Page 19 of Coming Home Country
And if I were a betting man, I’d lay odds that Bex’s outburst this morning was merely the warning rumbles before the volcano erupted.
The explosion was imminent. I could feel it in my bones.
Against my better judgment, I walked back to the church with the guys when we knew the shower was winding down. Bex might not want to see me, but I’d promised to help with the cleanup, and I wasn’t about to go back on my word.
You see the irony there, right? You broke your promises to Bex; why wouldn’t you break them to her mother?
There would never come a time when I wasn’t tormented by the hell I’d put Bex through. Especially when it could have all been avoided if I’d used my damn head.
I hung back when Mac made his grand entrance, bearing a bouquet for his bride while every woman in attendance swooned in unison. He was ashowman, playing it up for their audience when he dipped her back and kissed her like they were in one of those old-school romantic movies.
The sound of chairs scraping as they were pushed back from tables had me jumping into action. I kept my head down as I stacked empty paper plates before dumping them in the trash.
I was just about to go back for a second round when a hand gripped my elbow, and my mother’s voice said, “Take a walk with me.”
My gaze landed on her, then shifted to all the work that needed to be done before this space was cleared. “I don’t think—”
“I wasn’t askin’.” Her tone left no room for argument.
Maddie Grant might be tiny, but she was fierce and had no tolerance for bullshit—growing up with four older brothers would do that to a woman. Thirty-one years of experience with her as my mother told me she was pissed, and I was the target of her anger.
She yanked me through the same door Bex had fled through earlier, and as soon as it slammed shut, she spun around, blue eyes narrowed. “I don’t care how you do it; you make things right with that girl.”
Not this again. It made me wonder if they had some kind of schedule as to whose turn it was next to press the issue.
“Ma,” I sighed out her name. “She wants nothing to do with me.”
“If your sister could swallow her pride to make up with her husband after the mistakes she made, then so can you.”
My father was a saint because saying no to this woman was damn near impossible when she had her mind set on something.
“This isn’t the same situation as Evie and Jenner’s,” I countered. “Doesn’t matter how much I still love Bex; she doesn’t feel the same way about me.”
She arched an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”
My world came to a screeching halt. What had happened during that shower to make her believe there was even the tiniest chance that Bex might still have feelings for me?
“Son, what you did to that girl—” My mother shook her head sadly. “She’s not over it. You don’t cry like that ten years later unless you’re still in love.”
Gut twisting, I croaked out, “I don’t want her to cry anymore, Ma. I can’t take back what I’ve done.”
Bex’s words from earlier echoed in my brain.
“What you did was unforgivable, Tucker Grant!”
I hung my head. “And I don’t think I can fix it either.”
Ma clicked her tongue. “Not with that attitude, you can’t.”
“She’s with someone else now.” I tried in vain to reason with her.
“I don’t see him anywhere, do you? What kind of man doesn’t accompany his girl home, doesn’t go out of his way to meet her mama? Not any man I’d want near my daughter, that’s for sure.”
It sure didn’t help that her high expectations were set by my brother-in-law, who would lay down his life if it meant my sister’s happiness. But there was only one Jenner Knight. Most men, myself included, weren’t half the man he was.
Wouldn’t be a terrible idea to give him a call and see if he had any advice, though.
“End of the day, I’m not in the business of breaking up other people’s relationships.”
