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Why would he say something like that to me after all these years? More importantly, why would the fact that he’d said it make me melt into a puddle despite the freezing temperatures? There had always been a pit in my stomach when I’d thought of him. Even after the years we’d spent apart, I’d occasionally allow my mind to wander to our time together and feel my stomach swirl. I’d thought it had just been memories. I hadn’t thought, for even one second, that Tuck Anderson would still be able to make me feel as though the two of us were connected in ways no one else had ever been.
I had dated other guys, even believed I’d been in love with a few, but none of them had ever made me feel the way Tuck had. I tried to make the relationships work, I had even been engaged at one point to a really nice guy named Parker Prince, but it didn’t last. He’d wanted a bigger life than Aveline had to offer, and I, well, I just hadn’t loved him enough to leave.
Standing in front of Tuck, despite all the years between us, I’d begun to question every other person I had ever been with.
Had I ever really loved them? Had I even been capable of loving someone else the way I’d loved him? Could it be possible that, after all this time, I might still have feelings for him? Was it true what people said—you never really get over your first love?
Impossible.
Tuck and I didn’t even know each other anymore.
I sat down on the couch where he had been just moments before, and I could smell his cologne still lingering on the cushions.
“I’m really notthatdifferent though, Gilbert. Maybe he isn’t either?” I said to my dog as though he could understand. Then I stood up, walked straight to my bedroom, and pulled out the locket from my jewelry box. I’d stopped wearing it years ago when I’d realized he wasn’t coming back, but I’d never let it get too far away.
I opened it, reading aloud the words that were inside, “‘Their happiness was in each other’s keeping and both were unafraid.’”
Tuck Anderson had been the love of my life until he shattered me. Could I be naive enough to let it happen again?
I went to work the next day and acted as though there was nothing different. Darcy glared at me, obviously anticipating a major breakdown since I’d run away from Tuck at Green Gables, but that was because she didn’t know I’d gone back to find him. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t told her. I confided in Darcy for everything. Tuck seemed to do that to me though. Even though I was a grown adult and could do as I pleased, I still felt the need to keep him tucked away from everyone else.
I saw my run-of-the-mill patients throughout the day. Several dogs filled my morning; a golden retriever named Guster with a skin allergy, a seventeen-year-old pitbull named Sadie with a bad case of arthritis, and a black-and-white-spotted mutt named Lucy who had eaten seventeen chicken wing bones from the trash. She was fine, and miraculously, no surgery was required. Four cats, a bearded dragon, and a pet skunk named Reba came in the afternoon to end my work day, but before I could exit the clinic, exhausted to my bones, Darcy grabbed me by the arm.
“Are you just going to act like you didn’t run away from Tuck yesterday?” she asked after releasing me to put her coat on and wrap her scarf around her neck.
“Uhh, yeah, pretty much,” I replied.
“Okay, you’re impossible.” We stepped out of the clinic and began walking to our cars. “I was there, with you and Tuck, remember?”
I didn’t like where this was going. “Yes. I recall.”
“You two loved each other. It didn’t matter if it was for one summer or that we were all just kids. You guysreallyloved each other. I mean, I have never seen two people love the way you guys did. Which is probably whyI’mstill single, but that’s beside the point. But when—”
I knew what she was about to say, and I lifted my hand up to stop her. I didn’t like to remember. I didn’t need to be reminded of what had happened.
She nodded in understanding. “Well, you know. But I just think this is a sign.”
I scoffed, “A sign of what? It’s been over a decade, Darcy.”
“Yeah, twelve years, and you’re both still single. Haven’t you ever wondered why all your relationships fail?”
I looked over at her and my jaw dropped. “Darce! Rude!”
She held her hands up in surrender. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just saying. Parker was your longest relationship, you wereengaged,and you weren’t even upset when he left.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I was too!”
Darcy rolled her eyes. “Lettie, you literally shrugged and said, ‘He snored anyway.’ And that was it.”
“He did!” I exclaimed. “Plus, what was I supposed to do? Go with him to California? I love Aveline. I would never leave.”
“You would have. For Tuck. You even said so yourself that you would have gone to the ends of the Earth for him, but you wouldn’t even go to California for Parker?” Darcy shrugged. “I just think you and Tuck are soulmates. I think you’re meant to be together, and now you get a second chance.”
I bit my lip. “A second chance to mend our tragical romance?”
“Exactly. Just think, what would Anne do if it were Gilbert?” Darcy smiled, nudging my shoulder with hers. We made it to our cars and stood at each of our doors.
I gazed down, feeling the burst of emotions that I had so carefully kept locked away spilling to the forefront. “I don’t know if I could handle it, Darce. I was destroyed for so long because of Tuck. My heart was broken. Honestly, I don’t think it ever completely healed.”
