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“Beatrice is a great name! Has a good ring to it.”
“I think we’re going to have to take this to the people of Aveline for a vote. Anne or Beatrice on anonymous ballots at the next town meeting.” Lettie walked toward the big picture window and looked outside. “What do you think?” she asked.
I watched her turn around and face me again. Her eyes, that bright green, shining in the morning sun. “Perfect,” I replied.
But truthfully, I wasn’t talking about anything other than her.
SIXTY-FOUR
DECEMBER 2017
TUCK
I had beenin town for four weeks, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had a future. I could walk down Magnolia Street without hiding my face for fear of standing out because everyone knew I was back. I had been properly acquainted with the newcomers and had caught up with the old, and I had become a normal part of Aveline once again.
I’d officially moved into my house, and even though I only had a mattress on the floor in one of the bedrooms and a futon I got from Darcy’s dad’s basement in the living room, it still felt nice to have my own place. Soon, I would fill it with furniture and probably have a full set of pots and pans, and maybe even a plant or two depending on what Lettie made me buy. She would be in charge of dressing the place up when the time came because she said I sorely lacked taste, which was both rude and true. But for now, I was still working on installing the flooring and painting the walls and trying to make this dilapidated house a home.
I had been seeing a lot of Lettie over the last month. I couldn’t say that we’d picked up where we’d left off because we hadn’t, but we had picked up in a place that felt okay. We were friends, getting to know each other again and enjoying each other’s company. It was nice, the way we could have a seamless conversation together, and yet there was no denying that feelings were stirring up within me.
I’d known that there was a piece of me that would always belong to Lettie. She was the only person I had ever truly loved, and although I’d had several women in and out of my life in the decade I’d been away, none had been more than a casual fling. There had been a few who had tried to fix me, believing they could heal the hole in my heart, but they had been disappointed to find that I couldn’t be repaired.
I stopped by the market in the evening, grabbing something simple for dinner, when I spotted Lettie. She looked disheveled and had a cart full of baking soda, dish soap, and hydrogen peroxide. As I got closer to her, I noticed she didn’t smell like the familiar vanilla, but instead, it was more like… rotten eggs.
“Don’t come closer,” she said breathlessly when she spotted me. “Stay back!” She backed away from me.
My eyebrows furrowed. “Are you okay?”
“No.” She exhaled slowly. “I mean, yes, but no. Gilbert was harassing a skunk, and well, as you can smell, the skunk won. You don’t want to come closer. My whole house smells putrid.”
I pulled my lips together trying to stifle a laugh.
Her shoulders fell and she rolled her eyes. “Tuck this is not funny.”
“It’s a little funny,” I said, letting out a chuckle.
She made an exaggerated crying face and threw her hands up. “No, it’s so bad. Then to make matters worse, I sprayed Gilbert with the hose after!”
“Come on, Lettie. Everyone knows you can’t get the dog wet after they’ve been sprayed. It makes it smell worse. Shouldn’t you know that? You’re a vet!”
“I do know that! My judgment was clouded and I was freaking out, and well, he’s the size of a horse, Tuck! I couldn’t just let him come inside and rub the stank all over everything!”
“What do you do now?” I asked. “Is the… what did you just say…stankall over your house?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes. Kind of. I have him in the laundry room.” She gestured to her cart. “And now I guess I have to put all of these ingredients into my cauldron and whip up a potion and hope like heck it works. If not, Gilbert may just have to sleep alone, in the garage…”
I opened my mouth wide in shock. “Banished to the garage?”
“Oh, now don’t you look at me like that. It’s heated! Better yet, I may be bunking in Green Gables tonight.” Her eyes grew wide. “I meant like in a free room. Not in your room. I didn’t mean that I would be bunking up with you in Avonlea.”
I laughed. “I didn’t think you meant that.” I paused. “But how did you know I was in Avonlea?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t. I just knew that if I had come back to town and needed a place to stay, I would want that room.”
Our mouths were silent for a moment, but our eyes were fixated on each other and saying more than our words ever could.
“I’m actually not staying there anymore. I officially moved back home yesterday.”
“Did you really? Are you just sleeping on that mattress? Oh, Tuck, youwouldmove into the house before it’s ready. Anyway,” she said, tapping on her cart, “I better get back.”
