Chapter Fourteen
July Twenty-First
Hadley
I watch as Doris unfolds the load of towels I just spent the last ten minutes folding. According to her, I do not do it correctly. I’m not really sure how I could mess up something so simple, but it’s not worth arguing over. Especially when the few towels she has done since throwing a fit are folded exactly like I had them folded earlier.
“I’m going to head out to meet Willow,” I say, turning away from Doris and walking toward the front of the house. “I’ll be back in time to start dinner.”
She huffs out a loud breath, slamming the basketful of towels onto the counter. “You’re just going to leave me to do all the laundry on my own?”
We’ve been stuck in the utility room for the last four hours, ever since Tucker left to check on a pregnant mare. We have washed every piece of dirty laundry in the house, including the sheets. She even had me strip the bedding in the guest rooms, even though they were just changed last week and have not been used since.
“That’s the last load right there,” I reply, nodding my head to the towels she’s refolding. “Everything else has been put away, and the beds have all been made.”
Her eyes narrow as she pulls another towel from the basket. “What about the rugs? Did you beat the dirt out of them yet?”
The woman is absolutely insane. I like having a clean house, but Doris is so OCD, she’s driving me crazy. Being on the farm, a lot of mud and dust gets tracked into the house. There are rugs at every door and scattered around the floors. She doesn’t like to put them in the washer. Instead, the screaming banshee wants the rugs taken out to the clothesline every day to have the dust beaten out of them by hand. It takes me nearly two hours to get them clean enough to suit her. By the time I get done swinging the broom, my arms feel like they are about to fall right off.
Blowing out an irritated breath, I feel no guilt as I lie through my teeth. “I’ll do it as soon I get back.”
She lets out one of her typical grunts as I leave the utility room and head to the entryway. After grabbing my purse and the keys to Tucker’s truck, I head outside before the wicked witch of the Brady clan can stop me. Heading straight to the barn, I find Tucker and Major looking over the new saddle they bought yesterday.
As if he senses my presence, Tucker looks over his shoulder and shoots me a smile. “Hey, darlin’. If you’ve come to see the colt, it’s out in the corral.”
I shake my head, walking over and brushing a kiss across his stubble-covered cheek. “I just came to remind you that I’m meeting Willow for lunch.”
“You be careful, and call me if you need anything.” Tucker leans down and puts his lips on mine, wrapping his arms around my waist.
What started as a slow, soft kiss quickly turns hot and passionate. His hands run down to cup my ass, giving it a stinging squeeze. He pulls back, but only after Major lets out a cough. My body is tingling as I suck in a breath of much-needed air.
After catching my breath, I say, “I’ll be back before you know it.”
After another quick kiss to Tucker’s cheek, I wave goodbye to Major and head to the truck. As soon as I start the engine, I crank up the radio and start heading down the drive. Fifteen minutes later, I’m pulling into the Dairy Dip parking lot. I pull into the spot next to Willow’s car and climb out.
“When I first saw you pulling up, I thought Tucker had decided to tag along,” she says, walking my way. “I’ve been gone from town for a while, but as far as I know, he never lets anyone drive that truck.”
I’m sure she’s right. Tucker babies his truck and gets pissy whenever Major so much as leans up against it. He even got a little hot under the collar when I attempted to munch on a bag of Fritos while we drove over to take care of his great-great grandma’s roses. When he complained about me eating in his truck, I told him I was hungry. He just rolled down the window and grabbed the bag from my hand. My corn chips ended up on the side of the road, and he took me to town to grab a burger instead.
“We’re going to Bowling Green tomorrow to look at cars,” I reply with a shrug. “He wants to buy me one of those four-door monstrosities that look like a mixture between a jeep and a mini-van.”
Willow laughs and pats me on the shoulder. “You mean a mommy-mobile.”
“The one we looked at last week cost nearly fifty-thousand dollars,” I say, ignoring her smart-ass comment. “I’m not gonna let him spend that much money on me. First, these rings, and then he’s paying for college. He’s gonna go broke if he keeps this up.”
“Brady Farms has raised some of the best horses to come out of the state of Kentucky for more than a hundred years. Tucker may not be a billionaire, but he is far from hurting. Let him give you what he wants. It’s not gonna hurt his checkbook,” she states, opening the door to the Dairy Dip. “I know you’re not used to it, but he just wants to take care of you.”
Sometimes, I hate that Willow knows so much about me. I shared some things with her, but Tanya made sure she knew everything, including that I had been willing to go to community college, but Dad forced me to attend his alma mater. Then, he spent the last year bitching about every penny he had to spend on it.
When I attempted to help by getting a job at one of the restaurants near campus, he threw a freaking fit. He was worried one of his friends might see me serving tables. How that would happen, I have no idea. But he bitched until I quit my job. That left me dependent on him or Mom for every penny.
I’m so lost in my thoughts, I don’t even realize we are next in line at the counter until Willow elbows me in the ribs. “What do you want?”
I look over to the girl behind the register and mumble out my order. A few minutes later, she hands me a tray filled with a grilled chicken sandwich, fries, and a drink. After that, Willow and I make our way to an empty table.
“So, how’s married life?” Willow asks before shoving an onion ring in her mouth. “Is Doris still being a bitch?”
“I love Tucker. I really do, but his mother is driving me crazy,” I answer, grabbing the salt shaker from the end of the table. “I swear the woman despises me. Nothing I do is right. This morning, she even complained about the way I folded towels.”
She swallows her bite and says, “I don’t think it’s you. That’s just Doris. She’s been like that to anyone Tucker ever dated. He and my sister went out for a while.”
“What?” I say in a near shout, wondering how the hell I didn’t know this already. “He dated Laurie?”
I wouldn’t say I’m jealous, but I am a little aggravated with both Tucker and Laurie. I may not know Willow’s sister that well, but we’ve hung around with each other a few times since I came to White Chapel. Tucker and I even went out to dinner with her and her husband last week. It was more of a business dinner since her husband works for Brady Farms. Still, it looks like one of them could have mentioned they had dated in the past.
“Calm your tits, Hadley.” She lifts her hand and waves it in my direction. “They were juniors in high school, and it probably lasted two weeks.”
“Oh,” I mumble, embarrassed at my reaction.
“Their first date was homecoming, and Laurie wouldn’t shut up about how amazing he was for the next week.” Willow takes a quick drink before going on with her story. “The next weekend, she went over to Tucker’s house. When she came home, she was so pissed that I swear she was spitting nails. She said she didn’t care how fine Tucker Brady was; she never wanted to see him again. I guess his mom made sure to treat her like shit the entire night, and Tucker didn’t even notice. She made sure every girl in school knew to stay the hell away from Doris Brady.”
“I can understand that,” I reply, salting my fries. “If I had met her before we got married, I don’t know if I’d be wearing his rings right now.”
Even as the words leave my mouth, I wish I could take them back. As bad as Doris is, I wouldn’t give up Tucker for anything. He can be a little anal about his truck, he likes to pretend he has the right to boss me around, and he has the filthiest mouth I have ever heard. Still, I love him with all my heart. Not sure how it happened so fast, but I know it’s the kind of love that will never go away.
“Is it that bad?” Willow asks, looking concerned.
“Nah,” I mumble with a shake of my head. “I just need to give her some time to get used to me. She’s been the only woman in the house for a long time. Having me around is a big change for her.”
“You don’t need to give her time. What you need to do is tell her to kiss your ass. There’s no reason for her to treat you like shit,” she states, anger flashing in her eyes. “What does Tucker say about it?”
I pick up my grilled chicken sandwich before answering. “He only knows there’s some tension between his mom and me. If it gets any worse, I’ll tell him.”
Before she can say anything to my admission, the scent of dill pickles hits my senses. As soon as it does, my stomach starts to roll. I force back the bile rising up my throat and pull in a deep breath through my nose. The seconds tick by slowly as I do my best not to vomit all over the table.
“Hadley, you have to tell him. He needs to know how his mom treats you,” she says before biting into her fried tenderloin sandwich.
For some reason, I can’t take my eyes away from the ketchup covered meat. As she pulls the sandwich away from her mouth, I can see where she took a bite, giving me a view of the brown breading and white meat. Ketchup slowly drips down its edge as she sets it on her plate. Normally, I’d be asking for a bite. Today, the sight has me running to the restroom. I barely make it into the stall when the few bites I had taken from my lunch come back up. My body heaves as it empties its contents. Then, I dry heave for a minute or two more before my stomach starts to settle down.
When I walk out of the stall, Willow is leaning against the inside of the bathroom door with a cocky smile on her face. “Rinse your mouth out and make sure you didn’t get anything nasty in your hair. We need to get to the drug store.”
“I’m sure we have some Pepto or something at home.” Walking to the sink, I cup a handful of water and bring it to my mouth.
Willow smiles, walking toward me to lay a hand on my shoulder. “A pregnancy test would probably be better than Pepto.”
Her words shock me so much that I can do nothing but nod. I quickly clean up and follow her out to her car. Not willing to drive, I slide in beside her without saying a word. My mind is too busy with the thought of being pregnant; I couldn’t utter a word if I wanted to.
“I am so excited,” she squeals as she starts the car. “Laurie says she’s not ready to have children just yet, but I’m ready to be an aunt. You make your kid call me Aunt Willow, and I’ll make sure to keep it stocked up with all the best toys.”
Finally finding my voice, I look over at her. “I’ve only been married for two months.”
“I’m sure you took sex-ed, so you know it only takes once,” she replies, pulling out of the parking lot.
We stay silent as she drives us to the nearest town with a drugstore. Grabbing my hand, she leads me inside. Willow, being the amazing friend she is, buys the pregnancy test herself. Then, she drags me to the bathroom and hands it to me. I step into the stall and hold the little stick as she reads off the directions.
“It says a lot of shit, but all you’ve got to do is pee on the end that doesn’t have the little screen on it,” she explains from the other side of the stall. “Then, we wait a minute, and you’ll know if you have a little sprout growing inside you.”
I do as she says, laying the stick on the back of the toilet. “Okay, I’m done. Start the timer on your phone.”
Pulling up my pants, I stand up and stare at the stick. Willow was wrong. It didn’t take a minute. Within ten seconds, a little plus sign is shining brightly. My head starts to spin, forcing me to brace my hands against the wall.
I say the only thing that comes to my mind. “Oh, God!”