Her entire body trembled.
He didn’t release her as Bill spoke from behind her. “What happens now?”
“I’m sure the police will want to take statements from everyone in the next few days, but chances are your problems are over. She may or may not be able to give up her supplier, but it is incredibly unlikely the guy will use this location for his transactions anymore. He’ll find a new place. He needed the inside contact. He doesn’t have it now.”
“Well, that’s good.” Bill sounded relieved.
Jodi took a breath and turned partially in Tuck’s arms to look at her dad. “I can’t believe she fooled me like that.”
“She fooled all of us, sweetie,” Bill responded. “Not your fault.”
“I guess, but it’s still unnerving to think all this time Roxie was the one we were looking for.” The shivering continued, making Tuck’s chest tighten.
“You want us to stick around a while?” Stan asked, approaching from the bar with Jacob and Liz.
“No.” Bill shook his head. “You all can go. Be prepared to speak to the police when they call.”
“Of course.” Liz gave Jodi’s hand a squeeze and smiled. “It’ll be okay. Promise.”
Jodi nodded, her face blank. The world wouldn’t end, but Tuck feared Jodi would be less trusting for a while. And that broken trust might even affect how she felt about him. After all, why should she trust him? He had given her nothing. Not even a kiss. Just a pile of promises that started on Monday at noon.
After the three of them left, Bill excused himself and went upstairs. Tuck turned Jodi in his arms and cupped her face. “You did great.”
“I feel like I’m going to vomit.”
He smiled. “I know, but it’s over. After a full night’s sleep, you’ll feel better.”
“I wish you could stay and sleep next to me.”
“I know.” He kissed her forehead. He wanted that so badly himself. “We’re so close.” He hated to say too much right now. It would only make things harder for the next day. He could say everything that needed to be said after his contract ended.
“I won’t see you before Monday at noon.”
“No. You won’t.” The bar wasn’t open on Sundays anyway, and Tuck intended to visit his mom tomorrow. It wasn’t his usual day, but he was worried about her. Besides, he needed someone to talk to, even if she couldn’t respond. He needed his mom. He needed to tell her all about the woman he’d fallen for, what she was like, how her smile lit up a room, how she melted his soul. He needed his mom to know he would be okay, that she could leave him and he would make it in this world.
For most of his life it had been just the two of them. A huge hole would tear into his heart when she passed, but in a way, she was already gone. All that was left was her body. He knew that deep inside, but he still felt closer to her when he visited.
He wished he could bring Jodi with him tomorrow. His mom would have loved Jodi, but he didn’t want Jodi to see her that way. He wanted to be able to show Jodi pictures from all the good times and paint the memories in a better light.
Maybe in a few weeks, after things settled down, after Tuck and Jodi were an item and had talked for a hundred hours and fallen asleep in each other’s arms night after night… Maybe then he would bring her to visit his mom, but not yet.
He would need to compartmentalize for a while. Visiting his mom was so grim and filled him with so much sorrow. He didn’t want that to be the way he and Jodi made their first memories together. He could manage. After all, he’d managed to star on a reality TV show, play house in a make-believe marriage, work ten hours a day at a bar in a serious security detail role, visit his dying mother, and fall in love all at the same time. Life would be so much easier when he only had to juggle visiting his mom and spending time with Jodi. He was officially unemployed again as of tonight, and his stupid reality show would end with the final episode airing tomorrow night.
The thought of that episode made him nearly groan. “Don’t suppose I could convince you to not watch Cold Feet tomorrow night?”
She grinned at him wanly. “Fat chance. I wouldn’t want to miss all the drama as Katia tries to sabotage your life.”
He cringed. Of all the things that had happened to him in the last month, the fact that Jodi had seen so much footage of his sham of a marriage was what hurt the most. He would give anything to erase that any of it ever happened, especially that she saw it and it would forever be burned in her mind.
“I wouldn’t put anything past her.”
He met and held Jodi’s gaze, staring into her deep brown eyes for the longest time. He knew he had a goofy grin on his face. He’d give anything to tell her how he felt about her, but he wouldn’t. He’d waited this long. He could wait until Monday. He felt confident she knew. Words would only confirm what he wanted her to know. All he could do was pray she didn’t doubt him while she watched the final live episode.
He finally drew in a breath. “I’ll see you Monday. Noon. We have a date.”
She smiled. “Yep. It’s going to be spectacular. How about if we agree not to discuss Cold Feet at all. Put it in the past. Let it go.”
“It hasn’t
