Page 1 of Tucker
Chapter One
Leah
Thin,early morning sunlight beats down on me as I near my brother Derek’s house. I’mtempted to take another lap around the neighborhood when I see his car in thedriveway, but my body isn’t having it. Five miles of jogging in the heat seemsto be my limit.
Don’tget me wrong. I love my brother more than anyone else in this world. He hasdone things for me I’ll never be able to repay him for. How do you repaysomeone who gave up three years of their life for you?
Iwould do anything for him, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have my own life tolead, and he just can’t seem to accept that I’m an adult with the right to makemy own choices. Which is why I’ve been staying with him and his wife, Ayda,instead of in the perfectly reasonable apartment I rented that he deemedunsafe. I’ll be twenty-three years old tomorrow and he still treats me like alittle kid.
AsI climb the front steps, I can hear baby Oliver screaming for his breakfast. Mynephew has a set of lungs for a three month old. “Hey, need some help?” I offerAyda, when I see her stripping Oliver’s sleeper off.
Aydalooks up at me and shakes her head. “I’ve got him, thanks. He just peed throughhis pajamas again.”
Aydaand Derek’s first few months with Ollie were hard. Her milk failed to keep upwith his needs, and he screamed all the time until they put him on formula. Iknow they were glad to have me here to help, but now they have things prettywell under control, and I sometimes feel like I’m in the way.
Iknow I’m family, but they are their own little family too, and they should havetime to themselves, which is why I’m determined to move out no matter what Dereksays.
LeavingAyda feeding and cooing over Ollie, I head to the kitchen and start a pot ofcoffee. The smell lures Derek to the kitchen and he peeks over my shoulder tothe stove where I have bacon and eggs frying. “Looks good,” he grunts.
“It’llbe done in a minute if you want to let Ayda know.”
Ourmornings have become routine. When I get back from my jog, I make breakfastbefore heading to my part time job at a small grocery store. A grocery storethat is going out of business this week, which means I have to find somethingelse.
Itwas temporary anyway. I have a degree in social work, and I was going to schoolto be a psychiatrist. I thought it was what I wanted to do, but the deeper intothe classes I got, the more I realized it wasn’t the career for me. Derek givesme constant grief about withdrawing, but I’m not going to go back just toplease him.
Thegrocery store job was supposed to provide me with a little money to live onuntil I find a job in social work. Derek tries to give me money, but I havesome savings, and I want to show him I can take care of myself.
Afew minutes later, we’re seated around the table, eating and chatting about ourday. “Ollie has to get his vaccinations today,” Ayda says, glancing at hersleeping baby in his infant seat. “I thought I’d meet Zoe and Sadie for lunchif he isn’t too fussy afterward.”
“I’llbring him home after so you can meet the girls,” Derek offers, and she rewardshim with a wide smile. I swear these two together are so sweet they make mewant to puke a little.
“I’vegot to get to work,” I tell them, getting to my feet. Ollie snuffles in hissleep when I kiss his soft little cheek. “See you later.”
“Don’tforget your party tonight at Tucker’s,” Ayda reminds me.
“Abonfire and beer. I’m looking forward to it,” I reply, grabbing my car keys andshutting the door behind me.
Tuckeris one of the guys Derek works with, along with Landon, Justus, and Jeremy.They run an organization called In Safe Hands that tracks online predators andchild molesters.
There’sa closed sign on the door of the grocery store when I get there, and mymanager, Vince, unlocks it when I tap on the glass.
“Goodmorning,” he greets.
“Goodmorning. I thought you weren’t closing until the end of the week?”
Hefrowns. “We had five customers yesterday. It’s not worth the overhead to stayopen. I’m sorry, but today is your last day.”
“Iunderstand.” I feel sorry for Vince. His grandparents opened this little momand pop grocery and it has been passed down to him. “What can I do?”
“Canyou call around and find a shelter or food bank that will take the inventory?”
“Absolutely.”
Iknow Zoe, Landon’s wife, helps out at a homeless shelter, so I call her first.She’s thrilled to help, and promises to bring the shelter owner to get thefood. Whatever is left, I’ll give to the food bank.
Zoeshows up with a man in tow. “Hey, girl. Thanks for thinking of me,” she says.
“Yes,we can always use donations,” the man alongside her says. She introduces him asthe owner of a shelter for gay homeless youth.
