Page 66 of Spilling the Tea

She swiped the tears away. He took a few tissues out of the box to wipe her eyes, and in a softer tone, he said, “Tell me, sweetheart.”

Why on earth did he call her that? Although it was a term of endearment, she knew he hadn’t meant it as such. She met his gaze, and the genuine concern and tenderness she saw in the dark pupils staring back at her made her catch her breath on a sob before lowering her head to his chest to cry openly.

She felt the warmth in the arms that wrapped around her and took comfort in the hands that began to stroke her back gently. Then there was the calm, soothing, masculine voicetelling her everything would be alright. She wished she could believe him. More than anything, she wanted to believe him.

“Tell me what’s the matter, Zoey. There’s no way I can make things better if you don’t tell me.”

She lifted her face from his chest. “Not sure you can make things better, Chance.”

“I plan to try.”

She heard both sincerity and determination in his voice and appreciated both. Although she still didn’t know his issues, he had no problem going full speed into hers. Drawing in a deep breath, she said, “Dr. Sharon Newberry was to my mom what Lucky is to me.”

“Lucky?”

“Yes, whereas Dr. Newberry was Mom’s best friend since college, Lucky Andres-Tankersley has been my best friend since middle school. While talking to Sharon, I discovered something else regarding the car accident that I didn’t know.”

“What?”

“She told me where my parents and I were going that day.”

He nodded. “And where did she say you and your parents were going?”

“Home. Mom had just gotten out of the hospital.”

“Had she been ill?”

“No,” Zoey said, unable to keep her lips from trembling and new tears from falling. “My parents weren’t the only ones killed in that car accident, Chance. I also lost my newborn baby brother.”

She then lowered her head to his chest and began crying again.

***

Chance stood at the window in Zoey’s hotel room and gazed at downtown Houston. Once she’d calmed down, he made her some Madaris tea, after which, he persuaded her to lie downfor a while. He had checked on her a few moments ago, and she was still sleeping.

He didn’t know Paulina Pritchard since he had never met the woman. But at that moment, he didn’t think a lot of her for the pain she’d caused Zoey. He could understand her not telling Zoey about her baby brother as a child, but there was no reason not to tell her when she’d gotten older.

At that moment, Zoey’s phone, which was on the table next to the sofa, began ringing. He decided to ignore it. It stopped, and when it started ringing again, the last thing he wanted was for the sound to wake up Zoey. Crossing the room, he picked it up and was about to switch it to message mode when he saw the caller was Lucky. The woman Zoey had referred to as her best friend. He decided to answer.

“Hello.”

There was a pause, and then the caller asked. “Who is this?”

“Chance Madaris.”

“Tall, hot, and handsome?”

He lifted a brow. “Excuse me?”

“Nothing. Where is Zoey?”

Not sure what, if anything, Zoey had told her, he said, “She’s unavailable at the moment.”

“Does that mean you got her to lie down? Lord, I hope so. The only thing that can calm her from a crying spell is sleep. I can’t stand Ms. Paulina for all those secrets she kept.”

Her words let Chance know that Lucky knew what was going on. From the sound of it, she knew much more than he did about the situation, which made sense if they’d been best friends since middle school.

“Let me give you fair warning, Chance. When Zoey wakes up, she will be calm. Too calm. She will try to convince you that she’s okay when she really won’t be. She will attempt to distance the two of you. Don’t let her. That’s when you must put your foot down and let her know she isn’t alone.”

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