Leaving at Noon (20 page)

Theo jumped to his feet, stalked over and
grabbed her arms. “I know you. I know you’re a good, honest woman
who thinks more about others than herself. I know you turned out
perfectly despite the shit your mother fed you your whole life. I
know a child’s personality is formed in those first years of
life—that’s basic Psych 101. And you, Zoey Hughes, had a great
influence in those first years. You had a father who loved you to
distraction and poured his heart and soul into you. He may not have
been present for the rest, but he helped shape you into the woman
you became. He gave you the foundation of your personality and the
ability to love and trust—despite the odds. Your ability to see
right from wrong. You did the rest, babe. You grew up with an
incredible set of morals, principles and ethics.”

He shook her. Not hard, just a gentle shake,
as though trying to knock some sense into her. “Don’t let this new
knowledge screw with your perception of yourself. Do you think you
could offer your patients the kind of care you give them if you
weren’t a highly principled, fiercely devoted doctor? Do you think
you’d have ever made such powerful friendships if you weren’t the
incredible, loving, strong woman you are? You think Liv and Ava and
Fi would put up with you if you were a mere façade of a person, an
empty shell molded by her mother?”

Zoey pursed her lips and stared over his
shoulder.

“
Think Levi would have
dated you for a year if he didn’t see you for the amazing woman you
are? Jesus, that guy couldn’t commit to anyone for longer than a
night, and you had him wrapped around your finger for twelve
months. He’s still wrapped around your finger. He thinks the
fucking world of you.” The words weren’t registering. He could tell
by the vacant look in her eyes. “They all think the world of you.
Every one of our friends. They crapped on me for letting you leave.
Told me to get my ass to Noosa and sort our shit out. They wouldn’t
accept anything less than you being back home, where you belong,
because they love you. All of them.”

Zoey was shaking her head.

“
I love you, for Christ’s
sake. I’ve lived with you for eight years, dated you for longer. I
know you. You’re real. Every part of you. Even the insecurities.”
The same insecurities she was losing herself to.

“
You know what,
Theo?”

“
Tell me.”

“
It doesn’t matter. All
that love and friendship? It’s a sham I’ve built. When they
discover the truth, they’ll realize that too.”

She looked him in the eye finally, but Theo
knew that wasn’t a good thing. Not with the blankness in her gaze.
The disinterest. It was almost as if Zoey had checked out, leaving
nothing but an empty shell.

“
Now that I know the
truth,” she went on in a monotone, “I realize our marriage doesn’t
matter either. It’s not real.”

“
Bullshit.”

“
True.” She looked down at
her arms, to the spots Theo held her tight. “You can let me go
now.”

Er, hell no. Fuck knew what she’d do if he
did.

Zoey lifted a hand and tried to pry his
fingers open. He just clasped her tighter.

“
It’s over,
Theo.”

“
What’s over?”

“
We are. Our
marriage.”

Every muscle in his body went rigid.
“Bull-fucking-shit. We are so far from over, it’s laughable.”

“
There’s nothing left.
Whatever we had is all just a charade. The problems we’ve been
facing stem from a whole lot more than me being overworked or my
father having another family.”

Theo’s fingers went numb. His blood chilled
and his gut heaved.

Her voice held a terrifying note of
finality.

“
I call
bullshit.”

She shrugged. “Call whatever you like. It’s
not going to change the facts. We’re over.” She must have sensed
his shock, because she shrugged once, freeing herself of his
hold.

Zoey stepped away before Theo could grab her
again.

“
I think it’s time you
left,” she said in that emotionally void voice.

“
I think you haven’t been
listening to me. I’m not leaving you. I’m in this for the long
run.”

“
There is no long
run.”

“
Yeah, there is. We have a
whole lifetime together ahead of us.”

“
No, we don’t. I’m not
kidding about this.”

“
Step up to the plate, Zo.
You have to fight for us.”

“
There’s no us, therefore
nothing to fight for.”

“
I’m not leaving, babe.
Throw whatever you have at me. I won’t break us again.”

She watched him as she chewed her lower lip.
“You really won’t leave?”

Theo shook his head vehemently.

“
Okay then. I
will.”

And with that, Zoey nabbed a set of keys
from the bedside table and was out the room before Theo could
react.

The sound of Fiona’s front door slamming
resounded through the unit, shocking Theo with its finality.

“
You look like
shit.”

Theo stared blearily at the woman walking
through the front door. Much as he wished it were his wife, it
wasn’t. “Thanks, Fi. Always nice to hear.”

Fiona looked around. “Is Zo here?”

Theo worried the scar on his wrist. He’d
just about rubbed the skin raw over the last three hours. “Nope.
She left.”

“
To go where?”

Theo slumped back into the couch. “I have no
idea.”

Fiona tossed her bag on the table, kicked
off her shoes and flopped onto the other couch. “It’s one a.m. and
you don’t know where your wife is?”

“
I’d hoped she was with
you.”

Fiona tilted her head to look at him. “I’d
hoped the two of you were sorting your shit out.”

His scar burned as he rubbed it harder. “I
thought we were.”

“
What kind of a man lets
his wife disappear at one in the morning?”

“
Back off, Fi.”

“
Ooh, someone’s touchy.
You say something to hurt her, Theo?”

Theo’s patience unraveled. “Yeah. I did. I
fucked with her head and broke her heart, and she walked out on me.
Satisfied?”

“
Jesus, no. Why the hell
did you do that?”

“
Because she deserved to
know the truth.”

“
And what is the
truth?”

Theo shook his head. “Not my story to tell.
You wanna know? Ask Zoey. If you can find her.”

“
Don’t mess with my girl.
She’s been through enough pain.”

“
Motherfucker!” Theo
surged to his feet. “What is with you and Levi and
every-fucking-one else? Zoey’s
not
your girl. She’s
not
Levi’s girl. She’s
my
wife. Mine. And guess what?
She’s not the only fucking one hurting here.”

Theo’s insides were shredded. His ribs were
ripped wide open and his heart hanging loose. His wife had just
left him, and he was a fucking mess.

Fiona eyed him cautiously. “You been crying,
Hughesy?”

“
Fuck you.”

“
I’ll take that as a
yes.”

Theo prowled around the room, a bundle of
nervous energy.

Zoey was gone. Didn’t matter how much
progress they’d made over these last few days, she’d tossed it all
in the dirt. Kicked it aside and left him.

He stopped in front of the wall, stepped up
close and banged his head against it.

The resounding pain didn’t mask the ache in
his heart. Or the pressure on his brain. He thought it might well
explode.

A comforting hand landed on his
shoulder.

Theo let out a shuddery breath. “Christ, Fi.
She walked out on me. For the second time.”

“
You didn’t try to stop
her?”

“
Of course I did. But she
was so damn determined to leave. If I’d tied her to a chair she’d
have found a way to escape.”

“
What’s going on between
you? Why have things exploded after eight perfect years
together?”

“
Zo’s dealing with shit
she hasn’t had to deal with for a while. It’s biting her,
badly.”

“
And you’re innocent
through it all? You haven’t got your own shit to deal
with?”

Theo laughed emptily. “I’m the one who’s
throwing her past in her face, showing her things she never knew
before.”

“
Do you have to? Can’t she
just go on not knowing?”

“
I should have shut up,
but our conversation reached a point of no return. I had to tell
her the truth. It was her right to know.”

“
And she didn’t take it so
well?”

“
Do you see her
here?”

Fiona frowned at him.

“
No, she didn’t take it
well. If she had, she’d be here. With me.”

“
Do you still love her,
Hughesy?”

“
What the fuck kind of a
question is that?”

“
A logical one,
considering everything the two of you have been through
lately.”

“
Of course I love her!” he
roared.

“
Then go after
her.”

“
Yeah? Go where? I have no
idea where she is.”

“
Look for her. Walk along
the beach. Search every restaurant and bar. Go to the French
Quarter. I don’t know, Hughesy. Look.”

He shook his head. “Nope. Now she needs her
time-out. But eventually she’s going to come back here. All her
stuff’s here, so she has to come back. When she does, I’ll be
waiting.”

Fiona pressed her lips together as she
regarded him. “Do you and Zo have a future? Are you going to be
able to work it out?”

The agony of Theo’s doubt almost knocked the
breath from his lungs.

He’d thought they were already over the
worst of it and well on their way to being Theo and Zoey, happily
married couple, once more. He’d already begun to sense that
contentment he’d only ever felt when Zoey was by his side. And he
was pretty damn sure Zoey felt the same way—until he’d thrown her
mother’s incest accusation into the pot.

Now he was sure of absolutely nothing.

Did he want them to work it all out? Hell
yeah. Did he still want the future with his wife? Jesus, no
question about it. Yes. Was that what Zoey still wanted?

Theo had no idea.

And the pain of that uncertainty crippled
him.

He stared at Fiona, incapable of answering,
and he knew from the sympathetic way she stared back at him that
every one of his doubts was visible in his expression.

Zoey’s hand shook so hard she had trouble
unlocking the door. It wasn’t just her hand. Violent trembles
shuddered through her whole body. She had no idea how much time had
passed since she’d left. The hours spent away from Theo had flayed
her alive. She felt like one massive, festering wound. Her head
pounded, her skin itched and every inch of her body burned like
acid had been poured over it.

Coming to terms with her mother’s actions
and her father’s forced absence left her twisted inside out. It had
made her look at everything she’d ever known about herself and
reevaluate it, over and over again.

Zoey had been through some pretty crappy
times growing up. But this was perhaps the hardest of all of those
times. Before, she could lose herself to the innocence of her
childhood mind. She could blame her woes on her evil mother and
absent father. And of course, she could lose herself in fantasies
about a king and queen living in a beautiful castle with their
adored daughter, Princess Zoey.

But she was an adult now. Fantasies no
longer shadowed the pain. She was fully aware a wrong had been
perpetrated. And fully aware that she’d perpetuated that wrong by
refusing to have contact with her father.

It was too late to go back and right the
wrong. The initial act wasn’t hers to right. But from this day on
she could move forward and begin to correct her own misguided
behavior. She could finally pick up the phone and call her
father.

But that would have to wait. Before Zoey
could think about sorting out her relationship with Richard, she
had to sort out her relationship with Theo—once and for all.

The only problem was, she had no idea where
he was. She’d knocked on his door at the French Quarter and had no
answer. He might well have packed up his bags and returned to
Sydney. If there were early-morning flights home, he’d be at the
airport already.

She finally got her key in the lock, and the
door swung open. With a heavy heart and emotions in turmoil she
stepped inside quietly so as not to wake Fiona.

A strangled gasp caught in her throat as she
glanced around the lounge room.

Theo sat on the couch, his elbows on his
thighs, his chin in his hand. His hair was a mess, as though he’d
shoved his hands through it so many times, it had taken on a life
of its own. The usually golden glow to his skin was missing,
leaving his face pale and sallow. Black rings circled his eyes.

He had a beaten-up look about him, as though
he’d gone ten rounds in the ring with a boxing pro.

The beard he’d shaved off this morning was
already growing back, shadowing his chin. The man looked haggard.
The broodiness that had been present when he’d collected her for
their “date” was gone, replaced now with darkness. If Zoey hadn’t
known better, she’d have assumed he’d just received very bad
news.

Well, maybe he had received bad news.
Her.