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Tuck gave an apologetic look and pressed his palm to his forehead.
I giggled. “I have heard of them. It’s a wonderful idea, ma’am.”
“Oh, please, call me Evelyn,” she said as she patted my shoulder. “Wonderful to meet you. I better go and get the pepperonis.”
She left and Tuck turned toward me. “What is a char-whatever board?”
“It’s just a pretty presentation of meats and cheeses with olives or grapes, whatever you like. Basically an adult lunchable,” I answered as we began walking out the door.
“I see. Well, I am a fan of meats and cheeses regardless of the presentation,” Tuck said, and for some reason it made me laugh so hard a snort escaped. Tuck laughed, and I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. I wished with everything that we could have gone back in time a few minutes to finish where we’d left off.
TWENTY-EIGHT
LETTIE
The weekfinally ended and school was over, and although I should have been celebrating, I was feeling nauseous and pacing in my room instead. I was expected to go on a date with Theo Martin, and it was the last thing I wanted to do. He was due to arrive any minute, and I had dressed in a two-piece tweed outfit that made me itch, but it made my mother smile so wide she looked like the Cheshire cat, so I wore it. I figured I would endure the outfit and the company since I planned to be sneaking out to an entirely different town all summer. A small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.
I walked downstairs with heavy footsteps, announcing not only my arrival but also my frustration, and as soon as my foot hit the bottom step, the doorbell rang and my mother came scurrying from the parlor.
“He’s here! Violet, chin up. Theo doesn’t want to take someone with a sour face and poor posture out to dinner.”
“Maybe I should slouch further then,” I muttered under my breath.
She didn’t hear me and opened the door wide and with more gumption than I had ever seen her open a door before.
Come to think of it, I don’t think I had ever seen her open a door. I hadn’t even known she knew how.
“Theo, darling! Please, won’t you come in? Violet is plum ecstatic for this date tonight.”
I stood, unenthused, and furrowed my brows.Plum ecstatic?
Sometimes this woman made me feel as though I were transported back to a time when women were nothing more than a pretty face and a means to dinner. It made me sick.
Theo stood in the doorway in a pair of shorts and a button up shirt with a navy sweater draped over his shoulders. I thought of Tuck and his cargo shorts and bare chest. His abs that looked like an old-fashioned washboard and his shoulders that were much too broad for an eighteen-year-old. I thought of my own sweater that first day in Aveline and Tuck’s inquisitive look.
Theo’s voice pulled me back. “Thank you, Mrs. Carlton. These are for you.” He held out a bouquet of flowers, and my mother took them graciously.
“Would you look at that, Violet? These are absolutely beautiful. We’ll get them in water promptly. Julia! Can you get these in water?” She turned to us. “You two better be going.”
“I’ll have her back by ten and not a minute later,” Theo said.
My mother batted her hand. “Oh, no worries. You guys just have a great time!”
I cringed. “Goodbye, Mother,” I said as I walked out the door and left Theo in the doorway.
Theo caught up with me as I made my way to the passenger side of his car. “You look really pretty, Violet.” His voice was shaky, causing me to look up at him for the first time. I had avoided eye contact until then, and I realized he looked surprisingly nervous.
There were a few beads of sweat forming above his eyebrow, and I could see his chest rising and falling quickly. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Theo Martin was nervous. Theo was notorious for being completely unbothered by anything. He was pompous and he’d walked around the school like he owned the place from the time he was a freshman, his chest puffed out and his chin in the air with a disgusting arrogance. His family was so wealthy, it gave him a status above the rest of us, and he knew it and used it to every advantage.
But here he was, standing in front of me, trying to keep his hands from shaking.
And for the first time, I realized he could have actually been quite handsome… if you completely forgot the way he acted at school.
TWENTY-NINE
TUCK
Lettieand I were supposed to meet on Sunday afternoon in the gazebo. I hadn’t seen her since Green Gables a week ago, and she had made it abundantly clear that her cell phone was monitored by her parents so there was no way I was going to call her on it. A random number would spark questions and could ruin any chance for Lettie to volunteer at the clinic.
