Page 28 of Festive Faking
I could only imagine the hell that would rain down if it ever got back to Aspen that I was consorting with the enemy, but a part of me felt bad for the guy. The tortured look in his eyes was one I knew all too well.
“Okay,” I agreed, stepping aside so he could place his own order and pay for both.
Turning back to me when the staff began making our drinks, he extended his hand. “Tucker Grant.”
It had been drilled into me that, in business, to refuse a handshake was the ultimate insult. The slight probably wasn’t any less egregious in a small town.
So, that’s how I found myself accepting his gesture and offering my name. “Mac Blaze.”
A woman popped her head up from behind the bakery case. “Doc, do you mind moving your conversation to a table? We’ve got a line.”
Tucker let out a laugh, but it sounded hollow, and the smile he flashed the woman didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You got it, Rita. Sorry ’bout that.”
He motioned to an empty two-seater by the window. “Shall we?”
It was one thing to let the man buy my breakfast in apology, quite another to sit with him while I enjoyed it. The hole was getting deeper by the minute.
My back was against the wall, but I couldn’t find a way out, so I nodded. “Sure.”
“Listen, about last night . . .” Tucker began the moment I sank onto the chair opposite him.
I held up a hand. “Really not my business, man.”
Shoulders slumping, he hung his head. “Aspen has every right to hate me.”
Crap. One simple sentence was enough to earn this man my sympathy.
Aspen might’ve never come at me so violently as she did Tucker last night, but she’d never made an effort to hide her dislike for me. Our entire program knew she couldn’t stand me.
Still, a shift was happening between us; I could feel it. Even if I couldn’t be sure whether it was this place that was changing our dynamic, the forced proximity, or the fact that we were interacting outside of an academic setting where we focused only on our work.
Now, if only she’d stop running off every time we shared a moment.
Our coffee and pastries arrived, and I took a long pull from my mug. Tucker simply sat there, staring at the table, not making a move toward his breakfast.
I couldn’t stand the silence a minute longer. “Aspen cares deeply about those in her life.” I was pulling on observation since I didn’t have experience receiving that kind of affection from the woman myself.
“Bex and Aspen were always inseparable, joined at the hip since kindergarten. You’d think they were twins with how they can feel each other’s pain.”
The pieces began to fall into place. “You hurt Bex.”
“Yeah,” he breathed out, twisting his hands. “She’s the love of my life, and I fucked up. Big time.”
Aspen’s words from last night came rushing back. “But you’re married.”
Tucker shook his head. “Been divorced a few years. Pulling the plug on the biggest mistake of my life wasn’t enough to erase the damage it caused.” He sighed. “Bex hasn’t set foot in this town since she was eighteen. She couldn’t get away fast enough when she learned what I’d done, and judging from Aspen’s reaction last night, she won’t be too keen on hearing any explanation I have to offer.”
His sad blue eyes spoke to something deep within my soul.
I never thought Aspen would give me the time of day. Hell, I still wasn’t sure if our conversation last night had been a dream or not. But if there was the tiniest chance of us being together, becoming one of those people she threw down for, I wasn’t going to give up.
And I didn’t think Tucker should either.
“If she won’t come here, you ever think of going to her?”
A wry laugh sounded. “You think anyone will tell me where she is? After Aspen’s reaction last night, I’m sure Bex’s would be worse.”
Damn. I’d gathered that this community was tight, but there had still been a lurking suspicion that it was just for show. Learning that the entire town was willing to gatekeep a young woman’s whereabouts from the man who’d hurt her as a teen spoke volumes to the depth of their loyalty to one another.
