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“You sure look nice, sugar,” Dad says as he plants a kiss on my cheek. “Now, you two have fun tonight. Be careful. Be safe, if you know what I mean.”
“Dad.”
“Do you have condoms?” he asks Tucker, pulling him out of the apparent lusty fog he’s been in. “Because if not, I might have some—”
“Oh my God, Dad.” I cover my ears and close my eyes. “Stop talking.”
Tucker wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me against him. “We’re good to go.”
“All right, then. Have fun, you two.” Dad smiles smugly. “I just want to say, I told you so.”
“Goodnight,” I say, narrowing my eyes at my father. “Wait, we can’t leave until your friends get here. What time are they coming?”
We hear a car door slam.
“Sounds like right now,” Dad says. “Don’t come home before midnight. We play pretty late, and no women allowed.”
“So noted,” I mumble, feeling frazzled as Tucker guides me down the porch steps toward his car in his driveway.
“Hi, Miss Scarlett,” Ray Howard calls with a wave. “Thanks for letting us borrow your daddy tonight.”
“Have fun!” I wave back and climb into Tucker’s car. “I haven’t seen Ray since I was a kid.”
“He and your dad are close,” Tucker says with a nod and pulls away from the house. “Rick will be well taken care of tonight.”
“How long have you been planning this?”
“A few days.” He glances at me and grins. His face is freshly shaven, and I can’t resist reaching out to brush my fingertips down his cheek. He takes my hand in his and kisses my knuckles before resting our linked hands on his leg.
“Where are we going?”
“Are you hungry?” he asks.
“I’m always hungry.”
He nods. “How does Mama Italiana sound?”
“Delicious.”
I settle back against the seat and watch our little town pass by. It’s changed so much. Grown dramatically. So much so that I barely recognize it.
“When did that little strip mall go in?”
“About ten years ago.”
New Hope is charming. A river runs right through it, with huge oak trees flanking it on either side. It’s perfect for picnics and parties.
“Looks like they paved those walking paths by the river.”
“A few years ago, yeah. It’s great for running, walking, biking. You name it.”
“I like it.”
He squeezes my hand and pulls into Mama’s. It’s a Friday evening, so the lot is full. Mama’s makes the best lasagna in the state and has been a hotspot in town for three decades.
“It’s good to see that some things haven’t changed.”
“Like the food?”
“Exactly. It wouldn’t be home without Charlie’s and Mama’s.”
Tucker walks around the car to open my door, takes my hand, and leads me into the restaurant. The tables are covered in red-and-white-checkered tablecloths. The room is dimly lit, with candles stuck in wine bottles on every table.
“Hi, Mr. Tucker,” a pretty young woman says with a bright smile when she sees us. “I have your table ready.”
“Thanks, Shelly.”
She preens and leads us through the packed restaurant to a table in the back. I notice that people see us, recognize us, but no one says a thing to me.
Tucker, on the other hand, is a different story. People wave, or call out, “hey there, Tucker.” He smiles and waves back as we weave our way through the tables.
This is new for me. I’m usually the one everyone wants to say hello to, wants to hug and have their photo taken with.
But tonight, in our hometown, Tucker’s the celebrity. I might as well be invisible.
I don’t know how to feel about that.
“I’ll sit next to you, if you don’t mind,” Tucker says, sliding into the booth next to me, rather than across from me.
“I don’t mind.”
“Here you go,” Shelly says, passing us laminated menus, and then, after giving Tucker another big smile, showing off a dimple in her left cheek, she sashays away.
“I don’t even have to look at it,” Tucker says, setting his menu aside. “I get the same thing every time.”
I glance over the menu, surprised to see that nothing on it has changed since I left town. “I guess I’m the same.”
I lay my menu on top of his, and just as he leans in to whisper something in my ear, a woman approaches the table.
She glances at me, but she’s all about Tucker as she touches his shoulder and smiles.
“I wanted to come over to say thank you again for stopping by the other night. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
She winks at him, her hand still resting on his shoulder, and I feel my eyes narrow on her.
He was at her house? What did he do for her, exactly?
I’m not used to feeling jealous. At all.
I’m not a jealous woman.
But I don’t like this.
“Just doing my job,” Tucker replies, then turns back to me, dismissing the blonde. She smiles and awkwardly turns away. “You look amazing,” he whispers in my ear.
