Page 11 of Colby (Tucker’s Pride #5)

“I was wondering if we could have some time to talk.” She told Colby that she just wanted to go to bed and not have to be worried about mates tonight.

“I wasn’t going to mention that, but I’d like to offer you a ride on the boat tomorrow.

We don’t have anyone going out until the day after tomorrow, and I thought that you might enjoy it. ”

“I have to work.” He nodded as if he knew she was going to say that. “I really do have to work. I get Tuesday off this week, then I’m off on Saturday again. Those are my only two days off unless they need me to fill in.”

“Then maybe I can travel with you again. I really did enjoy that.” She was tempted to say no; she had enough on her mind, but the thought of being alone tomorrow was just too much after spending some time with her mom and Colby.

“I promise not to bother the radio again if you’ll talk to me.

We really do have a lot to talk about, and even if you don’t want me as your mate, I have shared my magic with you, and we should at least talk about that. ”

“I don’t have any magic.” He said that she did and could prove it to her.

When he told her to think of something she wanted to wear, she nearly passed out when her clothing changed to sweat pants and an old comfy t-shirt that she’d had forever.

All she could do was stare at him open-mouthed until he closed her lips together by using his fingers.

He didn’t make fun of her either, which she was grateful for.

“I didn’t know that there was anything to do with magic.

I mean, I’m getting a hard lesson in it with my rig.

Parker, the grand witch, made it so that I have a lot more room in my rig, and I even have a full-sized shower with a king-sized bed, but I never thought that I’d have anything like that. ”

“I can do that as well. Change my clothing, I mean. It’s usually the first bit of magic that we notice when we have a mate.

There are other things as well. When you were handed the basket of teas with sugar, it didn’t have the kind that you liked in it until you thought about it.

Then all the tea was your favorite kind.

I’ll remember that for the future.” She told him that she could get her own tea, thanks.

“You’re bristling again. Just go with the flow, please.

I’m trying to be nice to you, but it’s hard when you’re biting at me again. ”

“I’m sorry. I feel like I’m in over my head with a lot of things lately.

I don’t want someone in my life who is going to order me to stop doing what I love.

And I worked very hard for my license to drive the bigger trucks.

” He said that he knew that and would never presume to tell her what to do with her life.

Only to make room for him in it. “I don’t know, Colby.

I have so much going on right now. We’re trying to sell off our old house, and then there is the house we have now, in addition to me driving all the time.

I just don’t see us having any time for each other.

And I won’t give up my time to be with my mom to be with you. ”

“I’m not asking you to do anything like that, am I?

I mean, not once did I say that you had to quit your job, either.

You just assume that’s going to happen and are fighting the battle without me ever doing anything to you about it.

” Colby looked so frustrated that she wanted to cry.

It wasn’t her fault that they were mates, and now he was pissed off at her.

“Look, maybe we’d be better off staying apart for now.

That way, you can think of something nice to say to me when I’ve done nothing wrong to you since I met you. I’ll talk to you later.”

When he walked away, she felt a little tenderness in her heart.

Rubbing the area that was hurting, she felt tears roll down her cheeks.

He’d just left her, and all she could think about was that she was going to miss something big if he didn’t come back.

Before she could call for him, her mom asked her if she was ready to go home.

She looked like she was upset with her as well.

Damn it, this wasn’t her fault. None of it was.

Fighting with herself on the way home, she didn’t talk much to her mom.

She seemed to be all right with that, and when they got to the house, it didn’t help her temper much when he mom got out of the car and walked to the house on her own.

No one was playing fairly with her, and she didn’t care for it.

It was then that she realized that it was all on her, and she was the only one who was upset with herself.

Her mom could have just been tired and wanted to go to bed.

Stomping her way into the house, she was in her room when she heard her mom tell her good night.

Christ, she needed to have her head examined. She was off her noodle.

~*~

Colby was so pissed off at himself for treating Emma the way that he had that he needed to cool off before going home.

Instead of going to the condo where he was renting, he made his way to the boat to hang out there for a little while.

He still had plenty to do, and clean up was his job when they came back from a trip.

He had the sheets in the washer when he started mopping the floor in the galley.

Hardly anyone spent any time in there besides him and the staff, but the floor needed a good scrubbing.

Tomorrow they were all off, and he was going to give the boat a once-over so that it would be ready for the next trip out.

Pulling the sheets out of the washer and putting them in the dryer, he figured that he could get a good start on cleaning the rooms when he realized that he wanted to be with Emma instead of cleaning the boat and washing towels and sheets.

“What is wrong with you?” He never talked to himself before, not until he met Emma, but tonight, being all alone in the big boat, he knew that no one was around, so he could talk himself out of being upset with her while he was at it. “You’re in love with her, that’s what it is.”

Was he in love with her? He’d never been in love before, but had seen his brothers when they had found their mates.

He remembered seeing his grandparents loving one another in the kitchen once and had been so happy to know that they still had affection for each other after all this time.

They were the most loving couple that he’d ever met. Nothing like his parents had been.

When he’d been just a little boy, his parents had dropped them off at their grandparents’ house one Thanksgiving and hadn’t returned for them.

Just dropped off nine kids, all of them under the age of seventeen, one day, like they were nothing but rubbish they wanted to get rid of.

And come to find out, that’s just how they felt about them, too.

Too many kids, and they blamed that on them.

Like it was their fault that they’d had them.

Going to the house, hoping against hope that they’d be there just having some alone time, everything that they had ever owned, toys, clothing, and coats had been sold off so that they could have a ‘fresh start’ someplace that didn’t involve them having to take care of all the kids anymore.

Not that leaving them behind had netted them enough money for the lifestyle that they’d wanted.

No, every few months or so, they’d be calling Grannie and begging for money.

Like they had a right to do that after leaving two elderly people with all those mouths to feed, clothe, and take care of all the time.

Sitting at the galley table, he thought about how hard it must have been on his grandparents, too.

Not only did they care for them and make sure they had plenty to eat, but when someone came along and needed a hand up, they were there for them as well.

They’d also made sure that they were able to go to college when the time came.

One of his brothers was an attorney, and two of them were doctors.

They’d done all that for them without a word of hate toward their parents, too.

Colby decided that he was going to go and visit his grandparents tomorrow and tell them how much he loved them for what they’d done for them.

He was also going to take them out to dinner so they’d not have to do anything about that meal, too.

Hell, he should get everyone together sometime soon and see about getting together as a family around them.

They were in their nineties right now, and he knew that they’d be around for a good deal longer, but he wasn’t going to wait.

He wanted to spend as much time with them as they would allow him to.

The beds were all made up, and the kitchen polished to a high shine when the sun was coming up.

His plan had been to only clean a little tonight and spend the rest of the morning getting things squared away, like making the beds and sweeping the carpets.

Just as he was heading out, one of his staff showed up to help him get it ready for the next trip, and he told her that he’d gotten it all done and was going home to take a nap.

She seemed so excited to hear that he did a little dance on the way to his car.

Next time he’d be getting help, he thought, and that would balance it out for the others, too.