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I would know that fire-red hair anywhere.
I didn’t even see your face, but Lettie, when I tell you I couldn’t move, I mean it. I caught myself standing in place for what seemed like an eternity just because we were within steps of each other.
We were breathing the same air, and being that close to you again changed everything. Every piece of me that I thought had moved on was brought right back to that moment I met you all those years ago.
But you were with someone else. Lenora told me you were engaged and now I had seen the proof firsthand. I had witnessed a private moment between the two of you. A man who you share your life with. A man who takes you to lunch and then drops you back off at work. Who sees you in the morning and knows what you’re like when you’re sick. He knows you, probably better than I ever will, and the thought of it tears open my heart.
My father died, and I cremated him without shedding one tear.
But watching you with that man, knowing that it could have been me, has me weeping on the bathroom floor and writing you a letter I will never send.
I’m a stupid man who believed I could protect you by leaving you.
I’m a stupid man with a broken heart that will never heal.
A heart that will forever be yours, Little One.
Love,
Tuck
I folded the letter and placed it back into the envelope, tucking the box back into the drawer. I knew I was going to marry Lettie, and I was going to keep my word. I would kiss her every day like it was the first and last. Always with passion and never as just a habit. I was going to propose to her and spend the rest of my life making sure she knew that she was the sun and the moon and the stars for me.
“That guy was a total douchebag, wasn’t he?” I asked Gilbert who just stared at me sleepily.
I nodded as though he had confirmed. “Yeah, I knew it.”
SEVENTY-SEVEN
MARCH 2018
LETTIE
I wasa little disappointed that Tuck still hadn’t asked me to marry him again, and I wondered if he had changed his mind and had decided it was too soon. After Lenora and Teddy had given us the keys to the bakery, I thought for sure he would have proposed right then and there, but he hadn’t. He hadn’t so much as whispered it again, and there was no way I was going to bring it up. I had a little more pride than that.
I finished for the day at the clinic and stepped outside, taking in a deep breath and enjoying the sun shining on my face. Spring was on its way, and we’d had an early warm front that made all of Aveline want to get outside. I’d walked to work that day, and when I passed the gazebo on my way to the sidewalk, I noticed a balloon tied to the railing and a piece of paper flapping underneath a rock. I walked over, and my heart dropped, noticing my name at the top.
Lettie,
I wanted a chance to make up for the last letter you got from me. That last letter was written when I didn’t think I deserved you, when I felt like I was not enough for you, and maybe never would be. That last letter was written when I thought I was doing you a favor.
But now I know that it’s not true. It was never true.
You are what makes me better, Lettie. You make me want to be a better person every day just by being with me. You make me want to work harder, live happier, and love with no fear.
I have no fear because I know you are the one holding my heart.
So, here I am, asking you to meet me at Peach Street.
I’ll be there… waiting for you.
I love you,
Tuck.
I clutched the letter to my chest and ran to Tuck’s as fast as I could.
When I got to the house, I knocked and heard Tuck’s voice holler, “Come in!”
