On the hour-long car ride back into Manhattan, I do my best to share what Italy was like, with a boy of boundless curiosity. Josh jumps in with details like, “Every meal has bread in it,” and “Most Italians on the coast speak little English,” and “I’m getting pretty good at yoga, don’t laugh,” and “We were talking about how nice it would be to live there.”
We glimpse the city’s famous skyline glittering across the rocky East River, and Will asks, “Are you coming to live with us?”
Josh throws a smile my way, answering for me, “Give it time, buddy. Give it time.”
“How much time?”
I reach over, clasp his hand, “We’re not sure.”
Will squeezes my hand and winks at me. And that’s it, in this moment, I know instantly that I’m in love. Not just with a man who cracked his heart wide open and asked me to step inside, but also with a rebellious, strong-willed but very kind boy, who will come to call me Mom.
Not at first. No, for many years as his stepmother, I’ll be Tempest, and I’ll be happy with that. But right before he follows in his father’s footsteps by attending N.Y.U., Will’s first love will choose a college in Oregon, and in so doing she will break his heart. On that day, when I hug him and tell him how sorry I am, I’ll hear Will for the first time say, “Why couldn’t she stay, Mom?”
Though it will be one of his worst days, it will be for this miracle one of my best, though I’ll never share the irony aloud. Every day after, not just to the two children Josh and I will have together, but also to the boy I was blessed to inherit…I will be called Mom.
As Nax drops me off at my grandparents, Josh climbs out to walk me to the door. I slide my arms around his warm neck, our bodies pressed together. “I’ll tell you how it goes. They’ll probably have you over to dinner immediately.”
He murmurs against my lips, “I’m in,” and kisses me, sending heat into my blood, and making me wish I didn’t have to leave.
Like he reads my mind, Josh frowns, “I don’t want to say goodbye.”
“Me neither.”
“Soon we won’t have to.”
My eyebrows lift. “Oh yeah?”
He kisses me, “Yeah, when?”
“Time…”
Sighing, he presses our foreheads together and we close our eyes, imagining what it will be like when boxes can be packed without feeling like we’re rushing.
How long until we can be together all the time, is in both of our minds as we kiss again, neither of us knowing it will be exactly four months and four days until he kneels and holds up a beautiful diamond ring, “Tempest, will you Tucking move in with me and my son?”
As tears fill my eyes, I’ll say the four words he longs to hear, “Tuck yes, I will.”
The End.
Tuck Yes was born out of Lily and Peter Tuck’s true love (Grandma & Grandpa Tuck). We met them in my novel May Cocker — a 1944 historical romance that I wrote of the grandparents meeting, Book 24, a prequel to Cocker Brothers. Where true love began. Lily and Peter Tuck are May’s friends, and their story was so touching I followed them to New York.
x, Faleena Hopkins
Have you read Book 1? Grab “Single You Out” HERE.
For Nax — Book 2 — CLICK HERE
COCKER BROTHERS SERIES
In Kindle Unlimited
Read them all in the 30-Day Free Trial
THE SIX BROTHERS
1. Jake Cocker
2. Jett Cocker
3. Jaxson Cocker
4. Jason Cocker
5. Justin Cocker
6. Jeremy Cocker
Learn about Free Bonus Scenes for the entire series on my website.
7. A Honey Badger X-Mas
— a side character novella
THE NEXT GENERATION
8. Hannah Cocker
9. Ethan Cocker
10. Gabriel Cocker
11. Emma Cocker
12. Eric Cocker
13. Sofia Sol Cocker
14. Sean & Celia
15. Max Cocker
16. Nicholas Cocker
17. Cocker Bonus Scenes
18. Caden Cocker
19. Tonk Jr.
— a side character novella
20. Billy Cooper
— a side character novella
21. Samantha Cocker
22. Jack, Marion, & Troy
— side character novella
23. Wyatt Cocker
24. May Cocker
(Cocker Family historical romance, the grandparents meeting in 1944)
25. Lexi Cocker
Their pack started an architectural firm as a cover. But what drives their inner wolves is their real problem.
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
They’re fighting one evil, the Chicago mafia — a pack of three that will turn to four. One will be unwanted. Love will pull at three. Above all, good must prevail.
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
About the Author
Faleena Hopkins is an author, actress & filmmaker who lives in Los Angeles with her rescue dog Sophia, where she writes every day, drinks too much coffee and not nearly enough wine.
Her feature film “Just One More Kiss” was released in theaters in Feb. 2020 before the pandemic hit. You can find that on Amazon now distributed through Lionsgate.
AuthorFaleenaHopkins.com
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2021 by Faleena Hopkins
Cover Licensed through Deposit Photos.
1 Amalfi Coast Photo license through Deposit Photos.
Cover Designed by Faleena Hopkins
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental. This story uses real places with fictionalized situations for audience fun.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
