Page 17 of Coming Home Country
Shit just got real.
Girl, you’re fooling yourself if you think it hasn’t already.
Taking a few shallow breaths—all my panicked lungs would allow—I dipped my chin when I greeted Tucker’s mother. “Mrs. Grant.”
She clasped my shaking hand. “Call me Maddie, you hear?”
Cue the trembling lower lip. I wasn’t going to make it through this interaction, no matter how brief, without getting emotional.
Once upon a time, I’d thought this woman would become my mother-in-law and grandmother to my future children. She’d never hesitated to welcome me into her home, to include me in her family. I had even served as a bridesmaid in her daughter’s wedding as a teenager, with Tucker as my partner. That’s how close I was with his mama. I mourned that loss every bit as much as I did my romantic relationship with her son.
“Maddie.” I couldn’t stop the first tear leaking out as I whispered her given name.
“Oh, honey.” She was on her feet in an instant, pulling me into her warm embrace, one I never thought I’d get to experience again in this lifetime.
The floodgates opened, and gasping sobs wracked my chest. I couldn’t stop them, and they grew louder by the minute.
“Bex?” Aspen’s concerned voice sounded far away, like she was at the far end of a tunnel.
My feet were moving, but I had no idea where. All I was aware of was Maddie’s arms holding me close, the vibration of her chest against my cheek as she spoke to someone over my head.
Eventually, we came to a stop. When I peeked up, I saw through blurry vision that we were inside the chapel, surrounded by wooden pews.
Maddie eased me down onto the one in the front row, and I wiped at my face furiously, my voice coming out thick as I apologized. “This is so silly. It’s just—”
“Harder than you thought it would be,” she finished my thought, sinking down onto the wooden bench beside me. “It is for me too.”
Stunned for a moment, I peeked over at her to find her own eyes had grown glassy.
She offered me a sad smile. “Not once did I ever stop thinking about you.”
“That’s nice of you to say.” I was sure she was only being polite; that’s what people did down here.
Searching my eyes, Maddie must have seen the disbelief written in them because she reached out and brought one of my hands to rest over her heart. “In here? You’re family for life. Nothing will ever change that.”
A fresh wave of emotion crashed over me, and with my throat closed tight, I could only manage to offer her a tiny nod.
She looped an arm around me, and my weary frame leaned into her strong one, my head dropping onto her shoulder.
“Sometimes, all we need is a minute of quiet. You just sit here with me, honey, until you’re ready to go back to the party. I’m in no hurry.”
Since we were seated inside a church, now seemed like the best time to pray. I asked God to take away my pain and wash away the past.
I was beyond desperate for him to answer my call. I couldn’t live like this anymore.
Chapter 5
Tucker
“Shefuckinghatesme,man.” I leaned back against the park bench, tilting my face toward the sky and blowing out a heavy breath.
“Watch your mouth!” Colt shouted from where he was pushing his toddler son on the swing.
I cringed. “Sorry.”
“Fucking! Fucking!” came the excited cry from Colt’s three-year-old son, Barrett.
Mac chuckled beside me. “You know he’s going to kill you, right? The two of us might have brains, but Colt’s the brawn. No question about it.”
