Page 145 of Finding Fate

“Okay.”

She tucked her hand beneath his shirt once again just as lightning flashed, lighting up the entire sky around them so bright that it could have been day. The brilliant streaks of light were both breathtaking and terrifying at the same time.

She buried her face further into Tucker’s neck and bit her lip so she wouldn’t scream in his ear. He held her tighter to him and ran his hands along her back.

“Do you think that’s our cue to head back?” he asked with a smile.

Isabel frowned. She wasn’t ready to go home yet. Everything there seemed so painful and real. It didn’t hurt so bad here…with Tucker.

He judged her expression. “You’re not ready to go back, are you?”

“No,” she admitted.

He frowned. “You’re so cold.”

“I don’t mind. I just need you,” she sighed, returning her head to his chest.

Sighing his consent, he pulled his phone from his Letterman pocket and sent out a text to everyone involved in the search, calling Bridgette next since he knew she wouldn’t be satisfied with just a text. Isabel listened to the conversation Tucker held with her mother and waited for him to hang up the phone before she spoke.

“I really freaked everyone out tonight, didn’t I?”

“More like terrified us. Annie especially. She went off on me.”

“Oh, no.”

“No, I needed it. She really put me in my place.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “She showed me how I was breaking your heart.”

“How did she do that?”

Tucker reached down into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out the ring, holding it up where she could see. “She showed me this.”

Isabel looked down, ashamed. “I’m sorry. It felt wrong to wear it when I thought you didn’t want me anymore. It was like this stupid symbol that could never replace the real thing.”

“Is that why you attacked your bedroom with your dresser?”

“Daddy’s dresser,”Isabel groaned at the memory. “Yes,” she admitted with great reluctance.

Tucker lifted her chin with a finger so she’d meet his gaze. “Your dad didn’t mean to hurt you. There’s no way he could have known.”

“I know,” she replied sadly. A single tear leaked from the corner of her eye. Tucker brushed it away with a thumb. “But it still hurts. He’ll never be here for me again.”

“But he tried. He did it in the best way that he knew how.”

“You’re right, and it was nice. It was just too much, you know? I felt like I went into overload.”

“I’m sorry. I should have been there for you.”

“We should have been there for each other, and we can now.”

“Does that mean that you’ll put this back on?” he asked as he held up the ring for her to see again.

She hesitated. “Does it seem right to you? We said that our baby was proof that it was our destiny to be together, but now Destiny is gone.”

“Isabel, how many times do I have to tell you before you believe me? Our group? Us? We’re something special. We weren’t just meant to be friends, we’re meant for each other. It’s fate. Destiny was further proof, not the only proof.”

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