AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gilbert stared at me blankly, one eye blinking slowly a millisecond before the next. He opened his mouth and yawned before resting his head on the edge of the tub.
“Thanks for the support. I’ll take that as a yes.”
Then I dunked my head under the water, not caring that my hair would be wet and unmanageable, and tried to wash away all the thoughts of Tuck.
ELEVEN
2005
LETTIE
After our introductions,we sat at a picnic table in the grassy area next to the gazebo, and Tuck pointed around town. It was easy to see everything from where we sat in the center. He identified all of the things I had seen on my initial sweep of the town, but he added a little flair to everything.
“The bookstore is run by Margot Genesis. She was an extra in the movie Clueless, and she tells everyone about it every chance she has. Rumor has it, her twin sister claims Margot stole the part from her.”
“Oh, wow. DJ and Stephanie Tanner and the cereal commercial all over again, huh?”
Tuck laughed. “I don’t know if I’ve seen that episode.”
“I’ve seen all of them more times than I would like to admit. My nanny, Julia, used to watch reruns all the time and she let me watch them with her. My mother would have had a fit, but that's what I love about Julia. She doesn’t care what my mother thinks.”
“I love a rebellious nanny. Around here, we just have normal nannies, you know? The boring kind.” He rolled his eyes playfully.
I scrunched up my nose, enjoying this lighthearted side of him. “Okay, what else is there in this cute little town?”
“Well, that’s about it,” he said, leaning his elbows on the table. “Once you go past Magnolia Street, it’s just houses.”
I looked around, unable to keep myself from smiling. “Well, despite your boring, normal nannies, I love it here. It feels so… free.”
Tuck chuckled. “I don’t know about that. Everyone knows everything about everyone here in Aveline. In fact, just the two of us sitting together will have already spread like wildfire. They’ll be talking for days about the mysterious redhead who was sitting at a picnic table with the town hunk.”
I raised my eyebrows and snickered. “Oh, is that so? The town hunk?”
He shrugged. “I would try to deny it, but what’s the use? You’d find out soon enough.”
I squinted my eyes teasingly. “Does anyone even say ‘hunk’ anymore?”
He nodded. “Around here we do. And that’s what they’ll be saying. A bunch of gossiping fools, if you ask me.”
“What else will they say?” I was curious what this little town would think about a stranger finding her way into their home.
Tuck clasped his hands together and held them just at his lips before moving them in front of him again. “Well, I expect they’ll be talking about what we’re going to do on our first date. You see, the ladies of this town are wannabe matchmakers. They might as well be walking around with Cupid’s bow and arrows because they will take any chance to make a couple out of anyone—even two strangers like us doing nothing but sitting at a picnic table.”
“Our first date, huh?” I narrowed my gaze, a smirk of amusement trailing along my mouth. “And what if we don’t want to go on a date?”
“Well, I think we kind of have to. Don’t you? I don’t know what it’s like where you come from, but me? I don’t disappoint the grannies of my town.” He held his hands up in surrender. “I don’t make the rules.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, feeling a flutter in my stomach that I hadn’t felt before. No one had ever made me aware of every organ in my body the way Tuck was. I could feel my blood flowing, hear my heart beating, and I was even more aware of my lungs inhaling and exhaling.
“You think you’re real smooth, don’t you?” I smiled.
“I swear,” he replied, “it’s not me. It’s them. Look, there’s one right now. You see her? That’s Ruby… And now we’ve done it. She’ll be telling everyone in no time.”
Therewasa little old woman standing across the street, but she wasn't looking over at Tuck and me and planning our wedding—she was just trying to get a coin into the newspaper dispenser on the side of the road.
I giggled. “She’s not even paying attention to us.”
Tuck wiggled his finger at the old woman. “That’s what she wants you to think.” He paused and ran his hands through his hair. “So, what do you say? Go out with me, Lettie? We can’t let Ruby down.”
