hell.
Before he’d disappeared and supposedly died, she’d waited forever for him to propose to her. Instead, he’d let his wanderlust haul him all over the globe, unwilling or unable to commit.
And now, believing him dead for over a year, she’d gone and gotten herself engaged to his best friend.
She felt ill, positively sick. Barely two weeks ago she’d agreed to become Sean’s wife.
“Why did they think you were dead?” she cried. “I would have moved heaven and earth to find you if I’d had the tiniest bit of hope that you’d survived. But they said you didn’t. They said it was you.”
“I…” Closing his eyes as though by doing so, he could block out all emotion, he shook his shaggy head. “I don’t know. They didn’t say anything about this when they debriefed me. You really thought I was…”
“Yes. Dead.” She spoke deliberately. “You were killed in the plane crash.”
“Lucy, listen to me. I wasn’t in a plane crash,” he said, his raspy voice simmering with undercurrents of lingering fury mixed with exhaustion.
So they were both angry. And maybe one of them was crazy. But which one? She was beginning to wonder.
“There was a plane crash,” she insisted. “We were told you were dead. The plane went down, exploded on impact, killing all on board. They identified Bruno, and Carlos, the man you’d gone to meet. And they found your wallet, though the…remains were too badly charred and scattered to know for sure.”
“Who told you this?”
“The authorities, of course.”
“Oh, Lucy.”
Unable to sit still any longer, she got up and crossed the room to stand in front of him. “I thought you were dead.” Unthinking, she reached out her hand to him.
While he didn’t recoil, not exactly, he shifted and moved enough so that her outstretched fingers didn’t come in contact with him at all.
As she slowly lowered her arm, he stared at her silently, as a stranger might, offering no embrace, no kiss, nothing to show that they’d loved each other once.
Twisting the ring on her finger, she realized it was a very good thing she and Sean had gotten engaged.
Tucker’s gaze followed the motion. “Let me see your hand.”
The ring. Sean’s ring. Slowly, she lifted her hand, wincing as he took it, raising it so the large ring glittered in the sunlight streaming through her front window.
“Nice.” Jaw clenched, he fairly spat the word. “Who?”
“I thought you were dead,” she cried.
“Who?” he demanded again.
Taking a deep breath, she told him. “Sean.”
He jerked back, clearly stunned. “Sean? Sean Morey?”
“Yes.” She inhaled, exhaled, scrambling for a rational explanation and finding none, except…there was always the truth. “I waited for you, but—”
“Obviously,” he bit out. “Whatever happened to I’ll love you forever?”
“Don’t be like that.” She threw her words at him, using anger to cover her pain. “You were dead, Tucker. For over a year, I mourned you. Sean was here for me. Even…”
“Even before my so-called death?”
Inwardly she flinched, but reminding herself that she’d resolved to stick with the truth, she lifted her chin. “Sean and I were friends, Tucker. Nothing more. You know that.”
“Obviously you were more than that.”
Ignoring his sarcastic reply, she kept on as if he hadn’t spoken. “Friends,” she said firmly. “But while you were traveling around the globe in your never-ending search for the elusive perfect coffee bean, Sean stayed here and kept me company.”
“I’ll bet he did.” More than bitter, he sounded furious. As if he had a right to be.
“I waited for you,” she sighed. “And if you hadn’t died, I’d probably still be waiting for you to get tired of roaming the world.” This was an old argument and one that had never made the slightest impression on him before.
Nor did it appear to now. Eyes narrowed, he continued to watch her. “So you’re telling me that less than one year after my so-called death, you got engaged to my best friend?”
Squaring her shoulders, she stared right back. “You were gone an entire year. Twelve long months without a single word from you.”
“It. Was. Not. My. Fault.” He ground out the words.
She almost hung her head. Instead, she lifted her chin and let him see the agony in her eyes. “Nor was it mine.”
“Let me see if I’ve got this straight,” he said. “I died and came back to life, and returned home to find out you’ve moved on.”
“I just did the best I could to try and live my life.” The ache in her throat told her she was perilously close to tears. Circumstances and events had changed them both. Things could never be the same between them.
Except, she thought, horrified. There had been another change, the biggest one of all. Now, she had a son. They had a son. Eli, Tucker’s child. Even though she’d only learned of her pregnancy after the plane crash, even if things had been different and Tucker had returned a year ago from his coffee expedition, she would have been unwilling to use their baby as a reason to tie him to her.
Just as she wouldn’t use it now. Still, she had to tell him.
As she opened her mouth to speak, her front door opened, making her jump.
Sean. Ah, crap, she’d forgotten. Glancing once more at Tucker, she hurried over to the foyer. “Sean, there’s—”
“Happy Fourth,” Sean interrupted, pulling her close in a one-armed hug and kissing her hard on the mouth before releasing her. Closing the front door quietly behind him so he wouldn’t wake the baby, he came inside, carrying several plastic grocery bags.
“Sean, I need—”
Oblivious, he pulled her in again for another quick kiss. “Hey,” he said, grinning. “I snagged a perfect watermelon and picked up some of those diet drinks you love so much.”
“Great. Um, there’s been a change of plans.” Wiping her hands nervously down the front of her shorts, she once again found herself struggling to find the right words. Sean eyed her curiously, his smile gradually fading.
Finally, she simply moved aside and gestured toward the living room and the man who stood silently watching them.
Taking a step forward, Sean’s expression changed when he caught sight of Tucker. Shock flashed across his face, then disbelief, and then finally,
