t find any of them nice enough for more than a few dates.”
“I practice a catch and release system of dating.” She’d explained that philosophy to Eli in the past and they’d laughed, but Eli wasn’t laughing now, so she added, “I like my independence.”
“I think it’s more than that. Bart’s father did a number on you.”
No way was Tucker using that lame crutch. “Eli, that was years ago. I was a kid, and so was he. I certainly don’t believe I can never find love because one teenage fling didn’t work out. Give me some credit.”
“Then what is it?” Eli asked. “I’ve never figured it out.”
Tucker sighed, not sure she had either. “I know when Bart was little, I worried about bringing a guy into the mix. You hear horror stories about men who resent raising other people’s sons.”
“Zac didn’t, doesn’t, resent raising Johnny.”
Tucker had seen Eli husband with their son, and there was no doubt in her mind that Zac thought of Johnny as his own. “I know. I said, when Bart was little. I eventually figured out that I was strong enough to protect him if need be, but that odds are, any guy I fell for wouldn’t require it. So, that’s not it. Maybe once, but not any more. I date. And I like to think I open myself up to the idea of each man’s potential. The problem is, I’ve never met a guy I wanted to spend more than a few dates with. I want…”
“What?” Eli asked. “What are you looking for in a guy?”
“I want a partner. Someone I can relate to. Someone who accepts me for who I am, not who they want me to be. Let’s face it, I’m not the traditional woman. I’ll never spend my time cooking gourmet meals, or ironing some guy’s underwear. I need him to being willing to accept that I’m happiest in the garage with grease under my fingernails, and paint smudged…everywhere. When I find that in a man, I’ll snag him.” She made an X over her chest. “Cross my heart.”
Eli sighed. “Okay, that will have to do.”
Tucker laughed. “I’m glad you think so. And while I love it when you visit, I suspect you didn’t come see me to harangue me about men, or my lack thereof.”
“No, the haranguing was spontaneous,” she said with a laugh. “I actually came over to invite you to a Hurrah-the-School-Year’s-Over Party, otherwise known as a Keller excuse to get together at my house.”
“And by invite, you mean attendance is mandatory.” Since Eli married into the Keller family, Tucker had been to more than a few Keller parties; she knew the score.
“Now, Tucker, you know I’d never say that. Mrs. Keller, she might say it. Okay, so she often says it. You can be sure she’ll expect you, your dad and Bart there.”
“Every time I show up at a Keller function, the official and unofficial family has grown.”
“Kellerized,” they both said in unison. Years ago, when Mr. and Mrs. Keller discovered they couldn’t have children, they’d adopted six, including Eli’s husband, Zac. Over the years, they’d continued to add to the family without any more formal adoptions. When Eli married Zac, Tucker got Kellerized through osmosis, then her father and Bart were added as well.
“Will Laura and Seth be there?”
Eli nodded. “With the baby.”
“You had me at baby,” Tucker admitted. “We’ll be there.”
“Why don’t you bring Tyler and Jace, too,” Eli offered.
“I’m not going to have you trying to set me up with him, Eli Keller.”
“That hadn’t occurred to me, but I’m encouraged that it occurred to you,” her friend said with a grin. “I simply thought as an unexpected new parent he might like to hang around with some old pros. And goodness knows the Kellers are all pros.”
Tucker felt stupid. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
Eli grinned so broadly, Tucker feared her face would crack. “Wipe that smile off your face.”
Tucker watched as Eli tried. Valiantly. But without success.
“Sorry,” she finally said, grin firmly in place. “You’re kind of cute like this.”
“Like what?” Tucker asked.
“Flustered by a man.”
“I am not.” When Eli kept grinning, Tucker stated even more firmly, “I am not flustered by Tyler Martinez. I’m his friend. Only a friend. That’s it. That’s all she wrote, folks. I’m helping him out like I’d help out any of the guys that work here. I’m not looking for anything more than friendship. I’m looking forward to this next chapter of my life. Bart will go to school and for the first time in my entire adult life, the only person I’m responsible for is me. I’ll be exploring what independence is really like.”
Eli nodded, looking totally unbelieving. She gave Tucker the party info and said, “See you there,” as she hurried out of the office.
Tucker stared at the closed door.
She meant what she’d said. She was looking forward to figuring out who she was going to be in this new phase of her life.
Solo.
She’d never used that word about herself before.
It felt odd.
And secretly she acknowledged, a little lonely.
CHAPTER FIVE
TYLER GLANCED ACROSS the car at Tucker, her words from last week played over again in his head. He’d been about to knock on her partially opened door when he’d heard her say, “for the first time in my entire adult life, the only person I’m responsible for is me. I’ll be exploring what independence is really like.” Who could blame her?
He’d wanted to say no to her invitation to the Keller picnic, but he’d found her argument that the Kellers were baby experts compelling. He could use all the help with Jace he could get. He knew he was ill-prepared for raising a child.
The baby was in the back, and Bart and his grandfather were coming a bit later. They’d decided to bring two cars in case Jace acted up and he needed to leave.
“Angelina, while I have you to myself,” he started, and realized that hadn’t come out the way he wanted it to. “I’m trading in my truck and buying a truck with a backseat, so I can return your car soon.”
“Okay. It hasn’t been a problem though.”
He shrugged. “I don’t like asking for favors.”
“You didn’t ask,” she pointed out.
“I know. You offered. Like you offered to watch Jace. His old babysitter is back in town, and she said she’d be happy to watch him until I can arrange for someone closer.”
“In Erie?” Angelina asked slowly, as if thinking about it.
