“Of course. But I wasn’t sure if your aunt and uncle or Diana and Bret would be at brunch today and thought it would look more legit if we arrived together.”
Liza considered him for a moment. “Good thinking. You’re right.”
Gusting winds tossed the pines back and forth through the little window above the kitchen sink. It rattled the back storm door and sent a cold shiver down Tucker’s back. It was a frigid, gray morning. They could ride over in his warm truck, but the image of Liza snuggled against him as they walked down the lane, arms around each other, her wind-tossed hair tickling his face, heated him in all the right places.
“The more we’re seen together, the more convincing we’ll be,” he said, fighting to keep the grin off his face.
“Okay, then. Since you roped me into this—”
“Who roped who?”
“—from now until the Mistletoe Ball, I will do my best performance of a smitten girlfriend in red velvet and fur.”
“You’ll be the best Mrs. Claus Highland Springs has ever seen.”
“Don’t say that.” She waved her arms as if to ward off the evil spirits. “You’ll jinx it. The less you say and the more we fly under the radar, the better the chance nothing awful will happen.”
“Fine. No more mention of Christmas. Let’s go. I’m starved.”
Tucker left his truck in her driveway and they walked down the gravel lane, her arm looped through his as they huddled against the biting wind. As they crested the knoll, they were met with an enthusiastic howl from Loretta, Brody’s German shorthaired pointer. She charged toward them with a graceful gallop and dove into Tucker’s outstretched arms. No one had told Loretta she was no longer a little puppy, but fifty pounds of solid muscle.
“How’s my girl?” He hefted the dog on his shoulder and gave her a hearty pat on the back. “Ready for our hunting trip?”
“I don’t know who loves deer hunting more—you guys or Loretta.”
“Definitely Loretta. She doesn’t mind the cold.”
He lowered the dog to the ground and she ran ahead, barking out the news that they had arrived. “So how are we going to play this?” He followed Loretta’s brown speckled body up the porch steps, Liza on his heels.
“What do you mean?”
Stopping at the front door, Tucker thumbed toward the driveway. “Looks like your aunt and uncle’s car. We have to act like a real couple.”
“Okay, how about—”
“There you are.” Liza’s mom opened the door, holding Kate and Brody’s baby swaddled tight against her chest. Since she and Tucker hadn’t had time to prepare their act, they’d just have to wing it.
Once they were inside and had shed their coats, Liza lifted the corner of the blanket draped over her nephew and pecked a light kiss on his dark, fuzzy head. “How’s my baby?” she murmured against his scalp, drawing in a deep breath of him. J.B. cooed against his grandmother’s shoulder, and then lifted his face toward Liza.
“Look at you, big man. So strong.” She tweaked the baby’s cheek and smiled lovingly at the blue bundle. Tucker’s chest clenched. This was what he wanted, the American dream: a house, two point five kids, a dog, and he wanted it all with Liza.
“Hand him over, Mom. I want to hold him.” Sherri reluctantly handed J.B. to Liza, patting the baby’s back while Liza settled him against her shoulder.
“Look, Tucker.” Liza tilted J.B. out for Tucker to see. One pink fist was pressed against his mouth while his dark eyes shifted toward the voices coming from the kitchen. “Isn’t he beautiful?”
He agreed John Brody was a beautiful baby and Liza was a natural with him. Could they have such a future? He had to tread lightly during the next month if he was going to win her heart. She continuously reminded him they were only friends, rejecting him once before.
“Do you want to hold him?”
She didn’t give him a chance to answer. She pushed the baby into his arms who immediately let out a blood-boiling scream. Undeterred by J.B.’s outburst, Tucker placed a hand at the baby’s bottom and one behind his head and bobbed him up and down while giving him a talk.
“Now, listen up, little buddy. This is no way to treat your Uncle Tucker.” Still bouncing, he strolled down the hallway toward the living room, looking J.B. in the eye. “We’re going to take a little walk and get things settled between us.”
“Don’t bounce him too hard.” Liza shadowed them down the hall, chirping out instructions. “Keep your hand behind his head. Make sure his blanket stays tucked.”
“Aunt Liza doesn’t think I know what I’m doing,” Tucker said to the baby. “She forgets I’ve got four nieces and nephews.” He chuckled, imagining holding their own baby as Liza barked out instructions.
John Brody shoved his fist in his mouth, reducing his cries to whimpers. “Thanks, bud. I appreciate you working with me here.”
Now that the baby had settled down, Tucker gathered him into the crook of his arm and took him over to the half-decorated Christmas tree. J.B.’s eyes dodged left and right, taking in the bright white lights twinkling among the branches. His sweet new-baby smell made Tucker’s insides go soft. Liza sidled up to him and rested her hand against his back while she tickled the baby’s cheek.
“He’s really watching the lights, isn’t he?” Her breast pressed into Tucker’s arm as she rubbed J.B.’s earlobe between her fingers. He inhaled her soft cologne while fighting the urge to wrap his arm around her.
“You’ll have to put up a tree this year. J.B. will love it.” He leaned into her, brushing the top of her head with his chin. “Now that you’re an aunt, you can’t boycott Christmas anymore.”
“Just watch me.” Her big, blue eyes gave him a warning glare.
“Well, who do we have here?” Liza’s Aunt Linda screeched from across the room. “Is this the Christmas couple?”
Tucker winked at Liza, whose face screwed up in a scowl. She should have known the news would spread fast. Ready or not, their performance was about to begin. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and turned the three of them around to face her aunt who came to an abrupt halt.
“Tucker Callum?” Linda’s mouth hung open, her eyes darting between the two of them. “Look at you. You’re like a different person.”
His cheeks grew warm, still not quite comfortable with all the attention from his weight loss. Six months ago, staring at Liza while Brody and Kate exchanged their vows, he had decided he wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of the men his family. His father and uncles had all died of heart attacks before the age of fifty. He wanted to live a long, full life, and wanted to live it with Liza. Hoping for a future with her only strengthened his determination to get in shape.
Tucker plastered a smile on his face. “Hello, Mrs. Murray.”
“Hi, Aunt Linda. Tucker looks great, doesn’t he?” Liza pecked a quick kiss on her aunt’s cheek and dug her nails into Tucker’s elbow, forcing him to follow her into the kitchen. He chuckled against the baby’s head as they left Linda gaping after them.
“Oh, my God. Why did she have to be here?” Liza whispered as they entered the kitchen.
“It’s show time,” Tucker said in his best master of ceremony voice.
“We’re not ready. We should’ve practiced.”
“Did you all know Liza was dating Tucker?” Aunt Linda had stealthily followed them into the kitchen where Liza’s dad, Brody, and Kate sat at the kitchen table. Startled by the screeching outburst, Kate’s grandmother dropped the spatula she was using to fry sausage.
“My gracious, you nearly stopped this old girl’s heart.” Virginia pressed her hand against her chest as she bent to retrieve the spatula from the floor. “I’m eighty years old. You can’t sneak up on me like that.”
“I’m sorry, Virginia, but I wasn’t aware Liza had a new boyfriend. Mr. Claus, no less.”
“New boyfriend? They’ve been dating for lord knows how long.” Virginia winked at Liza and Tucker before systematically flipping each saus
age in the pan. Liza’s mouth hung open and he, too, wondered how Virginia knew to play along. Looking at the threesome around the table, Tucker found the same look of surprise. Their eyes shifted between one another signaling that they hadn’t heard the news.
“How did I not know about this? Why didn’t you tell us at Thanksgiving?” Linda looked stricken that she’d been left out of the loop.
“If you’d come down off that mountain every once in a while, you’d know what’s going on in town.” Virginia threw out her quip, never taking her eyes off the sausage.
“Well, excuse me.” Linda pulled out a chair and plopped into it with a huff. “I guess some people are privy to news and some aren’t.” She crossed her arms over her chest, pouting like a spoiled child. “You could’ve told us at Thanksgiving instead of being so cryptic.”
A loud crash came from outside the back door, ending her aunt’s protests and rattling the windows. Brody rushed to the back door. “A pine tree just fell in the driveway.”
“Oh, no, it’s starting.” Liza flopped into a kitchen chair and covered her face with her hands.
“Almost hit your truck, Dad,” Brody said, looking through the door’s glass.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Doug joined Brody at the back door, scratching his head at the scene out back.
“The curse is striking my family now.” Liza moaned her lament into her hands. “Why does this keep happening?”
“There is no curse and his truck wasn’t damaged. You’ve got to stop this.” Tucker shoved J.B. back in Liza’s arms and followed Brody, Rodney, and Doug outside. The men circled the tree, surveying the situation and commenting on its source. One thing was for sure—a curse didn’t cause the tree to fall. If it had, the tree would have landed on top of her dad’s truck, not six inches from the front bumper.
“I guess with the wind and all the rain we’ve had that old tree didn’t stand a chance,” Doug said as he jumped into his vehicle and backed it away several feet. It took all four men to shove the tree flat onto the driveway.
“Hey, Tuck, can you give me a hand?” Brody waved Tucker toward the shed where he stored tools. “We’ll cut this up and have it out of the way in a few minutes.”
Once inside the cool, dark shed, Brody turned on Tucker. “What the hell’s going on in there? What’s this about you two dating?”
Tucker shrugged. “We’re this year’s Mr. and Mrs. Claus.”
“What the hell?” His confusion turned to shock.
“Liza told me about what happened at Thanksgiving, about her telling everyone I was going to be Santa, and I offered to cover for her. In return, she will be Mrs. Claus.” Tucker grinned at his luck. He’d waited years for an opportunity like this.
“She agreed to that? Everyone knows she hates Christmas.” Brody said.
“Yeah, well…”
“You’ll never pull this off. Diana and Bret will see right through her.” Brody stalked to the back of the shed and hoisted the chainsaw in his hand. “Trying to one-up Diana will blow up in Liza’s face.”
“She just doesn’t want them to be the Christmas couple and now needs to save face. Besides, anything to stick it to Bret Bridges is okay with me.” He picked up an ax and a hand saw, and walked out the door. “I wasn’t going to be Mr. Claus, but since Liza needs my help, I figured why not?”
“Well, good luck. I hope you won’t regret this.”
Tucker slapped a hand on Brody’s shoulder with a loud laugh. “Oh, it’ll probably come back to bite me.”
FIVE
The back door swung open, and Tucker and Brody stomped their way into the laundry room. Cold air filtered into the kitchen where Liza was scooping scrambled eggs into a large bowl and Kate was retrieving muffins from the oven.
“How’d it go?” Liza glanced out the kitchen window. In short order, they had cleared the tree from the driveway and stacked the logs in a neat pile.
“All clear,” Brody said as he poured two cups of coffee, handing one to Tucker.
“You’re just in time,” Kate took off her oven mitts and tossed them on the counter. “We’re ready to eat. Tucker, we saved you a place next to Liza.” She winked at Liza as she took off her apron. With everyone playing along, she and Tucker just might pull this off, saving her the humiliation of Diana knowing the truth.
Tucker and Brody followed Liza and Kate into the dining room, where everyone was already seated around the table covered with heaping plates of pancakes, bacon and sausage, fruit, and pastries. The sweet and savory smells made Liza’s mouth water. She had barely taken her seat when Aunt Linda started in.
“So, I want to hear all about you two. When did you start dating? Everything.” Linda waved her hands in the air like an orchestra conductor before accepting the basket of muffins.
“There’s not much to tell.” Liza took a sip of coffee, keeping her nose tipped into the mug, drawing in its aroma as she gave herself time to come up with an explanation. The room had gone silent.
“I’ve known Liza since the day she was born.” Tucker picked up his coffee cup and tipped it toward Linda. “That’s how we met.”
Liza had heard the story several times over the years. Tucker had come home from school with Brody that day and they found her mother panting and clenching her back on the porch steps. The boys, just six years old, ran the rest of the way up the gravel drive to help her. Doug was inside calling Brody’s grandmother to ask if the boys could stay there while he took Sherri to the hospital to deliver a tiny baby sister.
“But when did you start dating?”
Liza rolled her eyes at Kate, who was staring at her from across the table. Couldn’t Aunt Linda just let it go? Did she really need every detail of their “love story?”
“Well—” Liza needed to get Aunt Linda off this line of questioning before things got out of hand, but Tucker stepped in.
“Liza and I have been good friends for a long time. In fact, I feel like a part of this family.”
The entire Fisk clan nodded in agreement.
“But last year, I had the flu and couldn’t work at the brewery, and Brody was in Nashville. So, Liza stepped up and ran the tasting room and everything for me. Every day she came to check on me, even bringing me a quart of her homemade soup and buttermilk biscuits—didn’t you, babe?”
Tucker wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. He was laying it on way too thick. Anyone who knew Liza knew she didn’t make homemade soup or biscuits. In fact, her idea of cooking was macaroni and cheese from a box and a bag of pre-washed salad. Baking desserts was her only culinary talent. But from the look on Aunt Linda’s face, she was totally falling for it.
“The day my fever broke, she came in and laid a crocheted blanket over me—one she’d made herself—and when I looked into her gorgeous blue eyes, I fell. I can’t explain it, but I knew I was in love.”
“Oh, precious.” Aunt Linda swooned against the back of her chair, clasping her hands under her chin. “What a beautiful story. People just don’t do like that for each other anymore.”
“Oh, Aunt Linda, don’t believe him. You know I can’t cook or crochet.” Liza swatted Tucker on the shoulder. “What really happened was—”
“It was during our wedding, right?” Kate decided to join in the storytelling. Liza glared at her, willing her to stay out of it. “You were my maid of honor and Tucker was Brody’s best man. Something about the beautiful day and all the love in the air. It was contagious.”
“Not exactly—” Liza once again was interrupted, this time by Brody.
“The way I remember it was Tucker and I had a meeting with a distributor in Pittsburgh. Liza wanted to visit some art galleries, so she tagged along. By the time we got to Pittsburgh, Tucker sent me to talk to the distributor alone and he and Liza went off to the galleries. During the ride back, you never would’ve known I was in the car. They totally ignored me. To this day, Tucker won’t tell me what happened that afternoon.”
“Oh, now, bud, th
at’s our little secret.” Tucker smiled and stuffed a muffin in his mouth.
“There was no little secret.” Liza shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. The whole thing was unraveling before her eyes. They just needed to act like a couple, not fabricate a long, romantic tale. “I took Tucker to some galleries I really like because I want to open one here someday. That’s it.”
“That’s nice, dear, but I’m confused. How did you start dating exactly?” Aunt Linda asked, bewilderment etched across her face.
“Listen, Aunt Linda—”
“I know exactly when I fell.” Tucker lifted her hand and placed it in his, his brown eyes warm as he gazed into hers. “The night of her wreck. We were skating on the frozen river and I told her someday I’d be the perfect man for her. And I was right, huh, sweetheart?”
Man, he wasn’t kidding when he said he had been a heck of a bullshitter in his day. He still was. He wasn’t there the night of her wreck. If he had been, she would’ve skated away with him rather than drive home on icy roads.
“I, um…that’s not exactly—”
“I guess you could say we’ve loved each other so long we can’t pinpoint an exact time when it all began.”
He draped his arm across the back of her chair, brushing his thumb against the base of her neck. When she smiled up at him, feigning happiness, the tightly clenched fork in her hand dropped to the table. Just a moment ago she wanted to stab him with it, but now his dark brown eyes were locked on hers and a warm tingle coursed to her nether regions. That was some cockamamie story, but Tucker’s Oscar-worthy performance had convinced Aunt Linda. With the tenderness in his voice as he told the story and his hand rubbing her shoulder, even she was starting to believe it herself.
SIX
Business was brisk at Sit and Sip, the local version of Starbucks, with nearly every table filled. Hissing steam from the espresso machine and grinding coffee beans overlaid huddled conversations around the room. Tucker rolled his thumb over his cell phone screen as he drank from his paper cup.
Whatever We Are: A Highland Springs Romance (Whatever Series Book 3) Page 4
