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“Mom was a snowball making master. She made them, and I threw them.” Ruby continues her story. Tank enjoys listening to her, so he just nods from time to time as she speaks. “Dad and Tony didn’t stand a chance. Tony wanted a rematch, but we were all soaked from the snow, and it was getting dark, so we went inside. Mom made us hot chocolate. She always had fresh baked cookies on hand, and she fixed a huge bowl of popcorn. Dad put the movieChristmas Vacationon the television, the one with Chevy Chase. We had such a good night, eating our treats and laughing at the movie.” Ruby gets a wistful look on her face. God she’s beautiful.
“Sounds like a great night,” Tank replies even as he hears the sadness in his voice. He has a few memories like the one she’s described. His mom and dad on the couch with his baby sister tucked between them while he and Serena sat in the floor in front of them watching a movie together. His mom loved to bake, too. She was always baking cookies, brownies, or pies. Tank loved coming into the house after playing outside for hours, working up an appetite. The house always smelled so delicious; chocolate, cinnamon, or apples. Their home had always been warm and inviting. His mother was often singing to Jillian. Her soothing voice would calm Jillian down most of the time when she was upset over something. His heart aches remembering happier times. He hasn’t thought about those memories in so long.
His grief rises to the surface. He blinks as his eyes sting.Fuck! He hasn’t cried about his parents in years. He rubs his hand down his face. Why now? He glances at Ruby again. She’s part of the reason. She makes him feel more than he’s felt in many years. He’d began getting the “feels” when Ellie barged into his life. The sweet bubbly child cracked his walls. With Ruby’s here, they’ve broken wide open. He looks at her again, and his mood lightens. He smiles. Ruby might be making him feel more than he’d like sometimes, but he doesn’t want it end.
“So, you have a brother?” Tank asks to get his mind off his memories not thinking about how Ruby will react to his question. He glances over at her as he asks the question. He sees her face shut down. Dammit he shouldn’t have asked about her family. He shakes his head at his foolishness. He lets out a sigh. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer. I don’t mean to pry. I just enjoy hearing you talk about your family.”
“It’s okay, Tucker,” Ruby answers with a sigh. “I don’t talk about my life before…six years ago. At least I haven’t in a very long time. It’s just…talking about the past is painful, but for some reason, it’s easier talking to you about it.” She gives him one of her cute smiles. His heart warms at the look she’s giving him. He is building the trust he wants. In time, with patience, he’s sure she’ll confide in him, tell him all her secrets.
“I understand how talking about your family can be painful,” Tank tells her. He hasn’t told anyone other than Straw about how his parents and Jillian died. He hasn’t ever wanted to talk about it, but he suddenly needs to tell Ruby about them. “I lost my parents and little sister when I was a child.” Ruby sucks in a breath.
“Oh Tucker! I’m so sorry.” Ruby reaches over to place her hand on his thigh. He takes one hand off the steering wheel and lays it over hers. He focuses on the road but gently squeezes her hand. He leaves his hand laying over hers and she doesn’t withdraw hers.
“I haven’t talked about them in a long time.” His voice cracks a little. Swallowing hard, he does his best to continue with a steady voice. Ruby turns her hand over and laces her fingers with his. He spares her a glance. She gives him a sad smile. “We had been to my grandparents house for dinner. My older sister, Serena didn’t want to come home that night. She kept arguing with Mom about staying all night with our grandparents. My grandmother talked my mom into letting Serena stay. If she hadn’t, I might have lost her, too, that night. We were hit by a drunk driver. I was the only survivor of the crash. My parents and my little sister, Jillian died as did the drunk driver and his passenger.”
“Tucker.” Ruby’s strained statement of just his name hits him. She has such compassion for him and what he’d endured. Normally he wouldn’t be able to talk about that night, but with Ruby’s support, he manages to tell her about his injuries and recovery. As they drive, he tells her about his behavior in his teen years and how he’d resented Serena and blamed her for a long time. Throughout it all, Ruby is a pillar of strength, giving him her support and understanding.
When he’s finished his sad tale, he feels immensely better. Sharing the worst time in his life with Ruby has loosened something in his heart. He feels lighter than he can ever remember feeling. It’s like the weight of the world has lifted off him. Ruby has held his hand throughout his long story, offering him comfort, something he hasn’t taken from anyone since losing his parents so long ago.
“Thank you,” he tells her. Ruby smiles at him.
“I didn’t do anything,” she shyly replies. Tank can see, she doesn’t realize just how amazing she is to him. Her quiet strength and kindness mean so much in this moment.
“You don’t see it, but I do,” Tank tells her. “You made it easy for me to share something with you that I’ve only told one other person before. Straw is like a brother to me. He’s the only person I’ve told everything I just told you and it’s been years since he and I have talked about it. I hadn’t realized how much losing them still weighs on me.”
“I understand how you feel,” Ruby says softly. “I…I lost my mom six years ago. It seems like yesterday in some ways and a hundred years in others, but I feel her loss every single day.” She sucks in a breath. He can feel the tremble in her hand. He gives her a gentle squeeze. “I never talk about her, not since I left home shortly after her death. I haven’t had anyone I wanted to talk to about her or my family.”
“I’m sorry about your mom,” Tank says sincerely. He feels Ruby’s pain like his own. Losing her mom must be so hard for her being a woman. Once he made amends with his older sister, she talked about how her wedding day wouldn’t ever be what she’d dreamed of as a young girl. Mom wouldn’t be there to help her get ready, and Dad wouldn’t be there to walk her down the aisle.
Tank misses both of his parents so very much and thinks of them every day, but he’s tried to not let himself dwell on it. Being as he’s opened the vault he’s been keeping them in, all his emotions come shooting out like a volcano. He misses his dad’s advice when things get tough. His dad had been a Marine, too. As a boy, he would sit around listening to his dad and his friends talk about their time in service. He’d been too young to understand most of it at the time, but he can still remember some of their stories. Important milestones have been the hardest for Tank: graduating high school, boot camp, special forces training, moving into the house he and Straw have remodeled. His parents would be proud of the man he’s become. He has tried very hard to honor their memory through his actions.
The GPS on his truck alerts him their exit is coming up drawing him out of his thoughts. He glances at Ruby who’s staring out into the night, still lost in her memories. Tank takes their exit. Ruby’s stomach rumbles. She clutches her stomach and looks over at him. Her face reddens.
“Sounds like it’s time we stop for some supper.” Tank smiles at her, and she nods. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. It’s been a long time since I ate a couple of Abigail’s cookies before I left the house.”
“Abigail takes good care of you and Straw,” Ruby states. “She seems like a really good person. I haven’t known her long, but she’s been kind and friendly to me.”
“She is a really good person,” Tank answers. “She had a really hard life before she and Straw got together. Straw is determined to make up for it. They have the house to themselves tonight.” Tank grins at Ruby, waggling his eyebrows. She laughs at his antics. “I’m very glad to not be home tonight.”
“Where’s Abigail’s daughter?” Ruby asks.
“Ellie is spending the night for the first time with her grandparents,” Tank replies. He chuckles as he remembers the conversation that had taken place when Admiral Jenkins had come by the house to pick Ellie up for their weekend adventure. The precocious child had told her mother to have Straw put a baby in her so her mother wouldn’t be lonely while Ellie was at her grandparent’s house. Tank proceeds to tell Ruby about Ellie and her antics.
“Oh my God!” Ruby exclaims, her face flushing a pretty shade of red. “Poor Abigail must have been mortified.” Tank nods.
“She was definitely embarrassed,” Tank replies. “Ellie is rambunctious and says whatever pops into her head. We’re learning you have to filter what you say around her, even when you think she isn’t paying attention. Straw and I thought she was asleep when he was talking about having children with Abigail.” Ruby laughs.
“A lesson learned?” she questions. Her face alight with amusement.
“Hopefully,” Tank answers honestly, “but we, the guys, tend to forget ourselves sometimes when talking about work and stuff. Our C.O.’s wife, Charlotte has her hands full with her twin boys. They’re always hanging around with us when we are hanging out at their house. The boys are normally loud and crazy, but when they want to be they can be very quiet and sneaky. They are small, so sometimes we don’t notice them.”
“Those boys want to be a part of the team, huh?” Ruby enquires.
“Yeah, and they pick up stuff we say, which can cause an uproar at times,” Tank laughs as another memory comes to him. “Not too long ago, Charlotte, called Hawk while we were on base running drills. She was royally pissed. The school had called because the boys and Ellie had gotten into a scuffle at school with some older kids. The older kids had been picking on a little boy in their class so the three of them decided to teach the bullies a lesson. They’d gotten some other children to work with them to shut the bullies down. They got the little boy who’s being picked on to use himself as bait. When the bullies, approached him, the other kids had leaped into action. It was actually impressive to watch. It was all caught on a security camera. They took the older kids down. The twins zip-tied the bullies up. It was awesome, but the school frowned on it. Needless to say, the bullies haven’t pick on the kids anymore and I doubt the twins or any of their friends will get bullied again, but we had to have a talk with them about not taking zip ties to school.”
“My goodness.” Ruby laughs. Tank loves to hear her laugh and see her relaxed. “Poor Charlotte and Abigail. I can’t imagine how they explained that to the school.”
“Oh, Charlotte made Hawk go with her.” Tank laughs again. “He said the principle and older kids’ parents were really upset at first, but when Hawk demanded they watch the footage of the incident, he pointed out how the older children were shoving the little boy. The twins had piped up and said it wasn’t the first time this has happened and the little boy being bullied confirmed it. His parents even thanked Hawk for teaching his boys to defend those who can’t defend themselves. When it was all said and done, the twins and Ellie were given a lecture about not taking things into their own hands but to notify a teacher if someone is being bullied. They had to do extra chores at home and make a poster about reporting bullying for the school. By the end of the parent conference, even the older children’s parents were remorseful about their children’s behavior.”
