Chapter Twelve
June Twenty-Third
Tucker
Walking out of the barn, I see Lacey’s car sitting in the driveway. I start hot footing it to the house, determined to protect Hadley from whatever the fuck the viper is saying to her. As I get closer to the porch, I notice a bright yellow VW Bug I have never seen before parked to the side of the house. Knowing Lacey is at the house with my wife is enough to make me worry. Knowing someone else is also here just makes it worse.
By the time I open the door, Lacey’s irritating voice reaches my ears. “You shouldn’t feel bad, sweetheart. He probably just forgot to mention it to you.”
I have no idea what she is talking about as I step into the room. One look around and I know whatever she is saying is gonna mean trouble for me. Sitting at the end of the couch, my mother has a vindictive smile on her face. Beside her, Lacey is sipping on a glass of lemonade, but I can see the triumph in her eyes as she stares across the room to where my wife is sitting.
Hadley is resting on the cushion of the bay window; her eyes are focused on the glass. The way she is holding her shoulders straight back lets me know she is upset. It’s not the normal, pissed at Mom upset. No, something has made my woman furious.
A throat clears, and I look to the other side of the room to see Willow snuggled into the corner of the loveseat, anger flashing across her face. “Glad you could join us.”
Her words are full of venom, causing me to take a step back. “I didn’t know we had company.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, Hadley jerks her eyes to me. From the distance, I can see a mixture of anger and pain filling them. The sight has me rushing across the room to pull her into my arms. Without a word, I place my lips on hers and give her a reassuring kiss.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, pulling back to look down at her.
Before she can reply, Lacey does it for her. “I think I upset your little wife, Tucker.”
I can feel Hadley’s body go taut in my arms as I turn to look at the bitch I’ll be running out of my house soon. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings.” She sets her glass down and waves her hand in the air. “I just mentioned that we had planned on going to the Breeders Ball together, but I assumed she was going with you now.”
Hadley stays quiet, but Willow doesn’t. “You know, the same Breeders Ball you haven’t even mentioned to your wife.”
I start to open my mouth, but it snaps shut when Lacey starts talking again. “I would offer to let her borrow my dress, but I doubt she could fit into it.”
Her snarky tone sets me on edge. “Shut the fuck up, Lacey.”
Hadley takes a step back and asks, “Why don’t you want to take me?”
I can hear the hurt in her voice, and it tears my heart to shreds. When we got married, I had every intention of making her the happiest woman in the world. Instead, she has had to deal with my mother giving her shit every day and Lacey paying her visits. I’m thinking happy is only a memory for her. In fact, the only time I even get a smile out of her is when we are in bed.
“It’s not that I don’t want to take you; I just didn’t think about it. You know me, darlin’. I’m not into that kind of shit. There’s no reason for us to go.”
Another glass slams against the coffee table top, drawing my attention across the room. I watch as my mom lets go of her glass and stands up. Her lips are in a firm line as she stomps my way. Just a foot from my side, she stops and places her hands on her hips.
“Now you listen here, Tucker Davis Brady,” she begins, tilting her head to the side. “You are going to the Breeders Ball, and I don’t want to hear any backtalk.”
For a second, I’m so shocked I can’t respond. How fucking dare she speak to me in such a way. I’m a twenty-seven-year-old man, and I don’t take orders from anyone, not even my mother. Is this the shit Hadley has been dealing with from her?
Finally finding my voice, I stare my mother down. “You live under my roof, eat food that I buy, and wear clothes that my money has paid for. I’m not sure what makes you think you have the right to tell me to do anything.”
“I’m your mother,” she says, as if that gives her the right to control my life, then she turns to look at Hadley. “If you’re embarrassed to take your wife, I can go with you.”
Before I can even respond, laughter fills the room. A second later, Lacey is standing up and walking toward the front door. “That’s my cue to leave.”
After Lacey walks out, Mom looks at Hadley and says, “Look what you did. That girl’s father is the town judge. She comes from a respectable family, and you made her so uncomfortable that she ran out of here like her tail was on fire.”
“Enough,” I growl, pointing to the doorway. “Get out.”
Mom crosses her arms and glares at me. I just shake my head and nod in the direction I want her to go. She huffs before turning to leave the room, mumbling the entire way. I’m not sure what she was saying, but I know that I heard something about disrespectful children. Like a kid, she stomps her way up the stairs, letting everyone know she is pissed.
Turning back to Hadley, I reach up and push a strand of hair behind her ear. “I didn’t think to say anything to you about the ball. If you want to go, we’ll go.”
The pain and anger finally leave her face as she looks up at me. “I want to go if you want to take me. I think it will be fun.”
Leaning my head down, I brush my lips across hers before pulling away. “Then we will go. I’m not so sure about it being fun, though. Since you’ll be the best looking woman there, I’ll be fighting men off you all night.”
Hadley reaches out and lightly slaps me on the arm. “Go on upstairs and get cleaned up. Willow was just about to leave, and I’ve got to get supper started.”
“I’ll be down in a little bit.” I kiss her again, looking into her eyes to see if there is any hurt or anger lingering.
I let out a relieved breath when I see only happiness shining in their brown depths. I head out of the room and turn to the stairs, damn near running into Willow. She is literally blocking my path with a ferocious scowl on her face.
“I’ve never seen Hadley’s feelings hurt so badly before, not even when her parents left her on campus during Christmas break,” she whispers, bringing her face closer to mine. “I suggest you do something to fix this shit and fix it now.”
“Don’t worry. I’m taking her to the ball,” I reply quietly, giving her what I hope is a reassuring smile.
Instead of smiling back, she shakes her head. “If you think this is about the ball, you’re a damned idiot.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, losing my patience.
She reaches up, placing a hand against my forearm. “I’d say it’s time you had a long talk with your mother.”
Fuck, that’s what I was afraid she would say. Hadley is about the easiest person in the world to get along with. She doesn’t whine and pout, especially not about a fucking ball that she knows nothing about. This is about the way my mother has been treating her.
As I walk upstairs, I think about what Willow said. Have I been missing something? I know my mother hasn’t welcomed Hadley with open arms, but I just thought she was being her normal bitchy self. Why hasn’t Hadley said anything to me? It’s not like I haven’t asked her about it. It seems like my wife and I will have to have a little talk about this.
“I’ll take care of it,” I growl, stepping around her and heading up the stairs.
I head straight to Mom’s room and bang on the door. It takes a second for her to open it, and when she does, she has tears in her eyes. I haven’t seen my mom cry since Dad’s funeral. Seeing the tears rolling down her cheeks is nearly as bad as seeing them in Hadley’s eyes. With either one of them, it’s like having my chest ripped open.
“What’s wrong, Mom?” I ask, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her against my chest to rub a soothing hand down her back.
She sniffles, burrowing into my chest. “I was so ugly to your wife. I don’t even know where those words came from.”
Oh, thank fuck! She is finally seeing the error of her ways. “You need to apologize.”
She leans back, her tears drying up quickly. “Oh, I will. I promise.”
“Good,” I reply, glad we didn’t have to talk about this shit.
She smiles sweetly then reaches out and pats my arms. “You go on and get cleaned up. That wife of yours will have dinner on the table before you know it.”
I place a quick kiss on the top of her head and turn back to the door. Just before I step out of the room, the urge to look over my shoulder hits me so hard that it can’t be ignored. When I do, I catch my mother’s reflection in the mirror that hangs above her dresser. She has a smile on her face that is nothing at all like the one she wore a second ago. In fact, if I didn’t know better, it would seem almost triumphant.