Free Marry Me Again (The Second Chance Love Series, Book 1) by Teresa Hill Page B

hands to warn him off.
    "I don't want to be here with you. I don't want you to try to explain things to me or to make me understand, and I don't want you to touch me again." She was revealing much more than she should have with her plea, but she didn't care. She just couldn't take any more. "I can't be here with you like this. It's too hard. It hurts too much, and it won't change anything, anyway."
    He stared at her from across the room, and she was grateful for the distance, although it did little to diminish the power he had over her.
    "I just can't do it, Tucker."
    He watched her for the longest time, watched her as if he were trying to look deep inside her and know all her secret thoughts. And just when she'd decided he wasn't going to back away, he did.
    "All right," he said.
    He went to the door, and she breathed a little easier. He opened it, and she felt some semblance of self-control again.
    "I'll see you—"
    She backed away a little as he paused in the doorway.
    "I'll see Sammy?"
    She nodded, still wary, still shaken.
    "Tomorrow?"
    "Yes."
    Tomorrow.
    How was she going to get through tomorrow?

 
     
     
    Chapter 6

     
    Sammy woke early, with another tummy ache.
    He'd thought it would feel better this morning, now that he'd already met his dad. But it didn't. Now he was worried about the game.
    His dad was coming to the soccer game, the very first one, and Sammy was glad, but he was scared, too. He wasn't very good at soccer. He was too little, and he wasn't fast enough. He tried as hard as he could, but the ball kept getting by him. And that was just at practice. Today was the real thing, the first game, and he didn't want to mess up in front of his dad.
    He rolled out of bed and looked at the messed-up covers. They were going every which way. He wasn't sure he could straighten them out even if he tried. So he didn't. He figured he could get away with it one more time.
    Sammy walked down the hall to his mom's room, and she was still in bed. He smiled and tiptoed over to the bed. He didn't want to wake her up. He just wanted to snuggle for a minute.
    He lay down right beside her and tried not to breathe. He loved his mom. She was the greatest. And he liked his dad, too.
    He just wished he understood why they didn't like each other anymore. And he wondered if it was his fault.
    * * *
    Tucker ran through the events of the day, time and again and long into the early morning hours.
    He was overwhelmed by his feelings for his son. Awe and wonder, fear and fascination, pride and sorrow.
    Tucker had missed so much already. He didn't want to miss another moment with Sammy. He'd known that within the first hour of meeting the boy. He was never going to turn his back on this child again.
    So what if he didn't know anything about being a father? He'd figure it out. He and Sammy would make their own way. They'd make it work.
    He would probably screw up every now and then, but he'd make damned sure that his son knew his father cared about him.
    Tucker hadn't tried to explain himself to Sammy yet, and Sammy hadn't asked. All the boy had done was tell Tucker about the birthday party.
    Even now, just thinking about it nearly killed Tucker. The image of those big, sad eyes staring at birthday candles had been burned into his brain. All he had to do was think about it, and a weight settled down onto his chest, and it was all he could do to breathe.
    Tucker vowed he would be six feet under before he missed another birthday party.
    And Rebecca?
    God, what was he going to do about Rebecca?
    Who'd have thought he would feel this way after all these years? It was crazy and it was hopeless, but still, there it was.
    He felt like she was still his, like she always had been and she always would be. And that was crazy. She'd ceased to be his wife a long time ago. He'd killed whatever feelings she once had for him long before their marriage ended.
    Still, he felt the power between them. He'd been close enough to her tonight to smell the fresh