“No,” Betty Jo replied. “I guess I’m just more in tune with your emotions, because you look at Tucker the way I look at Beau.”
Abby’s shoulders relaxed a little. “And what way is that?”
Betty Jo popped another strawberry into her mouth before she turned to look at her boyfriend. The two brother’s were once more in conversation.
“Sometimes you look at Tucker like you can’t live without him. Like the thought of living without him hurts.” Betty paused, her expression unreadable.
“Like you need him to breathe,” Abby replied without thinking.
Betty nodded. “Sometimes you look scared, and I get that. I feel that way, too. It’s all still so new and hot and consuming. So overwhelming that I feel like I’m losing myself. But it’s Beau, so that’s okay. I want to be lost with him.”
“Shit. What the hell am I going to do?”
Betty Jo swung her gaze back to Abby. “The only thing that you can do.”
Abby’s eyes widened. “What’s that exactly?”
“Love him. Be there for him.”
As if it was that simple. Bett
y Jo had obviously missed the memo. The one that said Tucker Simon wasn’t looking for something permanent with anyone.
“He’s not ready for that. He’s still not over what happened to his wife. I think that a part of him still thinks she’s coming back.”
“Maybe he’s not ready.” Betty shrugged. “But he sure as hell needs it. To be loved. To matter to someone. To allow himself to be in the position of having someone matter to him again. The question is…are you willing to take the chance and give him your heart? Are you willing to take a chance that he could love you back the way that you love him?”
Abby felt tears sting the corners of her eyes, and she blew out another hot breath. Her chest was tight. It was so goddamn tight that it was hard for her to breathe.
She wanted all of that. So much that it hurt to think of what would happen to her if Tucker didn’t find his way. If he kept on hoping that a wife who had disappeared over the ocean three years ago would return to him.
She thought of what her roommate Lisa had said the night before. “It means that he might break your heart…but it also means that you might be the one to fix his.”
“I don’t know if I…if I’m strong enough. If I can…” She shrugged helplessly.
Betty Jo leaned across the table and squeezed her hand. “If my best friend, Matt, was here, he’d tell you to go for it. He’d tell you that life isn’t always fair and that a lot of shitty things happen to good people. Things that hurt. Things that break.”
Betty’s brow furled, and she looked fierce. “He would tell you that, sure, you might go all in with Tucker, and he won’t even meet you half way. He’ll break your heart.” She paused and seemed to be trying to get hold of her emotions. “Matt would say that being hurt is part of loving and that sometimes, even when all that’s left is hurt…even then, it means that you’ve lived. And living is better than just existing. I should know. I did that for longer than I care to remember.”
The tears that had threatened slowly fell from Abby’s eyes. She sniffled as Abby let go of her hand and then reached for the napkin. After dabbing her eyes, she managed a half smile.
“That is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Betty Jo nodded. “I know. I find the truth usually is.”
“You’re friend Matt sounds as if he’s got his shit together.”
“No.” Betty looked sad. “Not at all. He’s actually the most fucked up person I know. But even he still has hope.”
Abby thought about it for a moment. “But what if I’m not strong enough? What if Tucker not loving me back is just too much? What then?”
“I’m sorry, sweetie. That’s something you’re going to have to figure out on your own, but if this helps, I can tell you with all certainty that Tucker Simon has very strong feelings for you. I think that he’s already in love with you. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Shocked, Abby slumped in her seat, half dazed and way too full of emotional stuff to do anything but stare at the bowl of strawberries in front of her.
“Good morning, Abby. You look a little pale. Are you all right?”
Abby took a moment, and when she thought there was at least an illusion that she looked like a capable woman who had her shit together, she smiled up at Eden Simon. Tucker’s mother returned the smile, a gentle look in her eyes as she reached over and grabbed a strawberry.