Chapter Fourteen
“So you and Tucker disappeared last night.”
Abby glanced up as Betty Jo joined her at the table. It was late Sunday morning and brunch was being served.
Abby shook her head and cleared her throat. She opened her mouth to say…something…but the knowing look in Betty’s eyes pretty much said everything.
She blew out a hot breath and played with the napkin in front of her, eyes lowered, mind racing.
“Does everyone know?”
“Does everyone know what?”
Abby’s head shot up. Betty Jo wasn’t going to make this easy, but the smile on the woman’s face told Abby everything.
“Shit,” Abby muttered.
Betty Jo shrugged and took a sip of champagne. “Not much you could do to hide it. Grace saw the two of you sucking face outside and then you were gone so…”
Abby glanced around the room until she found Tucker chatting with his brother Beau by the buffet table. He held two plates in his hands, though she wasn’t sure she could eat.
Her heart accelerated. Her cheeks were probably the same color as the strawberries next to the champagne, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his handsome profile, broad shoulders and tall frame. Her eyes dropped to his long fingers as they gripped the plate. Long, talented fingers.
God, the things he’d done to her. The things she’d done to him.
The night before had been like a dream. A crazy, sexy, hot dream. She was sore in places that still tingled. Sore in places he’d explored thoroughly with fingers and tongue. Over and over.
He’d been right. After that first explosive encounter up against the wall, he’d picked her up and taken her to the bed where he finally got naked. The next time had been a slow, heady, sensual and thorough loving. They’d rested. Laughed. Talked about nothing and then made love again.
They didn’t leave the bed until an hour ago and Tucker had had her in the shower. Never in her life had Abby connected with a man the way she’d done with Tucker. It had been everything she’d fantasized about and so much more.
They hadn’t even used a condom, though any concern about pregnancy had been averted. Abby was on the pill.
“Oh God,” she whispered. She’d never lost control like that and if she could, she’d have him again. Right here. Right now.
Well, that is if Aunt Virginia wasn’t staring at her with a look in her eye that echoed what she saw in Betty’s. And you know, they weren’t in the middle of the hotel restaurant.
Tucker jerked his head suddenly, as if he knew she was looking at him and she couldn’t help herself. Abby smiled, a slow, hesitant smile and when he returned it, she nearly melted in her seat.
God, her panties were on fire. Just from one look.
“You’re in love with him.”
That got her attention. She dragged her gaze back to Betty Jo.
“What?”
Betty Jo shrugged but said no more and Abby’s heart sank. “Am I that pathetic? That obvious?”
“No,” Betty Jo replied. “I guess I’m just more in tune with your emotions, because you look at Tucker the way I look at Beau.”
Abby’s shoulders relaxed a little. “And what way is that?”
Betty Jo popped another strawberry into her mouth before she turned to look at her boyfriend. The two brother’s were once more in conversation.
“Sometimes you look at Tucker like you can’t live without him. Like the thought of living without him hurts.” Betty paused, her expression unreadable.
“Like you need him to breathe,” Abby replied without thinking.
Betty nodded. “Sometimes you look scared, and I get that. I feel that way, too. It’s all still so new and hot and consuming. So overwhelming that I feel like I’m losing myself. But it’s Beau, so that’s okay. I want to be lost with him.”
“Shit. What the hell am I going to do?”
Betty Jo swung her gaze back to Abby. “The only thing that you can do.”
Abby’s eyes widened. “What’s that exactly?”
“Love him. Be there for him.”
As if it was that simple. Betty Jo had obviously missed the memo. The one that said Tucker Simon wasn’t looking for something permanent with anyone.
“He’s not ready for that. He’s still not over what happened to his wife. I think that a part of him still thinks she’s coming back.”
“Maybe he’s not ready.” Betty shrugged. “But he sure as hell needs it. To be loved. To matter to someone. To allow himself to be in the position of having someone matter to him again. The question is…are you willing to take the chance and give him your heart? Are you willing to take a chance that he could love you back the way that you love him?”
Abby felt tears sting the corners of her eyes, and she blew out another hot breath. Her chest was tight. It was so goddamn tight that it was hard for her to breathe.
She wanted all of that. So much that it hurt to think of what would happen to her if Tucker didn’t find his way. If he kept on hoping that a wife who had disappeared over the ocean three years ago would return to him.
She thought of what her roommate Lisa had said the night before. “It means that he might break your heart…but it also means that you might be the one to fix his.”
“I don’t know if I…if I’m strong enough. If I can…” She shrugged helplessly.
Betty Jo leaned across the table and squeezed her hand. “If my best friend, Matt, was here, he’d tell you to go for it. He’d tell you that life isn’t always fair and that a lot of shitty things happen to good people. Things that hurt. Things that break.”
Betty’s brow furled, and she looked fierce. “He would tell you that, sure, you might go all in with Tucker, and he won’t even meet you half way. He’ll break your heart.” She paused and seemed to be trying to get hold of her emotions. “Matt would say that being hurt is part of loving and that sometimes, even when all that’s left is hurt…even then, it means that you’ve lived. And living is better than just existing. I should know. I did that for longer than I care to remember.”
The tears that had threatened slowly fell from Abby’s eyes. She sniffled as Abby let go of her hand and then reached for the napkin. After dabbing her eyes, she managed a half smile.
“That is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Betty Jo nodded. “I know. I find the truth usually is.”
“You’re friend Matt sounds as if he’s got his shit together.”
“No.” Betty looked sad. “Not at all. He’s actually the most f*cked up person I know. But even he still has hope.”
Abby thought about it for a moment. “But what if I’m not strong enough? What if Tucker not loving me back is just too much? What then?”
“I’m sorry, sweetie. That’s something you’re going to have to figure out on your own, but if this helps, I can tell you with all certainty that Tucker Simon has very strong feelings for you. I think that he’s already in love with you. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Shocked, Abby slumped in her seat, half dazed and way too full of emotional stuff to do anything but stare at the bowl of strawberries in front of her.
“Good morning, Abby. You look a little pale. Are you all right?”
Abby took a moment, and when she thought there was at least an illusion that she looked like a capable woman who had her shit together, she smiled up at Eden Simon. Tucker’s mother returned the smile, a gentle look in her eyes as she reached over and grabbed a strawberry.
“Lovely brunch, don’t you think?”
Abby nodded, still not trusting her voice.
“The reception was wonderful as well,” Eden continued.
Betty snorted softly, but Abby managed to form a coherent sentence. “Yes, it was beautiful. The bride was so happy and the music was…” She thought of the slow dance she’d shared with Tucker on the patio and tried like hell not to blush. “The music was really good.”
“Yes,” Eden said, grabbing another strawberry. “It was. Though you and Tucker, well you left early, didn’t you?”
There was a teasing note in her voice, but it did nothing to quiet the nerves going crazy inside of Abby.
Abby looked at Betty Jo helplessly, but the woman’s eyes were fixed to the right.
“Oh,” Eden murmured as the woman followed Betty Jo’s gaze.
Abby glanced toward Tucker and his brother, and spied an older couple. There were hellos and Tucker set down his plates. He shook the man’s hand, said a few words and then the woman hugged him fiercely. Beau glanced their way, and Abby could tell by the look on his face that something was up.
Tucker’s father walked over to his sons and more greetings went round. A few seconds later, the entire group made their way back to the table.
Abby shot another look at Betty Jo but she shrugged slightly as if she had no idea who the couple was.
Eden smiled warmly. “Kate. Jason. We didn’t know you were at the hotel. We would have…” Her eyes moved over Abby and then back—it was a quick glance really, nondescript, and yet it made Abby uncomfortable. Something was happening, but she had no idea what it was.
“We would have loved to have seen you. Dinner or something,” Eden continued.
“We had no idea you were here, either. I’m in town for a medical convention,” the man said. “But we ran into your daughter, Grace, in the lobby just now. So we had to say hello. It’s been…too long and unfortunately, we’re heading home.”
“Ah,” Eden cleared her throat and Abby picked up on a nervous thread, like an electric pulse that touched all of them.
Tucker still hadn’t looked at Abby, though he’d set a plate in front of her, and she didn’t have to look up at the woman to know her eyes were settled on Abby. They’d found her from across the room and were stuck to Abby like glue.
She didn’t seem unkind, just puzzled, as if trying to work something out.
“And who’s this?” The woman named Kate asked, her eyes still on Abby.
There was an uncomfortable silence and then Tucker spoke in a rush. “This is my friend, Abby Mathews. We had a family wedding and she was nice enough to brave my crazy family and keep me company.”
Abby’s stomach tumbled, and she gripped the glass in front of her as if it was a lifeline. Uncomfortable didn’t come close to describing the charged atmosphere, and Tucker was behaving as if…
As if last night hadn’t happened.
Noah Simon looked as if he didn’t know what to do or say, and Tucker’s face was hard. It was hard and closed off. She’d never seen him like this.
“Well that was certainly nice of you. Hello, Abby. I don’t think we’ve met before,” the woman said pleasantly, though her eyes were strangely blank. There was no menace there, but Abby got the feeling that the woman wasn’t a fan. “I’m Marley’s mother.”
Abby felt as if her face was glass, and if she did or said the wrong thing, it would shatter.
“We’re Tucker’s in-laws.”