Read Online Tucker's Crossing by Marina Adair - Free Book Online Page A

counter and jabbed it into Cody’s hand—hard.
    “Ow!”
    “Well, that’s what you get. And you can tell that cheating Viola McKinney, her plan didn’t work.” Ms. Luella pulled back the fork and stabbed him again, even harder.
    Cody groaned audibly and yanked the fork out of her hands. “Enough!”
    “You’re telling me!” She jerked her head toward the stove. “Get a spoon and try that there in the pot.”
    Cody rubbed his hand and, noting that a bruise was already forming, did as told, knowing she wouldn’t listen until she had been heard and he’d been fed. He reached for the wooden spoon and . . .
    “Don’t you even think about touching my lucky spoon; you know better.” He did. Ms. Luella’d had that spoon since before he could remember and no one, not even Silas, was allowed to touch it. “Get a spoon from the drawer like a civilized person and see why you ain’t kicking me out. The Summer Sweet Spectacular cook-off is mine to win this year.”
    “Hang on,” Cody said, ignoring the chili for the moment. “You think this is about the damn cook-off?” Would things in Sweet Plains ever change? “Let me get this straight, you think I fired all those men as a cover-up to get you out of my kitchen?”
    “To hear you say it breaks my heart. And yes, Viola McKinney knows my stove’s been acting up.” Ms. Luella lifted the side of her apron and dabbed at the corners of her very dry eyes. “Now get out before I start crying.”
    “But—”
    “I said get!”
    Cody shook his head, completely at a loss. “Have it your way, but this isn’t over.” He paused, hating to see her shackled to an appliance, which was probably her goal. “You sure you don’t want me to uncuff you? I won’t make you leave tonight.”
    Luella threw a wet dishrag at him. Good thing his reflexes were faster than her aim.
    “You’re forgetting something. The only person in this world more stubborn than you is me. And I’m winning that blue ribbon this year.” Ms. Luella pointed an accusing finger at him. “Now grab that piece of pie on the table and eat up. You’re looking a little thin for my taste. How’re you going to catch the eye of that pretty Ms. Shelby looking like a starved longhorn?”
    Cody looked down at his hundred and ninety pounds of tight muscle and laughed. But he’d been dreaming about Ms. Lulu’s lemon icebox pie for nearly fifteen years. Maybe just a bite. Plus, it would give him a chance to ask a few questions.
    “So, about Shelby Lynn’s son, what’s he like?”
    “Just like you, only smaller. And with manners.”
    Cody realized he was standing with a plate in his hand and took a seat. “I think he already hates me.”
    Ms. Luella’s gray eyes softened. “He’s a sweet boy. Confused and scared and wondering if you’ll like him. If he’ll like you. Had a hard time of it in his short life. And so has his mama, so you’d better be nice to her or you’ll answer to me.”
    “I keep telling you, Lulu, you won’t be here long enough for anyone to answer to.”
    Not wanting to hear anything else about how hard Shelby had had it while she was keeping his son from him, Cody grabbed the fork that Ms. Luella had stabbed him with, and tucked into the piece of pie she’d laid out. This didn’t mean a truce—he would get her out of there—but he might as well enjoy the pie first.
    He stuck the first bite in and paused, closing his eyes to savor the moment. The tangy lemon bit at his tongue while the creamy confection melted in his mouth and the faint hint of . . . what the hell?
    Swallowing down the need to gag, Cody ran to the sink and spit out the entire contents of his mouth and every bit of saliva that remained. Coughing and hacking he bit out, “What the hell is in that?”
    “Soap.”

    “Let me get this straight. You’re going to blackmail a Tucker, and you want me”—Gina sat forward on the edge of her intimidatingly ergonomic seat and swung her arm around to encompass the