A Father's Name(74)

He’d never hurt Jace, or Angelina. He could almost believe it. He knew he’d never want to, but what if in a moment of anger he forgot?

Partway through another verse of her Jacie-poo song, Angelina spotted him. “Tyler, what’s wrong?”

“I was coming to get Jace, but I wonder, if instead, you could keep him a little longer. I really need—”

He didn’t even finish the sentence and Angelina said, “He’s fine with us for as long as you need. Overnight if you’d like. Go ahead, it’s no problem.”

That was it. No questions. No recriminations. Just her trust and willingness to help.

Tyler had planned on turning around and going, but first, he opened the screen door and kissed her. Kissed her because he knew he loved her.

Bart made a gagging noise in the background and Jace, in Angelina’s arms, tugged on Tyler’s hair and still he kissed her.

When they finally broke apart, she asked, “What was that for?”

“I’ll tell you later.” And he rushed out.

He still had some thinking to do, but in his heart, he knew he’d already answered the most important question.



“SORRY THAT OUR GIRLS’ night out has become a girls’ and kids’ night out,” Tucker said as Eli and Laura arrived, kids in tow. “Bart said he’d stay home with Jace, but it’s his last weekend in town and I know babysitting wasn’t what he had in mind.”

“No problem,” Eli said. “Zac was almost beside himself at the thought of a quiet solo evening. He swore he was going to do nothing until I got home.”

“Sounds kind of boring to me,” Tucker admitted.

“No, I’m with him,” Eli said. “Love the kids and all the noise that comes with them, but sometimes, I crave the silence. Zac took them out for lunch a few weeks ago, and I sat home and simply lost myself in the silence.”

Tucker realized that after Bart left next week and Jace started going to the new babysitter, she’d have plenty of silence. The thought didn’t sound quite as nice to her as it obviously did to Eli.



“Poor Seth is on second shift tonight. So he won’t get to enjoy any silence,” Laura said. “I had to promise Jamie’s grandparents that they can have him tomorrow. And Seth’s off. Oh, whatever shall we do?” She grinned as she asked the mock question.

Tucker smiled as they took all the kids to the backyard and the small wading pool she’d bought and filled with buckets and water toys.

They sat and talked, catching up on each other’s week. Jace played with Eli’s two kids and Laura’s one.

Tucker kept up with the conversation, but Eli’s off-the-cuff comment on silence ate at her. She was losing Bart and Jace, and she’d agreed to walk away from whatever her relationship was with Tyler and begin a strictly friendly employer-employee one.

She deserved more.

That was her father’s and Tyler’s refrain.

When Bart was little she’d dreamed of the faraway day when he’d go off on his own and she could finally be on her own.

Now, with sudden insight, she knew that being on her own meant being alone and that in this case it meant being lonely.

She listened to her two friends talk about their lives, their families, their husbands, and despite what she’d always told herself, Tucker knew that’s what she wanted. A partner. Someone she belonged to. Someone she belonged with.



Not simply an abstract someone, but specifically, Tyler.

She didn’t want their relationship to end next week…or ever. But he did. She felt morose and hung her head slightly.

Enough to force herself to look at her T-shirt.

One Foot on the Accelerator…

On the back she knew it read, One Foot on the Brake.

It showed a woman in a convertible, her hair flowing in the wind behind her as she drove.

Tucker’s short strands would never flow, but she was in control. She had her one foot on the accelerator, the other on the brake. She could decide which to press.

Because Tyler said brake, didn’t mean she had to listen.

She was in control.

She didn’t need to accept her father’s or Tyler’s dictates. She didn’t have to live by what she’d thought she should want. She could decide what she did want.

She didn’t need to think it over, she knew. She’d known for a long time. What she wanted was Tyler and Jace.