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“Having kids really makes life interesting I suppose,” Ruby replies thoughtfully. Then she surprises Tank with her next question. “Do you want to have children?”
Tank glances at her before turning back to watch the traffic in front of them. He’s been watching for signs to indicate a good place to stop for their supper. He thinks about her question. He’d never really thought much about having a family until recently, but he realizes he does want a family, children. He wants it all with Ruby, if she’ll have him.
21
RUBY
Ruby is mentally smacking her head. She can’t believe she asked him if he wanted children. She won’t ever be free to have any herself. Hearing him talk about the kids, she can tell he’s very fond of them. An image of Tucker holding a little version of himself flashes into her mind, a cute little boy with dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes that match his daddy’s bedroom eyes. A faceless woman is with him, smiling at the pair. Jealousy hits her hard. Tank’s reply brings her out of her murderous thoughts.
“Yes.” Tucker glances at her again. “With the right woman, I definitely want kids.” Ruby nods, swallowing hard. Her heart aches knowing she isn’t the right woman. She has a black cloud hanging over her head. One she is sure she’ll never be able to escape no matter how much she wants to be free. Jealousy hits her as she thinks of Tucker having children with some faceless woman. Ruby hates this imaginary woman already.
“You?” Tucker asks her. Ruby takes a breath thinking on how she can honestly answer him.
“No,” Ruby says sadly. Tank frowns at her like he knows she isn’t being truthful. “Well, if things were different, I’d want to have children, but I can’t allow myself to want things I’ll never be able to have. I’m sorry, Tucker. I shouldn’t have agreed to this trip.” His head whips in her direction.
“Babe,” Tucker begins, “don’t do this. We are going to have a nice relaxing weekend and talk. I know you’re running from something or someone. I’m not going to force you to talk about it, but know if you’ll give me the chance, I’ll do everything I can to fix it for you, make you safe so you can have everything you want and need.” Ruby feels her eyes burning with unshed tears once more. Man, this is going to be a long weekend. They’ve only been on the road a few hours, and he’s already had her in near tears twice, talking about her family and has her thinking about having cute little brown-headed babies with Tucker.
Ruby lets out a breath. She doesn’t have anything say to his declaration he can keep her safe. It isn’t only her safety she’s worried about. It’s his and anyone he’s close too, which includes Straw, Abigail, and Ellie. He flicks the turn signal on and they exit the interstate they’ve been traveling on. “Where are we?” she asks. Thankful for a change in topic.
“Florence, South Carolina,” Tucker answers her. “There are several places to eat close to the interstate according to the GPS.” She nods and looks out to see what might catch her eye. As they exit, both she and Tucker are checking out various places. He pulls into a gas station. He grabs his phone from is vent clip holder and steps out to pump gas into this monstrous vehicle. She’s scared to look and see how much this is going to cost him. When he’s finished, he slides back into the driver’s seat. “How about Julia Bells’? It says here it’s American food with southern flare. I’ve been scrolling through the menu, and the food looks good. It has almost five stars in reviews. Want to give it a try?” He asks, as he hands her his phone for her to look over the menu.
“Sure, Tucker,” Ruby says as she’s scrolling over the menu on his phone. “Oh, wow! This all looks so good.” Her stomach takes that moment to growl loudly again. Tucker laughs.
“I think your stomach agrees.” He gives her a wink and starts the truck. He chooses the restaurant on his map app and waits for it to calculate then he pulls out into traffic. In a few short minutes, they are seated in the restaurant. A waitress appears at their table. She hands them a couple of menus to look over.
“What you like to drink?” she asks, leaning closer to Tucker. The woman looks to be in her late thirties with bleach blonde hair. Her uniform is tight across her ample breasts. She’s left one too many buttons open at the top. Ruby is certain the woman’s boobs will fall out if she leans over much further.
“I’ll have a sweet tea,” Tucker says, as he glances over at Ruby. His deep voice never fails to make Ruby shiver with desire. The waitress is full-on ogling Tucker. Her gaze looks him over from head toes and back again. Ruby can see lust in the woman’s eyes. Ruby frowns and pinches her lips together in an angry line. Tucker is a fine specimen of a man, but that’s no excuse to drool over him so blatantly. Does the woman have any shame? Ruby clears her throat loudly, drawing the woman’s attention.
“I’ll have a lemonade,” Ruby smirks at the woman. Tucker’s hand on her thigh draws her attention to him. He then puts his arm around her shoulders and leans in to place a kiss on her temple in the sweetest gesture. He’s letting this hussy know that he’s with Ruby. Ruby looks over at him and smiles. The waitress is still standing there, but at least she looks contrite as she watches them.
“Would you like an appetizer?” she asks, looking at them expectantly. Tucker picks up the menu and looks it over holding it open in a way to share with Ruby.
“Mmm how about fried green tomatoes?” he asks her. She wrinkles her nose. Ruby isn’t a huge fan of all things southern, but she’s willing to give it a chance.
“I’ve never eaten them, but I’ll give them a try,” Ruby says. He grins at her in his sexy way.
“You’re going to love them,” Tucker assures her. He looks back at the waitress. “We’ll have 2 orders of the fried green tomatoes.” The woman scribbles on her note pad, then turns on her heel and heads into the kitchen. Ruby hopes the woman doesn’t spit in her food or drop it on the floor before bringing it out to her. She’s heard stories from some of the waitresses she’s worked with over the years of them getting revenge on a customer. Those waitresses didn’t last long. The owner of Angie’s diner doesn’t tolerate his staff being disrespectful to his customers or their fellow staff. He tries to accommodate the customer, if at all possible, but he doesn’t tolerate customers being abusive to his staff either.
“What looks good to you?” Tucker asks her. He’s still looking over the menu. Ruby turns her attention to her menu. There are so many choices: BBQ, hamburgers, chicken tenders, and daily specials. Tucker settles on the Fried shrimp dinner, which comes with coleslaw. He chooses macaroni and cheese as his other side, then adds an order of sweet potato fries. Ruby isn’t sure what she wants. After a few moments of debate, she picks the chicken fried chicken with redskin mashed potatoes and gravy and seasoned green beans.
The waitress returns with their drinks. This time she keeps her eyes to herself. Tucker with his arm still around her shoulders, orders both of their meals. The woman takes down the order and heads back to the kitchen. She returns in a few minutes with their fried green tomatoes.
Tucker digs right in placing several of the round crispy treats on his plate. Ruby is still a little skeptical, but they do smell really good. Tucker glances at her before he places a single round tomato on her plate.
“Come on, try it.” He grins at her. “You’ll like it. Trust me.” Ruby smiles back.
“I trust you, Tucker,” Ruby says. “I’m not sure I trust this food.” He laughs out loud at her statement. She doesn’t want to disappoint him, so she cuts a small portion off and places it in her mouth. A moan escapes her as the delicious salty flavor hits her palette. Tucker sucks in a breath and tenses next to her. She spares him a glance, but she’s already cutting off another bite of her new favorite food. She’s very hungry. It’s been hours since she ate a few bites of lunch earlier today. Not even the desire she sees swirling in his eyes is enough to keep her from eating more of the tomato.
“Damn Ruby.” Tucker’s voice is husky. “I’ve told you not to be making sounds like that in public. You don’t know what you’re doing to me.” Ruby’s eyes widen as she takes in his appearance. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat. Ruby wonders if she’s really affected him as much as he’s implying.
“Sorry,” Ruby mutters around a mouthful of hot tomato. “It’s really tasty.” He smiles at her and turns back to his plate.
“Yes, they are really good.” He agrees with her as he gets another bite for himself. They eat in companionable silence for several minutes. Ruby’s hunger eases after eating a couple of the rounds. She wipes her mouth with her napkin and takes a sip of her lemonade. They’ve been on the road a long time. Nature is calling.
“I’m going to the ladies’ room,” she tells Tucker. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He stands, helping her from her chair. He looks around seeing the sign over a hallway toward the back of the restaurant. He places a hand on her lower back leading her in the right direction. “I can go by myself,” she huffs, rolling her eyes at his over protectiveness.
“I’m aware,” Tucker murmurs, “But this hallway isn’t well lit. As they enter the little hallway, she notices he’s taking in every detail. “See there’s a back door. Anyone could be dragged out the door, and no one would be the wiser. I’ll feel better waiting out here for you.” Ruby smiles. It seems Tucker is a little over protective, but in Ruby’s case that’s not a bad thing. She hurries into the room marked for women and takes care of her full bladder.
