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“I figured it was only a matter of time before you called me.” Her voice was calm, as though she had been expecting this conversation all day. She’d found a way to tell me without telling me. My “No Tuck” rule was very strict, and spreading the information the way she had was her way of getting it to me. She was strategic.
“Why is he coming back?” I got straight to the point.
“Hello to you too.”
“Seriously, Len. What is going on?”
Lenora cleared her throat. “He was hurt. A helicopter accident. He’s okay, but he was discharged. He said it’s time to come home.”
My heart was racing, thumping so hard and loud, I could barely hear Lenora’s words.
“He was hurt?” I asked, those words being the only ones that had stuck in the mush of my brain. I sifted through more of her words. “He’s okay though,” I repeated.
“Yes, honey,” Lenora gently replied. “He’s okay.”
A sense of relief began flowing through me but was immediately replaced with a gut feeling of anxiety and nerves.
“You knew Poe would tell Darcy.” My tone was purely curious and not at all accusatory.
Her voice lowered, and I could sense a twinge of sadness in it. Even over the phone, she could feel my overwhelming emotions. “I did. I wanted to tell you myself, but the moment I bring up his name you shut me down. I figured this was as good a way as any to get it to you. You know Aveline.”
I did, and I also knew I had never made it easy for anyone in the town to talk about Tuck around me, so finding a way to tell me he was coming back for good, well, that would have thrown anyone for a loop.
I cleared my throat. “Yep!” I chuckled a little too enthusiastically. “Honestly, it’s all gravy, baby. There is no reason this would not be okay.”
“Lettie, are you alright?” Lenora asked, not at all fooled by my tone or my words.
“I’m perfectly perfect! Practically perfect in every way, as Mary Poppins would say.” Another forced chuckle as I hit the steering wheel with my hand and silently screamed. “Anyway, be sure to tell Teddy that Bernice was in today with diarrhea again.”
“Lettie—” Lenora started.
“Tell him Mrs. Fritz won’t stop feeding her chocolate. That woman will be the death of me.”
“Do you want to talk, honey?”
“No,” I said abruptly. “Just please tell him.”
“Okay, sweetie. I’ll tell him.”
“Great, thanks,” I replied as I stepped out of my car and walked up the steps to my home, unlocking my hunter green door.
One of my favorite things about moving into my own home had been the liberty to paint whatever I wanted. The first thing I’d decided was that my front door couldn’t possibly stay the same color throughout the year. It was as imperative as cake on a birthday that I changed it out with the seasons. I think it was related to the fact that nothing had ever changed in my home growing up—it made me crave making things different as an adult. This winter, it was hunter green, and I already had a beautiful mauve picked out to welcome spring.
Gilbert greeted me the moment I stepped over the threshold, as always.
“What’s up, Gilbert Boy? How was your day?” Gilbert had made a habit of sniffing every square inch of me every time I came home from work. He probably should have been used to me smelling like a plethora of animals—from dogs to cats to rabbits and everything in between—but he still wasn’t. “Yes, Gilbert. I saw Bernice and Katy Purry and Dottie and Peanut today.” I scratched him behind the ears. “But don’t worry, I’ll always love you the best.”
That seemed to satisfy him, and he followed me to my room. I was more than ready to change out of my scrubs, so I pulled out some comfortable clothes from my drawer and headed to the bathroom to start the bath.
“Gilbert, you’ll never believe who’s coming back.” I paused for dramatic effect. “Tuck Anderson.”
As if on cue, Gilbert groaned.
“I know,” I said, pulling my hair up into a bun on the top of my head. It was not a hair-washing day. Hair washing days took time and energy, and to be honest, I had the time, it was just the energy I was lacking. “I can’t believe it either. It’s been twelve years since I’ve seen him.”
My layers of clothes were strewn around the bathroom. I sat down in the water, letting my body sink in until only my head was above. Gilbert sat by the tub as he always did, on guard and making sure I was okay.
“But I’m a grown woman. I’m thirty years old. And there is no reason for me to worry about seeing someboyI had a thing with a million years ago. It wasamillionyears ago, after all. It’s not like… like… I’m still mad at him for what he did or anything. It’s all in the past. I don’t even know Tuck Anderson anymore. And he doesn’t know me. So there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Aveline may be small, but there is no reason we can’t both live here and exist like any other two humans. Don’t you agree?”
