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Tuck patted my hand and stroked his thumb along my skin. “Yeah. It’s going to be okay though. Lenora will be home to the cat soon.”
I dipped my head and tried to compose myself. “You’re right.” I sniffed and wiped my nose with the sleeve of my coat. I looked up at him. “Hey, areyouokay? You looked a little uncomfortable in there.”
“Really? You could tell?”
“You had your hand on the back of the chair so tightly, your knuckles were white… but other than that, no.”
Tuck’s mouth turned into a sideways smirk, and he cleared his throat. “I’ve never really liked hospitals.” He leaned his head against the headrest.
“Your mom,” I said, more of a statement than a question.
“Yeah,” Tuck said gently. “When she first got sick, I didn’t hate it. I loved all the staff members who came in and helped, and I even had a couple of birthday celebrations at the nurse’s station. It wasn’t until she died that everything changed for me. After that, I avoided hospitals as much as I could. I didn’t go back to another one until I fled that night and my dad split my jaw with the bottle. I had to stop and get stitches, and it was just one more thing that made that one of the worst nights of my life. Then, of course…” He patted his leg. “This one was a doozy.”
“And you were all alone,” I said, shifting to my side in the seat and attempting to get as close to him as possible.
“Yeah, well, I am pretty tough,” Tuck teased as he puffed out his chest and flexed his arms.
“Whoa! Settle down, cowboy. No need to bring out the guns.”
Tuck kept his bicep flexed. “What? These old boys?”
I pushed down his arm slowly before sitting back down and starting the ignition. “Put those things away!” I teased as I blasted the heat and headed toward home. The roads had been cleared from the snow, and it was a quiet and pleasant drive. When we reached theMeet Me in Avelinesign, I looked over at Tuck.
“I’m sorry for suggesting you could take over the bakery while Lenora is out. I should have talked to you before I said it. I shouldn’t have just volunteered you.”
“No, it’s fine. Honestly, I don’t know why, but I wouldn’t have even thought about it. It makes perfect sense though. If I know anything about Lenora, I can guarantee she hasn’t changed anything about how she runs the place.”
I chuckled. “No, you’re right. It’s exactly as it was. Although I will say she added a very nice pumpkin and chocolate chip bread for the holidays. She said she made up the recipe, but I’m pretty sure she found it on Pinterest.”
Tuck chuckled. “Yeah, I tried a piece of that. It really was good. I wonder what she would say if I added my strawberry bread? I think it would be a good addition in the summer.”
He looked out the window, and I smiled. “Okay,thatI want to try. Strawberry bread? Where did you come up with that?”
Tuck winked. “I made it up.”
I leaned my head back. “Pinterest?”
“Maybe,” he replied.
SEVENTY-FOUR
TUCK
I hadn’t beento a town meeting since I had been back, but my grace period of easing into Aveline had ended. I knew this because Mr. Fitzgerald had left a note taped to the door on Peach Street that demanded my attendance at the one to be held that evening. It would take place in the old barn where the town meetings had been held since the beginning of Aveline.
Lettie insisted we stop and grab a burger and Cokes before, stating that more often than not the meetings went well over the allotted hour and that snacks were imperative to make it through. We made it to the barn, and Lettie and I chose a couple of chairs in the back row. We were people-watching, the whole town filing in and trying to find seats among the already-filled chairs. Ruby, the secretary, was in the front row with her pen and pad of paper, and I noted Rosie, Angelina, Margot, and her sister Megan, Jack Simpson, and Mrs. Fitz all in the rows in front of us. After a few minutes, Mr. Fitzgerald walked in, Millie and Henry following him and taking seats on opposite sides of each other. Peter Pensky was the last one in, and he shut the barn door behind him.
“Townspeople of Aveline,” Mr. Fitzgerald began speaking from the podium, “we are gathered here today—”
“Is this a town meeting or a wedding?” Peter yelled before looking around for affirmation that what he had said was funny. He received nothing except an exasperated sigh from Mr. Fitzgerald, so he shied away in the back again.
“We are gathered here today for town updates, and at the end, we will settle the score between Millie Jones and Henry Pearson. As you all are aware, Millie’s dog, Debbie, was impregnated, and Millie believes Henry Pearson’s dog, Duke, is the perpetrator.”
“I’ll tell you right now, it’s the truth!” yelled Mrs. Fitz, standing up, “I have to keep poor Bernice locked up in the house when Duke gets out.”
Margot and Megan plopped up from their chairs at the same time. Even for twins they looked eerily similar, and if it weren’t for Megan’s glasses, there would be no way to tell them apart. If she ever got contacts, we were all screwed.
Margot spoke first, “He humped my little Sugar Plum! And you all know Sugar Plum doesn’t bother anyone! She was just going to the bathroom!”
