Page 54 of One More Kiss

Jack

Jack fastenedthe custom helmet he’d had made for Tucker years ago now. Tucker panted, his adoring gaze on Jack’s face, his warm dog breath washing over his face.

“You and me, bud. What do you say? Are you ready to go for a ride?”

He watched Meg roll past in what used to be their SUV. She’d reluctantly agreed to go, but he knew his Meg, she was reinforcing the walls in her mind and her heart so if he tore down the first barriers, ten more waited behind them.

Of course, she called it just getting an early start so she could grab some groceries.

Well, if he had his way, he would drop a stack of dynamite on every barrier and take her right back.

But the one thing that stopped him from going for what he wanted was considering what she wanted. Making her dreams come true had been the only thing he had ever cared about.

She had wanted the little house with the front porch on Bluebird Circle and he’d made it happen.

She wanted weekends the lake, and he’d made it happen.

Not that either of those mattered now.

She wanted a baby in her arms.

Tucker whimpered.

Tucker was the closet Jack had gotten to making Meg a mother.

And hashing out all of it would never make any of it better. He’d poured over this in his mind every day for the past year and was powerless to change any of it.

Just like he was powerless to save Tucker.

“You know what boy? You get all the things you love this weekend. Biscuits, endless fire hydrants, steak for dinner, ice cream for dessert, and you get to sleep in my bed for once. What do you think?”

“Woof!”

Jack climbed on beside Tucker, made sure he was secure with the harness hooked in, and fired up the Indian.

With a rev of the throttle they rolled away and headed north to Old Mist Falls.

The sun bathed them in warmth, but the air rushing over their skin whisked away any chance of overheating.

Even covered in thick, black fur Tucker stopped panting on the outskirts of town.

Following Route 10, they wound through the hills of Innis and Forge.

With the brilliant green leaves, the scent of fresh air, and Tucker beside him, the anger, hurt, and sluiced off of him leaving a trail of broken dreams on the asphalt in his rearview.

He’d grown up here and never once appreciated it. But now that he’d seen what the world had to offer, and he’d hustled at the breakneck pace of corporate America, he welcomed every single mile of country under his tires.

Vermont had diehard traditions and unyielding rules. They’d fought to keep nature unmarred. After spending several years living in a barrage of cluttered roadsides, he let the lush countryside and the rolling Green Mountains surround him like a healing balm.

The locals who’d never left wore their pride and hard work in every wrinkle around their mouth and crease at the corner of their eyes.

They took pride in what they owned, nurtured it, and held onto it for a lifetime. Often generations.

When had he gotten away from that?

He’d taken pride in his marriage, but had he nurtured it?

And about that holding onto it for a lifetime… shit. He’d driven his marriage right off the rails.

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