Only His (Fool's Gold #6)(87)

Tucker felt like he was a kid again, all long legs and awkward gestures. He swallowed. “Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re welcome.” His father motioned to the chair in front of his desk. “Ready to have a seat?”

“Sure.”

He sank onto the soft cushion, then wanted to jump up again. He couldn’t just sit still. He needed to be doing something. Get busy. Or run.

He pushed the last impulse away. He wasn’t running. He was making an intelligent choice. There was a difference. Not a big one, but it was enough.

“When your mother died,” his father began, “all that kept me going was knowing I had to take care of you. I couldn’t stand to stay here, there were too many memories. So I took you wherever the work was. All over the world. I told myself that you would enjoy living in different places, meeting different people. And you did. But while you gained a lot, you also lost out.”

Elliot leaned forward in his chair. “You didn’t get to have the same friends year after year. You never stayed in a school long enough to play sports or fall for the girl. I’m not saying there weren’t women. I still remember that incident with the ambassador’s daughter when you were seventeen.”

Tucker grinned. “Hey, that wasn’t my fault. She’s the one who crawled into my window to wish me happy birthday.”

His father smiled. “Point taken. But while there were different girls, you never stuck around long enough to fall for any of them. Until Cat.”

Tucker studied his dad. “You say that like you knew her.”

“I knew of her. One of the guys on the crew called me and told me what was going on. He said you were in over your head, but I figured it was time you learned about life and love. So I stayed away.”

Tucker grimaced. “They knew?”

His father laughed. “You weren’t subtle. You fell hard, got your heart broken and learned your lesson, just like I’d planned. Only it was the wrong lesson, son. Love doesn’t make you a fool. Some of us are blessed with several partners we can love, while others never find anyone. But the lucky ones find that one person who changes everything. For me, it was your mother. I love her as much today as I did when I proposed. I would rather have had her those few years than have loved anyone else for a lifetime.”

Elliot’s mouth twisted. “I would give all this away.” He motioned to his office. “I would sacrifice everything but you to have her back just for a day. To love is to be blessed. What you had with Caterina was…”

“An obsession,” Tucker said grimly. “I’ve heard.”

“But you don’t believe. You think you can’t love and still be who you are. You think the price of love is too high. You’re wrong. Love is worth everything. Not that I’m going to be able to convince you,” his father added.

“Probably not.”

Elliot nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s get together in the morning and talk about the next step. We can start the transition for you to take over the company now or find another job you want to run.”

That was more than Tucker had expected. “Thanks, Dad.” He rose.

“You’re welcome.”

His father stood and walked around his desk. The two men hugged. Elliot put his hands on his son’s shoulders.

“Your mother would be very proud of you. She loved you.”

Tucker thought of the vague memories that had no real form and wished he could have had her in his life longer. But she’d been taken without warning, leaving behind a little boy and a grieving husband.

Tucker left.

Once he was in the hallway, he crossed to the elevator and pushed the button to go down. He kept a small apartment in the city. Getting some sleep seemed like a good idea. Then he’d give some serious thought to what he wanted to do next. Getting out of the country sounded good. He would stay busy. Forget. Because there was no going back.

SOMETIME AROUND THREE the next afternoon, Tucker decided to throw his TV out the window. There was nothing on the damn thing. Despite the fact that he hadn’t slept in two days, had spent nearly three hours working out in the gym in his building and had walked most of the city, he couldn’t relax, couldn’t focus and couldn’t find anything to watch on television. He needed to be in a rain forest somewhere. Maybe a decent jungle fever would put his world into perspective.

He got up from the sofa and crossed to the small kitchen. In the refrigerator he found beer and leftover pizza. Neither appealed. Still restless, he walked toward the bedroom. Maybe if he took a shower he would get sleepy, or at the very least, forget.

He was halfway there when someone rang his doorbell.

Nevada!

He knew it was her, he thought, as he jogged to the door. She’d come to knock some sense into him. To yell at him and tell him why he was wrong. She would convince him and he’d let her and…

He opened the door only to find Cat standing in the hallway of the condo building.

“Oh,” he said, disappointed and frustrated. “It’s you.”

“I’m not that happy to see you, either,” she snapped, pushing past him. “I feel horrible. I haven’t been working. I’m lost and nothing helps.”

She stepped into the middle of his living room and faced him. Misery pulled at her face and her mouth was a full pout.