Page 96 of Meet Me in Aveline

“Tuck?” I walked to the kitchen and noticed the sliding door curtains were closed. “Tuck?”

I pushed back the curtain and opened the door. When I looked up, the two dogs were standing side by side, and behind them, I saw exactly what Tuck had been up to.

Sitting in my backyard was a giant bouncy house, and off to the side in a make-shift pen was a goat.

Tuck was standing in the middle of the yard with balloons.

I began laughing as I walked out the door and toward him. “Tuck! What is this?”

“It’s June second,” Tuck replied as though I should have known exactly what was happening.

“Yes.” I laughed. “I am aware of that, but what is all this?”

“Oh, come on! Don’t tell me you don’t remember?” Tuck’s eyes were wide, and he crossed his arms as I looked at him blankly. “You really don’t remember, do you?”

I shook my head. “Honestly, I have no idea.”

“Okay, well, a long time ago. I promised you a bouncy house and a petting zoo for your birthday.”

Suddenly, though still foggy, I remembered having a discussion about my birthday that summer before I turned eighteen. The way I’d hated that every year, my parents had used it as an excuse to parade me around and go golfing, how none of my birthdays had ever felt like they were for me. I covered my face, feeling overwhelmed with gratitude and love for the man standing before me.

I laughed slightly. “But it’s not my birthday.”

Tuck shrugged. “No, but I couldn’t wait. I want to make sure I keep all my promises to you, and well, I figured today is a good day to celebrate anyway.” He looked over at the goat, chewing at the cushion of our patio furniture. “Also, I could only get a goat at the last minute, but I figured you’d like him well enough.”

I rubbed my hands on my face and covered my mouth, shaking my head in awe. I crossed my arms. “Tuck Anderson, I love that you remember everything.”

Tuck took my face into his hands. “Well, Lettie Carlton,Iloveyou.”

“Now and forever,” I said.

Tuck pressed his lips to mine, and his hands felt their way to the back of my neck and scrunched my hair between his fingers. When we parted, our eyes opened slowly and Tuck whispered, “Now and forever.”

EIGHTY

ONE YEAR LATER

JUNE 2, 2019

LETTIE

“Lettie,don’t freak out, okay? Before I tell you anything you have to promise you won’t freak out.”

Darcy was standing over me as I sat on the chair at the vanity in my room applying my eighth layer of mascara. I was wearing a silky white robe with the word BRIDE bejeweled on the back. I had protested when Millie wanted to buy it for me, stating I would only be able to wear it once, but she’d insisted.

I capped my mascara and turned slowly around, my heart beating at an alarmingly high rate. “Darce, I have already applied what is said to be waterproof, smudge proof, life proof mascara, but I really do not want to test it. Please tell me that what you are about to tell me has nothing to do with the fact I am getting married in seven hours.”

Darcy forced a smile. “Well…”

I placed my hand to my chest, my heart thumping so fast, I could feel it through my skin. I had no idea what could be wrong. There was no way Tuck got cold feet and pulled a runaway groom, and I couldn’t think of anything that could be worse than that, so I exhaled deeply and replied calmly, “I can handle it. Just tell me.”

“The chapel had a gas leak in the kitchen, and we can’t use it for the wedding.” Darcy said the sentence so quickly, her words ran together in a way that made it almost impossible to decipher.

I smiled, realizing this must have been a prank. “A gas leak? Ha, ha. Who put you up to this? Did Tuck tell you to do this because I swear—”

“Lettie, it’s the truth,” Darcy said, cutting me off.

The realization hit, and a wave of despair flooded over me. “The chapel had a gas leak? The chapel had a gas leak?! What is this an episode of The Vampire Diaries? Next you’ll be telling me Damon Salvatore is here and he turned you into a vampire.”

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