Emma mounted the three shallow steps at the end of the aisle, trying to ignore him after glancing over to where he lazed against the piano. Instead of responding to his softly mocking statement, she touched Michelle on the shoulder.
“Emma! You’re here! Oh, thank God!” Her friend grabbed her and hugged hard.
“Hey.” She responded softly, patting Michelle’s back. “Of course I’m here. I told you I’d get here in time for the rehearsal.”
“What,” Tucker’s voice came from right behind her, “too good to hug an old friend from your childhood days?”
Disentangling herself from her friend’s embrace, Emma turned. Tucker held out his arms, a smile on his handsome face that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Give daddy some sugar now.”
“You’re not my daddy and stop talking like a character from ‘Cat On A Hot Tin Roof’.” Her words came out sharper than she meant them to and she tried to make up for this by throwing Tucker a fake smile to take some of the sting out. After all, she and Tucker needed to get through this weekend without bloodshed, if possible.
He laughed then, the sound real and warm. “Hello, Emmie. How are you?”
They exchanged a small, brief side hug, as awkward as she felt.
“I’m fine, Tucker. How are you?”
Michelle laid a hand on her arm, smiling up at their friend. “It’s Doctor Tucker now. Dr. Tucker Anderson. He’s finished with his residency finally and set up shop here.”
She turned a little pink, offering the lie, “I’m sure I told you.”
Since the day Emma had left Cupid, she’d made sure Michelle understood she didn’t want to hear about Tucker. Not a word.
Leaving him was hard enough.
“Doctor?” Emma let out the strangled word. “You went to medical school?”
“You knew I always liked biology.” The lazy smile stayed on his face.
Michelle’s attention was re-captured by the wedding planner and she turned back to their conversation.
“Yep, Dr. Anderson.” Tucker and Emma stood on the dais to the side. He lowered his voice to add, “I buried my broken heart in text books. It didn’t help when you kept popping up on newscasts by the time I was in medical school. Damned distracting.”
With a half-smile, she said, “Sorry. I’m sure you found lots of solace for your broken heart, what with medical school and all. Women love doctors.”
He didn’t deny her comment. She turned away gladly when the wedding coordinator called, appalled at her waspish statement.
“Over here, attendants!” the woman trilled. “Now, you’re all here, so we can start. And the clergyman? Okay, let’s run through where you’ll stand for the ceremony and then we’ll work on the march in, march out.”
For the next half hour, Emma stood where she was told and listened with half an ear while Michelle and Ryan conferred with the minister and the wedding coordinator. On the other side of the altar, Tucker looked to be waiting casually, but she felt his gaze on her throughout. Just like she’d felt him watching her in eleventh grade math class all those years ago. Just watching, his face unreadable, his dark eyes intent.
Even then, he’d been steamy sexy, rousing so much feminine interest amongst their classmates that Mr. Ponder put him in a seat at the front of the class, just to get the girls to look forward.
She’d been thrilled and gratified that Tucker had wanted to date her, that he’d seemed as aroused by her kisses as she’d been by his.
“Now here,” the wedding coordinator started. “When you march out after the bride and groom, make sure you wait for your partner. Here, you and you.”
She scurried around, matching them up. “Yes, the matron of honor and the best man walk out together.”
Emma sedately walked down the steps next to Tucker, acutely aware of him six inches away from her shoulder as they marched up the aisle. She could see him as a physician, caring for the sick and infirm. Unfortunately, her image of him in a white coat included him looking really hot with a sexy smile.
She mentally gave herself a shake. Not the way to think of a professional man and probable father of three. Certainly not the way to think about a man she needed to get cured of.
They marched out to the church foyer where the wedding coordinator sent the men in again to stand next to Ryan. “Now, ladies, it’s very important that you don’t rush down the aisle when you march in….”
Emma gave up listening, only attending with half her brain. She’d learned this from the sometimes tedious moments in broadcasting. Lots of waiting around for a very short few minutes of on-air time.
Eventually, the bridesmaids and Michelle marched in with that stutter-step that’s common to wedding entrances.
Feeling Tucker’s gaze on her, Emma tried to look as casual as she could. She took her place beside Michelle, hoping Tucker’s wife or current squeeze would be in attendance at the rehearsal dinner. She couldn’t take much more of him, particularly in a bar with alcohol flowing.
If she didn’t watch out, she’d find herself succumbing to the sexy heat of the very man she’d divorced ten years before
Damn him.
*
Flopping down on her motel room bed later that evening, Emma snugged her bathrobe belt around her more tightly, telling herself again that caution was the better part of valor. It might have looked cowardly, but she knew she didn’t need to go to the rehearsal dinner and the bar hopping that was planned for afterward.
Here she was, spending Valentine’s Day dateless and dealing with her gorgeous ex-husband. Damn.
The television was murmuring in the background, set on the cable news channel. She’d been immersed in that world so long, attending to the news was like breathing for her, but she wondered now if her future lie in another direction. Lately, quitting the television news game had occurred to her more and more.
Lying there on the bed, she thought briefly about phoning Derek, the producer she’d dated a few times recently, but the prospect didn’t hold much interest for her. There just wasn’t any zing between them. Probably because they were so rarely in the same town.
Emma ran her hand through her damp hair, pondering the life she’d created for herself. Television journalism hadn’t even been on her radar when she graduated high school. Then, all she’d thought about was Tucker—how he smelled, his smile, the way he made her laugh. His broad shoulders and cute butt.
Of course, they’d married too young. Such white, hot ardor had to burn itself out in the reality of living together every day and every night in a small apartment with little money. Her parents had tried to tell her, but she’d been so gone on Tucker, she couldn’t hear their voices of reason until she and her equally immature husband had already made a mess of things.
Thank heavens she’d gotten out before they hated each other totally. As it was, things had gotten pretty harsh.
Leaving had really been her only option. The only thing that had made sense.
The phone on the nightstand next to her suddenly jangled, making Emma jump.
“Hello?”
The sound of Emma’s voice went right to Tucker’s spine, like always.
Standing by the bedside table where his phone sat, he tried to keep it brief. “We need to talk.”
“Tucker?” She sounded surprised at hearing from him. “What do we have to talk about?”
“Just the fact that we’re still legally married. I think that calls for a conversation,” he drawled, trying to keep a rein on his annoyance. She was acting as if they were now nothing to each other.
Ten years later and he’d never found a woman who got to him like Emma.
“What? We’re divorced. Aren’t we?” She sounded startled and irritated. “Aren’t we? I thought you took care of that years ago. You said you would. I remember it distinctly.”
“Good. I’m glad you remember something about our marriage, if it was just the end of it. No, I didn’t get the divorce. I thought with your determination to shake this to
wn—and me—that you’d get the divorce eventually. All I remember of that last fight was yelling and screaming before you hit the door.”
“Tucker, this isn’t funny. You didn’t get a divorce?”
“I don’t think any of this is funny either and I’ve been a little busy in the last ten years.” He
went back to drawling. “You never got any legal papers from me. I thought you knew I hadn’t filed.”
“Knew that we’re still married?” Her voice rose into a squeak. “No. No, I didn’t know that. This is terrible. OMG, what the hell?”
Her getting upset, oddly made him feel better. At least, he could still get to her, even if it was the news of their continuing marriage that did it.
“Yeah, I’m stoked about it, too. So, you wanna come over?”
He heard her draw in a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if trying to calm herself. “No! At least, not tonight.”
“How about tomorrow, then. My office? It’s on the west side of the town square. You can’t miss it. Tucker Anderson, M.D. Big letters.”
She seemed so rattled by his news, she didn’t even react to his mocking tone. It wasn’t very flattering.
“Okay. Okay, nine in the morning? We should be able to iron out the divorce details quickly and the wedding stuff doesn’t start till later since Michelle’s scheduled an evening wedding.”
“You’ve got a date, sweetheart.”
He made himself hang up the phone. It was over. Dead. Just because he wanted to see her again, to talk to her—hell, to kiss her really hard—didn’t mean there was anything left between them.
*
Damn, he’d done well for himself.
Emma let herself into the well-appointed waiting area all done up in blues and greens. The woman seated behind the chest-high reception desk, smiled and said she’d tell the doctor that Emma was there.
She perched on a chair, looking around at the room. Several other patients waited. An older woman peered at her phone, seeming to be playing a game. In the corner a young man held his pre-school aged son on his lap.
Tucker opened a door beside the reception desk, sauntering out. “Emma, you found us.”
He glanced at the patients, stopping by the boy to kneel and have a low-voiced conversation. As he rose, he smiled at the elderly woman who sat in a nearby chair. “Angry Birds?”
The woman laughed, shaking her head. “It’s addictive.”
“I know. Just enjoy yourself. Diane should be free to go take your blood in a moment.”
“No problem, Tucker.” She went back to her game.
Tucker met Emma’s gaze, motioning to the rear of the building. “My office is back here.”
“I can wait if you have a patient.” She nodded at the young boy and his father. Being annoyed and pissy with him wouldn’t get her anywhere. Even if she’d wanted to scream about him not having followed-through with the divorce, she had to at least sound cool.
She didn’t like making the child wait, either.
“No need. They’re here to get an inoculation. I’ll talk with them after the nurse is finished.”
Emma rose to follow him. She didn’t think working out the details for a divorce should take long, not when the marriage had been over so long. It was really just paperwork.
Passing through the door behind Tucker, she followed as they went through the clinic’s work area into a corner office. He closed the office door and turned to face her as she sat down in a chair across from his desk.
She hurried into what she had to say.
“We need to get this finished as quickly as possible—the divorce, I mean. I’m in the middle of buying a house in Connecticut. I don’t even want to think about the legal mess if we don’t settle this.”
Emma glanced around at his office and the rows of medical books on shelves along one wall. “You’ve got a nice set-up here. I’m sure you don’t need complications either.”
He went to a small refrigerator, concealed behind another set of shelves. “Want some juice or bottled water?”
“What? No.”
Tucker sat down behind the desk. “I think we need to talk about this, Emma.”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing?”
He paused. “I mean really talk about this. I haven’t seen you for ten years.”
“I know.” She looked at him steadily across the desk. “Ten long years.”
Glancing around the office, she smiled. “You’ve done well for yourself. Medical school. This office.” She had to stop herself from saying she was proud of him. Somehow that didn’t sound right.
“You’ve done pretty well yourself, too.” He returned her gaze. “Like I said, I see you on television all the time.”
Despite her annoyance over the whole situation, she couldn’t help chuckling. “I’d understand if you avoided watching the channel I’m on.”
“Why would I do that? And miss seeing your face?”
As she had since she first saw him coming into the reception area, Emma steeled herself against his pull. She just needed to get the legal paperwork started and they could both put this behind them. “We didn’t part friends.”
He laughed then. “No, not friends. I’m not sure we were ever that. If we’d have focused on what we liked about each other, I don’t suppose you would have left at all.”
Not knowing what to say, Emma remained silent. What could she say? That she missed him? That leaving was a mistake? Did he even want her to say that?
They’d both made something of their lives. That had to be proof that the separation had been smart.
“Are you engaged? Involved?” She hadn’t meant the question to come out so abruptly.
He raised his eyebrows. “Not currently. Not involved or engaged. You?”
She shook her head.
“Dating anyone?”
Emma supposed she could lie. After all, she had gone out with Derek a few times and, technically, they were dating, even if they hadn’t seen one another for several months.
“No.”
Silence stretched between them again.
“I don’t want a divorce.” Tucker’s quiet sentence fell into the space between them and he looked at her steadily.
Feeling a clutch of emotion and heat in her midsection, Emma tried to sound less wrecked than she felt. He had to be joking. “What? If the women in town knew you were single, they’d hound you? Need a fake marriage buffer?”
“No.” His dark gaze still met hers. “I need a real marriage.”
A flush of anger rose in her then. Emma said hotly, “I’m not sure what you’re saying. We can’t go on this way, with a non-marriage marriage. Living practically a continent apart with no contact, no interaction.”
Tucker shook his head. “No, I don’t want to go on that way.”
“Just exactly what are you saying then?” Emma kept a tight rein on the turmoil inside her. She had loved Tucker and she had to admit to herself that he wasn’t even now completely out of her system.
He looked down at the files on his desk, taking a moment to respond. “I’m not sure exactly what I’m saying. I just know—“
Lifting his gaze to bore into her, he said, “I just know I’m not ready for a divorce. Not…yet. Not without talking about…some things.”
“What things?” She knew her exasperation was visible and registered that being angry was easier than the other emotions she had when she saw him again.
“The past. Just what exactly happened between us?”
“Oh for heaven’s sake.” She threw out a hand. “We had the hots for each other. We were high school kids who wanted to boink our brains out, that’s all. End of story. Let’s move on.”
There was a tap on his office door.
He threw her a glance, calling out, “Yes.”
A woman in scrubs poked her head around the door. “Doctor, little Brandon’s ready to be seen.”
“Thank you.”
As the nurse shut the door, Tucker stood. �
�Why don’t you come back at noon and we’ll finish this over lunch?”
Emma shook her head. “This is a small town. I’m not sure I—or you—want the attention or the listening ears that we’d find in any local restaurant.”
Tucker nodded. “Okay. Then we’ll have lunch at my house.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Come on, Emma.” His voice was low. “We started this together, you and I. Don’t you think we need to end it that way. I promise not to rip your clothes off.”
She looked at him, hoping she didn’t rip his off, either.
*
Following Tucker’s instructions, Emma pulled up several hours later in front of a large, beautiful new home, complete with several out-buildings visible at the rear. It sat in a new development on what had been cow pasture when Emma grew up in Cupid.
She was here about the divorce, she reminded herself. Nothing more. Curiosity about how he lived had no place in this. Even if she was.
Emma walked up the slate path to the front and Tucker opened the front door before she could even knock.
He had a kitchen towel tied around his trim waist and he waved her in. “Come on back to the kitchen. I’m just making us some paninis.”
“You cook now?” She followed him through a wide hall into a spacious kitchen filled with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. She hadn’t seen such an up-to-date spread outside of HGTV.
Tucker threw her a grin. “Cooking has much in common with chemistry, I found. It’s not that hard.”
She sat down on a bar stool placed next to a big island. “In my place in Manhattan, finding a spot to put down take-out is difficult.”
“A big reason I returned to Cupid.” He placed a plate with a perfectly grilled sandwich in front of her. “I did a surgical rotation in Brooklyn. It was fun, but I missed home.”
Butterflies jumped around unpleasantly in her stomach, she looked up. “You were in the city?”
“Yep. For two months.”
Return to Cupid, Texas (3 Valentine Novellas) Page 5