The Rescuer's MC Bk 7

Chapter 19 - Tank and Nicole's first date

"Sorry for not forewarning you Prez. I hadn't planned on bringing them but Helen had a chance to go get her hair done and she asked if we could take them with us. Tasha has pictures of our trip to show the ladies so I really couldn't say no." Leon explained.

"It's not a problem. You know you guys are always welcome here. Tasha, I think the women are all in the living room. Joey, Kelly, there are some new children in here for you to play with too. They came in a few nights ago. I think they are in the playroom. Why don't you go down and introduce yourselves?

Leon, if you can give me just a minute. Go on ahead to the meeting room and I'll be in in a minute. I need to wrap up with Tank." Prez said and Leon nodded and headed off with Tasha. He walked with her to the living room then entered the meeting room.

Prez stood for a minute, watching them go with a smile on his face. He missed having them around. He turned to Tank to see questions in his eyes as to why they were allowed to run around the house without escorts.

"Their story is too long to tell in just a few short minutes but I will explain them to you later. All four of them are documented geniuses and worth more money than you and I can ever dream of having. But the little ones are still just little ones emotionally and Leon and Tasha are not much farther behind them. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that Nicole's kids will have someone to keep them entertained for at least a couple of hours. You might want to take the chance to take her to lunch?" Prez suggested with a sneaky smile.

Tank's face broke out with a slow smile and he asked "Where would I be able to find her?"

"Try the living room. If she's not in there, she's probably in the playroom which is two doors past the living room on the opposite side of the hall." Prez smiled at him and Tank didn't need any more prompting. Prez called out "Good luck." as Tank lifted his hand in acknowledgement and took off down the hall.

Prez stepped into his office to gather the folder he had made for this meeting and then walked down the hall to the meeting room. He went inside to find Leon standing next to the table where he had spread out his drawings.

"Wow. It looks like you've been busy! You didn't spend your whole honeymoon working did you?" Prez teased Leon.

"No, but Tasha's getting upset with me because I spend so much time at my drafting table." Leon grinned at him.

"Well, I'm glad you came early so that we can talk over the expansion before we get into plans for the rescue center. I need to get this started asap. Tank took our last room on the second floor. If we get anyone else, they are going to have to take rooms that we keep for rescue's and even those are being used by people who will be staying. We've got several prospects who will be patching in soon and unfortunately, we don't have rooms for them. I feel sorry for Andy since he's been here for a long time."

While they discussed plans for the "expansion" as well as the new apartments they were going to be adding, Tank went looking for Nicole.

As he had hoped, he found her with the other women in the living room. He was rather embarrassed to ask Nicole to come to the door, especially when Vie shouted, "You go girl!" and all of the women laughed as she stood up and crossed the room.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know they would embarrass you like that. But some other children came to play with Diana and your kids and Prez said they would keep them occupied for several hours so I was wondering if you would let me take you to lunch in town? Prez suggested a place called "Blues"?" Tank asked.

"Oh, yes. I love that place. They have excellent food. I've only been there a couple of times but I've enjoyed everything I've had. Can you give me a minute to freshen up and to let the kids know I'll be gone?" Nicole said, feeling giddy like a schoolgirl going on her first date.