Nick Of Time (Blue Ridge Romance 2) (3 page)

“I might stay for a little while. I offered to house-sit while the happy couple is off on their honeymoon. We’ll see what happens after that.”

“You still just go whichever way the wind blows?” she asked.

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

“I’m running a clinic. If I let the wind carry me too far away, my patients wouldn’t get treated.”

“Good thing you’re there to save the world.”

She watched his face, probably trying to figure out whether he was mocking her. He was mocking her, but he’d never let her know it.

 

Nichole drifted away from Tucker to speak to the other guests. She was pretty sure he was mocking her behind his stupid yet sexy grin. She would have called him on it, but it wasn’t nice to get into a battle of wits with someone unarmed. Besides, she’d had a second drink and was off her game.

“Are you having a good time?” she asked Cooper.

“Yes. Thank you for this. It’s just what I wanted. Time with friends. Nothing too fancy, no pressure. It’s great.”

“Yeah? Why do you look pressured, then?”

“You know me too well.” He chuckled.

“It’s been a long time. I’ve picked up some things.”

“I was going to ask if you could do me a huge favor.” He winced. “I wouldn’t ask, but Roslyn has a checkup on Monday and I want to be there.”

“Of course. What do you need? This is what the best man does, right?”

“I need you to go up to the cabin to meet with the guy who’s going to be setting up the tent and the one who’s going to be running the electricity out to the site.”

“Oh, sure. No problem.”

“That wasn’t really the part I thought would be the problem.” Again with the wincing. She could tell it wasn’t going to be good.

“What is it?”

“Tucker already offered to go. I think he was feeling left out, so I said okay, but now I’m a little worried . . .”

“That you can’t count on him?”

“He’s really changed, Nic. But I want this to be perfect for Roslyn.”

“I understand. I’ll tag along with him.”

“Thank you. Really. Thanks.”

“No problem.” It was going to be a huge problem. An hour in the car with Tucker Matthews and his big head? And then however long at the cabin before driving home? He would be lucky if he made it back in one piece.

She hoped Cooper had an alternate groomsman picked out. Chances were, with Tucker’s history, he did have a backup plan. Tucker had always been unreliable.

Nichole remembered being invited to the Matthews home one Christmas. They’d waited on Tucker for a half hour before going ahead and eating cold turkey without him. All the while, Cooper had grumbled about his brother being an ungrateful bastard. A few hours later, Tucker sauntered in half-drunk. He would have been seventeen at the time. His mother had just sighed, having given up on him long before.

Nichole surveyed the crowd to find Tucker so she could tell him the happy news about their road trip. He was talking with the minister, so she picked up her pace before he said anything horrible.

“Excuse me, Reverend,” she said as she interrupted. “Tucker, can I see you for a quick second?”

“Uh, sure.” Tucker followed her a few feet behind. “That guy is the
reverend
?”

“Yep.”

“Shit.” He ran his hand through his hair.

“Why? What did you say?”

“It was nothing.” She doubted that. “What’s up?”

“Is it okay if I ride up to the cabin with you on Monday morning?” she asked.

“Seriously? He doesn’t trust me enough to show a guy where the tent goes? With a map?”

“It’s not that. I have other things I have to do.”

“Like what?” His eyes narrowed.

“Meeting with the guy who’s taking care of the electricity.”

“And I couldn’t do that while I was there?”

“I’m also taking care of some girl stuff for Roslyn.” The words
girl stuff
usually made guys back off like the plague.

“Hmm. Why do I feel like I’m being babysat?” he asked with a frown.

“I have no idea.” She smiled innocently.

“Fine. We can go together. It’ll be great fun.” He didn’t look like he meant it, but Nichole wasn’t surprised.

“That’s the spirit. Pick me up at Cooper’s condo at eight.”

“You’re staying at Cooper’s condo?”

“Yeah. Until Roslyn moves out of her town house; then I’m thinking of buying it and moving in there.”

“Didn’t you have a house or something with some guy?”

She was a little stunned he didn’t know the story. “No.” She didn’t say anything else. It wasn’t his business.

T
ucker showed up on time, knowing Nichole would chew him out if he was late. The girl really needed to get laid or something.

He knocked on the door of his brother’s condo, where Nichole was staying for some unknown reason. He was certain she had been living with her long-term boyfriend the last he’d heard. He might have asked Cooper about it if he cared more. Which he didn’t.

“Morning,” she greeted him with a smile. It almost looked real, but he knew better. She was dressed appropriately for their adventure, in jeans, hiking boots, a sweater, and a North Face jacket.

“Good morning.” He glanced over his shoulder at the rain and the miserable gray sky. “I remember it being warmer here,” he said.

“People always remember the things they want to remember.” She checked the door to make sure it was locked and then started walking toward her Land Rover.

Figures she’d have a Land Rover,
he thought to himself with a sniff. As far as pretentious vehicles went, you couldn’t get much worse than that. He glanced at the Corvette he had rented. Okay, so maybe the Vette trumped the Land Rover.

“Let’s take my car,” he suggested, pointing at it. Of course it was red, too.

“Are you serious?” She laughed and shook her head. “How small is your penis? Or did you just turn sixty-five?”

“Could you maybe wait until we’re in the car before you start busting my balls?” He frowned. “And my penis is huge, by the way.”

“The man doth protest too much, methinks,” she said with a grin.

“
Methink
whatever you want,” he said as he held her door open expectantly. “And I know that’s from
Hamlet
.”

“See, a truly intelligent person doesn’t need to point that out.”

“I do when I’m with people who think they’re more intelligent than me.”

“So everyone, then?” he heard her as he closed the door. He fought the urge to run down the road and instead got in on the driver’s side.

“I’ve heard there are lots of woods at this cabin. Plenty of places to hide a body,” he said as he buckled in.

She laughed at his threat and tried to adjust her seat. He reached over to help and saw her flinch.

Seeing her reaction reminded him why he’d always let her talk to him the way she did and never got really nasty with her. Cooper had never said anything for sure, but Tucker was pretty certain Nichole’s mother had been more than just verbally and emotionally abusive.

He remembered a time when he was eight and Nichole came to stay with them for a few days. Her lip had been cut, and his mother told him not to mention it.

“Be nice to Nichole, Tucker. She’s having a rough time right now,” his mother had warned him before rushing off to the spare room with a washcloth and the first-aid kit.

Tucker knew what that was like. Their mother had remarried after their father left. The new guy seemed great at first, like an insta-dad, but he’d soon shown his true colors and started knocking them around. Cooper got the brunt of it, but there were times when his big brother couldn’t save him or his mother.

Nichole had stayed with them only a few days before Mrs. Roth had shown up to take her back home. It wasn’t until he saw the way Nic flinched away from her mother that he’d put it together.

It didn’t seem possible that someone would hurt Nichole. She’d always worn fancy clothes and had the newest toys. She lived in a big house and had a horse, for crying out loud. He hadn’t known rich people could be assholes until he saw the way Mrs. Roth grabbed Nichole’s arm and ripped her out of the house.

“Sorry,” he said as he backed away.

“It’s fine; I’ve got it.” She hated to show any kind of weakness. He knew her well enough to be aware of that.

Now that he was older and had seen his own weaknesses up close and personal, he understood. It was a horrible way to feel.

“Can we maybe make a truce for the day?” he asked while they sat at the stop sign at the end of the road.

“What do you propose?”

“Let’s say for the sake of today that both of us are equally intelligent and capable people. That way neither of us will feel the need to one-up the other or be defensive.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and nodded before holding out her hand.

“You might be smarter than I remember,” she allowed.

“A wise person once told me, people only remember what they want to remember,” he repeated her words back to her.

“This might not be so bad after all.” She laughed, and he pulled out toward the highway.

Fifteen minutes into the trip, he was thinking things weren’t going too badly. Then one of his songs came on the radio. A song from his other life.

“How are the Limp Dicks doing?” she asked.

“It’s Wilted Lilies, and we broke up last year. You might be the only person on the planet who doesn’t know that.” He shook his head.

“Oh. That’s too bad. I like this song.”

“Really?” He glanced over at her with a skeptical look.

“What?”

“I thought you listened to Mozart and Bach.”

“I do sometimes. But I like living people, too.” She leaned closer to him and whispered conspiratorially, “And I know you also listen to Mozart and Bach.”

“Shut up!” he said in mock horror. “Don’t let anyone know! It will ruin my bad-boy rocker image.”

“As if anyone would ever believe you’re not as shallow as you seem.”

“Surely Dr. Atherton wields a lot of credibility.”

“Don’t call me that,” she said quickly. Great. He’d hit another mine in the vast minefield that was Nichole Atherton.

He changed the station, not liking to hear himself on the radio, and they rode on in silence.

The rain never let up, and it was even colder when they got to the cabin at the top of the mountain. They’d made good time and were there a half hour early, so Tucker got his guitar out of the back so he’d have something to do besides terrorize Nichole.

“You’ve upgraded from that silver bear you used to carry around everywhere?” she asked with a brow raised.

“I don’t sleep with my guitar. I haven’t thought about that bear in a while.” He smiled at the memory.

“You got rid of him?” Nic seemed to be appalled by this as she grabbed her giant purse and made a run for the shelter of the large porch.

“I don’t know whatever happened to him. Just one of those things.” He shrugged.

“I remember him keeping me company once when I stayed at your place.”

“You were crying. Shadow liked to help people who were crying.” He gave her a wink and turned his attention to the swanky padlock that opened to reveal the actual key to open the door.

Nichole jumped up and down and rubbed her arms briskly.

“Hurry up. I’m freezing my balls off,” she said, making him laugh. Then he paused and looked at her.

“You don’t actually have balls, do you?” He smirked.

“No!” She smacked his arm.

“I was just thinking it would explain a lot.”

“Shut up and open the door.”

He did as she asked and let her in first, not just because it was the gentlemanly thing to do but because he worried she would crawl over him to get into the shelter of the cabin.

He closed the door as he took in the room. It was much bigger than it looked from outside. A stone fireplace continued up two stories before meeting a steeply pitched wooden ceiling. The back wall was mostly glass, with two sliding doors that led out to a large deck. A deck they wouldn’t be using today because it was cold as hell.

They went in different directions, checking the place over. He went to the kitchen in search of a snack while she went upstairs. The cupboards were well stocked with canned goods and items that were sealed up tightly in plastic containers. The refrigerator was stocked with a few bottles of wine, a case of beer, and a pack of water bottles. He took a bottle of water and some snack crackers before going back to the great room.

“Holy shit!” he heard Nic shout from upstairs.

Without even a thought, he abandoned his snack to run upstairs to her rescue.

“Nic?” he yelled at the top of the steps so he could find her. There were three doors.

“In here,” she said from his left. He went into a gray and blue bedroom to find her in the master bathroom. “Look at the size of this bathtub!” She pointed as he tried to get his heart to calm down.

“You scared the shit out of me!”

“Sorry.” She winced. “Did you think I was being attacked by a spider?”

“Or worse.”

“Like I’d call
you
if I needed help with a spider,” she said with a grin.

“You don’t know; I could have outgrown that fear.”

“Have you?” Her brow was raised.

“Not so much.” He looked around the floor, scouting for creepy insects.

“Don’t worry. I’ll save you if any try to get to you.”

“Thanks.” He knew she would let them have him. He was on his own.

After investigating the rest of the place, they went back downstairs to the living room. He had turned the heat up a little but was trying to decide if they would be there long enough to justify a fire.

Nichole unfolded a piece of paper while looking out the back window.

“So according to this map, the trail to the lake is right there.” She pointed, and he stood next to her to look through the glass at the beautiful scenery around them. The pine trees were sagging slightly from the weight of the rain. The valley beyond the yard gave a glimpse of houses that looked tiny from this distance.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah. I guess that’s why they’re getting married here.” She turned away and checked her phone for the time. “We have about twenty minutes. I’m going to check in with the office,” she announced as she held up her phone and went upstairs.

He nodded and went to the corner to retrieve his guitar case. In the pocket was a notebook where he jotted down ideas. He had the melody for a song but was still working it out.

He was playing with his eyes closed, waiting for some inspiration, when he felt the sofa shift.

“That’s amazing,” she said quietly.

“What?”

“That you can play the guitar with your eyes closed.” For the first time since he was a little kid, she wasn’t looking at him like he was an annoyance she was being subjected to.

She was actually quite beautiful when she wasn’t acting all uppity. He’d known she was beautiful a long time ago but had forgotten. He smiled at her comment.

“I’m not really playing anything. I’m just fooling around, trying to work out a melody.”

“That wasn’t a song?” she said in confusion.

“No.”

“Wow. It sounded like a song to me.” She shook her head. “That is such a gift, Tucker. I hope you don’t take it for granted.”

He’d never really given it much thought before. He tilted his head while he considered it being a gift.

“You help people heal. That’s a better gift,” he allowed.

“That’s a skill. I went to school to learn how to do that. This just comes out of you. That makes it a gift.”

“I thought you agreed not to make me feel stupid.” He raised a brow at her but smiled.

“I don’t see how that’s possible when you can do that.” She gestured toward the guitar in his hands. “I’m so jealous.”

“Really?” He grinned.

“When I was younger, my mother insisted I learn a musical instrument. She made me choose between a violin and a cello. After a few months, though, she was okay with me playing a triangle.”

“A triangle?” He laughed.

“Don’t knock it. It takes a special talent to play the triangle.”

“So it’s not just hitting the side of it with the little stick?” he asked with his brows creased.

“Okay, maybe that’s all there is to it.” She laughed. Not her fake laugh, which she put on for people, but a real one.

For the first time in a long time he felt something other than irritation when he looked into her blue-green eyes.

“Let me teach you how to play the guitar,” he suggested and held it out for her.

“No!” She backed away, as if the guitar was an infant that shouldn’t be entrusted to her.

“You’re not going to break it, Nic. Just rest it on your leg and hold it like I’m doing.”

“You’re left-handed. This isn’t going to work.”

“I’ll teach you left-handed. You won’t know the difference. Besides, it’s the best way anyway.” He winked at her, and after a huge sigh, she took the instrument from him.

“Take this.” He handed her a pick from his case. “We’re going to start with some chords and your strum pattern.”

“I’m not going to be able to do this, Tucker. I have absolutely no musical ability whatsoever.”

“What you don’t have in musical ability you seem to make up for in a bad attitude.”

She let her shoulders fall in defeat. “What do I do?” she asked flatly.

He moved closer and caught a whiff of some delicious smell coming off her body. God, she smelled like vanilla frosting. He swallowed and focused on his task.

“Hold the pick like this.” He demonstrated with another pick and she mimicked him perfectly. “Then glide the pick lightly over the strings.” He held her wrist and guided her, filling the room with sound. “That was a strum.”

“It didn’t sound so bad.”

“No. You can’t really mess it up unless the guitar is out of tune.”

“Tune? I don’t know what that is.” She laughed.

He showed her how to hold her fingers to make a G chord, and then she strummed again. Her face lit up when she did it successfully.

“Did you fucking hear that?” she said, making him laugh. “Watch out, Tuck, I’m going to want to join your band now.”

“I don’t have a band anymore.”

“That’s right. What happened?” She seemed genuinely interested, and not just for dirt to throw back in his face.