Maizy the Bear Charmer(Diving Creek Ranch 16)(95)

“Baby—”

She swiped quickly at her cheeks. “I’d better go before I make a fool of myself. I love you, my bears,” she whispered, her voice cracking. She hesitated for a second, the need for contact clear in her eyes and echoed by his heart, but she stopped herself. She turned and walked out the door.

Spencer hadn’t said a word since the restaurant. As the door closed, he headed into the kitchen. He reached into a cabinet for the bottle of whiskey and took down a shot glass. He looked at the shot glass in his hand and then shoved it back onto the shelf and slammed the cabinet. He walked to his bedroom and appeared a minute later in his swim trunks. The back door slammed closed behind him as he strode out to the pool, bottle in hand. Heath braced his hands against the kitchen counter, looking stricken.

Cody headed to his bedroom too, calling out, “I’d better go out there with him. I could use a little somethin’ strong myself.”

When Cody went out on the back porch, after changing out of his jeans, it was to find Heath’s T-shirt and jeans strewn on the porch, where he must’ve left them when he’d stripped and put on his trunks. Spencer had already taken a swim and was now sitting on the edge, the bottle in his hand. He curled his lip and tilted the bottle to his mouth and then handed it to Heath when he swam to the edge where Spencer sat.

Spencer’s swallow was audible, as though he was having a hard time getting it down. Cody walked around to them and sat down with his legs in the water, which was still warm from the sun. Spencer’s eyes looked haunted and his voice was hoarse as he said, “She cried the whole way home. I could feel her shaking as she cried. We broke her heart. My heart is breaking, man, and I fucking hate it.”

Heath took a drink from the bottle and then passed it to Cody but not before Cody noticed the way his hand trembled.

“Did I do the right thing?” That was all he needed to know from his brothers.

“They were holding her job over her head. The only difference was that we stopped it before more people figured it out, before her reputation was ruined,” Heath said, his hands clenching into fists on the edge of the pool. “We never should’ve pursued her once we knew. Should’ve known this would happen. I hated hurting her. She didn’t deserve that.”

Cody felt even worse, remembering the way Heath had talked about their evening together earlier in the week and the fact that they’d made use of the brand-new bed. Her bed. They’d changed the sheets and made it up nice for her, for the next night she spent with them, but it wasn’t meant to be.

The whiskey stung going down and didn’t ease the pain at all.





Chapter Twenty-One




Maizy sighed as she finished dressing. So much for her hope that a massage might ease the all-over ache she’d suffered from since she and the bears had broken their relationship off two weeks before. Even thinking of that night made her heart ache and her eyes burn with tears.

They hadn’t been in touch but Lucy had told her that all three men asked about her every time they saw Lucy. She’d also seen Spencer’s truck drive past her house one night after she’d come in from working late in her rose garden. When Chaz had broken up with her the pain she’d suffered hadn’t been anywhere near the magnitude of what she was struggling with now.

Clearing her throat of unshed tears, she slipped her boots on. She recalled the gentle way Spencer had slipped them off of her feet the first night she’d gone to their house. His whole demeanor had filled her with comfort, despite how intimidating he may have seemed.

Her heart ached with longing for him and she had to stop and just breathe for a few seconds before she started bawling…again. She’d been so embarrassed when the sobs had suddenly burst from her during the massage, but Lucy had just patted her consolingly and told her to go ahead and let it out. It hadn’t helped all that much. There was no cathartic feeling, only a terrible sense of loss.

The school day had been another long one and Lucy had insisted she come over for a massage after the shop was closed, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Lucy had taken PJ home to Patrick and then had met her at A Divine Retreat, Lucy’s massage retreat in historic downtown Divine. She appreciated Lucy’s effort but still felt the same.

After inspecting her appearance in the mirror, noting with dismay her red-rimmed eyes and flushed cheeks, she shrugged and grabbed her purse, determined to get beyond the hurt somehow. Lucy put her phone down and went to her. “How do you feel?”

“Better,” Maizy lied, but Lucy snorted.

“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, honey.”