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My chest was rising and falling with force. Up and down, up and down. I cleared my throat. “Well, that’s another lie, because you already did.” I looked toward the water. “There’s no lake monster.”
“Oh, that.” He smiled, a mouth full of white teeth, a few of them crooked, but that only added to his appeal. He stood up and dumped out the pack of cigarettes, smashing them into the ground with a nearby rock. “Okay, fine. Starting now.”
TWENTY
2017
TUCK
I’d figuredit would be awkward seeing Lettie for the first time after twelve years, but I hadn’t expected her to literally run out of Green Gables Inn as though someone had lit a fire under her ass. But that’s exactly what she’d done. I’d said nothing more than her name, and she couldn’t have gotten out of there any faster.
When the front door slammed shut behind her, there was a lull in the air, and both Millie and Darcy stared at me in an undeniably accusatory way. Even Debbie the dog had her eyes on me with judgment.
“What did I do?” I asked, speaking to no one, really.
Darcy crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. “You exist, that’s what you did.”
Ouch.
So apparently Lettie wasn’t the only one still mad at me.
“Darcy!” Millie said, her eyes wide and her hands to her mouth.
“What?” Darcy glared at me, and I could tell her allegiance had long since passed from me onto Lettie. “He knows what he did, and he can’t just waltz in here acting like he doesn’t.” She paused, wiping her eyes swiftly. “No matter how good it is to see him.”
I’d known Darcy for much longer than either of us had known Lettie. Darcy was the twin sister of my childhood best friend, Beau, and that practically made her my sister as well. Beau couldn’t wait to get out of Aveline, much like me, but for different reasons. We’d lost touch when I joined the Army. I’d lost touch with everyone except the occasional call to Lenora and Teddy. From what I knew, Beau had settled down out west, California somewhere, and married a girl he’d met in a beachside surf shop after knowing her for only two weeks.
Exactly what I would have expected from Beau.
I lowered my head. I didn’t have the energy to explain why I’d left or why I’d been gone for so long. It wouldn’t have made a difference anyway, and it was easier if everyone just hated me for leaving instead of pitying me for why. I didn’t do well with pity.
Darcy bit her bottom lip and wiped her cheek furiously before she darted toward me and wrapped her arms around me.
“I hate you,” she spat out at me before adding, “but I’ve also missed you, Tuckeroni.” Then she left after Lettie.
Millie stood with her mouth open wide and a stunned look on her face. “She didn’t mean that.”
I cleared my throat and rubbed my leg. “No. She did. It’s okay.” I paused, desperate to change the subject. “Is Debbie okay?”
Millie moved her gaze to the dog lying down on her side. “Oh, no, she’s fine. Debbie here got herself into some shenanigans.”
I waited for her to elaborate.
“She’s pregnant.”
As if on cue, Debbie stood up and moved toward me, and I patted her on the head. “I see. Well, congratulations to you Miss Debbie. And who is the lucky guy?”
Millie put her hand up, exasperated. “Don’t even get me started on that.”
I chuckled slightly.
“Thanks for fixing the toilet,” Millie said before she stepped to the doorway. She turned back once before leaving the room. “She really didn’t mean it, Tuck. We’re all glad you’re back.”
I nodded, knowing that you could be angry with someone and still miss them. I walked over to the name wall in the dining room and traced my fingers gently along the only two names that meant anything to me.
Lettie and Tuck.
TWENTY-ONE
