AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“With what?” I asked him, curious as to what we could possibly do for each other.
“So, there is something I want to do this summer, and my parents would never allow it, and it seems to me you are trying to keep a pretty big secret from yours…”
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I didn’t see where he was going with this, but I wasn’t opposed to listening. “Go on…”
“Well, they have been dying for the two of us to get together. And I believe your parents have as well or I wouldn’t be here for dinner.”
“Okay…?” I replied, elongating the word to emphasize my confusion. “I still don’t get it.”
“I’m thinking, if we pretend that we are together, we can do our own things without them ever asking any questions or becoming suspicious. They’ll be so happy, they won’t care what we do.” He paused and ran his hands through his hair. “We don’t really have to date. I mean, I think a couple appearances at different functions will be a good idea, but it will just be for show. You know?”
I thought about it for a moment, and it didn’t sound like a terrible idea. I could use Theo as an excuse if my parents asked where I was going, and I could keep them completely in the dark about Tuck until I could find a way to tell them.
Because, eventually, Iwouldtell them. I just couldn’t until I had the opportunity to leave home forever. My parents were not ones for changing their minds, and the moment they found out about Tuck, they would forbid me from seeing him and likely lock me away in a tower like Rapunzel. Unlike Rapunzel, though, my hair would not be long enough to escape from my parents’ grasps.
This opportunity Theo had in mind would give me a solid alibi for my frequent trips to Aveline. My parents had started asking more questions about where I was going each day, and I could only rely on their sheer ignorance and blind trust for so long before they figured out I was up to something.
But speaking of trust… I just had to be sure I could trust Theo. The Theo Martin I knew from school wasnotthe guy who stood before me, and I still wasn’t sure which one of them was the act.
I raised an eyebrow. “And you’d be okay with it? With pretending we’re together? And lying? Sneaking around?”
“Whoa, Violet.” He crossed his arms in front of himself. “You’re making this more appealing by the minute.”
I laughed, genuinely this time, and squinted my eyes, studying him for another moment. “And how do I know I can trust you?”
He pondered the question. “I’ll tell you what I’m going to be doing. After that, you’ll have the ammunition so if I tell your secret, you can tell mine.”
I had no idea what he wanted to do this summer that would make him need to hide it from his parents. For a minute, I wondered if he had a secret town with a secret girlfriend as well. That would be quite the twist.
“I’ve been writing songs, and have some local pubs that will allow me to play even though I’m not twenty-one. My parents think my guitar is a distraction that will hinder my future, but really, it’s just an outlet. A hobby. So you can see why I wouldn’t want to tell them. They wouldn’t exactly approve of their son attending neighboring bars to strum his guitar.”
I tried to pick my jaw up off the ground. Theo played guitar? He wrote songs? He went to grungy bars? I’d had no idea, and I realized that this was a secret his parents would disapprove of just as much as my parents would of Tuck and Aveline. I held out my hand. “Okay, Theo Martin. You’ve got a deal.”
He took my hand in his with a firm grip and let his mouth slide into a smile.
If you would have told me three months ago that Theo and I would become each other’s alibis for a summer full of secrets, I would have laughed in your face.
But here we were, shaking on it.
THIRTY-NINE
TUCK
A weekafter proclaiming myself as her “guy,” Lettie and I were sitting at Hidden Hollow eating our weight in donuts from The Baking Tin. Lettie had discovered her immense love for the fluffy sweet roll, and we’d made sure to eat them at least twice a week. We were sprawled out on a plaid “just in case the truck breaks down in the winter” blanket, taking bites of each other’s and talking effortlessly while we listened to Beau and Darcy argue.
“Dad said thatyouwere taking the evening shift today. Don’t try to pawn it off on me,” Darcy said, placing her hand on her hip.
“Darcy and Beau work at their dad’s hardware store during the summer,” I explained to Lettie who nodded.
“I kind of figured that by the argument,” she teased.
Beau threw his hands up. “I have plans tonight, Darcy! With Ashlynn Perry!TheAshlynn Perry!”
“I don’t care if it’stheJennifer Aniston! You’re working your shift!”
Beau scoffed, “Ugh! You should just work, you never have anything to do!”
Lettie and I chuckled, watching them try to shove each other into the water. Then Lettie turned to me. “I wish I had siblings to fight with. Don’t you?”
