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I chuckled. The look in her eyes told me she’d known exactly what I’d meant.
“Fair enough,” I replied.
“Do you still bake?”
I placed my hand on the back of my neck. “Actually, I do. Sometimes.”
“Well, there you go. I bet Lenora would hire you back. Although I’ve been practicing her bread recipes, and I have to say, I may have you beat on the sourdough.”
“We’ll have to see about that.” I chuckled.
“Yeah.” She smiled. “I can also make donuts without looking at the recipe.”
“I’m just impressed you know the difference between flour and sugar now.”
She huffed and threw a pillow at me playfully.
God, I’d missed her smile.
When it was late and I saw her yawn, I decided to excuse myself and head back to Green Gables. She walked me to the door with Gilbert following, and crossed her arms over her chest.
I nodded, unsure of how to end the night.
On one hand, I wanted to kiss her.
Seeing her face brought back every single feeling I’d had when I was eighteen. The racing heart, the clammy palms, the rush of electricity throughout my entire body. Lettie was like rain in a drought, and I hadn’t realized just how much I’d needed her.
But on the other hand—no matter how similar she looked and how much seemed the same as it was before—the truth was, I didn’t know her anymore, and I didn’t think kissing her before either of us had even discussed the enormous elephant in the room was a good idea.
And I didn’t mean Gilbert.
“You look happy, Lettie,” I said. “I’m glad.”
She bit the inside of her cheek and rubbed her arms. “Yeah, I am. I’m glad you’re doing well too.”
I stepped out the door and blew into my hands, forgetting how blistering cold it had been outside after sitting in the warmth of her home. I nodded, saluted her for God knows what reason, stepped down off the porch, and walked to my truck. I sat down inside and started it, listening to the engine roar and the heat begin to blast, when there was a knock on the window.
I rolled it down and was staring face-to-face with Lettie wrapped in a blanket, a pair of fuzzy slippers on her feet and a hat on her head.
“Hey,” I said, surprised to see her. “Did I forget something?”
Her eyes were wide, and she looked as though she wasn’t sure what she was doing out here—in the cold, at my truck—either.
She peered into my truck and said, “Stop smoking, Tuck. I meant to tell you that before.”
“Okay,” I replied, wondering what it was she had really come out to say to me.
“Really?” she asked, apparently shocked that I would be so easy to persuade.
I nodded. “I’ve always told you, Lettie. If you want me to, I will.”
FIFTY-FIVE
LETTIE
I was goingto ask Tuck to hang out again. I ran out in my slippers, and then when I got to the truck, I lost every ounce of confidence I’d had five seconds before in the warmth of my house. I panicked, and when I saw the pack of cigarettes, I’d said the first thing that came to my mind.
What I didn't expect was his response.
