Purgatory Masters(70)
“Tucker thinks I was planning to betray his trust to the media by writing a book that included details about his sexual life,” she blurted.
Nina cocked an eye. “Oh boy. And are you?”
“Of course not! I’ve never written about someone who hadn’t given me their express permission beforehand. Of course, the horse’s ass would have known that if he’d given me five minutes to explain before making his assumptions.”
Her friend laughed. “I take it you’re not happy with him right now.”
“Happy? Does this haggard, bags-under-my-eyes face look happy to you?”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m going to pick up the pieces and move on. I’ve received a new job offer in Boston and I plan to take it. I have a few days to pack and then I’ll be out of Tucker’s life for good.” Putting the thoughts to words tore through her chest.
Nina leaned in close. “You should see your face. Maybe you were able to say you were leaving but your expression said it all. You don’t want to leave anymore than I imagine my boneheaded brother wants you to.”
Maggie straightened her back and set down her spoon. No way could she eat now. “You’re wrong. His words to me couldn’t have been anymore final if he’d driven me to the airport himself.”
“It’s true, he’s stubborn as a pack mule, I’ll give you that. But you’re the first woman I’ve ever seen him serious about.” She held up her hand. “No wait, before you protest. I know he dropped you off at home on Sunday morning. Did he tell you where he was going? Where he goes every single Sunday year after year after year.”
She shook her head. She’d been so wrapped up in the afterglow of their scenes she’d thought very little of anything else that weekend.
“That’s what I thought. Well, since he’s too close-mouthed to talk about it then I will. I’ll take the heat from him later, but I think it will be worth it.” She glanced around. “I know you’re familiar with our father. I mean who wouldn’t be. Before his death he’d risen to a pretty powerful figure around here. With his religious convictions and presumably endless devotion to family, he traded on that power for a lot of wealth. He built an empire that to this day remains strong and unbreakable.”
“I don’t understand. What does this have to do with where he went on Sunday. Your father passed away years ago.”
“Thank God.”
Maggie sat back, shocked by Nina’s exclamation.
“I know. I know. You don’t understand. No one does and that’s the way Tucker wants to keep it. The less the public knows the better.” Nina covered Maggie’s hands. “The point I’m trying to get to is this. Just before his death, something really bad happened. No. I can’t tell you but you can trust me that it’s pretty bad and his mom had a full mental breakdown. A catatonic, no longer speaks kind of breakdown, and she’s never recovered.”
“What—?”
“No. That’s all you’re getting out of me. You need to talk to Tucker. He’s the one who needs to open up with you before he can really trust. Until then you’ll both be stuck. Him going out to the sanitarium to see his mother every weekend as the focus of his life and you never understanding why he is the way he is.” Nina stood. “Talk to him. Bang down his door if you have to. If you can get the truth out of him then I’ll know I was right all along.”
“Right about what?” Maggie asked, but Nina had already walked off and was speaking to a customer at another table.
Chapter Sixteen
Maggie checked the clock on her dash for the umpteenth time. Like it or not her time was up. It had been two days since her chat with Nina and the silence since deafened her. She checked her phone too frequently for word from Tucker to no avail. The man had written her off.
The bone-deep sadness that thought created burned inside her. Despite Nina’s solemn wisdom and information about some of what held Tucker back, Maggie couldn’t bring herself to go see him. She couldn’t take seeing the despair and belief in her betrayal across his face again. It was enough she spent half her night in bed reliving that last day with him. Loneliness weighed on her.
She pulled up to the cabin and rushed to the front door. The weather report called for more snow tonight and she wanted to be inside by a cozy fire long before the first flake fell. She unlocked the door, and stepped inside her warm house and froze in place, her feet rooted to the ground.
Standing larger than life in front her was a giant portrait of her on Tucker’s bondage wheel. It took her a full thirty seconds before she could breathe and another thirty for her to move. Her gaze bounced around the room, seeking Tucker, to only find the room empty. Her heart squeezed. For a split second she’d thought…