Tucker (The Family Simon 1)

On first glance, Tucker couldn’t tell if this was Marley or not. And Jesus, why the hell wasn’t he feeling something? Some spark? What the hell was wrong with him?

Running his hands through stubble on his jaw he spoke.

“Marley.”

Just one word. One word that echoed in the room and sounded so loud that he glanced around.

Tucker stood there for so long that his legs began to cramp. The doctor finally came in, his eyes gentle as he reached for the chart at the end of the bed. Beside him, the nurse moved to the other side of the bed and gingerly lifted Marley’s hand so that she could re-arrange the—

Wait.

Tucker leaned in closer, his heart starting to pound and roar in his ears. “Hold on,” he said to the startled nurse. Moving around the bed so that he could stand beside her, he glanced down at the limp hand and he didn’t know what he felt. He only knew that…

“This isn’t my wife.”

Shaking his head, he looked at the doctor. “Please. This isn’t my…this isn’t Marley.”

“Sir,” the doctor began, his voice still calm. “I know it’s a shock for you to see her like this, but I promise as soon as we bring her out of the coma—“

“No you don’t understand.” Tucker moved back. “My wife had a tattoo on her ring finger. It was a joke really, but it was there.”

The doctor and the nurse watched him intently and he knew they were probably wondering if he was finally losing it.

“You don’t understand. Marley’s job was….it could be messy. She worked with marine animals and most of the time, she didn’t wear her wedding ring while working. She wore her ring on a chain. I used to bug her about it, and one day she surprised me with this tattoo on her ring finger. Said that no one would ever think she didn’t belong to me.”

Tucker paused as that memory washed over him and finally something sparked inside him. Deep, wrenching, sadness.

“This woman isn’t Marley.” He pointed to her hand. “There’s no tattoo. It was pretty damn intricate and even if she had it removed, which she wouldn’t, there would be something there…some un-perfect piece of that tattoo. It’s just…It’s not her.”

“I see,” the doctor said slowly.

“Fuck if I do,” Tucker replied, more frustrated than ever. “I don’t understand any of this.”

Jesus. Kate and Jason were going to be devastated all over again. With a ragged breath, he shook his head. “Who is this woman and how the hell did she end up with Marley’s stuff?”

Chapter Twenty-six

By six o’clock, Abby was going crazy.

“Let’s go to The Black Dog,” she said to Cooper. They’d played two games of scrabble, a round of Would You Rather (and lord, the things that Cooper Simon would rather do). Wow.

And right about now, she was going to climb the goddamn walls. Abby pulled out her cell for what had to be the twentieth time and felt that now fa

miliar pain in her heart. There was nothing. No text message and no missed call.

“He’ll call,” Cooper said.

Abby glanced up. They were on the sofa, staring out across the darkness that coated Central Park like a blanket. Overhead, stars shone in a clear sky and in the distance, the lights of the city twinkled.

“I know.”

But she didn’t know. Abby was scared shitless, and right now she didn’t know anything. It was driving her crazy.

Eden and Noah had called earlier—they were coming to New York tomorrow—but again, they knew nothing other than what Abby already knew. That Tucker had landed in Havana with his brothers and Marley’s parents.

That was hours ago.

She reached for the remote.