Beautifully Unfinished (14 page)

“You’re very quiet tonight,” Tucker said, as he and Lucy sat at her father’s kitchen table. Lucy had cooked dinner for them both, but as she sat there across from him, her appetite seemed to have waned.

She looked up at him and smiled, but she didn’t answer him. The truth was, she had no idea what she was feeling, or how to begin to put it into words.

Lucy had spent the entire day at the hospital with her dad. When Tucker arrived a little before six, Lucy excused herself, giving him a chance to talk to her father as Tucker had requested.

As she stepped out of the room, she spotted Riley at the far end of the corridor, so she turned in the other direction and hurried down to the ladies’ toilets. He called out her name, but Lucy was relieved when he didn’t follow her.

When she reached the ladies, she hurried into a cubicle and locked the door. She sat down and rested her head in her hands as she tried to clear her mind. She closed her eyes and tried to push every thought out of her head, but it was no use. Her head was filled with memories of her night with Tucker, and the things Riley had said to her.

She knew that her feelings for Riley were no longer what they once were. Yes, she would always care for him, but she knew she could never see him in the same way she used to. Too much had happened between them now for them ever to go back there. Still his words got to her, and she had no idea why.

Then Lucy thought of Tucker. She knew she was falling for him, and falling for him hard. She had always protected her heart. Even with Steve, she had liked him. She had liked him enough to try to take things further, but she never considered a future with him, never imagined what it would be like to spend her life with him. She found that she did with Tucker, and that single thought scared her more than anything else in this entire world.

By falling for him, Lucy knew she was giving him the power to destroy her world, and that was something she always swore she would never do. She always swore she would never give any man that power over her. She needed to protect herself, protect her heart from being broken again.

“Lucy,” Tucker said, pulling her back to the here and now. “Are you okay? You’re miles away.”

“I was just thinking,” she said, as she looked up at Tucker and gave him a nervous smile.

“Has something happened?” He asked, giving her a look of concern. “You don’t seem yourself.”

“No,” Lucy replied, but she couldn’t look him in the eye anymore. She dropped her gaze to her plate. “It’s just…”

“Just?” Tucker repeated, and she could hear the nervous edge in his voice. Lucy’s heart tightened, afraid anything she might say now, might hurt or upset Tucker, and that was the last thing she wanted.

“What are we doing here, Tucker?” Lucy said, as she set her knife and fork down on the table and let her eyes meet his once again.

“Well right now, we are having dinner,” Tucker said with a nervous laugh.

“No, I mean what are we, you are I doing?” Lucy clarified herself.

“I don’t understand,” Tucker replied, as he too set down his knife and fork. “Lucy, what’s the matter? I thought you were okay about what happened, about what we did last night? If you’re having second thoughts or regrets…”

“No! It’s not that,” she said, as she stood up and began to pace up and down. “It’s just; I was thinking. How do you see this ending?”

“Ending?” Tucker replied, as his smile faded. “Who says it will end?”

“Won’t it?” Lucy asked, as she stopped and turned to face Tucker. “What about when I have to go back to my life?”

“Where has this come from and why do we have to worry about this now, Lucy?” Tucker said, as he too stood up and walked towards her. He took her by the hands and turned her to face him. “Can’t we just enjoy this for now, and when the time comes, we can cross that bridge when we need to.”

“It’s not that simple, though, is it?” Lucy asked, looking Tucker in the eyes as her heart hammered rapidly in her chest. “How do we know that in the end, one of us won’t get hurt?”

“Why would we be hurt?” Tucker asked, and Lucy knew he was a little thrown by her comment. “Lucy, I don’t know about you, but I have no intentions of letting you walk out of my life again. I know this is new to you, and I understand you’re afraid. After everything you have been through, you have earned the right to be. But you have never left my mind since the first day I saw you across the quad. This, what we have, this is for keeps.”

Lucy smiled, but inside she couldn’t help but have her doubts. She looked up at Tucker as he stepped closer to her and slipped his arms around her waist.

“What is it you are afraid of?” He whispered, as he drew her closer to him.

Lucy stared up at Tucker and considered what she should say, but she was scared. So many thoughts were running through her mind, and they all scared her to death.

“Lucy, please,” Tucker said, as he pressed his forehead to hers.

“I am afraid that I am falling for you,” she replied, knowing she needed, to be honest with him. “And I am afraid I am going to be hurt again.”

“But that will never happen,” Tucker said, as he held her close to him and looked deeply into her eyes. “I love you, Lucy. I have always loved you.”

“But so does Riley,” she said, as she dropped her eyes from his. “He says he is still in love with me, but he hurt me more than anyone has ever hurt me in my life. Even more, than Trent did.”

“He told you he still loves you?” Tucker asked, and Lucy could hear the jealousy in his voice.

“He said he knows he let me down,” Lucy replied in a small voice. “But that he has never stopped loving me. He wants me to give him a chance, but…”

“Do…do you love him?” Tucker asked, releasing her from his embrace.

“No!” Lucy quickly exclaimed, looking up into Tucker’s eyes. “I don’t, I mean when I came back, and I first saw him, I felt confused, but not anymore. The truth is, I am more confused about my feelings for you.”

“For me?” Tucker asked.

“Tucker, I barely know you, yet you are suddenly this huge part of my life,” Lucy said as she reached out and this time she took his hands. “But when I look at you, I see the boy who saved me that night, the one who didn’t judge me or blame me. I see the same eyes I search for every night in my sleep, when my dreams are invaded with memories of that night. Memories of what he did.”

“Then look at me now, Lucy,” Tucker said as he broke his hands from hers and tenderly took hold of her face. “Look at the man that is so madly in love with you. Look at the man who will spend the rest of his life making you happy. Look at
me
, Lucy.”

“I don’t want to hurt anymore,” she whispered, as she closed her eyes, and tried desperately to hold back the tears. “I am so tired of running from the past.”

“Then let me be your future,” Tucker whispered against her lips before he kissed her softly. “Let me be the one to fix you, let me love you, Lucy.”

Lucy opened her eyes and looked up into Tuckers. She could barely breathe. She knew right then that she had lost her heart completely.

Instead of responding with words, she leaned forward and softly kissed his lips as she slowly leaned her body into his.

“Make love to me, Tucker,” she breathed against his lips.

“Lucy, we need to…” Tucker began to protest, but Lucy quickly stopped him with her lips.

“Please,” Lucy begged, as she released his lips and looked up into his eyes.

Tucker looked at her for a moment, then suddenly crashed his mouth to hers.

He pulled her to him and Lucy gasped when she felt his erection pressed against her stomach. He wrapped her in his arms and began to move them both.

They stopped when Lucy could feel the table behind her backside.

“Lucy, we should talk,” Tucker said, as his lips parted from Lucy’s, breathlessly.

“I can’t,” she whispered against his mouth. “I don’t have the words. This is the only way I know how to show you what I am feeling. Please.”

Tucker looked down into her eyes, his breathing, shallow and rapid. Lucy just held her breath and waited.

Once again, Tucker claimed her mouth with his, but this time, his kiss was hungrier and filled with so much passion, it almost consumed Lucy.

He dropped his hands to her hips and lifted her up, setting her down on the edge of the table, his lips never leaving hers. Then he reached beneath her skirt, took hold of her panties, and slowly eased them down her legs before he dropped them to the floor.

Releasing her lips from his, he stared into her eyes as he reached for the buckle on his jeans and pulled it open.

Lucy’s heart was almost beating out of her chest as Tucker eased down his zipper, his eyes never leaving her. He placed his hands on her two knees and pushed her legs apart as he took a step closer to her.

Tucker ran his hands up her thighs, then slipped them around to her hips, and pulled her closer to him.

He teased her lips with his as he reached down between them both and positioned himself against her entrance. Lucy gasped as the smooth head of his cock brushed against her.

He took her face in his hands, kissed her softly, and he tilted his hips as he pushed his entire length into her. Lucy cried out at the sudden fullness, but Tucker captured her cries with his mouth.

He wrapped his arms around her, and drew her closer to him, each thrust, pushing into her deeper.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, as he tilted her hips to meet him, thrust after thrust.

Lucy could feel her orgasm build in the pit of her stomach, each stroke pushing her higher and higher.

She threw her head back and cried out Tucker’s name in sheer pleasure as she finally gave herself over to him completely, body, heart, and soul.

Tucker gasped for breath as his pace picked up and Lucy knew he was close too.

“LUCY!” He cried as he slammed into her harder and erupted inside her, his whole body shaking as his orgasm thundered through his entire being.

This was Lucy’s undoing. She wrapped her hands tighter around Tucker’s waist as she pulled him deeper into her, crying out as she came apart.

Lucy slumped against Tucker, as he leaned on the table top to keep himself up.

Finally, he lifted his head and looked into Lucy’s eyes and gave her a strange look. She held her breath, not knowing what was going to come next.

“I love you, Lucy,” Tucker said, his eyes not leaving hers. “I will never hurt you, or break your heart. You have to believe that.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered, shocked she was actually saying these words out loud.

“I know you’re scared,” Tucker said, pressed his head against hers. “But I promise you, with all my heart. I will never let you down.”

“I know you won’t,” Lucy replied, as he reached up and softly touched his face.

“This is forever, Lucy,” Tucker promised.

“Forever,” Lucy replied with a smile.

Lucy lay in the darkness of her room, her head resting on Tucker’s bare chest, and she smiled to herself. For the first time, in what felt like forever, she felt happy.

“What are you smiling about?” Tucker asked, surprising Lucy with his question.

“How do you know I was smiling?” Lucy asked, lifting her head up off his chest and looking at him.

“I know everything,” he said with a laugh, then leaned up and kissed her on the lips. “Now tell me, why you are smiling?”

“I’m smiling because I am happy,” Lucy said.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Tucker said, and gave Lucy the best, heart-melting smile she had ever seen. “It is lovely to see you like this.”

Lucy rested her head back down on his chest and breathed in his glorious scent. She wanted to remember every detail of this night, because she knew this night was the first one of the rest her life.

“I remember the first time I sat and watched you sleep,” Tucker said surprising Lucy.

“The first time!” She repeated as she leaned back up and looked down at him once more. “How many times have you watched me sleeping?”

“Ummm,” Tucker stalled, and Lucy could see he was embarrassed, even in the darkness of the room.

“Tell me,” Lucy pushed with a giggle.

“Well, when you were in the hospital,” Tucker began nervously. “I went by every day to see you, but every day I was told you were not seeing anyone.”

“I’m sorry for how I treated you back then,” Lucy said, feeling ashamed for what she had put him through.

“Hey,” Tucker quickly said. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Back then, what you went through, it gives you the right not to have to say sorry.”

“Thank you for saying that,” Lucy said, as she reached up and softly brushed his face. “But that’s not true. I know I hurt people, you and my dad so much…I got it so wrong.”

“Lucy, that’s in the past,” Tucker replied. “We have the rest of our lives to get it right.”

“Okay,” Lucy said, and rested her head back down on his chest. “So, tell me about the first time you watched me sleep.”

“So, it was two days after the party, and I had spent the day at the hospital,” Tucker began. “The chief came out of your room and told me to go home and come back the next day, that maybe you would want to see me then. I knew in my heart you wouldn’t, but I promised I would. I walked outside and sat on the bench in front of the hospital, the one you were sitting on yesterday. Things weren’t great at home between my cousin and me after that night, so I really didn’t want to go home.”

“I am sorry things were so awful for you,” Lucy said sadly. “You didn’t deserve any of that.”

“I got over it,” Tucker replied, before he continued. “So, about thirty minutes later, the Chief came out of the hospital. He was talking on the phone and didn’t see me sitting there, but I could hear his side of the conversation. He said you had been sedated, and that he was going home to try to get some rest and pick up some stuff for you. It was the first time he had left you since the night of the party. So when he was gone, I snuck into your room.”

Tucker remembered the night he sat by her bed.

“Hey, Lucy,” Tucker whispered, as he quietly took the seat next to her bed. She was completely out of it, so he knew the sedation was doing its job. He sat and watched her as she slept, a look of sadness etched across her face that almost broke his heart.

He looked at the cuts and bruising that now covered her face and arms. She looked like she had been through hell. He felt so useless. He knew he had to do something to help her. He had heard his cousin and his aunt talking, and from what he could hear, the team was closing ranks around Trent, backing their boy against Lucy.

“What the hell did he do to you?” Tucker whispered as he gently took her hand, and to his surprise, she held it tightly. “Lucy, I am so sorry this has happened to you. I should have never let you walk away. I should have made you stay with me, then none of this would have happened to you. I should have fought harder for you, tell you how I felt about you.”

He froze when Lucy suddenly moved and held his breath as she turned her face towards him. Slowly she opened her eyes and stared at him. Tucker was afraid to move, afraid he would scare her.

“Hey,” he finally whispered as he slowly moved forward and gave her a smile. “It’s okay; I am here with you. So you just sleep. You’re safe now. I will let no one hurt you.”

Lucy gave him a sad smile before she once again closed her eyes and drifted back into a deep sleep.

Tucker just sat and watched her sleep, listening to the rhythmic sound of her breathing, holding her hand tightly. He knew then that he loved her with all his heart.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Lucy said, completely blown away by what he had said. She sat up and looked down at Tucker. “Why would you do it? I was so horrible to you, refusing to see you.”

“It didn’t matter to me,” Tucker replied, as he too sat up in the bed. “Not then, and it doesn’t matter now. Lucy, I was so crazy about you, I was just happy to be there, I felt like I was doing something good, even though you didn’t know I was there with you.”

“I wish I had known this back then,” Lucy said.

“Well, you know now,” Tucker replied. “You know now that it’s always been you.”

“How did I get so lucky to find someone as special as you?” Lucy asked, as she leaned into him. He really was the sweetest man in the world.

“I am the lucky one,” Tucker said, as he pressed his lips to hers. “But there is one more thing, something I want you to promise me.”

“Anything,” Lucy replied.

“Stay away from Riley,” Tucker said, giving her a worried look.

“Why do you hate him so much?” Lucy asked knowing there was something he wasn’t telling her.

“There are things you don’t know about him,” Tucker replied. “Things that you don’t want to know. Please, just trust me.”

“Okay,” Lucy nodded, and gave him a smile. She knew he wouldn’t ask her if he didn’t have a reason. She also knew she needed to bide her time before she pushed him for an explanation. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” he said, before he leaned in and kissed her. “Now, time for sleep, before I take advantage of you again, Ms. Chance.”

“Three times in one night!” Lucy exclaimed with a giggle. “Now that would be impressive.”

“Oh, is that a challenge?” Tucker asked, as he raised his eyebrow. Taking her in his arms, he pushed her back down onto the bed and climbed above her. “Challenge accepted.”

The next morning, when Tucker had left for the station, Lucy picked up her mobile phone, walked out to her father’s back porch and sat down on the wooden steps that led down to a perfect manicured back garden. Something that was very new for Tom’s house.

Lucy wondered if the garden was Tucker’s doing because she knew Tom wasn’t much of a gardener and the garden definitely looked like it had been given a lot of T.L.C. The thought of Tucker made her smile.

She pulled up the phonebook on her phone, scrolled down the names, and hit dial on her assistant Alison’s, phone number once she reached it.

“Hello stranger,” Alison said in her usual bubbly tone when she answered, and the sound of her voice instantly made Lucy smile. She was possibly the sweetest person Lucy had ever met. “I thought you had forgotten about me. How’s your dad doing?”

“He is doing much better,” Lucy replied. “They said they are happy with the progress he is making and that in another couple of weeks he can start physio, but he still has a long road ahead of him.”

“So you aren’t coming back to me just yet?” Alison asked, and Lucy could hear the disappointment in her voice.

“That’s actually why I am calling,” Lucy said, knowing her friend was going to be a little disappointed by her request. “I don’t know how long I am going to be here. I was wondering if you could send some of my things to me. Then maybe I could get some work done while I am here.”

“Does this mean what I think it means?” Alison squealed excitedly.

“It means, I am bored,” Lucy sighed, but couldn’t help laugh at her friend. “And also, I need some more clothes.”

“Come on, Lucy,” Alison pushed, and Lucy sighed because she knew what was coming next. “You know if you do an exhibit, people would be dying to get into it, and they would snap up anything you are selling, why don’t you see this?”

“Okay, okay,” Lucy replied, knowing she was never going to hear the end of it anytime soon. “So I have been thinking about it, but I make no promises.”

“Okay,” Alison said, but Lucy could hear the smile in her voice, then she squealed again. “I have to say, I thought you going home would send you into a spin, but you seem, I don’t know…happy.”

“Why would I be in a spin?” Lucy asked, trying to act like she didn’t know what Alison was talking about.

“Come on, Lucy,” Alison replied. “I know I don’t know what the hell happened to you, but I know whatever it was, was bad enough to stop you going home. It was something that made you keep everyone at a safe distance, but something has changed.”

“Nothing has changed,” Lucy laughed, but she was surprised by how well her assistant seemed to know her. “I am still just me.”

“Oh my God!” Alison exclaimed, excitedly. “You have met someone.”

“Oh God!” Lucy sighed, but she knew she was busted. Nothing she said now would put Alison off.

“YOU HAVE!” Alison screamed and squealed again.

“Okay, yes,” Lucy finally said, knowing she really could not hide anything from this girl. “Yes, I have met someone. His name is Tucker, and he is…he is perfect.”

“THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!” Alison squealed excitedly.

“Alison, calm down,” Lucy laughed.

“But I am so happy,” Alison said. “All I want is for you to be happy. Lucy, I am not going to pretend I know what happened. But I know enough to know it was bad. Hearing you have finally let someone close, it just makes me happy.”

“Thank you,” Lucy said, truly touched by her friend’s words. “I mean that, I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“I have a great idea,” Alison said. “Tomorrow is Friday, and David is going away fishing for a week with his brothers. How about I drive up with your camera stuff and your clothes, that way I can visit Tom, and meet Tucker?”

“Would you really do that?” Lucy asked, surprised at how much the idea of seeing her friend pleased her. She missed her, more than she realised she had.

“Of course, I would,” Alison said, sounding surprised by Lucy’s question. “You’re my friend, Lucy.”

“Thanks, Alison,” Lucy replied, feeling touched by her remark. To her surprise, she could feel hot tears well up in her eyes.

“Lucy, is everything okay?” Alison asked.

“Yes,” Lucy replied honestly. “It’s been a hard few days, with a lot of old ghosts, but they are behind me now, and I am ready to be happy.”

“Good,” Alison said. “Because if anyone deserves to be happy, it’s you.”

“Thank you,” Lucy replied, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. The girls said their goodbyes before they hung up the phone.

Lucy sat on the steps staring out over her father’s back garden, and she smiled to herself. She finally felt like she was shaking the ghost of her past, once and for all.

She stood up and made her way up the stairs to her room. She wanted to have a shower before she got ready to visit her dad.

For the first time since she got back, she wasn’t dreading facing the outside world. She felt somehow, stronger.

She was halfway up the stairs when the doorbell sounded. Lucy turned and hurried back down the stairs to answer the door.

She smiled as she opened the door, happy with her life and ready for whatever it had to throw at her, but her smile quickly faded, and her stomach knotted.

Standing before her was Riley.

“Lucy,” Riley said as he looked at her nervously. “Can we talk?”

She didn’t respond for a moment. She just stared at him, trying to decide if she should talk to him, or just slam the door in his face.

Finally, she stepped back and with a sigh said, “You better come in.”