Adopted Son by Linda Warren Page B

his tracks. He’d gone to watch one of his boys, Pablo Martinez, wrestle. He was on the wrestling team in school and Tuck never missed a match. Pablo’s mother had found her husband in a motel with another woman and she’d waited in the parking lot, running over both of them with her car. They died from their injuries.
    Pablo now lived with his grandparents and he was filled with a lot of anger. Tuck got him into wrestling and it helped to work off his negative energy in a positive way. His grandfather encouraged him and that helped, too. Pablo was going to make it, despite his parents.
    Afterward he congratulated Pablo and treated him and his grandfather to supper. Pablo was excited about his win and Tuck had stayed out longer than he’d planned. He wanted to check on Brady one more time before he went home. Since Brady wasn’t used to a routine, he slept sporadically. Just in case Brady was awake, Tuck strolled to the vending machines for animal crackers. Brady loved them.
    Tuck blinked. He must be seeing things. All day he’d been trying to get in touch with Grace, even went by her office, but he kept missing her. Now…could that be Grace? A woman sat on the floor, her back against the machine and her blond hair hung to her shoulders in disarray. She looked like Grace, but the Grace he knew would never be caught with her hair down doing something so out of the ordinary.
    She looked up and he knew it was. “Grace.”
    “Uh…hi…Jer…Tuck.”
    The moment she said his name something happened inside him. The annoyance he’d felt toward her vanished. That’s what it came down to—her respecting him enough to use his name.
    Removing his hat, he sank down beside her, propping his back against the vending machine. “What are you doing here?”
    “Eating Oreo cookies. Want one?” She held out the bag to him.
    He positioned his hat on his knee and reached into the bag.
    As he took a bite, she said, “There’s a special technique to eating an Oreo.”
    “Really?” He finished the cookie in record time.
    “But you need milk.”
    “Wait a sec.” He swung to his feet, walked to the nurses’ station and asked for milk. Jennifer wasn’t there but another nurse gave him a carton without question. He often brought Brady milk with animal crackers.
    He eased back down by Grace, placing his hat beside him and showing her the milk.
    “Magic.” A smile lit up her face and his chest tightened.
    He opened one corner and she shook her head. “Not big enough for dunking.”
    He pried opened the lid fully. “How’s that?”
    “Great. Now watch.” She twisted off the top, licked the icing in between, dipped the top in milk, took a bite, licked the center again and dipped the rest of the top. Lick, dip and eat, over and over. He was captivated by her tongue. Licking the last crumb from her lips she added, “That’s how to eat an Oreo.”
    He stared at her chin.
    “What?”
    “You have milk right there.” He pointed to her chin and he restrained himself from licking it away.
    “Oh.” She wiped at it with her hand, getting some on her blouse.
    “Now you have it on your blouse.” He reached into his pocket for a handkerchief and handed it to her.
    “Thank you.” She wiped at her mouth and her blouse. “I’m usually not so messy.”
    “I know.”
    Their eyes met and emotions he couldn’t define hovered just below the surface—emotions he wasn’t ready to define. He cleared his throat. “Now let me show you how a man eats an Oreo.” He reached for a cookie, dipped it into the milk, popped it into his mouth and ate it in one bite. “Simple, easy and no mess.”
    “But not as much fun.”
    “No.” He watched her lips, coughed and took a swallow of milk. “I tried to reach you several times today.”
    She brushed at the crumbs on her slacks. “Did you? What about?”
    “I wanted to apologize for barging into your office and saying what I did.” He raised his knees, staring down at his cowboy boots.