Page 19 of Finding Fate

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“Hey, son,” Chuck Patterson said from his seat at the dining room table, perusing the sports section of the paper he’d been reading when Tucker slammed through the front door and stormed into the kitchen.

“Hey, Dad,” he grunted as he yanked the refrigerator open and sifted through the various items on the top shelf.

“I left a plate in the microwave for you, sweetie. I’m sure you’re hungry after being out in that sun all day.” Jenna Patterson said from where she stood at the sink, loading the dishwasher. One of her freshly made cakes sat waiting to be decorated on the island behind her.

“Thanks, Mom. Maybe later,” he murmured.

“Everything okay?”

Tucker emerged from the fridge, holding a soda. “Just work,” he replied shortly as he opened the can and took a long drink. “Oh, smaller sips,” he told himself as his belly churned. His stomach had been feeling off since he’d talked to Jet that afternoon, but he figured it was nerves. He’d wanted to talk to Izzy before she left for her date tonight.

“But no…Emma had to leave early, so I was the only lifeguard there when that guy whacked his head on his board.”

His stomach had only gotten worse after that. He knew that Izzy wasn’t likely to drop everything and date him when he first talked to her, but on the off chance she would have…

“You don’t normally complain about your job,” his mom commented when he didn’t elaborate. “Is something else going on?”

Tucker took a smaller sip from the soda and leaned against the kitchen counter. “I should have known she would pick up on something.” But the Izzy situation wasn’t something he was really ready to share. His mom was likely to go blabbing to Bridgette if she knew what was up.

“Today just wasn’t a good day to get off late. I needed to talk to Izzy before she left,” he told her instead.

Jenna closed the dishwasher and pressed the buttons to start the load. “Oh, well, honey, you can go talk to Izzy when she gets home. You know Bridgette won’t mind if you go over for a bit.”

“Yeah, I know,” he answered dismissively, wishing the soda was helping more.

His mother looked him up and down for the first time since he came in that evening. He’d swear he could sense her sensing something.

“Does this have anything to do with that boy she left with?”

“Crap.”“Wesley. He’s another lifeguard,” he heard himself say, too bitterly for even his own ears.

This time, a smile curled up on the edge of Jenna’s lips. She turned to grab a sponge and started wiping down the counters. “Well, it will be fine; I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Tucker shifted uncomfortably. His mother’s smile told him that she had a pretty good idea of what was going on, and he needed an escape before she tried to dig any further. “I’m gonna shower, then hang out at Jet’s for a bit.”

“What about dinner?” Jenna asked before he could disappear up the stairs.

“After I shower,” he said over his shoulder, anxious to leave for his room. He knew eating was not a good idea, at least not until after he talked to Izzy, but he also knew his mother, and she wouldn’t let him go without it.

* * *

“Do you think Izzy’s back yet?” Tucker asked Jet a few hours later while they watched television in the Thanos’ living room.

“Dude, Annie said she’d give us a call when…” Jet started to say but was interrupted by his phone. “Maybe that’s her.”

Tucker leaned back against the sofa, trying to calm himself while Jet talked to Annie. The thought of talking to Izzy in a matter of minutes had sent his stomach churning again. “At least, I managed to get it under control after that pot roast and potatoes earlier.” His mom would never have let him out of the house if she’d known how sick it had made him.

“Okay…I’ll send him over,” Jet ended the call. “Annie says that Wesley’s car just pulled up, so if you want to talk to Izzy before she goes inside, you’d better head over now.”

“Alright.” He slowly got up and headed shakily towards the door, his nerve rattled stomach in tow.

“Dude.” Tucker turned to look back at his friend. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, man,” he replied and stepped outside.

The night air felt good in his lungs and helped to calm his stomach as he headed across Jet’s lawn. He started allowing himself to get excited about the conversation now that it was about to happen. If everything went well, he could be dating Izzy tonight.

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