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Tyler inhaled the scent of clean baby and had the first bit of relief he’d felt since the phone call from the nurse. “Jason’s in surgery and I need to be at the hospital. But I had to know Jace was safe first. Can you keep him?”
The woman’s expression softened. “I wish I could, Mr. Martinez, but we’re leaving town tonight and driving to Cleveland in order to catch our plane tomorrow. Jason knew I couldn’t watch Jace for the next two weeks. He said he’d made arrangements.”
“All right,” Tyler said, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what to do. “I know Jason told you I have permission to take Jace, so I’ll do that now and sort something out. Can you get his things?”
Minutes later, Pam brought over the baby’s diaper bag in his carseat and handed him a piece of paper. “That’s my cell number. I am sorry about Jason. Will you call me and let me know how he is?”
“I will,” he promised, juggling Jace, the carseat and diaper bag. What the hell should he do now? Rush to be with Jason? But he knew his friend would insist the baby was Tyler’s priority. He felt torn in two. He needed someone responsible. Someone he could trust to watch Jace.
Suddenly an image of Angelina Tucker flashed through his head. The day she’d introduced him to her son, the way they teased each other with such ease and comfort. As he finished strapping the baby’s carseat into his truck, he found himself heading toward the small auto shop on the outskirts of Whedon.
Angelina might tell him no, that she wasn’t watching the baby for him, but he had to try. She was pretty much his only option.
The short drive back to the garage seemed to take forever, but he finally arrived, parked the truck in front and juggled Jace and all his accouterments into the shop. “Tucker still here?” he asked.
Lou, North and Joe all eyed the baby, but none of them asked any questions. Lou nodded toward the paint room. “She’s in there.”
“Thanks.”
He opened the door, and unwilling to take the baby into the paint fumes, called in, “Angelina, can I see you a minute?”
She came out, wiping her hands on a rag and saying, “I thought Lou said you had some emergency.” She stopped as she saw the baby. “That’s a baby.”
“Yes. Can you watch him? I don’t know anyone else who knows anything about babies—not anyone I would trust him with. Will you do it?”
“YES, BUT—” WAS AS far as Tucker got. At the first word, Tyler thrust the towheaded baby into her hands and took off at a run, yelling behind him, “I’ll call you.”
“What’s his name?” she hollered.
He stopped, turned around and said, “Jace. He’s my godson. His father’s in the hospital.” And with that, he was gone.
It had been a very long time since Bart was anywhere near this small, but Tucker held the baby with surprising ease. Like riding a bike, it came back.
Lou, North and Joe poked their heads around the corner. “So what’s that all about?”
“Tyler’s the baby’s godfather, and the baby’s dad is in the hospital. I don’t know much more than that, other than the baby’s name is Jace. So for now, it looks like I have a baby. Would someone go clean up my mess in the paint room while I take Jace to the house?”
“Sure, Tuck,” Lou said, then nodded to North who bustled past her to the room. “He said there was a family emergency?”
Tucker shrugged. “I don’t know anything else. I’m sure he’ll explain later. Whatever’s going on, Tyler is shaken. For now, I’ll let you guys take care of the rest of the afternoon here and I’ll take the munchkin home, unless someone would like to trade off?”
Lou and Joe shook their heads and hurried back to their repairs. “Looks like it’s you and me, kid.”
She hauled everything across the lot to her house. It was a small ranch that still had most of the furniture she’d grown up with. She’d thought about updating the furnishings, but she liked the Ethan Allen hardwood pieces, and never felt anything more than a new couch was required. She’d bought a new one about four years ago, and it was oversized and covered in a brown micro material that was wearing like iron. She put the baby and his stuff on it.
He immediately began to wiggle and squirm. She helped him lower himself to the floor, and watched as he toddled off to explore her living room. She made a quick sweep of the room and possible dangers, but it looked pretty good to her, so she went back to the bag as she kept half an eye on Jace. “So, let’s see what we have in here.” There was one dirty romper, two diapers, some wipes, a half eaten plastic container of Cheerios, some powered toddler formula. “Well, I think first thing on our list is some shopping. This won’t last you long.”
Bart charged into the house, spotted her and the baby sitting on the floor looking through a magazine as if he could read. “What is that?”
“That is a baby.”
Bart’s expression said that he didn’t think his mother was as funny as she thought she was. “Yeah, Mom, I know it’s a baby, but whose baby is it?”
“That I don’t know. I do know he’s Tyler’s godson and there’s no one else to watch him because his dad’s in the hospital, so he’s in my care until Tyler gets back.”
Bart approached the baby and studied him as if studying some alien life-form.
Tucker realized how little interaction her son had with children. Since her friend Eli Keller had a son, then adopted a daughter, Bart had a bit more experience with little kids, but he’d grown up an only child and had never dealt with a baby for more than the occasional dinner at Eli’s in-laws, the Kellers. When Eli joined the family, the Kellers promptly enveloped Tucker, Bart and her dad, too. Tucker had coined the term Kellerized to explain the way the family informally adopted people.
“He’s sort of cute,” Bart finally said.
“He’s also almost out of diapers and given that he has teeth, he’s probably in need of some solid food, as well as more formula. This might have lasted him at the sitter’s, but there’s no telling how long we’ll have him, so we should have more. I need to do some power-shopping for him. Wanna come with?”
Bart still warily eyed the baby. “He looks like he’s going to cry.”
“He probably needs his diaper changed and a quick bottle. Then we’ll all go get the essentials.”
Bart frowned. “Shopping and a baby. You do know how to show me a good time, Mom.”
Tucker chuckled and she stripped the baby down. “That’s a mother’s job, kid.”
TWO HOURS LATER, BART was on the floor rolling a truck for Jace, who laughed out loud each time Bart said, “Zoom.”
Tucker had gone to the store planning to buy the essentials, but in the end, had bought some toys and books as well. Watching Bart with Jace, she didn’t regret the added expense. Both the boys were having fun. Bart would have made a great big brother. She felt a not unfamiliar spurt of guilt for her son’s unconventional upbringing. He’d been born to a teen mother, and had only had the minimal contact with his biological father. She’d never married, and though she dated on occasion, she had a strict policy of never allowing Bart to meet any of the men. At first because she feared a revolving group of men would be confusing to him, and later because that’s how it had always been.
Tucker was enjoying the Bart and Jace show when her cell phone rang. A number she didn’t recognize showed up on the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Tucker, it’s me, Tyler.”
“How are you?”
“I’m fine. It’s Jace’s father. It doesn’t look good.” Tyler’s voice broke as he said the words. “I’ll try to be there as soon—”
“Don’t be an ass. Stay with your friend. I can handle the baby.”
“I couldn’t—”
“Unless something’s changed since you dropped him off with me, you not only can, you sort of have to. I’ve been a mother my entire adult life. I have exactly two skills in this life—cars and kids. I’ll watch Jace for as long as you need me to. Stay with your friend.”
“But I don’t even know if Jace has enough stuff. I just took what the sitter handed me. I should have thought—”
Tucker cut him off. “I took care of it already. Don’t worry about Jace. Worry about the kid’s father. Call if you need anything else.” She disconnected before he could argue.
“Is he coming?” Bart asked.
Tucker shook her head. “It’s Jace’s dad. I don’t have all the particulars, but for now, he’s ours.”
Bart rolled the truck toward Jace, who giggled. “He’s not so bad.”
She looked at her son, no longer a boy, but a man. In a few months, he’d take off for college. She wasn’t sure what she’d do without him. She’d been younger than he was now when she’d had him. It had always been the two of them. The two of them and her dad. And the guys at the shop. Now, her dad was retiring and Bart was off to start his own life. Where did that leave her?
“Mom, you have that sort of spacey, sappy look on your face. Again,” Bart added for emphasis. “You’re thinking about me leaving home.”
“No, I wasn’t,” she denied. “I was thinking about how I’m going to get Werner’s car ready. He was coming by first thing in the morning for it, and Tyler was the one working on it.”
“I could watch the runt while you go finish it,” Bart offered. “Which was, by the way, I know what you were hoping I’d say.”
Tucker chuckled. “You are a smart boy. I shouldn’t be long, but I hate to have a customer show up for a car that’s not ready. And there’s an added benefit of you watching a kid and finding out it’s not a cake-walk—”
Bart’s groaned interrupted her. “Seriously, you’re going to turn me helping you out by watching this kid into some teen-parent-prevention lesson?”
Tucker laughed. “An inventive parent works with the opportunities life gives them.”
“You’re wacked, Mom, but that’s one lesson you’ve driven home without me watching the baby.” He made a shooing motion. “So, get, I’ve got it, Mom. I’ll call if me and the kid have problems.”
She started to the door, then turned back. “You’ve got his toys, his food and the new books.”
“You bought out half the store. We’ve got plenty. Go.”
“Fine. I’ll hurry.”
Tucker wasted no time climbing under the car that was still waiting for Tyler. She was sure the other guys would have finished it. One of them would have come back tonight, or come in early tomorrow if she asked, but she wanted to do it. It wasn’t much, but it made her feel as if she was doing something for Tyler. Something tangible.
When he’d been a customer and asked her out, he’d had an aura of self-confidence. He believed the world was his oyster and even her rejections couldn’t dent his self-image. That Tyler Martinez had known he had the world in the palms of his hands, and it didn’t seem to occur to him that his belief in that basic fact could change.
This new Tyler seemed to be getting kicked over and over again. He’d lost his career and his good name when he went to jail. And remembering his expression when he showed up with the baby, he was terrified he was going to lose his friend.
Well, she couldn’t do anything to help his friend, or get his old life back for him, but she could watch Jace and she could damn well fix this car.
It wasn’t much, but it would have to be enough.
She started checking where Tyler had left off with the Werners’ car.
She knew Bart would call if he had problems.
She smiled because he’d caught on to her master plan. Taking care of a baby was a better life lesson than any of her lectures could be. Kids were hard work. Maybe watching Jace would help Bart remember that when he went off to college.
She decided that taking her time on the car was not such a bad idea after all, because being a grandmother in her thirties was definitely not on her list of future plans.
Of course, she wasn’t quite sure what those were, but she trusted that eventually she’d figure it out.
THREE DAYS LATER, Tyler dragged himself out of his truck and onto Angelina’s porch. He rang the doorbell and waited.
She’d been amazing, and he wasn’t sure why. She’d not only kept Jace, but with the help of her father and son, she’d juggled the baby’s care with work. She assured him that it was fine, that she knew he needed to be with his friend.
She hadn’t pushed him for explanations on his friendship with Jason. She hadn’t asked him for anything.
Tyler had spent the last three days waiting for Jason to wake up, but his friend had slowly gone from bad to worse. When Jason’s parents had arrived from their retirement community in Florida, Tyler had felt stretched almost beyond his limits as he tried to support them. Jason was their only son and they were crushed.
When the end came, it had been swift. There was no fanfare. No final moments with poignant words. One minute, Jason had been breathing—still clinging to life. The next minute he simply stopped—stopped breathing, stopped living. Mrs. Matthews had totally fallen apart. It was all he could do to help Mr. Matthews get her to Jason’s house where they were staying. Her grief was tangible.
Tyler pushed his own pain aside. The Matthews had done so much for him. He’d do what he had to in order to support them. Later, he’d grieve on his own.
He told them he’d bring the baby over later in the day and that he’d help them plan Jason’s funeral.
Tyler realized he hadn’t felt the full impact of Mellie’s death because he’d been in prison. Jason had called and told him when she’d died, but there hadn’t been anything Tyler could do. She wasn’t a blood relation, so there wasn’t even a possibility of being released for her funeral. He’d suffered through the loss on his own.
This time, he wasn’t alone. He’d thought it would hurt less if he was with others who shared his pain, but watching people he loved suffering made it hurt more.
He waited at Angelina’s door, pushing down his hurt.
The door flew open. “Tyler?”
“He’s gone. Jason’s dead.” It was the first time he’d said the words out loud and they struck him. “He’s gone.”
Angelina reached out, grabbed his hand and tugged him inside. “I’m so sorry, Tyler. What can I do?”
Angelina’s warm reaction didn’t exactly surprise him, but it didn’t mean he understood it, either. “I came to get Jace.” His mind was muddled; he accepted her concern, but he knew he couldn’t impose on Angelina any further.
Rather than go get the baby, she asked, “When’s the last time you slept or ate?”
“What day is it?” he asked.
“Saturday.”
The days had blurred together and he didn’t have a clue. “I don’t know.”
“You can crash in my room and I’ll take care of him for a little while longer. He’s a good kid.”
“Angel, I can’t—”
He thought of her as Angelina, or Angel. Back when he’d had the world in his hand, he’d called her that, but everything had changed since then. He knew he should call her Tucker, like everyone else, but she didn’t notice, or simply didn’t correct his slipup as she interrupted him. “You’re right. You can’t do much of anything until you get some sleep and some food. In that order.” She led him down the hall. “And a shower.”
She sniffed the air. “Maybe the shower first.”
“I—”
She led him to her room and gave him a gentle push inside. “The bathroom’s right through that door. There are clean towels in the cupboard. Take a shower, then go to bed, Tyler. We’ll figure it all out when you get up.”
He was too exhausted to argue. He took a shower and used the shampoo that was out. It smelled flowery. It smelled like Angelina. Until now, he’d never noticed that despite her work clothes, she’d always smelled very feminine.
He wrapped a clean towel around his waist, went into her room and climbed in Angelina Tucker’s bed. The last thing his foggy brain registered is that the bed smelled flowery, too.
It smelled like Angelina.
That thought comforted him as he fell asleep.
TUCKER WAITED A HALF hour, then tiptoed into the bathroom through the hall door and picked up Tyler’s clothes. She planned on washing them while he slept. She couldn’t swear to it, but she was pretty sure the jeans and tight black t-shirt were the same ones he’d had on three days ago when he’d brought her Jace. The door to the bedroom was cracked and she saw Tyler sprawled on her bed.
