AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I went into the kitchen and began to brew a pot for the two of us. I contemplated spiking it with liquor just to ease the anxiety, but I didn’t drink, and I didn’t have any alcohol in the house, so that wasn’t an option. I was going to have to face Tuck without anything to make it any easier.
He spoke a little louder so I could hear him in the kitchen. “Lenora told me you left your parent’s house. That you took over Teddy’s clinic and stayed in Aveline.” Tuck didn’t look back at me while he spoke so I was staring at the back of his head.
The past flashed forward when he spoke those words. A past I purposely hadn’t thought about in many years. I’d chalked it up to self preservation—the fact that I’d avoided all things Tuck Anderson—but the truth was, it still stung. I didn’t want to feel the pain that was associated with my first and only love and the absolutely devastating heartbreak that had followed it.
I straightened my posture. “I told you I was going to. I didn’t belong there.”
I belonged with you.
I watched his head lower, and I pulled two mugs from the cabinet, pouring the dark liquid into it.
“Yeah, you always belonged in Aveline.” He spoke so quietly, I almost didn’t hear him.
I brought him a cup of coffee and held mine in my hands, relishing in the warmth.
He held up the mug. “Bird nerd?” he asked, a half-smile growing on his face.
I rolled my eyes. “Yes. Embarrassingly, I have taken a liking to birds.”
He held his hand up, showing off the sparrow tattooed on it.
“I saw that,” I replied nonchalantly, as though it meant nothing that he had a bird tattooed on his body and I happened to be a bird aficionado. “What’s the bird for? Does it symbolize something? Or did you just wake up one day and decide to like birds too?”
Tuck chuckled and took a sip of his coffee. “When I got hurt and the medics found me, they kept telling me not to close my eyes. I looked around, and the only thing I could see was a bird. One singular bird, and it stayed with me. When they got me to the truck and shut the doors, the bird was still there. He never left.”
I leaned back in the chair, pulling my legs up in front of me and wrapping my arm around them. I didn’t say anything, Tuck didn’t seem like he was done. He appeared to be wrapping his head around the situation, and I wanted to give him time to continue.
And he did. “I don’t even know if the bird was real or if I just imagined it, but it was the only thing that kept me awake.” He shrugged. “Seemed like I needed to commemorate it.”
I let the moment simmer before I responded. “Hm. Bummer,” I said, and he choked slightly on his coffee.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing, I just kind of hoped I wasn’t the only person who grew up to be a bird nerd.” We looked at each other, smiles spread across our faces before I added, “No, really though. Thanks for telling me that,” I replied. “For the record, I’m glad you’re okay.”
He looked up at me through his thick lashes. “Thanks. Me too.”
I took another sip, swallowing and feeling my neck bob. “So, how about all these other tattoos I see peeking from your sleeves? Do they all have meanings like that one?”
“A few of them,” he said, not giving me any more information. “What about you? Any tattoos for Lettie Carlton?”
“Maybe.”
I had no tattoos. I didn’t even have my ears pierced, but he didn’t need to know all that.
“Really? I never pegged you for someone who would get a tattoo.” He seemed amused.
I scoffed, “And why is that? I am incredibly cool and not at all afraid of a needle poking my body thousands of times.”
He laughed. “So no tattoos then?”
“No,” I admitted. I took another sip. “But I might get one… someday.”
“Yeah? What would you get?”
I hadn’t ever really thought about it, but I answered quickly. “Gilbert.”
This got a laugh out of Tuck, and the sound of it vibrated through my body. I remembered that laugh. I remembered why I’d liked making him laugh.
