People talk about soulmates and she had known that Blane was not hers, even when she had married him. What she hadn’t expected was that she would meet someone that she truly felt she was meant to be with, especially not so soon after leaving her first husband behind. She smiled and kissed him softly. If she had to miss out on the actual wedding to be married to him, she’d just have to accept that. The one thing she didn’t doubt was that they were meant to be.CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE“If you don’t mind, I want to come out to the clubhouse with you today,” Leslie told Tucker over breakfast.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“One of the other women, Mari – I think was her name - was asking about some old iron kettles that are stored in the old barn that sits behind the clubhouse. Your Aunt Meredith said they were your mother’s. I didn’t realize your parents had lived out there in a house at one point.”
“We all lived out there. The house burned not long after my mother died. Marshall and I were already out of the house by then. I was in college and he was living in one of the rooms of the clubhouse. Dad just moved in there too and didn’t bother rebuilding. Those iron kettles were practically the only thing that survived the fire. Like most things, Dad moved them out of sight.”
“Would you mind if I brought some of them home and used them in the garden? They’d make fantastic old flowerpots.”
“I think that would be lovely. Take a look at them and if they are what you want, I’ll have someone bring them over to the house. They are quite heavy to carry.”
“Sounds great. Will you be there long, or should I drive separately?”
“No. I won’t be long today. I just need to have a short meeting with some of the members of the council and then I’ll be coming back to get some work done in the garage. It’s been a handful trying to get bikes done for people and maintain my position as Alpha.”
“Why do you still do that kind of work? I mean, you don’t seem to need the money, and it’s so time-consuming.”
“Oh, that’s easy. I do it because I love it. I’ve always preferred working with my hands. It might not be the traditional use of an engineering degree, but it’s the most rewarding, as far as I’m concerned.”
“I suppose that’s all that matters then. Maybe I should get a hobby.”
“I can’t imagine you having time for one,” he laughed.
“Why is that?” she replied, not understanding the comment.
“Well, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen you idle for more than a few minutes at a time. You’re always busy doing something. You’re with the girls or taking care of something for them. If nothing else, you are reading or researching something. What is it that you find so fascinating?”
“It’s nothing in particular. I’m just curious. I was never afforded much of an opportunity to learn about things. I want to go to school when the girls are a bit bigger, but I can’t spend hours away from them while they are so small.”
“Come on. We need to get going,” he told her.
They left the table and headed out to the car to make their way to the clubhouse. Once they were settled into their seats and headed down the road, Tucker picked up their conversation again.
“You know, you don’t have to wait until the girls are bigger to go to school. You could go now. You have a nanny to tend to them. You also have me to help when you need it.”
“I know, but I don’t want to become one of those women who lets another woman raise her children. I mean, before I came here, I had them all on my own and it was hard, so I very much appreciate the help. Even something as simple as going to the clubhouse with you for a couple of hours is so much easier with being able to leave them here with Marla.”
“I understand that you don’t want to get tied up with going to school full-time with them, but there is no reason you couldn’t take a few classes. You could take your basic classes, the boring ones, online. By the time you’re ready to maybe attend physical classes, you could already be halfway to a degree. Or you could do the whole thing online. Plenty of people do.”
Leslie thought about this for a moment. Why it hadn’t occurred to her, she wasn’t sure. She had looked at different colleges here and there, but never considered the online ones. For that matter, some of the mainstream campuses offered online classes that she could start and then just begin taking regular classes when and if she was ready or she could transfer them elsewhere. The possibilities were endless, and getting somewhere with her education, for her, was a sight better than just taking up knitting or sewing.