Springtime at Hope Cottage

by Annie Rains

  “There’s the bus!” Josie said excitedly. “I can’t wait to help Maddie decorate her room.”

  Tuck grinned. “I’ll go get her. She’s still struggling with stairs, and I’m still her PT.”

  “And her dad.” Josie stood with her bags in hand. “I’ll go inside and make her a snack. Is it okay if I rummage through your fridge?”

  “What’s mine is yours.”

  She gave him a wide-eyed look before heading inside.

  Tuck walked in the opposite direction toward the bus. What’s mine is yours? This is exactly how he’d been with Renee when they’d first met. He’d fallen hard and fast, and when he’d started talking about marriage, everyone had warned him to take things slow. They were too young. That’s why he’d broken up with her briefly when he was in college. He’d listened to everyone’s advice that he didn’t need to settle down too quickly. If he’d listened to his heart, though, he never would’ve broken up with Renee.

  Here he went again, diving in heart first with Josie. The only naysayer this time was the little voice in his head reminding him that she was leaving soon, and they hadn’t discussed continuing their relationship. What if she didn’t want to continue it? She was looking for new jobs, none of them here, and soon she’d be out of his apartment and life, possibly for good.

  * * *

  Josie pulled Tuck’s refrigerator door open and peered inside. What did little girls like to eat? It shouldn’t be too hard to figure it out; feeding an eleven-year-old girl wasn’t rocket science.

  Spotting some Gala apples in the bottom drawer, she grabbed one and took it to the sink to wash. Then she found an apple slicer in the drawer below the silverware and divided the apple into smaller pieces. With just a little more searching, she found a jar of creamy peanut butter in the cabinet.

  She also poured a glass of chilled green tea that Tuck apparently always kept ready in the fridge. Josie hadn’t had that growing up, or even in her adult life, but she would from now on. And she supposed she’d always think of Tuck when she did.

  The front door opened, and Maddie’s giggles filled the room.

  Josie’s heart squeezed hard. Maddie had been through so much. She deserved to be happy, and Josie had no doubt that Tuck would ensure she was. “How was school?” Josie asked as Maddie walked carefully into the room using her cane.

  Maddie looked up, disappointment shading her eyes just like it had this morning when she’d seen Josie. “It was okay.”

  “Did you get compliments on your new outfit?”

  “A few.”

  “See! I told you it was pretty,” Josie said, knowing that she was trying too hard again. Josie couldn’t help it though. She wanted Maddie to like her again.

  “Almost as pretty as you,” Tuck said, walking up behind Maddie and rustling her hair.

  “Hey!” Maddie complained, swatting him away.

  Josie laughed. “You never touch a girl’s hair. Don’t you know that?”

  Tuck stepped over and did the same to her and then yanked out the hair tie holding her ponytail in place.

  “Hey!” Josie squealed. She whipped around to smack Tuck playfully before realizing that Maddie was watching, and she didn’t look the least bit entertained.

  Josie reached for the plate of apple slices and peanut butter and shoved it into Tuck’s hands. “These are for Maddie.” She pointed at the table.

  “None for me?” he asked, teasing.

  “Not after messing up our hair.” Josie watched him get Maddie settled at the table with the snack. “Well, I should probably go back to my apartment. To, um, work.” Not that she had anything specific to do. She just didn’t want to intrude. She wasn’t part of Tuck and Maddie’s new family, and Maddie obviously didn’t want her around.

  “What? So soon? I thought you had something special to do with Maddie.” Tuck slid his gaze to the bags she’d brought back from her shopping excursion this morning.

  “Oh. Right. Well, that can wait. I’m sure you two have things to do,” she said, making more excuses.

  “All I have to do this afternoon is hang out with two of my favorite people,” Tuck said.

  Shadow barked from where she was lying at Maddie’s feet.

  Tuck dipped his head to level his gaze at the dog. “Yeah, yeah. And you too.”

  “Stay?” Tuck asked, looking at her with hopeful eyes. “I might even cook dinner and put on a movie later. You wouldn’t want to miss that, would you?”

  She swallowed as her throat grew tighter. No, she wouldn’t want to miss that.

  “You want her to stay too, don’t you, Maddie?” Tuck prodded.

  Maddie looked up from her snack and frowned.

  * * *

  After dinner, Maddie had called and spoken to her grandmother in the hospital and reported that Beverly was doing much better. She’d probably stay through the weekend and go home on Monday. Then they all settled in on the couch, and Tuck begrudgingly put on You’ve Got Mail.

  “Are you sure you two don’t want to watch Die Hard? Or Mission: Impossible?”

  Josie and Maddie laughed, which was his goal tonight. Whatever was going on between the two of them, he wanted to smooth it over.

  “Fine. Two against one.” He draped his arm around Josie on the couch and tugged her in close while Maddie lay with her head on the opposite armrest.

  Halfway through the movie, Josie nudged Tuck in the ribs. “Maddie is sleeping.”

  He leaned forward to check for himself. “So she is. I’ll get a blanket. She can sleep on the couch tonight.”

  He walked into Maddie’s temporary bedroom, where he kept spare blankets and sheets in the dresser. For a moment, he stopped and stared. Josie had really transformed this room into something special tonight. She’d changed the bedding and hung some posters of boy bands. Josie had purchased a large stuffed horse for Maddie, too, that looked a lot like Sugar.

  It actually looked like a little girl’s room in here. The justification to Maddie had been that Beverly might need some time to herself over the next few months while she continued to get better. Maddie could come to Hope Cottage and stay whenever Beverly needed her to.

  Once Beverly returned home, though, they’d sit down with Maddie and tell her the real story together.

  It was time to tell Josie the truth too. He was falling in love with her. Yeah, it’d only been a month but he didn’t see things slowing down between them. They had the potential to make this work if they wanted to. That’s what he wanted. But what did she want?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Here,” Kaitlyn said, handing a large pot of water to Josie in the kitchen of the Sweetwater Bed and Breakfast the following week.

  Josie held on to it and gave her friend a blank stare.

  “Mind getting it boiling for me?” Kaitlyn asked. “I’ll grab the noodles from the pantry.”

  Josie had agreed to come over this afternoon and help Kaitlyn cook for charity this evening. Townsfolk were participating in a clothing drive for the local women’s shelter in exchange for a spaghetti dinner at the community center tonight.

  Carrying the pot to the stove, Josie set it down on one of the burners. She turned the dial to high, and then turned back to Kaitlyn. “I’m getting the hang of this cooking thing.”

  Kaitlyn headed over with several boxes of noodles. “It’s a big pot so we need the big burner, not the small one.”

  “Right.” Josie nodded. “I still have a lot to learn.”

  Kaitlyn shifted the pot to the larger burner and turned the corresponding dial to heat the water. “You’re doing great. Thanks for helping me today, by the way.”

  “I’m not sure I’ll be much help.” Josie plopped down on a stool at the kitchen island.

  “You are, and it’s nice to have someone to talk to. So, are you coming tonight? From what I’m told, you won’t find better spaghetti anywhere. I can attest for the pot we’re making at least.”

  “Not sure yet,” Josie said with a shrug. “I don�
��t have anything to get rid of.”

  “You’re donating your time right now. That counts. Mitch is working at the police department tonight so you can be my date. It’ll be fun. We can eat until we burst, and maybe you can find inspiration for a new article.”

  They made more small talk and then Kaitlyn remembered the stove. “Oh, the water’s boiling. Want to do the honors?”

  “Of adding the noodles?” Josie asked.

  “Yes. Then you can tell people you made the spaghetti. It’ll get you brownie points with the locals.”

  Josie laughed as she walked over to the stove and dumped the dry noodles in. Kaitlyn handed her a wooden spoon, and she stirred the contents around. “Good enough?” she asked.

  Kaitlyn leaned in to take a glance. “See? I told you there was a chef waiting to be unlocked in you. Your future husband won’t starve after all.”

  Josie swallowed as she stared into the bubbling water. Her future husband wouldn’t starve, because he didn’t exist. Even if she’d entertained a few fantasies of spending forever at Hope Cottage with Tuck. It was foolish thinking. He’d been married once already, and she wasn’t even the marrying type. “Or at least I won’t starve. Maybe I can even cut my take-out budget in half after this.”

  “And create a Sweetwater Springs travel fund so you can come back to visit more often,” Kaitlyn suggested.

  “There’s an idea,” Josie said. “This town of yours is really growing on me.”

  “And Tuck too. I saw the sparks between you guys when he crashed our girls’ day with Maddie. They were off the charts. I might even venture to say it’s more than just physical chemistry between you two.”

  Josie stirred the softening noodles around the pot again, needing something to do with her hands. “I’ll admit I like him. A lot. But at some point, I have to return to real life where I go to an office every day and pay the bills.”

  “Can’t you have both? The career and a love life? It doesn’t have to be one or the other. I have Mitch and the job of my dreams.”

  “That’s different.”

  “Not really,” Kaitlyn said.

  Josie didn’t respond. She didn’t know what to say. She’d been entertaining crazy, ridiculous thoughts over the last couple of days. Like maybe she could stay longer now that she was out of a job. She could write more articles for Carolina Home magazine. Summer was coming, and she could ride horses, walk along Blueberry Creek, write at the Sweetwater Café, and sleep with Tuck at night. It sounded like the perfect summer. Then she could stay here for the perfect fall, hiking through the mountains and picking apples at the local orchard.

  What was happening to her?

  A timer went off, breaking Josie’s thoughts.

  “That means the noodles are ready and need to be drained.” Kaitlyn grabbed the pot and brought it over to the sink where she’d set up a straining bowl.

  “You’re a natural at this stuff,” Josie commented. Homemaking and being in love looked good on Kaitlyn, despite her city roots. But that didn’t mean the same was true for Josie.

  * * *

  After seeing a few patients, Tuck picked up Maddie from school and took her straight to Beverly’s house. Beverly had returned home from the hospital this morning and wanted Maddie with her. Tuck wasn’t exactly thrilled about that but he didn’t have custody yet. Plus, Maddie was homesick and eager to see her grandmother.

  “Call me if you need to. It doesn’t matter what time it is,” he told them both, standing in their living room.

  “Of course,” Beverly said. “Thank you, Tuck. For everything.”

  He nodded and looked at Maddie. “Take care of your grandmother.”

  “I will. Maybe I can come stay with you again soon. In the room you prepared for me at Hope Cottage.”

  Tuck slid his gaze over to meet Beverly’s just in time to see her eyes cloud over with a hint of sadness. “Maybe so,” he said. “But right now, your grandma needs you.”

  Beverly offered an appreciative smile.

  On his way out, Tuck glanced at Crystal’s picture on the wall. His belly knotted with anger that only served to make him feel guilty.

  He got back into his Jeep and drove home, disappointed to find Josie still not back from her day of cooking with Kaitlyn. The clothing drive and spaghetti dinner benefited the local women’s shelter. Maybe Tuck needed to do a little spring cleaning himself, he thought. He could work off some of his frustration and donate to a local charity.

  He opened the back door for Shadow to go out in the yard, and his gaze landed on the shed near the stables. It was full of Renee’s belongings. There were boxes of clothes and shoes that were going to waste out there. He’d given Renee’s cane to Maddie. Maybe it was time to give away more of his late wife’s things. He couldn’t use them, and holding on to the items felt like holding on to the past when he needed to be looking forward to the future.

  He grabbed a hat off the kitchen counter to shield his face from the sun and headed in the direction of the shed. Swinging open the door, he peered inside. He’d been avoiding doing anything with these things because it was just too painful. Losing Renee had left a wound he didn’t think he’d ever recover from. But in the last month, things had turned around for him. His heart felt full again, overflowing even. As with spring, where nature came back with a vengeance after winter, bringing with it new life, so it was with his heart. He had a daughter, and he was falling in love.

  He reached for the first box labeled RENEE’S WINTER CLOTHES and carried it outside to the grass. Then he went back and found his late wife’s fall, summer, and spring clothes. When he’d put them here in storage, he’d decided it might be hard to run into some stranger in town who was wearing Renee’s things. Now he thought it would feel good. Renee had been such a giving woman. She’d want her clothes to go to someone in need.

  One after another, he loaded five large tubs of items into the back of his Jeep. It was a start, and it’d freed up a lot of space in the shed for other things. Maddie’s things. Or Josie’s.

  He headed inside the house to shower and then dress, feeling a little excited. He was in the mood for spaghetti tonight. And for Josie’s company—if he could find her.

  An hour later, he walked into a crowded community center full of lively conversation and the smell of Italian spices.

  “Tuck! What are you doing here?” Halona asked as soon as he’d walked in the door. She was standing with his mom and nephew. Theo barreled into the lower half of his body and hugged his legs in lieu of hello.

  “I brought some donations. Renee’s things.”

  His mom’s and Halona’s smiles wilted.

  “Really? That’s a big step,” his mom said.

  Tuck shrugged as if it wasn’t but they were right. “It was time.”

  “And I’ve never known you to come to a big community event on your own volition either,” his mom pointed out.

  Tuck didn’t have an answer to that. Josie and her love for group events had rubbed off on him. He looked down at his nephew and rustled Theo’s hair. “What are you feeding this kid?” he teased, changing the subject. “He’s almost as big as I am.”

  “Well, tonight he’s eating spaghetti.” Halona shook her head as Theo smoothed his disheveled hair back down along his forehead.

  “Your dad’s over there in the corner,” Tuck’s mom said with a gesture.

  “Oh. Thought I was attending a charity spaghetti dinner, not a family reunion.”

  Both his mom and sister laughed but it was a sweeter sound across the room that got his attention. Josie was seated at a table and laughing about something with Kaitlyn.

  “Yep. Your new houseguest is here too,” Halona said, following his gaze.

  Tuck’s mom raised her dark brows. “I hope you’ve been a good host to the town’s celebrity.”

  “I’m just renting the garage apartment to her,” Tuck reminded his mother. But it’d turned into so much more than that, and he didn’t think for a minute that he was
fooling his mom. In fact, his mom and Halona had probably already put two and two together and discovered that Josie was the reason he was taking more steps to move on with his life. He didn’t want to forget about what he’d had with Renee but it wasn’t healthy to assume he’d be alone forever.

  Theo tugged on Halona’s shirt, and she looked down, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she smiled at him. “I’m guessing you’re pretty hungry, huh? Better get in that line before we miss out on all the good stuff.” Halona took his hand and looked at Tuck. “Are you joining us for tonight’s meal? Or maybe you want to sit with Josie and Kaitlyn instead?” she asked with a knowing look in her eyes.

  Yep, they knew. “I’ll be sitting with you guys, of course.” He directed his attention to his only nephew. “I have to try and see if I can out eat Theo here.”

  Theo’s smile lit up his entire face.

  Tuck and his mom followed Halona and Theo toward the spaghetti line. As they did, he couldn’t help glancing back to where Josie was. She looked beautiful tonight. He longed to get out of line, walk over to her, and kiss her silly. He was hungry, all right, but his appetite was for her.

  When he turned back to the food, Halona was watching him.

  “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach, buddy,” Tuck told Theo as his nephew pointed at one pot after another and Halona dutifully scooped a sample from each. “Just don’t bite off more than you can chew.”

  It was the same advice he’d been giving himself for weeks regarding Josie. But now it was too late.

  * * *

  Here was an article idea. Everyone in town had come together for a good cause. It was incredible, really. Several dozen families sat together at long rectangular tables, laughing and eating after donating their gently used things. This was the kind of story that her old boss, Gary, would’ve eaten up with a spoon.