Page 33 of Coming Home Country
“And wouldn’t you know, a few weeks after we got back to campus, she called me crying from her dorm room, saying she was bleeding.”
The woman might deserve all my hate, but I wouldn’t wish losing a child on anyone. That pain was unimaginable.
“I ran over there to discover she’d locked herself in the bathroom. I begged to be let inside, but she refused, leaving me on the other side of the door, listening to her pained cries. Hours later, when she finally emerged, she explained that she’d been passing clots when she recognized one of them as being our baby. She’d miscarried.
“When I demanded she let me take her to be evaluated by a doctor, she burst into tears again, saying all she wanted was to crawl into bed and mourn. I didn’t know what to do. I was only twenty and completely out of my depth. And it’s not like I could call anyone for help; no one knew about our situation. So I gave in, tucked her into bed, and said I was sorry. I might not have been happy about the circumstances surrounding my impending fatherhood, but I never wanted anything bad to happen to that baby; it was still a piece of me.”
Hugging my knees to my chest, I whispered, “I’m sorry, Tucker.”
His eyes lifted toward the ceiling, and he blew out a heavy breath. “There’s nothing to be sorry about, Bex.”
My brows furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“You know I’m divorced, right?” I nodded, so he continued, “I was in the first year of my residency, working ridiculous hours, more often than not dead on my feet. They sent me home early one day after a review of the logs indicated I was past the legal limit on consecutive hours, and the hospital could get in trouble if I made a mistake due to sleep deprivation. Honestly, it’s a miracle I made it home in one piece; I was struggling to keep my eyes open on the drive. But I woke up in a hurry when I heard Brooke and her girlfriends cackling in the kitchen. It wasn’t their presence that shocked me into awareness, but their words. They were having a real good laugh about how Brooke had pretended to be pregnant to sink her claws into me, knowing I was a good country boy who wouldn’t hesitate to ‘do the right thing.’ I’d been top of my class, on track for a promising career, and she saw an opportunity.”
My jaw hit the floor.
“Fuck, she even admitted to slipping something in my drink that night, so I wouldn’t remember that I hadn’t even slept with her.”
A trembling hand came up to cover my mouth. His ex-wife had not only lied to him about being pregnant, but she’ddruggedhim to make it believable? I shuddered to think that Tucker had wound up married to a woman capable of that level of diabolical scheming.
His fists clenched, and he gritted out, “Shestolemy virginity, Bex. The thing I’d been saving for you.” A humorless laugh sounded. “And the worst part? It wasn’t even when I thought. No, she got that, along with everything else that belonged to you, once there was a ring on my finger that matched the one on hers.”
How was I expected to process this information dump? My head was swimming, trying to sort through which part to focus on first.
“But it’s my fault.” Tucker pressed a finger violently to the center of his chest. “Iwas the one who should have asked for a paternity test or, at the very least, an ultrasound.I’mthe one who put us through hell.” He deflated before my very eyes. “I’m so sorry, Bex. I need you to know that I never meant to hurt you, and I’ve spent the last five years wishing I could go back and change how I reacted.”
Tears streamed freely down my face. His explanation—his apology—was like a bandage thrown over a bullet wound, and I was bleeding out.
My heart was breaking all over again—for the time we’d lost, for the people we used to be, but mostly for the fact that I couldn’t snap my fingers and undo the damage of the past ten years. It had left scars on my heart, making me afraid to trust, afraid to love. I would never be the same.
We sat in silence for a long time. Tucker had run out of words, and I didn’t know how to respond to all he’d shared.
Our phones chimed in unison with an incoming text.
I didn’t bother digging mine out because Tucker was quicker. “Looks like it touched down a ways out of town, and Mac’s gone to help with the cleanup. Doesn’t sound like anyone was hurt, but Aspen’s calling everyone back to the ranch.”
Nodding, I pushed off the cold ground, hanging back when he unlatched the metal doors that would set us free.
My lungs expanded, and I held a deep breath inside them before releasing it and climbing the steps.
The sky was clear, a beautiful blue, when it came into view. There were no signs of the earlier storm; almost as if it had never existed.
If only it were that simple when it came to my life.
Chapter 8
Bex
Aspentookonelookat my dazed expression and red-rimmed eyes when I arrived back at the ranch and shooed Tucker away, before declaring a sleepover since Mac had been called away for the evening.
We’d always been each other’s sounding board, but it had been a long time since we had the opportunity to work through one of our problems in person rather than over the phone.
Cozied up in bed beside my best friend, I peeked around the one-room cabin she shared with Mac while they waited for the construction of their house on the property to be completed.
“Can’t believe your family used to live here when you were little,” I remarked.
Laughing, Aspen surveyed the space. “Yeah, my parents were crazy.”
