Page 20 of Coming Home Country
“No, only your own.” The words were said under her breath, but I still heard them.
I rubbed over the ache in my chest. “Low blow, Ma.”
Cocking a hip, she challenged, “Where’s the lie, Tucker Grant?”
“Still hurts,” I grumbled.
“As it should.” Damn, she was going for the knockout today.
When I opened my mouth to respond, she held up a hand. “Think about what I said. At the very least, you owe her an apology.” With that, she stepped past me, re-entering the building.
How did you apologize to someone who didn’t want to talk to you?
Cracking open a cold beer, I kicked back on my couch. With my phone poised in my hand, my thumb hovered over the contact. Desperation had me tapping the number and bringing my cell to my ear.
It rang twice before a humor-filled voice teased, “If you were hoping to catch the tiny terrors, they’re back home with Evie.”
After trying for a family for years, my sister and her husband were now blessed with three kids under the age of three. Their home was pure chaos, but they were happier than ever.
Not ready to dive right into the heavier topic that had spurred my call, I turned the conversation around to focus on Jenner. “How’s the team doing? You guys are out in New York, right?
His heavy sigh came through the line. “Honestly? It’s not the same with Goose on injured reserve. I don’t think we can pull this off without him.”
The Indy Speed were coming off back-to-back championships, hoping for a third straight, but they never expected their goaltender to end up seriously injured and unable to play for the foreseeable future. Though the game was the least of his worries. The guy was lucky to be alive.
“Sorry to hear. I know how badly you guys want it.”
Jenner chuckled. “Everyone wants it that bad. If twice is all we get, that’s better than most.” When I remained silent too long, he pressed, “But I get the feeling you didn’t call me to talk about hockey, did you?”
My head dropped back on the cushion. “I was hoping you might have some words of wisdom for me.”
“Oh yeah?” His voice rose with interest. “What about?”
Swallowing hard, I said, “Bex.”
His sharp intake of air was audible. He knew the whole story.
“Yeah,” I breathed out.
“Evie mentioned she was headed back to town.”
“She’s here now, actually. “
“Okay,” he said slowly. “Can’t imagine it’s going well if you’re looking for help.”
I scrubbed a hand over my jaw, where the first hint of a five o’clock shadow had formed. “It’s bad, man. Like, really bad. And everyone is on my back about fixing it when she doesn’t want to be in the same town as me, let alone the same room. I tried backing out of the wedding to give her peace, but Mac wasn’t having it. I don’t know what to do.”
“All right.” Jenner paused. “You already know this, but I’m married to someone who has a history of running and shutting down when faced with emotionally charged situations. To this day, I still have so many regrets about how I handled the situation when she ran. When she completely blocked me out, cutting off all contact, I thought I was doing the right thing, not fighting her when she filed for divorce. I wanted her to be happy when it felt like all I brought her was pain.” He scoffed. “I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
I understood where he was coming from, but as I’d told my mother earlier, our situations were very different. Chasing after Bex, fighting forher, hadn’t been an option. Legally tied to another woman, I’d been forced to let her go with no way to mend either of our broken hearts.
Jenner continued, “Even when she came back, she kept me at arm’s length. I didn’t want to push her and risk driving her away again. And you know me; I would have waited for her forever, but my patience is no match for when Evie gets in her head. And in her mind, she thought I didn’t want her. As it tends to do when tensions run high, the dam broke one night. Fucking killed me to hear her accuse me of wishing she’d never come back to me, but it opened the door for us to clear the air and be honest with each other.” He chuckled. “That night gave us one of the greatest gifts we’ve ever received. Two of them, if we’re counting.”
My nose wrinkled. “Yeah, really didn’t need to hear that last part.” I loved the guy but didn’t need to think about him sleeping with my sister.
A bark of laughter sounded through the phone. “Sorry, but it’s true.”
I tried to steer us back on track. “Honestly, I’m confused. Mac’s in my ear saying Aspen doesn’t think Bex loves the guy she’s seeing. My mom is convinced she’s still in love withme. But what you’re saying about how things came to a head with Evie feels like what’s happening here. There’s a storm brewing.”
