With a formal celebration scheduled for later in the week, Tucker was given the keys to the office his father and temporarily, Marshall, had inhabited. Thankfully, there was no requirement for him to reside on the pack’s compound, but he would have to spend an increased amount of time here, as would his family. It would be important, for some time to come, to maintain their false relationship in order to gain support among his pack. It was akin to some sort of publicity campaign.
Afterward, they returned to Tucker’s house. Leslie drove the Mercedes back, while he followed her in the Barracuda most of the way. She laughed as he seemed to get a bit frisky with it and passed her, roaring down the highway far ahead of her. By the time she pulled into the garage, he already had arrived. The older car was parked in front of the work garage, so she assumed he was planning to do some more work to it.
She parked and went inside the house to find him on the phone with someone. Rather than interrupt, she went upstairs to check on the girls, only to find them asleep. She stopped by each of their beds and caressed their soft little faces, but only Sable stirred, cooing quietly without even opening her eyes. Leslie smiled down at her and turned to walk out, only to find Tucker watching from the doorway.
“You are so beautiful with them,” he said quietly.
“They are my best girls,” she said with a smile. “Oh, I almost forgot. Thank you for the jungle gyms. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to do it. A father has to play his part too,” he said.
“I suppose that’s true,” she replied, the glow she had felt a moment ago at his compliment now gone as she realized they were within earshot of the baby monitor and thus, could be overheard by Marla.
“I’ve hired a full-time cook, so the food may be a bit different than what we usually have. She’ll be here for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but will not live in. The upside is that the food will be fresh instead of frozen and I’ve also increased the maid’s duties to twice a week. She said she’s having a hard time keeping up with the laundry and cleaning with the babies on board.”
“I didn’t mean for you to do all that.”
“I know. I did it because it needs to be done - for now, anyway.”
“Thanks.”
“You want to go for a walk with me?” he asked.
“A walk?”
“Yes. I thought we could take a quiet stroll through the garden while Marla is still here with the girls.”
“Sure. Okay,” she said, uncertain of what this was about. He obviously wanted to chat with her about something away from anyone that might overhear. “Just let me change really quick.”
“Me too. Meet you down in the foyer in about ten?”
“Sounds good.”
Walking into her room, she changed into a pair of jeans, a black tank top and matching black canvas tennis shoes. Nothing she owned had a brand name on it. It just wasn’t her style to overspend on things solely because they had name brands on them. All her life she had struggled, financially and socially. Blane had been very successful, but his money was only doled out to her for the essentials. While he sported Armani suits and Italian loafers, she was only afforded nicer clothes for when people might see her, like the dinners she used to have to prepare for his investors.
“Ready?” Tucker asked as she descended the stairs to meet him.
He was wearing a pair of faded jeans and an old t-shirt with some sort of logo on it, but it was so faded she couldn’t make it out. He noticed her squinting at it and laughed.
“The Ramones,” he told her. “I found it in a drawer in Dad’s office. I can remember him wearing it when I was a kid.”
“Why would he have it in his office?”
“Who knows. Probably something to change into if he needed to get dirty or something. Maybe a spare in case he had to shift without having time to strip off his clothes. I’m glad he did though. I didn’t get many of his things when he passed away.”
He motioned toward the door as he opened it, and she walked through, wishing she’d put on something a bit warmer. Though it had been plenty warm in the daytime, it felt quite cool now that the sun was beginning to set. Tucker didn’t seem to miss the slight shiver and reached for a jacket on the rack just inside the door, handing it to her as he closed the door behind them.
“Here, put this on.”
“Thanks,” she told him, accepting the old green jacket and slipping it on. It was only once she had it on that she realized it had his name on it. “This is your old army jacket?”