Page 61 of Tuck & Roll

“Sure. Follow me.” The woman gathered a couple of menus and escorted them through the restaurant, showing them to a table at the railing to give them an unobstructed view of the most beautiful lake Kylie had ever seen.

She’d been so focused on the lake as they came through the restaurant, she wasn’t sure she could describe the interior if asked. All that registered was dark wood furniture with dark green and white accents and wood beams on the ceiling. Out here, they sat on a stone terrace with heavy iron furniture. On either side of the stone terrace, she could see what she thought were stairs leading down to a walkway that ran along the edge of the lake. She couldn’t tell from her position how far along the lake the trail led on each side.

“Wow, Darren. This is so beautiful.” She didn’t feel like her eyes could take it all in. The sunlight shone like diamonds across the surface of the clear blue lake. Down below was a wooden walkway extending out over the lake with a small building sitting on a large dock. Several tables and chairs were grouped around the area, allowing a completely unfettered view. Strings of exposed lights were strung all around the wide deck. She bet it was something to see when it got dark.

“Yeah, it is,” he agreed with a nod.

“How did you know about this place?”

“A buddy of mine from my old SEAL team told me about it. His grandparents own it and his parents help run it.” He stared out over the lake.

“Is your friend still enlisted?” she asked, as she continued to take in the beauty below. She really did love it here. It was so calm and peaceful she might never want to go home.

“Yeah.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Yes and no. I missed it like crazy when I separated from the Navy. I missed the men I considered brothers and the sense of belonging.” It was hard to read his mood behind his dark sunglasses.

“But?” she prodded, sensing there was more he had to say.

The waitress chose that moment to appear at their table. She took their orders, gathered the menus and hurried away to get their drinks.

“But I got sick of the rules that sometimes kept us from being able to do the right thing even if it went against orders.” He frowned.

“I’m guessing the Sons of Redemption filled that void that was left behind when you didn’t reenlist?”

“Yes. Exactly.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying a good meal and a relaxing walk along the lake. They’d returned home where Darren grilled burgers and they watched a movie. She’d fallen asleep halfway through the movie only to be woken up and sent to bed at the end.

This morning she’d gotten up and debated on whether or not to read Tuck’s messages and listen to his voicemails he’d been sending ever since she stormed out of his house yesterday. She’d been struggling with why he would ask her to come to his house so they could go to breakfast together, if there was a chance he’d be in bed with Taylor. Kylie told him she’d be there in an hour. If he was going to cheat on her, why wouldn’t he have been finished and ready to go to breakfast with her when she got there with her none the wiser?

Everything pointed back to Taylor. Somehow, she’d manipulated the situation to her advantage.

Today the brothers had been called in for church and Darren brought her with him to the clubhouse. She’d asked if Tuck would be there and he told her no. He went on to explain that it wasn’t an emergency meeting and given what Tuck was dealing with right now, they all felt it best to let him deal with it. “He’s kind of stuck at the house because she’s on bedrest or something.”

“What happened?” She took a seat at the bar next to Darren and wanted to bite her own tongue off for asking.

“After you left, she started having pains and thought something was wrong with the baby. He had to take her to the E.R.”

Kylie frowned, not sure she believed that Taylor was having problems after she left. She’d looked more than fine perched on top of Tuck. She’d even gloated. It wouldn’t be too farfetched to think she faked it to keep Tuck’s attention.

Okay. Time for a change in subject. Kylie started asking the prospects questions and discovered that Cutter was twenty-eight years old, single and had spent eight years in the Marines before he opted to not reenlist. Miles was twenty-three, had two overachieving brothers, one older, one younger, and was from Texas.

“How were they overachieving?” she asked Miles, sipping on a Sprite. Her stomach was still acting up and she was blaming it on all the stress she’d been dealing with lately. Maybe after she got the all clear from the club and she was no longer in danger, she could take a vacation somewhere with a beach.

Damn it. She’d momentarily forgotten she still needed to buy a car and find somewhere to live, so the vacation she desperately needed might have to wait.

“My older brother was a mini-me version of my father. He played sports, made straight As in school, and went to an ivy league university to get a business degree. My younger brother was very competitive, did everything my older brother did, but took it a step further by becoming a lawyer for the family business. It didn’t help that Dad pushed and prodded for all of us to follow in his footsteps.” Miles chuckled. “My little brother was hounded constantly by my father to not end up like me,” he explained.

Sounded like his father was a bully. “And I guess you didn’t toe the line?” she asked.

“Nope. I was the rebel. I played sports because I was really good at it, but I could care less about my grades. Because I didn’t make straight As, no ivy league university would have me. Not that I even wanted to go to college. My parents were beside themselves, not knowing what to do with me. After graduation, I inherited a little chunk of change. Enough to buy a bike and hit the road. I wandered all over until I landed here. Couldn’t be happier.”

“Do you still stay in touch with your family?” She couldn’t imagine how hard that had to have been for Miles to leave his family, the only life he’d ever known, behind like that.

“Haven’t talked to either of my parents since graduation. The family housekeeper reaches out to me giving me the occasional update on what everyone’s up to.” He shrugged his shoulder like it was no big deal. She felt bad for him not having contact with his family. You would think, if his brothers had been as miserable growing up as he had been, they’d reach out and keep in touch.

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