“They dated?”
I could feel Terri’s eyes on Tucker and Noelle. “Yep.”
The sick feeling in my stomach had me dropping my arms. Tucker looked down at Noelle and smiled. It was the first smile I’d seen on his face since his father’s death.
Noelle’s hand went to Tucker’s arm and stayed there while they talked. “How long did they date?” I asked, swallowing the bile that was now sitting at the base of my throat. I may be pissed at Tucker, but he was still mine.
Wasn’t he?
“I’m not sure. Lily knows, you can ask her.”
“No, thanks,” I said, turning and walking more out into the yard and away from the sight in front of me.
Note to self: Take the name Noelle off my short list of baby names. Damn it, I really liked that name too.
Terri must have sensed my need to be alone for a few minutes because she didn’t follow me. I made my way down into the vast garden and started walking on the trails. A few turns left and right and I was soon lost. I needed it, though. My head was clearing, and I knew Terri was right. How could Tucker and I come back from this? I needed to find out, but not right now. Now he needed to deal with his father’s death.
“Shit,” I hissed. How in the hell did I not notice how big this garden was? I could barely hear the sounds of voices. Closing my eyes, I tried to listen to the direction they were coming. Once I got what I thought was my bearings, I headed back down a familiar path that I knew I had walked on not only a few minutes ago.
Emerging from the garden and back into the large backyard, I saw my group of friends. Only this time, Tucker sat there between Nash and Blake. No, wait, Blake was standing and Noelle was sitting next to Tucker. As I got closer, I tensed when I saw her hand on his leg. Tucker sat back in the chair, a beer in his hand and a far-off look on his face. Did he even know she was attempting to feel him up at his own father’s wake?
Lily saw me walking up and smiled. “Hey, there you are,” she said softly, giving me a kiss on the cheek. I tried not to look over to Tucker. “Where did you go?”
“For a walk.”
Lily smiled a bit more. “I wish I had known; I’d have gone with you. I could use a few minutes away.”
My heart pulled with hurt, and I wanted to draw my friend into my arms and tell her the pain gets better. Not a whole lot better, but each day it eased some.
Right then, I could feel his eyes on me, so I refused to look his way. The sound of Noelle’s voice filled my head and right then I decided I didn’t like her voice. It was high pitched and grated my nerves.
Then I heard Tucker chuckle. Knowing this woman had made him smile and laugh did something to me. I was the stupid one who had walked away from him the other night. I’d told him I hated him, and at the time, I had. I was hurt, but deep down I knew I was just as much to blame for this mess.
Stealing a peek in their direction, she was resting her hand on Tucker’s shoulder, whispering something into his ear. Tucker’s eyes looked my way, and a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Asshole.
I guess he enjoyed his ex hanging all over him. Fine. Let him move on. I didn’t have to stand there and watch it.
When I turned back to Lily, she was staring off, but not in the direction of her brother—at Nash.
“I’m sorry Lily, I’m going to have to run.”
My best friend’s face fell. “You do?”
I nodded and before I could stop myself, I looked at Tucker again. He stared at me, a beer in his hand and Noelle at his side. She was saying something to him, but it didn’t look like he was paying any attention. Then he dropped his gaze in her direction. When her hand lifted and pushed a piece of his dark hair from his eyes, I knew I needed to leave. Tucker looked emotionless though, and that was the only thing keeping me from losing my shit.
“If you need anything,” I started to say to Lily while reaching for my purse, “you let me know. Okay?”
Her eyes darted from me to Tucker, then to Noelle, and back to me again.
“Charlie, it’s not what it looks like,” she whispered.
I played like I had no idea what she was talking about. “What? I’m just feeling a little sentimental about my folks.”
Which was half the truth.
“And I’ve got a fire burning at work I need to take care of.”