Their Child?. Karen Rose Smith

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       Chapter Four

      “You what?” Tate grabbed his brandy and took a big gulp.

      “I’m going to marry Lori Lee Taylor,” Tucker said calmly for the second time.

      They sat in Tate’s study in matching leather wing chairs, boots up on the tufted ottoman between them, sipping their after-dinner brandy while Molly was busy upstairs with the babies.

      Tate slanted Tucker a glance from under the dark shelf of his brow. “Does Lori Lee happen to know that you’re her future husband?”

      “Not yet.”

      Tate chewed on that for a moment, then demanded, “You even been out with her?”

      “Yep. Last night she and her boy, Brody, came over. Brody rode Little Amos. Then we had barbecue and went swimming. It was great.”

      “Came over? Here? To the house? I didn’t see her—or the boy.”

      “Because you weren’t here. You and Molly went out last night, remember?”

      Tate blustered, “I know where I went.”

      “You sound just like Granddaddy, you know that?”

      “Don’t get on me,” Tate growled.

      “I’m not. It was only a statement of fact.”

      Narrow-eyed, Tate scowled at Tucker for several seconds. Then he grunted. “Damn. Molly told me you were asking about Lori Lee, but I didn’t think…” The sentence wandered off into nothing.

      “You didn’t think what?”

      “Well, now, Tuck. It’s not as if you’ve had time to get to know her. She’s been in town, what? A few days?”

      “Seven days as of tomorrow, and—”

      Tate interrupted, “You’ve never even been alone with her, have you?”

      “We were alone last night. We talked, Lori and me. We talked for hours.”

      “With the little boy right there the whole time.”

      “Brody was busy. On the pony. In the pool. Playing with Fargo.”

      “Okay. All right. You had one date, then.”

      “So?”

      “Well, you have to admit this is pretty damn sudden.”

      Tucker shrugged. “Sudden or not, I know what I want and Lori Lee and Brody are it—and come on. Think about how it was with you and Molly. You wanted her from the first. Don’t try to tell me you didn’t.”

      Tate shook his head. “It’s not the same. I knew Molly all my life without wanting her in the least. I only really saw her when she made me mad and ran for mayor.”

      Tucker raised his snifter in a salute. “That’s it. It’s the same with me and Lori. I knew her all my life. And then I finally saw her. At the Gas ‘n Go last Saturday, when she and Brody first got into town.”

      “All your life? You been outta town for about a third of your life. And for that matter, so has she.”

      “And your point is?”

      “Tuck. Listen. Yeah, I finally saw Molly. I realized I wanted Molly. I wanted her bad. But marry her? No way. I didn’t want to marry her until I knew she was having my baby. And I didn’t realize I loved her with all my heart till even later than that.”

      “Well, and that’s the difference between you and me, big brother. I can see what I want and know that it’s love from the get-go—or that it will be, in time.”

      “Naw.”

      “Yeah.”

      Tate sipped more brandy, frowned as he swallowed, and waded on in to the argument again. “What I’m telling you, Tucker, is love is a process. And it appears to me that you have skipped a few steps.”

      “I don’t agree.”

      “But you don’t even know her. You can’t. Not in any way that matters.”

      “I do know her. I knew her the minute I saw her last Saturday. She’s my future wife.”

      Tate looked at him long and hard. “Think of all the women you’ve been with.”

      Tucker had zero interest in doing that. “Why? What about them?”

      “They came and you went, now didn’t you?”

      “Very funny.”

      “I’m just trying to get you to see that you can’t exactly say you’ve ever been the marrying kind. You don’t know a whole lot about the hard work that goes into making a life with a woman.”

      “I’ve changed.”

      Tate considered that statement for several endless seconds. Finally, he allowed Tucker a grudging nod. “Maybe you have changed. Some.”

      “No. I’ve changed a lot.”

      “Still, Lori Lee’s only been a widow for what? A year?”

      “Yeah. So?”

      “Maybe she’s not ready to get married again. Maybe she loved her husband and still does. You considered that?”

      He hadn’t. The idea made him feel a little sick to his stomach. “She’s interested. I can see it in her eyes.”