Chapter Fifteen
Tucker
Taking the saddle off Stardust, I hear the footsteps behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I see my brother heading my way. He’s no longer got on his old riding clothes. Instead, he has on a dark pair of jeans, a white button-up, and cowboy boots.
“You about ready to go?” I ask, hanging my saddle on the wall. “You’re supposed to be there by three, so you’re cutting it close.”
Major is meeting Gunnar in a small town called Guthrie, right near the Kentucky-Tennessee border. There’s a tobacco farm there that my brother is thinking about buying. He wanted the three of us Brady boys to go in on it together. I know not one fucking thing about raising tobacco, but I agreed. I’d do about anything if it meant getting Gunnar a little closer. Major is riding down to tour it with Gunnar before the final papers are signed.
“I’m fixing to leave, but I wanted to talk to you about Sundancer first,” he replies, leaning against the barn wall.
Sundancer is our newest horse. She wasn’t cheap, but no good race horse is. She doesn’t race anymore, but just a year back she was fast as the wind. After an injury to her back leg, she’ll never be good for more than a broodmare. If we can breed her with the right stallion, their foals will be worth a fucking mint.
“Did Windchaser take to her?” I ask, hoping the answer is yes.
He nods, a smile spreading across his face. “Fuck, yeah. If we’re lucky, we’ll have a racer in training this time next year.”
I let out a relieved breath, reaching up to run a hand over my whiskered chin. The farm isn’t hurting for money, but we’ve been pulling a lot of it lately. With new stock, the tobacco farm, and the new house for Mom, we need to start replacing some capital.
“Did you sign the papers on the Shanks’s place yesterday?”
I’ve been meaning to ask him about it ever since he showed up. So much has been on my mind that I completely forgot, but this is important. Buying the property will help the farm, but it will also give our mom a place to live that is close enough for us to keep our eyes on her. It’s also far enough she won’t be a regular visitor. Luckily, Mom doesn’t drive and hasn’t for years, so the only time she will be at my house is when I decide to go pick her up.
“Yeah, the closing takes place in two weeks,” he says, narrowing his eyes at me. “Have you told Mom yet?”
“No,” I reply with a shake of my head. “I’m not gonna be telling her by myself. I’ve taken care of her since you moved out. The least you can do is be by my side when I tell her she has to move out.”
He pushes off the wall and walks over to me. “I do my fair share, brother, and you know it. I may not let her run all over me like you do, but I do what needs to be done for Mom.”
“When’s the last time you took her to the grocery store or drove into Bowling Green to see the fucking doctor?” I take a step back, afraid that I’ll do something I’ll regret if I stay close to him.
Major crosses his arms over his chest before he answers. “She can drive herself, and she would if you didn’t coddle her ass.”
He’s right, and I know it, so I back off. “It doesn’t matter anyway because she’s not gonna be here much longer.”
I love my mother, love her with all my heart, but she has got on my last fucking nerve. I’m over her shit. I’m done with her snide comments and the way she pretends that Hadley isn’t even in the house. Last night, she even had the nerve to mention some chick I dated a few years back. It was the same woman who she used to claim to hate. To hear her talk now, the bitch is my fucking soul mate.
“I’ve been hearing shit, so I think the sooner she is in her own place, the better,” he says, tearing me away from my thoughts.
“What the fuck have you been hearing?” I growl, hoping what he has to say isn’t gonna piss me off even more.
“You remember last week when you sent Tommy up to the house to pick up lunch for the boys?” he asks, going back to his spot on the wall.
I nod my head, letting him know I remember. It was something that I wouldn’t forget anytime soon. One of the fillies got stuck in the mud bog near the back of the farm. How the hell she got there, I’ll never know. I had half our hands back there, trying to help me get her out. We ended up working through lunch, so I sent my foreman up to the house to get Hadley to send everyone something.
“He said he heard Mom talking some shit to your woman,” he states, staring at me for a reaction.
I give him one, shouting my next question. “What the fuck did he hear?”
“How he tells it, he was in the pantry pulling down the cooler for Hadley when Mom walked in. Guess she didn’t know he was there, and she started her shit.” He shrugs before adding, “It was just typical Mom bullshit.”
Losing my patience, I walk forward and lift my hand in his direction. “Quit the bullshit, and just tell me what the fuck she said.”
“Hadley was making the lunch, digging crap out of the fridge. When Mom saw it, the witch told her that she needed to put it all back.” He shrugs again, but I can see the anger in his eyes. “She said she was tired of spending all her money on feeding Hadley’s fat ass.”
Before he can say more, I stomp over to the opposite wall and send my fist flying into the hardwood. “Her money? Her fucking money?”
He doesn’t even give me a second to calm my ass down before piling more shit on my shoulders. “Guess she also told your girl that if she got any fatter, you’d put her out yourself.”
Suddenly, the image of Hadley picking over her food the last few days fills my mind. I’m so fucking angry that I can barely hold myself together. Mother or not, I want nothing more than to walk into the house and lay her the fuck out.
“Why didn’t he come to me, instead of you?” I ask, more to myself than my brother. “Hell, why didn’t she tell me herself?”
Time and time again, I’ve asked Hadley if Mom was getting to her. Her answer has always been no. Even when I called Mom out on her bullshit, Hadley would step between us, taking up for the woman who has been making her life hell.
“Tommy didn’t want to come between you and Mom. It put him in a hell of a position,” he says, bringing my attention back to him. “From what little you’ve told me, I’m guessing Hadley’s parents aren’t real stellar themselves.”
That’s Major’s polite way of saying they’re fucking assholes. Since the day before we got married, she hasn’t talked to them. My woman has tried to connect with them. Hell, she burns up the phone calling both of the motherfuckers. She has gotten a few texts back from her dad. Each one was relating to her withdrawing from the University of Kentucky. Other than that, it’s been complete radio silence.
“I’m figuring she wishes her parents were better. She probably wishes she had a relationship with them like you do with Mom,” he says, finally uncrossing his arms. “If I was a betting man, I’d say she doesn’t want to take that away from you.”
I take a second to think about his words, trying to put myself in Hadley’s shoes and shake my head. “That’s not her decision.”
Without another word, I walk out of the barn and head straight to the house. By the time I reach the porch, Major is at my side. We walk inside together and head right to the living room where I know Mom will be sitting on the couch watching television.
When we step into the room, she looks up at us and smiles. “Well, there’s my boys. Are y’all hungry?”
I don’t even take a moment to think about my words before I blurt them out. “You’re moving out.”
She jumps up from the couch, dropping the glass she was holding to the floor. “What are you talking about, Tucker?”
“You’ve got two weeks to get your shit together, and then, you’re out of here,” I growl, fighting the urge to reach out and grab her by the throat.
Never in my life did I think I would be mad enough to raise a hand to a woman, especially not my own mother. Right now, it’s taking every lesson my dad ever taught me to keep from knocking her the fuck out.
“What are you talking about?” she asks again, rushing toward me.
Major steps between us, catching her by the arm. “Mrs. Shanks is moving to Florida. We bought her farm. You’re gonna be moving into her house.”
Tears start to fall down her cheeks as she pulls against Major’s hold. “You can’t do this to me, Tucker. This has been my home since the day I married your daddy. He wouldn’t want you to do this to me.”
“Dad told us both to move your ass out of town the minute the funeral was over,” Major states, telling Mom a secret we’ve kept since Dad’s death.
“That’s not true,” she says in a pain-filled whisper. “He wouldn’t have said something like that about me.”
Mom and Dad never had a great marriage, and it only got worse as the years passed. I’m not sure that he ever loved her. In fact, I doubt it. I think the only woman he ever cared about was Gunnar’s mom, and he blamed my mother for causing him to lose her. By the time Dad died, I’m pretty sure he hated her. I think she felt the same way about him.
Pulling in a breath, in hopes to gain control of my temper, I lay my hand on Major’s shoulder. “That’s enough.”
When he lets her go and steps back, I look into my mother’s pain-ravaged face. “None of that matters, and it also doesn’t change anything. You’re still moving out in two weeks.”
“What?” A voice I’ve grown to love over the last few months draws my attention to the doorway.
Ignoring my mother and brother, I walk right to my woman. “You should’ve told me she was treating you like shit.”
“But, she’s your mother,” she whispers as she walks into my arms. “I didn’t want to come between the two of you.”
Lifting a hand to brush a stray lock away from her face, I tell her something I should have said before now. “Yeah, but you’re the woman I love.”
Before she can reply, my mother starts screaming. I ignore her and pick Hadley up in my arms. Carrying her like a child, I take her up the stairs and lay her in the bed. Crawling in beside her, I pull her back into my arms.
“You are the most important woman in my life, and you always will be,” I vow, burying my face in her hair. “I love you, Hadley.”
She rolls into my hold, pressing her body against mine. “I love you, too.”
With those words, I place my lips on hers and attempt to show her just how fucking much she means to me. The kiss gains momentum quickly, turning more passionate by the second. Before I even realize what is happening, we are tearing off each other’s clothes. Only when I reach down to pull her panties from her body do I calm down enough to take a breath.
My hand finds her tit, giving her nipple a gentle pinch. Running my thumb over the sensitive peak, I lower my head to pull it into my mouth. She bows her back, pushing her nipple further into my mouth. Knowing what she needs, I move to the other and give it the same attention.
My mouth continues its assault on her supple tits as my finger slides through her already slick folds before coming to rest on her clit. I rub circles over it, drawing a moan from her lips. I lower my hand just a bit, allowing it to slip inside her. I push in then pull it out, massaging her heated walls. When I feel her start to tighten around my finger, I pull my hand away and roll between her already spread legs.
Staring down into her beautiful brown eyes, I realize just what I need to wash away the last hour of my life. “I’ve gotta be inside, darlin’. I can’t wait a second longer.”
“There’s no reason to wait,” she says with a drawn-out moan.
Reaching between our bodies, she wraps her hand around my cock and places it at her entrance. Lifting her hips, she forces the tip into her. The feel of her tight heat has me plunging forward. I instinctively pull back just to glide forward again, stroking harder and faster with each thrust.
She gasps out another moan and says, “That feels so good, Tucker.”
She lifts her hips, forcing me deeper. Grasping her hips, I finally slow my pace, just enjoying the feel of her tight pussy wrapped around my hard length. Gliding in and out of her, I can’t keep the sedate pace. My speed quickly picks up as I go to the root with each thrust.
“You’re so fucking tight, darlin’,” is all I can get out while pounding into her.
Her nails dig into my back as she raises her hips to meet each of my strokes. I place my lips back on hers as I reach down to pinch her clit. Stroking into her, I can feel my balls start to tighten and know it won’t be long. I add a bit more pressure to her clit as I go deep and hold, wanting to give her what she needs.
“Just like that, please,” she pants, wrapping her legs tightly around my waist. “Go deep, sweetheart.”
Circling my hips, I give her what she asks for. Pulling out to the tip, I slam into her depths again and again. A second later, she convulses around me and groans out my name. I immediately pull back, stroking in and out faster. Aftershocks of her orgasm massage my cock as I grow closer to release. Powering into her twice more, I finally bury myself and growl out my own release.
As pleasure fills my body, she runs her lips over mine. “I love you, Tucker.”
“Not as much as I love you, darlin’,” I reply, rolling from between her legs and pulling her into my arms.
She settles into my side. A minute later, her breathing evens out. I look down and see she is sound asleep. My eyes move to the window and see the sun is still high in the sky. I should be out on the farm working with the horses. Instead, I close my eyes and enjoy the feel of my woman sleeping in my arms.