the bad memories like a dog shaking off water. “Apparently, the drug cartel was using coffee beans to smuggle drugs. The scent can throw the drug-sniffing dogs off. I was questioned not only by customs agents, but the DEA, FBI and CIA.”
“Ten million dollars is a lot of money.” Sean raised a brow. “Did they ever find it?”
“Not that I know of.” He sounded unconcerned. “I didn’t take it. Right now, the money is the least of my problems.”
“Really?” Sean cocked his head, sounding intrigued. “I’d think a missing ten million would be high up there on the priority list.”
“Maybe if it were mine or even if I knew where it was. Which it isn’t and I don’t. So no. Their missing money is their problem. I was lucky that the DEA had agents undercover to rescue me. After I got back, I’d heard the Mexican police wouldn’t let the US FAA inspectors examine the supposed plane crash. Apparently, the drug cartel controls that area with an iron fist.”
“How’d they find you?” Lucy asked, her heart skipping as he turned his gaze on her.
“I don’t have any idea. Since I’d already been declared dead, it wasn’t like there was a missing US citizen that they knew of.”
“Someone went to a great amount of trouble,” Sean said.
“They even brought us a box of your effects.” Reaching down inside her shirt, Lucy brought forth the ring she’d been wearing on a chain around her neck ever since it had been given to her. “Your college ring.”
Fumbling with the clasp, she finally got it open. Removing the heavy ring, she handed it to him. “Here. You’ll be wanting this back.”
Watching as he slid the ring back on to his finger, she had to struggle to maintain her composure.
“We had no way of knowing,” she repeated, feeling absurdly guilty. Which was ridiculous. If there’d even been a single indication that she should have hope, she would have fought the devil himself to find him. Surely he understood this.
Instead, when they’d come to her with news of Tucker’s death, she’d fallen apart. Even remembering the worst day in her life brought back the heavy remembrance of her pain, making her feel queasy.
Jerking his chin in a quick nod, almost as if he heard her thoughts and understood, Tucker spoke again. “Obviously our people were misled, too, unless our government was entirely in the cartel’s pocket. They only told you what they believed to be true. That I was killed in a freak accident.” Pain warred with fury in the rawness of his voice.
She could tell from his voice that he was done, that he wanted this to be enough to make his life go back to normal. And maybe it would have been, if she hadn’t gotten engaged to Sean. She’d truly believed him dead. She’d mourned him, felt her life was over, and carried and birthed his child without him.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, aware an apology was all she could give him at the moment.
Gaze still locked with her, he swallowed hard but didn’t speak. Finally, he dipped his head in what could have been a nod. “I’m sorry, too.”
“You survived. That’s what matters.” She hoped he could hear the truth in her voice.
“Yes,” Sean interjected. “You made it back in one piece.”
“Barely, but yes, I did,” he agreed. He closed his eyes, as if by doing so he could shut out the images of whatever horrors haunted him.
Standing next to her fiancé, with his arm around her, Lucy still ached for Tucker and longed to comfort him. Of course she wouldn’t, she couldn’t even as a friend. Things were different now. They’d never be the same again. She wondered if he regretted this as much as she. Doubtful, considering the issues still unresolved when he’d left for Mexico.
Eli chose that moment to let out a wail. Lucy pushed to her feet, waiting to see if he’d continue or—hope springs eternal—go back to sleep. Another loud cry came from the nursery, then another. Eli was awake again, and he never went back to sleep if allowed to cry too long. Which meant they’d all been granted a reprieve. For now.
Giving him one last lingering look through her lashes, she stood. “Eli calls. If you’re hungry, there’s plenty of food in the fridge. Make yourself a sandwich or something. I’ll be right back.
Tucker watched her go. Motherhood suited her. She’d always been beautiful, but now she had a softness about her. The adoration in her face as she gazed at Eli made his chest tighten. Once, she’d looked at him like that.
As soon as Lucy left the room, Sean cornered Tucker. He’d expected it, so he was reasonably prepared.
“What the hell are you up to?” Sean demanded. “Whatever you’re really involved in, you’d better not be doing anything that could endanger Lucy and Eli—your son.”
Tucker eyed the man who’d been not only his business partner, helping him start the flourishing coffee company from the ground up, but his best friend since childhood. “You should know better than anyone that I’d never do anything like that.”
“I don’t.” Sean’s words leached bitterness. “But even I can tell you’re not giving us the entire story. When the government people informed us of your supposed death, they also mentioned this drug cartel. If you actually were kept a prisoner, I’m assuming they had a reason to think you had their money, though I can’t imagine what that might have been. So why don’t you enlighten me?”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t? Or won’t?”
His friend’s accusatory tone stunned him. “You know me better than that.” Shaking his head, Tucker started to walk away. But something—Confusion? Anger? Hurt?—on Sean’s familiar face made him stop. “I don’t understand why you’re acting like this. None of what happened to me was my fault.”
“Maybe not, but still…” Sean gave him a hard look. “What are you hiding?”
This time, though Sean was right, Tucker countered with an accusation of his own. “Why are you so suspicious?”
“Because I care about Lucy and Eli, damn it. If you being here jeopardizes their safety, we have the right to know.”
As if Tucker was the outsider. Though he tried to pretend it didn’t bother him, truth was, it did. Hurt like hell, in fact.
“I’m here because this is my home,” he said simply. “Where I used to live, remember? And Lucy was my girlfriend and you were my best friend. And whether you like it or not, Eli is my son. I’m back now. Here to stay. You’d better get used to that.”
“You can’t live here with her anymore. She’s my fiancée now.” There. Sean had actually said it. Tucker supposed he should be glad it was all out in the open.
And so it was. Tucker struggled to control the sudden surge of rage. The last thing he’d expected had been to come home to this.
“I realize that,” he replied, his tone steady, even, and completely rational.
“Great.” Unaware of Tucker’s
