He woke to a sound.
A gasp.
Tucker wrenched his eyes open to find Shanna staring at him, a tray in her hands. And then he felt the weight of a woman in his arms—Avery, snoozing against his chest. Her fever had broken in the night.
What should he say? All the words he’d ever known flew right out of his brain.
“Are you going to be moving in?” Shanna blurted out.
At that moment, Avery stirred in his arms. She pushed herself away from him, her mouth open in horror.
“Shanna, can you give us a minute?” Her voice was hoarse. “Just a minute, honey.”
Shanna crept forward and put the tray at the foot of the bed. “Sure, Mom,” she squeaked. Then she was gone, the door banging against the frame.
Tucker couldn’t think of anything to do, anything that would make this less awkward, so he picked up a slice of bacon and ate it. It was perfectly crispy. Avery threw herself out of bed and ran a hand over her hair, staring at him.
“Tucker, what—what happened? Why are you in here?”
She looked better than she had the previous day, and relief took some of the weight from his shoulders.
“You were pretty sick last night. I tried to sit up in the chair to make sure the medicine was working, but eventually it bothered my back. I thought I’d just sit on the bed. I know.” He held his hands up in the air. “It probably wasn’t the smartest choice. But I needed to know you’d be okay.”
Avery glanced at the door. “Did we have sex?”
“Would it be a problem if we did? We’re both single.” He grimaced. “We are both single, aren’t we?”
Avery lifted her chin. “I don’t know, since I don’t keep tabs on you. I’m single. You? It’s anyone’s guess.”
She wouldn’t meet his eyes. Very suspicious. It was a good a sign as any that Avery was lying. If he’d had a girlfriend, she’d have told him before she put him up in the guest bedroom. In a place like Benton Ridge, everybody knew everybody. No matter how recently she’d arrived, she’d have heard the town gossip long before he showed up on her doorstep.
Avery turned away and began digging through her dresser drawers. Tucker took the hint. Five minutes later, they both met again on the landing.
“After you.” He let her pass him with a flourish, a wild excitement running rampant through his chest. The morning could have gone better. But it also could have gone worse.
They met Shanna in the kitchen. The girl bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.
“Hey, Mom.” Her voice was bright and clear, brimming with excitement. “The landline is working again.”
“That’s good news.” Tucker pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’d better go try to make a call. I’ll let you know if the cell service is back, too.”
It was. His text to Cade had gone through, but Cade hadn’t texted him back. His brother answered on the first ring.
“Where you been, Tucker? I was glad to get your text. We were worried sick. We got the cows back into the barn, but you were nowhere to be found, and we couldn’t get very far from the house to search for you.” A note of regret tinged his brother’s voice. “I’m sorry, Tuck. We tried looking. But where are you?”
He looked out of the window of Doc’s old farmhouse. Snow covered the hills and pastures as far as he could see. The ridge hid the Wells Ranch from him. “Well, I’m across the road. At Avery’s. She bought Doc’s old place and took over the business.”
A stunned silence took over the line.
“She let you in?”
Tucker’s stomach sank. A small part of him had thought it might not have been so bad between them after high school. But the shock in Cade’s voice said otherwise.
“Yeah. Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll be home soon. She’s not feeling too well, so I’m helping out around here.”
“Wow. Wow, Tuck. I really didn’t think—”
“Gotta go,” he said loudly, and then tromped back down to the kitchen. Avery sat at the table, her head tipped back and eyes closed. His heart softened and ached—for the sight of her sick and for whatever it was that had split them up. “Hey.”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I heard you talking. Is cell service back?”
“Yeah.” Tucker took the seat next to her. “You feeling all right?” Avery’s skin was flushed again. She coughed a low, rumbling cough.
“I’m tired.” Avery made a face. “I guess I might have to rest for more than one day.”
He took a deep breath, the need to talk to her filling him with a strange pressure. “Where’s Shanna?”
“Outside, playing.”
Tucker looked Avery in the eye. Don’t say anything. Just let her recover.
She looked back at him.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it,” he burst out. “About our breakup. There must have been some misunderstanding.”
Avery held up a hand. “No, Tucker. I’m tired, I don’t feel well, and I’m not going to rehash it again.”
“I’m sorry.” He rubbed both hands over his face. “I made a mistake all those years ago. I should have stayed with you.”
“Well, I went to college anyway.” She shrugged, her hands playing with the fringe on the woven placemat. “I was better off without you.”
Ouch. “I’m sure I never stopped loving you.” He got the words out around a bruise-like pain in his heart, like they were breaking up all over again. “I’m sure of it.”
Avery stood, looking down at him with a stone-cold set to her lips. “You had a funny way of showing it.” She left the kitchen
