“Good answer, but I know that as of two weeks ago, Cole was single, so who are you and what’s the game?”
Tucker glances over his shoulder to see their respective men chatting and making their way toward him and Pammy. Cole’s mom and stepdad remain in the building. Okay, so she knows they haven’t been together for a couple of months, but he has no idea if she’s enemy or ally at this point, so he doesn’t say anything to her.
“Cole, sugar,” he calls, garnering Cole’s attention, “Pammy’s got a question.”
“Cole, sugar, what the hell’s going on?” she demands when he’s close enough, waving a finger back and forth. “With you two.”
Cole side-eyes Rafe.
Her lips press together and she shakes her head. “He’s not going to say shit. Spill it.”
Cole smiles and shoves his hands into his back pockets. “Tucker’s my boyfriend.”
“Bullshit,” Pammy coughs.
“For the weekend, anyway. To make everybody happy and keep them off my back. You were the one who said I should have a little fun. So…” He shrugs. A hint of color tints his cheeks. He meets Tucker’s gaze. “I’m having a little fun.”
Tucker’s so proud. He moues a kiss at Cole.
Rafe, bless his heart, doesn’t bat an eye. As if faking a boyfriend isn’t high-school-level antics.
“And what’s in it for you?” Pammy turns a stink eye on Tucker. Ruh roh…
Thank God her eyes aren’t laser beams; he’d have disintegrated into space dust within moments. Her fierce protectiveness toward Cole makes her interrogation worth it, though. At least she appears to care and worry about Cole’s well-being. No one else seems to have taken the time to make sure this remarkable, sexy, wounded man is actually okay. No one’s taken the time to find out what he really needs, rather than hounding him about getting back in the game.
“Hunky Dr. Cole’s company and free food?” Tucker offers. “A lovely weekend at the lake?”
“He thinks I’m hunky,” says Cole, looking genuinely happy.
“I think we covered that this morning, yeah?” Tucker replies.
Okay, so that conversation happened last night and nothing went down between them this morning, but he can’t help teasing. He’d warned Cole.
“Oh my God,” says Pammy with a snort. “You guys totally did it this morning, didn’t you?”
Before Tucker can even parse a response a little girl voice yells “Pammy!” and rapid-fire clacking footsteps sound from across the patio.
Rafe rolls his eyes as if used to Pammy’s blunt ways. At least gay men having sex doesn’t seem to bother him in theory, so that’s something.
Cole turns three shades of pink and buries his face in Tucker’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you said that,” he murmurs.
Tucker kisses Cole’s neck and gets a shiver in response. “Too much?” he whispers back.
Cole takes a breath, but shakes his head.
Pammy’s barreled into by a dark-haired Disney princess in a purple and pink tulle and ribbon creation. Black curls spill from a Tinker Bell-green bow on top of her head. Pink plastic high heels dangle from her tiny feet sporting bright yellow toenails.
Tucker’s heart clutches at the precious sight. His cousins back in Diller’s Hollow were this age and just as princess-crazy when Tucker had been kicked out of the house. He’d loved helping them play dress-up. Hell, he’d wanted to dress up with them, but self-preservation kept him in his own clothing.
Pammy swoops the little girl up into her arms. “Patty!” she exclaims. “What up, girl?”
Patty giggles and hugs her.
“You remember Uncle Cole, right? And Rafe? From Fourth of July?”
Patty nods, grinning and giggly. She points at Tucker. “Who’re you?”
Tucker holds out a hand. Patty slides her tiny little hand into it with more giggling. “Tucker Naughton. Nice to meet you, Patty. I’m a friend of your Uncle Cole’s. I love your dress, by the way.”
“Pammy maked it for me.” Patty beams up at Pammy.
“Really? Think she could make me one too?”
Another giggle fills the space and Patty looks to Pammy.
Pammy’s grinning and shaking her head. “We’ll talk about it.”
A man strongly resembling Cole’s stepfather, except not as bald, joins the group. He’s only got a small balding spot on the top of his head, but the same light brown hair.
Tucker tenses a little, wondering which one of Cole’s stepbrothers this is.
“Daddy!” shouts Patty, leaning over with her arms out.
He plucks her from Pammy’s arms, kisses her forehead, and sets her on her feet. “Go play, munchkin.”
Patty huffs and then runs off, curls and skirt bouncing, plastic heels clacking.
“Who do we have here?” he asks, looking directly at Tucker. No doubt he already knows Pammy and Rafe.
“Tucker Naughton, nice to meet you.”
“Tucker’s here with me,” Cole says. “We’re, ah, we’re dating.”
“You sly dog,” says the man, his expression surprised, but there’s not even a hint of distaste or apprehension there either. “Thommy Hansard, by the way.”
So not the asshole.
“When did this happen?” asks Thommy.
“Um, about a week after Fourth of July…” says Cole looking to Tucker who nods and winks. Cole blushes.
“Hey, that’s great, man. Nice to meet you, Tucker. Cole’s really too old for me to give you the shovel talk to, but treat my little brother well, all right? Or else.”
Pammy snickers behind her hand.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Cole looks chagrined. “You’re right. I’m way too old for this.”
Tucker’s not sure whether he should laugh or not. This has never happened to him before and, honestly, it’s great. Thommy’s looking sort of serious, though, despite Pammy’s mirth.
“No. I’m flattered, actually.” Tucker loops his arm through Cole’s. “That someone thinks I’ve got the power to crush you is—”
Thommy busts out laughing and Pammy’s snicker turns into a guffaw.
“Oh my God, your face.” Pammy points at Cole.
“Let’s go get the stuff from the car.” Cole tugs at Tucker, furrows in his forehead and one side of his mouth downturned, and Tucker can’t tell if he’s genuinely upset or just embarrassed or if it’s something else entirely.
Cole takes off for the parking lot and Tucker hustles after him, still unsure of his mindset. “Hey, sugar.” Cole’s got a long stride. Tucker picks up his pace. “Cole. Stop.” Tucker tugs Cole to halt in the middle of the parking lot with a hand on his arm. “Don’t be upset…I’m not. I promise.”
Cole squints against the bright sun and looks back toward the pavilion.
No one’s visible from where they’re standing, but just because they can’t see anyone doesn’t mean the people inside can’t see them.
“That was so rude.”
Tucker loops his arm through Cole’s again and steers him toward the truck. “What it was, was a loving, albeit teasing, gesture from your big brother. Everyone’s been thrilled by the fact that you brought me. Your mom, your cousin, your brother. Your diabolical plan is working.”
The lines across Cole’s face ease. “You think so?”
“I do. It’s going to be fine.”
After a nod, Cole says, “Yeah, okay. Let’s get our stuff.”
Chapter Five
Cole reaches into the bed of the truck and hauls out the camping chairs and cases of soda, passing a couple of each to Tucker before slinging a chair over each one of his own shoulders and grabbing a twelve-pack in each hand.
Tucker chatters all the way across the parking lot about one of many family summer barbecues he’d attended as a child. Under the light-hearted anecdote, Cole senses an underpinning of wistfulness. Tucker had only said he’d left home young, but not why. Cole bumps their shoulders together. “Is this weekend going to be hard
for you?”
“What? No. Why?” Tucker looks surprised. He sounds surprised.
“You sound like you miss your family. Like it’s been a long time. And if this is going to dredge up something sad or unpleasant, then we don’t have to.”
“That’s really sweet, sugar. I do miss my family, and it has been a long time, but it’s been a long time, you know? If I didn’t do things because they reminded me of my family, I’d never have gotten this far in life. I’d never have met you.”
He winks and a burst of warmth fills Cole’s stomach. Which is just weird, because he barely knows Tucker, and Tucker’s easy manner and geniality shouldn’t affect him so deep down. Tucker picks up a story about warm summer nights catching fireflies in canning jars, and by the time they reach the pavilion again, Cole’s stress levels have dropped. No, he doesn’t know Tucker all that well, but he’s easy to be around and definitely easy on the eyes. So Cole takes a metaphorical deep breath—he’s going to take a vacation from his normal, everyday, boring, lonely life and enjoy the hell out of the weekend.
They drop the sodas off in the kitchen area, where Jacinda, his mother’s housekeeper and two of her daughters will be holding court over the food tables for the whole weekend. Jacinda’s youngest son, now a high school freshman, will be monitoring the trash situation, both inside and out. They’ll be handsomely compensated for overtime and no one in the family has to do much of anything but show up and have fun.
Long plastic tables are already covered in snacks and finger foods. Cole swipes a deviled egg from a familiar platter and shoves it in his mouth, “mmm-ing” loudly. Connie’s deviled eggs are to die for, but she wouldn’t let him have one this morning.
“Incoming…” says Tucker, gaze darting to Cole’s mouth and the smudge of egg Cole feels there. The air stalls in his lungs and he freezes when Tucker presses his mouth to Cole’s, flicking his tongue along the corner. Tucker draws back and winks. Cole’s mouth tingles and a strange desire to squeal passes through him. Shit. What the hell is wrong with him? Why is he acting like a middle-school girl?
“Are you kidding me right now?” exclaims Doug. “Christ.”
All further urges to faint or fan himself go up in smoke. Cole’s eyes dart to his stepbrother and his hackles rise in their place. His own weird reaction aside, he has just as much right to be affectionate with people as Doug does. Cole steps around Tucker. “What’s your problem today, Doug?”
Doug’s eyebrows rise, and he looks as surprised as Cole feels. He’s never challenged his oldest stepbrother. Never had a desire to, but Tucker doesn’t deserve Doug’s bullshit.
“You’re my problem. I don’t wanna see you and your boy toy making out in public,” Doug sneers.
Tucker snorts.
Cole stares hard. “Excuse me?” he snaps. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? Was Doug really just that rude to his guest?
“First of all, he’s not my boy toy. I’ll thank you to have some respect for my guest, if for no other reason than that he is my guest, whatever you think of him or of me. And did you ever stop to think that I don’t particularly want to see all you straight people being all lovey dovey in public either?”
And, whoa, he can’t believe that just came out of his mouth. He takes a breath to calm the sudden uptick of his heart rate.
Doug blinks, surprised as well. “Well, no.” Some of the wind has left his sails too.
“Look,” says Cole, “I get that most of the world is straight, and, to be honest, I really couldn’t care less if you grope your wife in front of me. If you’re both enjoying yourself, go for it. But for the love of God, don’t be a fucking hypocrite. I’m not going to suck his dick in front of you, but—”
Doug gasps; Tucker laughs outright and the sound tickles something deep inside Cole. It buoys Cole’s daring.
“—if you can kiss your wife, or pinch her ass in public, or grope her breast when you think no one’s looking—”
Doug flushes an unflattering shade of red; Tucker snickers into his hand.
“—then extend me the same censor-free right to kiss or pinch or grope as the urge strikes me, thank you very much.” Cole grabs Tucker’s hand and drags him out the door.
And, oh shit, he really just verbally gave Doug the finger. He’s never done that, but the ass deserved it. It felt good, too.
“Shit, Cole, did you see his face? Did he really grope her boob?”
“He really did,” says Cole with a shake of his head and a deep breath. So, yeah, Cole gave Doug what for.
He comes to a halt on the grassy area next to the patio and glances around, still feeling the rush of putting Doug in his place. “So, uh, let’s sit. I guess.”
Tucker’s grinning.
They set up their chairs in a patch of shade that’ll shift away within a couple of hours, but they can shift too.
“You want a beer or something?” Tucker asks.
Cole nods and Tucker pulls a couple of long necks out of the nearest ice chest and twists them open. With a clink of the shoulders, they each take a swig and settle into their seats. It’s still earlyish and the only people who’ve arrived are the ones who live in town or close by in Snyder.
They’re sitting off to one side for the moment, exchanging favorites: color, movie, book, TV shows, ice cream, pizza toppings, and anything else they can think of. Cole swigs the dregs of his beer just as the next wave of family arrives. A whole gaggle of Thompsons and their significant others: Jed and Helen as well as Leah and some guy Cole doesn’t know. Rachel and Tim McAllister flank Cole’s grandmother.
“That’s my Granny Evie,” Cole says, rising. “C’mon. I want you to meet her.”
Granny Evie shuffles onto the patio and there’s already a throne-like folding chair set up for her with a small table next to it.
His mom and Thom fuss around Granny, helping her get settled and she finally shoos them both away. “I’m old, not dead,” she says and Cole grins. “Now y’all come hug me and then get the hell away from me.”
Half a dozen people take turns saying hello and offering the requested hugs.
“Hi Granny,” says Cole, hunching over to hug her. “How’s Gunner?”
“That ol’ flea bag was moping under the porch when I left.” Granny grins and her gaze glaciers from Cole to Tucker then back. “Did you finally bring home a boy for me to meet?”
“I did. Granny, this is Tucker. Tucker, my Granny Evie.”
Tucker offers his hand.
“You’re a flamer, aren’t ya?” asks Granny, with a wink and no malice, taking his hand and tugging him into a hug.
Tucker’s startled into a laugh and hugs her back. “Nice to meet you, Miz Evie.”
“Oh, Miz Evie is it?” she asks, narrowing her gaze.
He nods, smiling wide.
“Where you from, Tucker?”
“Diller’s Hollow, Alabama?”
“Shut your mouth—who’s your kin?”
Cole nearly falls over. He’s never heard Granny talk like this.
“Oh, my word.” Tucker presses a hand to his chest, looking some combination of pleased and verklempt. “You’re from Diller’s Hollow? Momma was a Jefferson.”
“I grew up over in Charlotte’s Bluff. Went to school in Ponder. Knew a Jefferson…tall girl, reddest hair you ever saw, sister had the blondest hair you ever saw.”
Now Tucker looks pole-axed. “My momma, Lurline, was the blond; my Aunt Lulah, the red head.”
Everyone around them is looking equally agog. Of course they all know Granny is from Alabama, but never had they ever heard her sound like it. And for her and Tucker to have a connection—well, it just goes to show how small the world can be sometimes.
“Well, I’ll be.” She cackles and smacks a gnarled hand on Tucker’s chest. “One of these days we’ll have to swap tales. Although…” She gives him a searching look. “…I have a feeling yours will be much more interesting than mine.”
The way she says “interesting,” as
though it’s not quite the word she means, gives Cole pause and he glances at Tucker.
Granny turns a gimlet eye on Cole. “You could do worse than a boy from Alabama. You hear?”
“I hear, Granny.”
“Good. Don’t be strangers this weekend. Come by and chat every so often.”
“We will.” Cole tugs Tucker back over toward their seats.
Chapter Six
“Hey, I’m going to go to the restroom,” Tucker says, veering left a ways as their arms rise with the ensuing distance. “Be right back.”
Cole nods.
Tucker heads into the pavilion to the blessedly cool restrooms. They’ve only been here for a couple of hours, but summer heat in Texas starts early in the day. After taking care of business and washing his hands, Tucker cruises the food table and plates up a handful of chips, a pickle, some olives, and a couple of deviled eggs, one for himself and one for Cole.
“Thank you, sir,” says the Hispanic woman on the other side, giving him a big smile. Deep brown eyes sparkle at him. A long thick black braid hangs over her shoulder.
Tucker glances around, but there’s no one else close enough she could be talking to. “Me? You must be mistaken. I’m just a guest.”
She shakes her head and points at him. “I mean you, sir. Cole has never stood up to his stepbrother. Not when they were boys, and not since Cole’s been back home. I think you’re responsible for that. So thank you.”
Heat spreads across Tucker’s shoulders. “I didn’t really do anything. We just…” Tucker shrugs. What can he even say? “We haven’t been together that long.” We’re not together at all, really. Just for the weekend. But he certainly can’t say that.
“Doug was a jerk at the family’s Fourth of July gathering too.” She shoots a look out the glass doors toward where Doug sits with his wife, Serena. “Cole just turned the other cheek and said nothing. Which is sometimes the better way to go. But two months later, you’re in his life, and he’s defending himself. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to add two and two.”
Huh. Tucker has no idea if there’s really a connection, considering he and Cole have been a couple for all of twelve hours. “Well, I still don’t think I had anything to do with it, but you’re welcome. I agree that it was probably time for Cole to make a stand.” Tucker looks out at the cluster of people on the patio, Cole on the periphery, laughing, smiling. He’s a handsome devil. “I should go…”
Only for the Weekend Page 3
