Free Adopted Son by Linda Warren

down two spoonfuls, she paused to stare at herself in the pane of the French doors leading to her small patio.
    She frowned. Why was she seeing herself everywhere today? The frown dissolved into a smile. This was her, the real Grace, disheveled blond hair around her shoulders and a chocolate-induced gleam in her eye. She didn’t look excitedly happy, but she looked at peace with herself. To fight her deep-seated attitudes she had to keep this person alive. There was something cathartic about letting go, and it was something she intended to do more often.
    And it had nothing to do with Jeremiah Tucker.
    Or what he thought of her.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    T UCK SAT AT HIS KITCHEN TABLE wondering what had gotten into him today. He hadn’t meant to say all those things to Grace. It wasn’t like him to be that cruel and it bothered him. He’d stepped over the line so far he wondered if he could salvage anything of their relationship—whatever that was. For Eli, he had to try.
    They were part of the same family and families worked out their problems. That’s what Ma and Pa had taught him. Tomorrow he’d apologize or he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
    He ran his hands over his face, seeing the hurt in Grace’s eyes. He’d never intentionally hurt anyone in his life and he didn’t like the feeling. But for a brief moment it had angered him that Grace had taken the case. She didn’t take child custody cases. She only worked on the high-profile ones, so why had she gone out of her way to take Brady’s case? There was only one clear answer to him—because Tuck was involved. That made sense to him at the time, but now he felt like a fool. Grace wouldn’t go out of her way to intentionally hurt him. He was sure it was a business decision.
    He sighed with regret as he remembered some of her words. She hadn’t known he was involved in the case. When she’d said that, he should have backed out of the room and left. But he hadn’t. For some reason he wasn’t sure about, he’d wanted to wring her pretty neck and words came tumbling out. Now he felt rotten about the whole thing.
    But he wasn’t giving up his fight for Brady. That was one thing he was very resolute about.
    Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a movement and saw Eli and Caroline pushing a stroller up his driveway. They must have walked down the blacktop road. He quickly opened the screen door and Eli rolled a sleeping Jesse inside.
    Caroline paused to kiss Tuck’s cheek. With blond hair and green eyes, Caroline favored Grace a great deal. But Caroline was soft, caring and impulsive while Grace was hard, driven and methodical.
    “Jesse’s having a bad day,” Caroline whispered. “He fell asleep when we got halfway here. Hopefully, he’ll sleep for a while.”
    Eli pushed Jesse into the den and turned the stroller to face them, then went to get a beer out of the refrigerator. “Anybody want a beer?”
    Caroline sighed, taking a seat at the table. “It’s a good thing you’re not married, Tuck. Eli treats your place like home.”
    “I’ll have a beer,” Tuck replied. “And this is Eli’s home.”
    “See, he doesn’t mind.” Eli placed a beer in front of Tuck and handed his wife a bottle of water.
    Caroline looked at Eli, one eyebrow raised. “You just assumed I wanted water.”
    Eli removed his hat and sank into a chair. “You’re nursing. That’s all you drink is water and milk. And I was certain you didn’t want milk.”
    “But you could have asked.”
    “Okay. What would you like to drink, Caroline, love of my life?”
    “Water. Thank you for asking.”
    Eli rolled his eyes. “I’ll never understand women.”
    Caroline laughed and their words faded away as Tuck’s inner thoughts intruded. Understanding was about being sensitive to someone else’s needs and feelings. He’d completely blown that concept today with Grace. He hadn’t given her a chance to explain her side of the situation.
    “Tuck. Tuck?”
    He jerked up his