by Barbara Gee
Tuck reached over from his seat beside her and pulled her against his chest. “Come on, show me the hearts and stars, Maddy,” he teased.
“Sorry, Maddy,” Libby said. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you, I’m just saying I want what you guys have. And I don’t feel it with Cal. The old me wouldn’t care, I’d just have a good time with him until someone else came along. But I don’t want to be like that anymore.”
“We’re proud of you, Libby dear,” Kay said. “And don’t worry, when the right man comes along you’ll know it.”
“If he comes along,” Libby said dejectedly.
Tuck released Maddy and pushed his chair back. “No feeling sorry for yourself, sis,” he said, standing up and going over to put his hands on her shoulders. “You did the right thing with Cal, so give yourself a pat on the back and keep working on getting to where you want to be. Then you’ll be ready when the right guy does show up.”
“And he will,” Maddy said confidently.
“No doubt about it,” Kay agreed. She stood and waved her hands at them. “You kids go on and get on the road,” she said. “I’ll take care of getting breakfast cleared away.”
“Are you shooing us away, Aunt Kay?” Libby asked.
“I am. It’s a beautiful day for a drive. Get on out of here and have fun. We’ll see you this evening.”
“I need to go upstairs and get my purse,” Libby said. “I’ll earn my keep and make sure Maddy is occupied while you spend time getting reacquainted with your buddy, Tuck. Just because I’m so sweet and thoughtful.”
“I don’t want you to drag her all over the city, Libby. She’s on crutches, remember.”
“We’ll make it work, don’t worry. I’ll be back in a sec.” Libby hurried up the stairs and Maddy reached for her crutch.
“Breakfast was great, as usual, Kay” she said. “I might need to copy a few of your recipes before I go home. If they’re not secret family recipes, that is.”
Kay assured her that none of them were a secret to her ‘kids,’ and she was welcome to go through her recipe cards and books any time. She would even allow her access to the barbeque sauce recipe, as long as she promised not to give it to anyone else.
Tuck put his hand on Maddy’s back. “Do you need anything from upstairs?”
“Nope, I don’t have a purse.”
They made their way to the front door. “I should have gone over to your apartment and picked up your purse and anything else you wanted to have out here. I could have easily brought it along.”
“It’s okay, there’s nothing I really need. My phone would have been the biggest thing, but the one you got me is way better than what I had. I’ve been in contact with Elaine from work a lot, and I couldn’t have done near as much with my old phone because I didn’t have a data plan. This one makes it easy to send files and emails back and forth. I can even open spreadsheets on it.”
“So they’re holding your job for you?”
“Yeah, they’ve been using temps. She said the one they have now is a whiz with anything computer related, which is good, but he doesn’t have any actual HR experience.”
“Have you told Elaine where you are, and why?”
Maddy shook her head. “No, I told her I’d explain everything when I got back.”
Tucker opened the front door and stood back to let her go through. “Are we gonna be burning up the road between Chandler and Charlotte in a few weeks?”
Maddy gave him a shy smile. “I hope so.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” He leaned in and kissed her. “You sure you’re okay with Libby crashing our party today?”
“Definitely. A little getaway will be good for her. I’m so proud of the decisions she’s making.”
As Tuck closed the door they heard Libby calling for them to wait up.
“You weren’t going to try to sneak off without me were you?” she asked, bursting through the door onto the porch.
“Dang, we should have thought of that,” Tuck teased.
Libby socked him on the shoulder. “Sorry, big bro. You’re stuck with me.”
Tuck’s phone rang as they got in the car. “Hang on a minute, I need to take this.” He got back out of the car and answered the call.
Libby settled herself in the back seat of Tuck’s rented SUV, shoving Maddy’s crutch into the rear.
“I love having the ‘pre-Jimmy’ Tucker back,” she said.
“What do you mean by that?” Maddy wondered.
“This is the real Tucker. The man who can laugh and tease and relax and have fun. I mean, there’s no denying that Tuck always has a certain intensity about him, and that will never change. But before he basically devoted his entire life to catching Jimmy Callahan, he was a lot better about leaving his work at the office. The last year or so he’s been the dark, haunted Tuck who couldn’t get far enough away from the evil he was pursuing. I hope he never has another case that takes him back there.”
“Hmm, I didn’t know him pre-Jimmy, but yeah, he’s definitely more laid back this trip.” Maddy smiled, remembering their light hearted time in the kitchen last evening. “I guess it’s actually the ‘post-Jimmy’ Tucker now.”
“Which is the same as the ‘pre-Jimmy’ Tucker, plus one,” Libby giggled. “You two are adorable together by the way. I should have introduced you guys a long time ago.”
Tuck opened the door and heard the last part. “So why didn’t you, Lib?”
“I figured you’d scare her off. I would have never guessed my sweet little friend could hold her own with my big bad brother.”
Heedless of his sister in the back seat, Tuck leaned over and kissed Maddy. When he would have ended it at not much more than a peck, Maddy put her hand on the back of his head and held him there, drawing out the kiss just long enough to get a groan out of Libby.
Tuck shot his sister a look, then gave Maddy a crooked smile. “To be continued,” he muttered.
As soon as they pulled away from the house, Libby launched into a detailed account of everything she, Maddy, Jolene, Virgil and Kay had been talking about regarding the retreat center. They were halfway to Fargo before she finally started to wind down.
“So what are you thinking, Tuck? Obviously we haven’t gone so far as to get cost estimates on site development and buildings and all that, but with our A, B and C options, we can be flexible depending on how much we decide to invest.”
“You’ve spent a lot of time figuring out exactly what kind of facility you want to have, and the services and programming you want to offer, and I’m impressed, Lib, I really am. But what about the revenue side of it? I realize we’re fortunate enough to be in a position to shove some capital at this kind of project, and I don’t have a problem with not paying it back in the short term, or maybe ever. But the place still has to at least break even. It needs to sustain itself. And since the goal is to not charge the vets and their families, that means finding a ton of sponsorships, as well as people who are willing to donate their time and services.”
Libby sighed. “I know, and I’m not ignoring that part of it. Jolene is going to talk to the people who run some of the facilities she volunteers at. She’s pretty sure they’ll be open to the idea of sharing their budgets. Every place is different, obviously, but it would give us some idea of what to expect. The toughest time will be the first year or two, when we’re trying to get established and get the word out. I’m sure we’ll operate way under capacity for a while, but I still think we’ll be unique enough to draw attention. Especially with the family concept we’re going for. And once we get a year under our belt, we should be able to put together a killer presentation for corporations who are looking to sponsor that kind of thing.”
“We need to decide what kinds of paying customers we want to open it up to,” Maddy said. “With the winters being so long here, it would be nice if we could attract groups for winter activities, when the veterans would be less likely to come anyway.”
“Cross country skiing is big
,” Tuck said. “And snowmobiling might be an option.”
The three continued talking about the project until they got to Fargo. At that point Libby got so excited about the shopping opportunities she tabled the discussion.
Tuck followed his GPS prompts and drove right to the building that housed the FBI offices. They all went inside, where a man around Tuck’s age greeted them with a huge smile on his face.
“Tucker Simon! I couldn’t believe when you called me yesterday. Great to see you, buddy!”
The two men exchanged a strong handshake and slaps on the back, and then Tuck introduced everyone.
“Harrison, I’d like you to meet my sister, Libby, and our friend, Madison Harper. Ladies, this is the man who got me through training at Langley five years ago, Harrison Clark.”
The other man shook their hands, chuckling. “I can assure you it was the other way around. Tuck saved my butt on more than one occasion. I wasn’t at the top of the class like he was, which got me sent here to Fargo, but it’s all worked out. I met the girl of my dreams here, and we have a three year old son and another on the way.”
Maddy couldn’t help but smile at Harrison’s enthusiasm for life. He had flaming red hair cut short, warm brown eyes, and his smile never dimmed. Although he was at least six inches shorter than Tuck, he was in great shape and looked professional in his dark suit. When the two men started catching up, Libby quickly interrupted.
“You two obviously have a lot to talk about, and Maddy and I have some serious shopping to do. How about we take off for a couple hours and let you guys do your thing, then when you’re ready we’ll come back and pick you up.”
Harrison nodded enthusiastically, looking at Tuck. “Sounds good to me. Our office isn’t exactly booming today, but we’ve got a big territory and believe it or not, we do tend to stay pretty busy for the most part. I’ll take you around here, show you some of the stuff we’ve got going on, then we can go for a leisurely lunch and catch up on the last five years.”
“How much time will you need before your credit card melts?” Tucker teased his sister.
“At least three hours,” Libby said cheerfully.
“We won’t have any trouble filling that amount of time,” Harrison assured her.
“Awesome. Keys?” Libby held out her hand and Tuck dropped the keys into it.
“Have fun.” He turned to Maddy. “Don’t let her wear you out.”
“I’m going to get our girl on one of those knee scooter thingies so she doesn’t slow me down,” Libby teased.
Maddy looked horrified. “Not a chance, Libby. I’ll be fine. It’s not like we’ll be sprinting.”
She heard the men chuckling as they walked off and she shook her head. Libby was a trip when her credit cards were burning holes in her wallet.
The girls grabbed a quick lunch at a deli, then spent the next few hours browsing through a mall and a row of more exclusive shops nearby. Maddy spent a good share of the time sitting on benches while Libby made up for being away from the shopping scene for so long. Libby tried to buy her friend some things as well, but Maddy wouldn’t let her. She had basically purchased a whole new wardrobe upon arriving at the ranch, and there wasn’t anything else she needed at the moment.
Finally it was time to head back to the FBI office.
“Oh, now you’re suddenly able to get that crutch moving in high gear,” Libby said as they headed toward the parking deck. “If you’d moved that fast the whole time we could’ve conquered another half dozen stores!”
“I have to be sufficiently motivated,” Maddy said unapologetically.
“So your motivation is getting back to Tuck?”
“Shopping can’t hold a candle to your brother.” Maddy grinned, knowing that would get her an eye roll from her friend.
“Oh my gosh, forget I asked,” Libby said. With an eye roll.
Maddy laughed. “Come on, Lib, keep up.”
“I have ten thousand bags, here, I’m doing the best I can.”
They finally made it to the SUV, laughing as Libby hoisted her bags into the back.
“My arms feel like noodles!” Libby declared. “Why did you let me buy so much when we were parked so far away?”
“It wouldn’t have done a bit of good for me to remind you where we parked.”
“Agreed. I love every single thing I bought. But I think my shoulders are dislocated.”
Tuck and Harrison were waiting outside the building, still deep in conversation. Libby pulled up beside them and put her window down.
“Come on, guys, you’ve had hours to talk. You ready to rock and roll, Tuck?”
The men said their goodbyes and at Libby’s request, Tuck replaced her behind the wheel.
“Looks like it was a banner day for the stores in Fargo,” he observed, looking back at the huge stack of shopping bags.
“It could have been even better if your girlfriend wasn’t so stubborn,” Libby told him. “She wouldn’t let me buy her so much as a tee shirt.”
“So all this stuff is yours? Good lord, Libby, how can one girl buy this much?”
“Normally I don’t, but I’ve been at the ranch for almost two months, and this is my first shopping excursion. I had some time to make up for.”
“I can’t believe you shopped for three hours and didn’t buy a single thing,” Tuck told Maddy as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“Libby offered, believe me, but I didn’t need anything.”
“But surely you saw some things you wanted.”
“I’m good at window shopping. Don’t feel sorry for me, I had fun. Shopping with Libby is always fun. How was your lunch?”
“Great. Harrison could always make me laugh no matter what the circumstance, and that hasn’t changed. Next time we get together, we’ll have you and his wife, Ellen, come along.”
“Really?” Maddy smiled, loving that he was looking into the future and seeing her there. “I’d like that.”
“Good. And just so you know,” Tuck said softly, “when we get back to the ranch, we’re ditching Libby. I want you to myself for a while.”
Maddy looked over at him, her eyes sparkling. “No complaints from me,” she replied.
Libby was on her knees in the back seat, rummaging through her bags. “Can we stop at a convenience store real quick and get some water? I have some fantastic fudge from that fudge kitchen somewhere back here, but we can’t eat it without something to drink. It’s too sweet.”
“I just ate lunch,” Tuck pointed out.
“Which means it’s time for dessert.” Libby rustled a few more bags before giving a happy squeal. “Got it. I have half a pound of chocolate, and half a pound of peanut butter. Which do you guys want?”
They ate all of both.
Chapter 32
“Dang,” Libby said as they drove up the lane toward the house. “I thought maybe I’d go for a ride, but I see Cal’s truck and I don’t want to run into him yet. What are you guys gonna do?”
“Something with just the two of us,” Tuck said. “And don’t pout. We’ll be around for dinner.”
“I wasn’t going to pout,” Libby denied. “I have plenty to do with putting all my new purchases away. But I wouldn’t turn down an offer of help to carry everything upstairs.”
Tuck parked the car and looked over at Maddy. “You up for a ride?”
“In the Gator?”
“Nope,” he said, smiling. “Wait here, I’ll be back as soon as I get Libby’s bags carried in.”
Maddy only had a few minutes to wonder what he had up his sleeve because he quickly returned and slid behind the wheel again, holding up her sneakers and a pair of socks.
“Why do I need to change shoes?” she asked, frowning.
He started the SUV and backed it onto the lane, watching to see her reaction when she realized they were headed toward the stable.
It didn’t take her long to guess his plan. “Um, Tuck, I don’t think this is a good idea,” she said apprehensively. “
Are you actually planning to make me ride a horse?”
“I won’t make you, but I’ll give you the opportunity.”
She winced. “Do you really think I can do it? Or should do it?”
“We’ll keep it to a slow walk, I promise.”
They parked by the stable and Maddy swallowed hard. “I don’t know,” she murmured.
“You’ll love it.”
Tuck handed her the sneakers, indicating that she should replace her slip-ons with the more substantial footwear. Maddy changed her shoes and then looked at him apologetically.
“I want to trust you, but the thought of getting up on a horse is really scary.”
“Come in and take a look at least,” he urged. He got out and circled around the SUV to her door. “Leave the crutch in here, you can lean on me.”
Maddy had been in the stable several times before, with Libby, but never as a prospective rider. The horses now seemed twice as big and not nearly so sweet.
Tuck’s voice was soothing. “I’m not going to let you ride alone, Maddy. We’ll have plenty of time for that once you’re fully healed. Today we’ll ride together.”
“We can’t both fit in the saddle,” she said warily.
“We won’t use one.”
Tuck stopped at a stall and Maddy nervously observed the horse inside. He was big, huge even. Not quite as tall as the impressive chestnut stallion Tuck usually rode, but substantially wider.
“Old Herc here has no problem with double riders. He’s strong as an ox, and as gentle as they come.”
Tuck nodded a quick acknowledgement as one of the ranch hands approached with a bridle. “Hey, Dalton. Is that Herc’s?”
“Yep,” the younger man said. “I’m assuming you’re fixin’ to take him out?”
“If that’s okay. Maddy’s never ridden, so I thought we’d go double. We’re just going to walk him for a while.”
“Sounds good. Herc hasn’t been out yet today, so that’ll help us out.”
Dalton handed Tuck the bridle and Maddy looked on worriedly as he efficiently put it on the amenable horse.
