Page 63 of Tango
“That’s not true.” I take a deep breath. “Not the talker part, I’m definitely a talker once I’m comfortable with someone.” I laugh nervously. “Tucker is a great man, and there is a part of me that is drawn to him. More than a part, really. But I know it’s likely just infatuation. A result of being in the middle of a crisis.”
Both women exchange another look.
“It’s not like it was with you guys. We’re not fighting our feelings. You can’t fight something that’s not really there.”
“You just said you felt something,” Nova says.
“Sure, but Tucker doesn’t. He was ready to put me in jail before figuring out that the woman in that video wasn’t me. This is a job for him, and if I let myself think—even for a second—that he has feelings for me, it’ll make things even more uncomfortable than they already are.” Just last night, he’d shut down when I’d tried to get closer.
“But he didn’t turn you in.” Nova steps forward. “And he didn’t tell anyone that he wasn’t able to prove the video a fake.”
“He was waiting until the morning, I’m sure.”
“No,” Nova replies. “Those men have a code between them. They don’t keep secrets from each other. No matter what time of night it is, they reach out. Nothing comes before that code. It’s what’s kept them alive all these years, and what helps them perform at the level they have to perform at. Tucker broke that code to keep your secret, and that means something, Alice. Whether you’re ready to see it or not is something else entirely.”
“Tucker broke the code to keep your secret, and that means something.”
Nova’s words rattle around through my mind like a song on repeat as I sit on a bench outside the cabin my parents are staying in. I should have gone back to Tucker’s over an hour ago, once I was done visiting with my parents, but I just can’t bring myself to face him yet. Not when everything in me wants to lose myself in what I’m feeling for him.
I can’t, of course. For so many reasons, regardless of what Kennedy and Nova said. But I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to find the kind of attachment my parents share, and now—is it right in front of me? Or am I imagining it?
The door opens behind me, and my dad steps out. He doesn’t notice me at first. Just takes a deep breath and runs both hands over his face. He’s exhausted. I can see it clear as day, and I feel horrible knowing it’s because of me.
He turns to head my way, then stops and nearly jumps when he sees me. “Alice! How long have you been out here?”
“Since I left you guys.”
“That was over an hour ago.”
“I wasn’t ready to leave yet,” I reply then tap the seat next to me. “Care to have a sit?”
“A sunset-watching party with my one and only daughter? Sign me up.” He takes a seat on the bench beside me and wraps one arm around my shoulders. I lean into him, enjoying the warmth of his familiar embrace.
It doesn’t matter that Fred Sterling isn’t my biological father because he’s my dad in every single way that counts. God blessed me greatly with two sets of parents who loved me. Even if I lost the ones who brought me into this world, I have Fred and Jemma.
I nearly lost them too. It hits me out of nowhere, and tears burn in my vision.
“You doing okay, Ali?”
“I’m just stressed.” Sitting up, I wipe my face.
“I don’t see why.”
I glance over to find him grinning at me. It’s his trick at disarming me. And it works every single time.
“In all seriousness, my darling, you’re handling this with more strength than I ever thought one person could have.”
“It’s all by the grace of God,” I tell him. “That and Tucker told me he won’t let me quit.”
My dad wraps his arm around me again. “That Tucker seems like a good egg. I like him. His whole family has been incredibly welcoming to us.”
“They’re good people,” I agree.
We sit in silence for a few minutes, and in the distance, I watch as two of the ranch hands I’ve yet to meet help Elliot carry hay into the barn for the horses. Every moment I spend in this place has me even more in awe than the last. The way this family works together to care for their animals and this property.
The way they care for each other.
“I know we’ve already told you, but I am sorry about Logan. While I didn’t particularly care for him while the two of you were together, he didn’t deserve what happened to him. Him or Ramiro.”
