Page 36 of Fallen Crown

“It’s not like people don’t know.”

“There’s knowing, and then there’s knowing.” If anyone should understand how loyalty and family structure works, it’s Tucker. Her family closed ranks around her after her accident, and they’re feeding everyone the lies about Enzo’s job to save face.

Tucker stops to consult the map in her bag, and when she glances up, she says, “I’ve never met a man who wanted a baby more than he wanted a woman.”

“Oh,” I say. “Did I give you the impression I’d be quitting women?” I give her a wolfish grin.

“Of course.” She shakes her head. “What was I thinking? You’ll continue to enjoy your buffet.”

“I’m not sure I understand the point of marriage,” I admit. “Why did you get married?” It’s a question I’ve been wondering for months, especially since the state of their marriage would be my worst nightmare, but I’ve never felt I had the right to pry.

“He fed me pretty words and promises made of Turkish delight.” She folds the map and avoids eye contact. “And maybe I fed them to him too.”

The reference to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is not lost on me, but I’m trying to work out what she means. Nothing good, anyway. They were lying to each other? Poisoning each other?

“We need to walk faster,” Tucker says as she sticks the map into a side pocket of her backpack. “While we’ll set up tents in the dark on the course, I’d rather not teach you how to do it the first time by flashlight.”

Before I can say anything in response, she’s leading the way through increasingly dense underbrush, and a strained silence settles between us. As we walk, I curse myself for daring to bring up Enzo. If there’s one subject guaranteed to sour her mood, it’s him. She even handled the baby talk better than I expected. For the rest of our trip, I’m not saying a word about him.

Truthfully, I’m happier when we pretend like he doesn’t exist too.

Chapter Sixteen

Maren

We’ve trudged almost forty kilometers through the rain forest, and when we emerge, we’re at the edge of a farmer’s field on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It’s prime real estate in Bellerive between two national parks, but Victor Tucker has set up a seasonal campground closest to the cliff’s edge, and he farms the rest with cattle. It’s low season, and the campground isn’t normally in use. Since he’s my father’s cousin, I called and asked if we could spend one night on the property. It’s a regular pit stop when my team is training.

I open the side gate that Victor keeps unlocked for us when he knows we’re coming, and I lead us through the field toward a campsite near the block of washrooms and showers Victor had built on the property.

While we’ve walked, my mind has been all over the place. Hearing Brice talk about wanting to become a father left tiny papercuts all over my subconscious. Enzo had really wanted to be a dad too. Not more than he’d wanted me, or at least I hadn’t thought it was more than he wanted me. Another thing I’m not sure about anymore. Even if we can make our relationship work, our life together might never be what he once envisioned.

Despite the chaos in my brain that my chat with Brice caused, having a real conversation with him was refreshing. Each of his responses revealed another layer I never would have suspected.

I lower my backpack onto the grass, and Brice drops his with a thud before he collapses beside it.

“Forty fucking kilometers,” he says.

“It’ll be more like fifty fucking kilometers during the race, and that’ll be just to keep up. If you want to win, sleep has to be cut.”

“One thing I will not be cutting is my food intake.”

“Wise choice,” I say as I unhook his tent from the side of his backpack. It’s a fancy pop-up tent, but it’s tiny—room for him and likely his backpack but not much else.

Brice watches me adjust the built-in supports, and he groans as he gets off the ground to come help me. “Suppose I should learn this,” he mumbles.

It doesn’t take long to get everything secured, and we stand side by side, staring at the ocean view where the sun is starting to slip beneath the horizon.

“Guess I’d better get mine set up,” I say.

“Help?” Brice asks while he unlaces his hiking boots.

“I could put it together with my eyes closed,” I say. “I’ve had the same tent since I was fourteen.”

While Brice digs around in his pack for something, I slide the contents of my tent bag onto the ground. Automatically, I count the tent poles, and I frown. Tipping the bag upside down, I riffle through the parts, and then I sit on my haunches in disbelief. I’m missing one of the central poles.

“Do you need to close your eyes to get started?” Brice teases.

“I’m missing a pole,” I say, and I wrack my brain to figure out how this is possible. Then I remember Ava coming to my house just after Enzo left and asking to borrow my tent. At the time, I never expected to need it again. Enzo was supposed to come back, and I was supposed to be done with risking life and limb for a thrill. Turns out neither one happened.