Beautifully Unfinished (12 page)

Lucy stood in the hallway and nervously checked her appearance in the long mirror. She was nervous about her date with Tucker, just as she had been the night before with Riley, but this time, it was more nerves of excitement, than nerves of fear.

Tucker had called her earlier that afternoon to tell her he would collect her at seven and that she should wear whatever she was comfortable in.

Lucy had picked a cream summer dress, but wore a soft, woollen cream cardigan to cover the top of her arms and more importantly, the scar on the top if her arm, the dress hid the other two. She chose to wear her hair tied back in a loose bun at the back of her head. She finished off her outfit with her favourite pair of nude pumps.

At exactly seven o’clock, the doorbell sounded, and Lucy could feel a million butterflies take flight in the pit of her stomach.

When she opened the door, Tucker greeted her with a broad smile. He was wearing a crisp white shirt and jeans. He was holding a small bouquet of mixed flowers, and he looked sexy as hell.

“You looked beautiful,” Tucker said, as he stepped into the house and closer to Lucy before he handed her the flowers. “These are for you.”

“They are gorgeous,” she said, as she looked up into his eyes and suddenly she felt very shy. “I will go find a vase.”

As Lucy turned, her eyes fell to the roses on the hall table that Riley had brought her the night before, and she sighed as she thought about what April had told her. She had so many questions she wanted to ask Tucker about what happened all those years before, but she knew that now was not the right time.

Tonight was about her and Tucker. The past could wait until tomorrow. She walked into the kitchen to find a vase and was followed closely by Tucker.

She reached for the vase on the kitchen windowsill, and she put the flowers in it before she filled it with water.

When she turned with the flowers to put them in the centre of the table, she was surprised to find Tucker standing directly behind her.

Once she was face to face with him, he reached out and took the flowers from her hand and set them down on the counter.

He stepped closer to Lucy and slowly slid his arm around her waist. Lucy gasped with nerves as his pulled her body closer to his.

“I have thought about nothing else all day, except doing this,” Tucker whispered, as he drew her closer to him.

Slowly he brought his lips to hers, kissing her softly at first but then his kiss became deeper and filled with so much passion.

Lucy’s heart hammered in her chest with fear and excitement. She wanted to please Tucker; she wanted him to touch her and make her feel all these things she was feeling, but she was afraid.

“Please don’t be afraid of me,” he whispered against her lips as if he could read her mind. “I promise you, I will do nothing you don’t want me to do. There is nothing to be scared of.”

“I know,” she smiled against his lips before she kissed him again.

“Okay,” Tucker said finally as he released her from his embrace and reached for her hand.  “Let’s get out of here because I don’t know about you, but I am famished.”

He led her down the hallway and out the front door.

Ten minutes later, they pulled up outside a picturesque bungalow, complete with white picket fences and a beautiful manicured front lawn.

“Is this your house?” Lucy asked as Tucker switched off the engine.

“It is,” Tucker said with a smile. I bought it about two years ago. Decided it was time to put down some roots.”

“It’s beautiful,” Lucy said, as she looked up at the house once more.

“Thank you,” he said, as he opened the truck door, then hurried around to open Lucy’s. “I thought I would cook you dinner. I figured this way; there will be no unexpected, nasty surprises.”

Lucy just smiled, touched he would do this for her. Tucker reached for her hand and led her up the pathway to the front door.

As Lucy stepped in through the door, she smiled again. His home was gorgeous and nothing like what Lucy expected. It was warm, welcoming, decorated in creams, and a mixture of earthy colours, mixed with beautiful oak wood flooring and matching furniture. It was far from the bachelor pad she would have expected from a single guy.

“You have a lovely home, Tucker,” Lucy said, as he took the light jacket Lucy had over her arm and hung it on the coat rack. “It’s so warm and welcoming.”

“Thank you,” Tucker replied as he led her into the kitchen to where he had his kitchen table set for two, complete with a cream table cloth and crystal goblets with flickering tea lights inside them.

“Oh, Tucker!” Lucy exclaimed, as she walked a little further into the room. “This looks perfect.”

“Dinner won’t be long,” he said, as he walked to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of wine and turned back to Lucy. “Would you like red or white?”

“White please,” Lucy said as she stood and nervously watched Tucker. He turned and reached up for the wine glasses from a cupboard above his head.

“I hope you like lasagne,” Tucker said, as he then opened the wine. “It’s one of my favourites.”

“Sounds good,” Lucy replied as she stood in the middle of the kitchen, unsure what to do. She watched Tucker as he poured them both a glass of wine. She couldn’t help but smile to herself. What was it about him that got to her the way he did? She had spent the last nine years of her life so guarded and protected, why did he make her want to drop all her guards, just for him?

“Please, sit,” Tucker said when he turned and saw Lucy still standing. “Make yourself at home.”

“Is there something I can do to help you?” Lucy asked, as she moved back further into the kitchen. She preferred to keep busy, it helped her relax and not over think everything.

“Yes,” Tucker said as he walked towards her with two glasses of wine in his hand. He kissed Lucy before he handed her one of the glasses. “Relax.”

He took her by the hand and led her to the table. He set his glass of wine down on the table before he pulled out a chair for Lucy, and looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to sit down. Lucy duly obliged.

He hurried back to the kitchen and pulled out the lasagne and brought it to the table before he returned to the kitchen and grabbed the salad bowl and a basket of bread rolls.

“I hope you are hungry,” Tucker said as he sat down across from Lucy. "I have strawberry cheesecake for dessert.”

“I am starving,” Lucy replied with a broad smile.

“Then dig in,” he said as he scooped up a piece of lasagne and put it on Lucy’s plate before he took a piece for himself. Lucy grabbed the salad tongs and put some salad on Tuckers plate before she gave herself some too.

Tucker looked up at her and smiled, and Lucy couldn’t help but return his smile. She loved that he made her feel so at ease.

“Thank you for doing this,” Lucy said, as she picked up her fork and tucked into her dinner. She picked up a piece of the lasagne and brought it to her mouth. She smiled as she quickly swallowed the piece, knowing Tucker was waiting on her verdict. “It’s delicious. Tastes kind of like my dad’s.”

“Well,” Tucker said and blushed a little. “That’s because the Chief taught me how to cook it. He taught me a lot of things.”

“Oh,” Lucy said, still a little confused by Tucker’s friendship with her father. She turned her attention back to her dinner.

“You’re not comfortable with my friendship with your dad, are you?” Tucker asked, surprising her.

“I am not uncomfortable,” Lucy replied, honestly. “I am confused. I don’t understand how you and my dad seem so close, yet he never bothered to mention it to me.”

“I think he was afraid he would have to explain how it came about,” Tucker shrugged as he picked up his glass and took a long sip, and Lucy knew he was stalling for time.

“Why is it such a big deal?” Lucy asked, as she watched Tucker closely.

“I don’t know,” Tucker replied. “I guess he thought he was protecting you.”

“This is about you beating the crap out of Trent,” Lucy said. “Isn’t it?”

Tucker stopped dead with his fork halfway to his mouth. He put it back down on the plate and looked up at Lucy. “How do you know about what happened between Trent and me? Did Riley tell you?”

“No,” Lucy quickly replied, surprised that she seemed to have hit a raw nerve. Suddenly Tucker seemed defensive, but Lucy didn’t know why. “April did, she came by my dad’s today. She was upset…”

Tucker didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked at Lucy, looking a little like he was going to be sick.

“She told me what happened between her and Trent,” Lucy continued. “She was upset that if she had come forward back then, that maybe Trent wouldn’t have gotten away with it and…”

She stopped mid-sentence and looked down at her plate, as she considered what she should say next if she should ask him why he beat up Riley too. What was it Trent had said to him that night after he had beat him up?

“What is it?” Tucker asked, and she could hear the concern in his voice.

“She told me, that you tried to talk her into coming forward,” Lucy began.

“I thought if she did, it would have helped you,” Tucker shrugged.

“She told me that she followed you that night,” Lucy said, as she glanced up at Tucker, curiously. “That she saw you beating the crap out of Trent.”

“It was nothing he didn’t deserve,” Tucker replied as he remained focused on his dinner.

“She said that Trent said something to you, and you took off,” Lucy proceeded nervously. “Then she said that the next she heard, you had been arrested for beating up Riley too.”

“Lucy,” Tucker said as he set down his fork on the table “I know you want answers, and I know you deserve them too. But somethings are better left alone. I promise you, this is not a scab you want to pick. I just ask that you trust me on this.”

“Okay,” she said, suddenly feeling like a bold child being scolded.

They ate for a moment in silence, and the comfortable atmosphere that had been there was replaced with an uncomfortable one.

“I’m sorry,” Tucker finally said looking up at Lucy, giving her a cautious smile. “The thing is, I don’t like to think about the past either. Back then, I was not the person I am now. I was angry with everyone and everything. My dad had walked out on my mom and me. He broke her heart, so she took up with every single asshole that came along. Including one that thought it was okay to use her as a living punch bag. Coming here to River Springs was meant to be a fresh start, but she hooked up with yet another loser.”

“Tucker,” Lucy said, as she reached out and took his hand. “You don’t have to tell me this.”

“No, I want to,” Tucker quickly replied. “After I was arrested, the chief came to see me. I don’t know; maybe he felt like he owed me one for what I did to that piece of crap, but he said he could have the charges dropped if I promised to do whatever he said. I agreed.”

“And that’s how you became friends?” Lucy asked.

“I guess it was,” Tucker nodded. “He got the DA to make a deal, I would do community service, and if I stayed out of trouble for twelve months, my record would be wiped clean. He had me sign up to the big brother program, and I helped out at the old folk’s rec-centre.”

“Sounds like my dad alright,” Lucy smiled.

“My mom was hardly around,” Tucker continued. “And with my dad out of the picture, I found myself at your dad’s more and more. In the end, he became the only person who actually looked out for me. When my mom left town, the chief took me in until I got my place at the academy. He pulled a couple of strings when I was finished training to get me a deputy post here in River Springs.”

“He told me none of this,” Lucy said, and couldn’t help but feel a little more like the outsider.

“You know he loves you, Lucy,” Tucker replied, feeling like he had to make her see this.

“I know,” Lucy shrugged. “It’s just, I guess I thought we were closer, but he had this whole other life, whole other family and I wasn’t a part of it.”

Tucker put his fork and his napkin down on the table, then suddenly stood up.  He walked around to Lucy, dropped down to his knees beside her and took her face in his hands.

“You are the most important person in this family,” Tucker said, looking her in the eyes. “You are the most important person in my life, Lucy. There was never anyone that came close. Every girl I met, every date I went on, I compared them to you. I compared their kiss to that one kiss we shared, and they never stood a chance.”

He leaned forward and softly pressed his lips to hers.

“Tucker,” Lucy breathed against his lips. “I’m scared.”

“Please don’t be afraid of me,” he whispered, as he placed soft kisses along her bottom lip.

“Tucker,” Lucy said, knowing she needed, to be honest with him. “I have never…not since…I couldn’t, I don’t know if I ever can.”

He pressed his lips to hers again and stopped her.

“Breathe,” he whispered against her mouth. “One breath at a time, one step at a time. We can do this together because you and I are meant to be. Every second of my life, of both our lives, has brought us here to this place, to this moment.”