Jennifer jumped up, muttered apologies, and quickly gathered her things.
Tyler turned, silently stalked down the hall to their bedroom and slammed the door behind him.
Tyler never slammed doors. In their eighteen years together, Thomas could never remember Tyler slamming a door. He could count on one hand the times he’d heard Tyler raise his voice in anger, one of those times being just now.
Jennifer hurried from the house. They heard her car pull out of the driveway.
Thomas forced himself to look at Nevvie. He knew that look well—Nevvie was too upset to speak. She clamped her lips together and turned from him, her back stiff. She picked up the baby. When Thomas called out to her, she raised her hand without even looking at him.
He heard their bedroom door open and close. She didn’t slam it with the baby in her arms.
She was the door slammer. The fact that Tyler had slammed the door and Nevvie didn’t, even with the baby in her arms, told him more than any words ever could.
Ten minutes later the bedroom door opened again. He heard Tyler’s desperate, low pleas, then heard Nevvie walk to the nursery. She appeared a few minutes later with Adam and breezed past him without a glance his way, the diaper bag and—was that an overnight bag?—on her shoulder. He tried to call out to her and she completely ignored him as she rushed out the front door.
Tyler didn’t appear.
Thomas hated himself.
Now I’ve done it. The two people who really love me and give a damn and that’s what I do to them. I don’t fucking deserve them.
He carefully made his way onto the couch and took a moment to catch his breath. It hurt, but it wasn’t as bad as a few weeks ago. He was healing.
He grabbed his crutches. While he’d intended to go all the way to the bedroom to talk to Ty, he only made it as far as the kitchen and sat at the table. The food, now cold, still sat on the counter in the bags.
She’d come home to talk, probably, because she wouldn’t have driven all the way home just to bring lunch. And he’d acted like an ass.
Dammit
, would she ever forgive him? Would either of them forgive him? Tyler had looked as hurt as Nevvie.
He’d started to get up when he heard the bedroom door open again. Tyler had changed clothes and carried his keys. When he walked by the kitchen, he didn’t look at Thomas.
“Ty!”
Tyler stopped, frozen, but didn’t turn. “Yes?” he quietly asked.
“I’m sorry.”
After a long moment, Tyler finally nodded, still not turning. “I’ll tell her you said that, if I find her.” Still the same soft, hurt tone. “She wouldn’t tell me where she was going.”
* * * *
Nevvie cried. Fuck, it’s not like she caught him with his dick in the girl’s mouth, but now she felt like a fucking moron. All these weeks, looking back, the pattern was crystal clear. Tommy pushing her—them—away, then all happy and shit after an appointment that should make him hurt like hell.
Fuck.
Not sleeping in bed with them despite their repeated requests, opting for the guest room. Why would he want to sleep with them when his mind was on Jennifer? She hadn’t seen the kiss—Tyler told her what she’d missed—but she’d
heard
.
Nevvie drove to the office, knowing she had maybe a twenty minute head start. Tyler would look for her there first. She ignored his calls, sending them straight to voice mail. She unbuckled the baby and raced inside to get her laptop and some files. She’d go to a hotel for the day, calm down, and then go home tomorrow to talk. She knew she couldn’t talk to Thomas like this. She was too angry, would say something she’d regret.
Would want to kick his bad leg or smack him upside the skull. Maybe rip his tongue out of his head and shove it up his ass so he could lick his balls from the inside out.
When she was this mad, she knew she needed to calm down. It wouldn’t do anyone any good for her to confront him feeling like this. She had to get her emotions under control first, get rational again.
Maggie tried to waylay her but Nevvie had her follow and carry Adam while she gathered her things.
“What’s up, Nevvie?”
She couldn’t face her friend. “Long story, I’ll tell you later. But if Tyler or Thomas—especially Thomas—calls looking for me, you didn’t see me.”
“What?”
Nevvie shook her head, fighting her tears. If she started crying she wouldn’t stop. “Please,” she pleaded. “It’ll take too long to explain.”
Confused, Maggie nodded. “Okay.”
“Thank you. I’ll call you tomorrow to check in and see if there’s anything I need to take care of.” Maggie followed her to the car. Nevvie loaded the stuff in the trunk, then took Adam. “Thank you.”
Nevvie quickly buckled him in and drove off.
Her phone rang fifteen minutes later, Tyler’s cell, and she let it go to voice mail. By that time she was already on the interstate heading…she didn’t know where. West, for now, toward downtown Tampa. From there, who knew? She played the voice mail. Tyler’s soft, hurt tone crushed her heat.
“Nevvie, darling, please. Call me. Maggie wouldn’t tell me you’d been here, but from the looks of things I’m assuming you were. Please, talk to me. I love you.”
How long since Tommy had said that to either of them? Felt like forever, that’s for sure. He used to say it to them every day, all the time. Especially making a point to say it to Tyler every night before bed, a routine they’d had since the very start of their relationship. The past few weeks he’d been like a stone wall, nothing in, nothing out.
How stupid was it that she wasn’t even pissed off so much about the kiss? That she could have taken, because she didn’t actually see it, Tyler did and filled in the blank she’d missed.
But he called Jennifer “baby girl.”
She
was his baby girl.
Or, that’s what she’s always thought.
Maybe Tommy didn’t think she was so special after all. Maybe he called lots of women that. Maybe another thing she’d been too stupid to notice.
She cried so hard she had to take the Dale Mabry exit and sat crying in the Wal-Mart parking lot and tried to collect herself. Her phone rang three more times and she put it on silent.
All Tyler, not Tommy.
How would the boys play it? Would Tommy sweet talk Tyler and try to have him do the dirty work for him? Or maybe he didn’t really give a fuck about them anymore and wanted them to really leave him alone for good. It’s what he’d been asking for, right?
Baby girl.
From the early days, even before she ever moved in with them when she was still just their cleaning girl, she’d been Tyler’s angel and Tommy’s baby girl. Those were their pet names for her.
They’d made her feel special—truly loved—for the first time ever in her life.
When she calmed down she drove south a couple of blocks to the large Borders bookstore. Fortunately she had Adam’s stroller in the trunk and she spent hours browsing, finally buying a few things. She left her phone in the car.
She didn’t feel like eating. It was now after six. Tyler had called five more times since she went in the store.
It wasn’t fair to punish him like that. He’d done nothing wrong. She opted to send him a text message.
I’m fine. I’ll call you later.
It was a lie because she wasn’t fine, but she had to calm down. Tyler would try to get her to come home and she had to control her anger before she faced Tommy. Twenty seconds later, her phone rang.
Tyler
. She sent it straight to voice mail. Another fifteen seconds after that, a text message arrived.
Whr r u?
She knew he had to be upset to be using abbreviations. He was nearly as adept at typing with his BlackBerry as he was on a computer, and he abhorred text shorthand with a passion.
Later Tyler
, she replied.
She made her way back to the office. How ironic, that she ended up at Tommy’s office? She’d changed her mind about going to a hotel. She knew if she did, Tyler would be monitoring credit cards online and find out where she went. She had to come back to work the next morning anyway. Not to mention while they had the money, her old thrifty habits died hard and she couldn’t bring herself to spend the money when staying at the office was free.
She let herself in, glad to note there were no other cars in the lot. She brought Adam and her things into Tommy’s office and settled in for the night. He had a TV and cable, a couch comfortable enough to sleep on, there was a bathroom with a shower, and she already had extra supplies for the baby right there. She’d have a damn short commute in the morning. She retrieved Adam’s portable crib from her office and locked herself in. Eventually, around eight o’clock, she sent Tyler a text message.
Go outside. I’ll call in 3.
She did. He answered immediately. “Sweetheart, where are you? Are you all right?”
Now she felt guilty. “I’m fine, Ty. I just can’t come home right now. I’ll kill him if I do.”
“Where are you? Please tell me.”
“No, because you’ll show up.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“No! You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not mad at you, baby, I swear.”
“Let me come be with you then.”
“Someone’s got to stay with the asshole.”
He was quiet for a long moment. “What makes you think I wish to be here with him any more than you do?”
Yikes.
She hadn’t thought about that. He had to be as pissed off as she was. Maybe more. If she’d actually seen the kiss, she might feel even more pissed off than she already did.
“I’m at the office. I got here a little while ago. I’m going to spend the night here. Adam and I spent the afternoon doing some retail therapy at Borders.”
He faked a hurt tone, trying to cheer her up. “Ah, my favorite store. And you didn’t take me, love.”
She fought the urge to cry. “Did you hear what he called her?” she whispered in a choked voice. “Did you hear him?”
“Yes, love.” She knew from his tone of voice that he hurt as much as she did. “I heard him. I’m so sorry.”
She cried, the one thing she didn’t want to do because she knew he would come for sure. “I can’t be around him right now. I have to calm down before I come home or I’ll say something I can’t take back. I’m sorry. I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
Sobbing, she hung up and curled up on the couch.
* * * *
Thomas watched as Tyler looked at his phone and then walked outside, closing the back door behind him. Tyler stared at his phone like he was waiting for a call.
Ty had said nothing to him all afternoon despite his repeated apologies and trying to get him to talk. Tyler had anxiously paced through the house after he returned from trying to find Nevvie. She wouldn’t answer his calls. That Tyler—the peacemaker, the soother, the fixer, the talker—that he wouldn’t talk, much less look at him told Thomas how much he hurt.
Guilt ravaged Thomas. God he was a stupid asshole. What the hell had come over him anyway?
Then Tyler put the phone to his ear, talking. She must have called him back. Thomas waited. Tyler finally returned, hurrying straight for the bedroom, talking on the phone again, this time to someone else apparently. When Tyler reappeared a few minutes later, he also had a bag packed.
Well, he deserved for them to leave him. Between acting like an asshole and then what happened, he’d finally succeeded in pushing them away.
Tyler brought Thomas his cell phone. “There’s your phone. Pete will be here shortly. Keep it with you. If you fall or have a problem before he gets here you can call him or 911. Frankly, I don’t care which. I’ll leave the front door unlocked.” Tyler turned to go.
“Where are you going?” Thomas asked, fear creeping into his heart. He’d really fucked up this time.
Tyler didn’t turn. “I’m going to her and will try to talk her into coming home. If I can’t get her to come home, I’ll stay with her tonight. I don’t want her alone as upset as she is.” His voice sounded quiet. “You know damn well she doesn’t sleep well when she’s alone. Or have you forgotten that also?”
“Where is she?”
“If I tell you, she’ll have my bollocks. And I’m rather fond of them. At least one of us needs to keep her best interests in mind since apparently you aren’t capable of it anymore.” He wouldn’t turn.
“It didn’t mean anything. It…I was just flirting with her and it got out of hand. I never thought anything would happen.”
Tyler snorted with disgust. “Yes, kissing someone who doesn’t mean anything to you after we’ve been together for nearly two decades. That makes me feel sooo much better, Thomas. Be sure to tell that one to Nevvie. She’s liable to neuter you with her bare hands.”
Tyler let out a long, deep breath. “When we started this, with her, we agreed no one else. Just the three of us. If you wish to change that, you’re on your own. I do not want anyone but you and Nevvie. If you want someone new…well, then you’ll have to pursue that without the two of us.”
“I’m sorry, Ty.”
Tyler finally turned, his eyes bright with tears. “I’m sure you are. But try telling her that. Anything else. Couldn’t you have said
anything
else, you stupid sod?”
“What?”
Tyler shook his head, stared at the ceiling. “She’s mad about the kiss, yes. What has Nevvie distraught is what you said to that girl. I don’t know if Nevvie will ever forgive you that. I can’t say as I blame her if she doesn’t, either.”
Now Thomas was confused. “What did I say?”
Tyler glared at him. “Think about it. Was it really worth breaking Nevvie’s heart over that girl? Especially over someone who ‘didn’t matter’ to you? Replay that little vignette in your brain damaged head and think about it long and hard. The kiss she can forgive. Perhaps I can, too. What you said to that girl ripped a piece of Nevvie’s soul right out of her, and for that I don’t know if
I
can forgive you. You bloody well know what her life was like before us. We were the two people she trusted to never hurt her, to always love her, and then you went and did that to her.” Tyler headed for the door.