My Forever June (3 page)

As much as her mess bothered me, I totally understood where she was coming from. And I knew this was something she had to do for herself.
Maybe I could help her with that
. I didn’t know where the thought came from, but I liked it very much, but not as much as I liked her.

I must’ve been completely crazy. This girl was seriously lacking in organizational skills, owned a possessed cat with control issues, and she was totally addicted to sugar. And I was totally hooked.

Chapter Six

June

One minute we were sitting on the sofa deep into a nice conversation, and the next minute one of my shutters had broken loose in the storm and began banging violently against the house. Tucker had jumped up without even thinking and ran outside. I had joined him and together we got the shutter secured again. I wasn’t sure why this impressed me so much, except that it revealed something about him that I liked very much. He seemed to be a man of action. If there was a need, he was the man for the job.

I hadn’t thought
much about what I would say if Tucker asked to see me again, but when he did, I said yes without a moment’s hesitation.
So much for my ‘playing it cool’ theory.

We had agreed to meet in Wilmington for lunch the following day. I wasn’t quite sure why I was doing it. I had spent the last months rebelling and enjoying every minute of it. I hadn’t left room in my life for men, and yet I felt drawn to this Tucker in a way I hadn’t been drawn to anyone in a very long time. Actually, the truth was, I hadn’t dated anyone since Blake and I broke up in eleventh grade.

             
Blake was a handsome jock who pursued me all through tenth grade. I hadn’t liked him because of his reputation with the girls, but he had been persistent until I finally gave in and went on a date the beginning of our eleventh-grade year. We dated the whole year until I found him making out with Heather Barnes at a party he wasn’t expecting me to attend. He had begged me to forgive him and take him back, but it was over for me. It broke my heart, and for over six months I mourned for the boy I
thought
he had become because of me. But it was all a lie. He had never changed at all. My trust in men had been shaken, but more than that, I had given so much to Blake that my heart just wasn’t into dating anymore.

             
Sure, I’d gone on some dates that were set up by my college friends, and I’d had a good time, but I just wasn’t ready for anything serious. And while most of my friends had been eager to find love and settle down, I just wanted to find a place where I could finally have some peace, away from nagging friends, guys asking me out all the time, and my mother’s prying eyes. I found that when I moved to Oak Island, and I wasn’t about to give it up for anything, or anybody. The only time in my life when I had felt utter acceptance had been when I was at Oak Island with my Aunt Tess. I really missed her very much. But I knew Tess would have encouraged me to go on this date with Tucker, and so, despite my initial trepidation, I looked forward to seeing him again.

             
The next day, I met Tucker at the Grande Café in Wilmington for lunch. As we sat across the booth from one another, I was struck yet again by his adorable charm. His dark hair was swept to the left and covering his forehead. His gray eyes were brighter today than before, and he was wearing a red Polo shirt and fitted blue jeans. There was no way for me to deny the chemistry and sparks I was feeling toward him. And I knew he was feeling it too.

             
He laughed at me as I expressed my free spirit boldly when I suddenly jumped up and skipped across the floor to the old jukebox in the corner. I just loved jukeboxes and felt an overwhelming desire to put money in it and pick a song. So that’s what I did. I put in a quarter and selected
Old Time Rock n Roll,
and as it played throughout the charming little diner, I danced my way back to my seat. Most of the people were entertained by my choice of music, and Tucker seemed amused, his eyes fixed on me as I made my way back to him.

             
He laughed yet again as I counted out eleven packs of sugar, ripped the tops off of them, and poured them into my already sweetened tea. I smiled as I thought about how my mother would’ve had heart failure, which was the main reason why I did it. The taste of freedom had never lingered so sweet on my tongue…literally.

I could tell by the way Tucker studied me that he was in awe of me, which pleased me a lot and actually added to my spontaneous behavior. I had been a free spirit for a while now. It wasn’t something I thought about. It came natural to me after so many years of bondage. Even in college, my roommate was a neat freak and pressured me to always keep our room clean and organized. Since that was what I was used to, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but the desire to be free from the control continued to grow un
til I could barely breathe. So by the time I graduated, I was ripe to break free from all things that bound me, especially my mother. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my mother. I just didn’t like her very much, and neither did my Aunt Tess.

After lunch, I took him to my favorite place, Flavors Galore Coffee Shop. My neighbor, Chase worked there on most days and today was no exception.
We strolled through the double doors and took a seat at my favorite booth against the back window so we could enjoy the scene of the busy street. Chase recognized me as soon as we walked in and made no delay in approaching our table to take our order.

He
eyed up Tucker in secret, but it didn’t escape my notice.

“Hey, Chase,” I said in a kind voice.

“Hey there, June. Who’s your friend?” His tone was nice enough, but his eyes were guarded.

“Chase, this is my friend, Tucker. Tucker, this is my neighbor and friend, Chase.”

They shook hands and Chase quickly readied himself to take our order.

Tucker shrugged, clearly having no idea what he should order and so I chose for the both of us.

Once Chase had disappeared behind the counter, Tucker pushed the sugar jar right in front of me and smiled. Though I didn’t want to—I really liked this guy!!

Chapter Seven

June

After we had our coffee fix,
yes, Tucker was now addicted too, I took him to my next favorite place, Eden Blair’s Art Gallery. I gave him the tour, which ended in the room that had my work on display. The room was off limits since my work wasn’t quite ready for the public just yet, but Eden often allowed me into the room to study my display. As a matter of fact, I went into that room at least once every few days. I was so excited for my debut night that I could hardly stand it. This same gallery had my Aunt Tess’s work on display. Eden had placed a few of her favorite of my first paintings on display under my alias name, Sunshine. At first I was afraid to put my real name. What if no one liked them? But after I sold a few of them, I decided, with Eden’s encouragement, to paint all my new ones with my real name.

Tucker
seemed genuinely impressed with my work. He asked many questions and studied each piece with great interest. This pleased me very much.

             
We spent the rest of the day together. I wasn’t sure what he had told his father to get out of work, but I didn’t ask. We took a walk on the beach and talked about the things we liked and about our childhoods. He had grown up in a wealthy home. His mom always stayed home to take care of him while his dad worked hard to build his successful architect business. He was an only child and was given pretty much everything he wanted. Despite this, he seemed to really have a good head on his shoulders and didn’t seem to me to be spoiled at all. I shared with him more about my controlling mother, bullying older brothers, and my soft and kind-hearted father. He was the only thing I felt guilty for leaving behind. How he was coping with my mother now, I had no idea.

             
We stopped at the ice cream cart on the beach and ordered us each a cone. We plopped down in the sand and sucked our cones dry. It was a warm but beautiful day. Afterwards, he walked me home and gave me a peck on the cheek before leaving and heading back down the beach.

             
Once inside, I sighed in contentment and went into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. There I was greeted by a very big and very agitated old cat.

Chapter Eight

Tucker

It took all the strength I possessed not to take her i
n my arms and kiss her until her head spun and her vision blurred. But, as I stood there on her porch, I knew that refraining was the right thing to do, but it went against everything my feelings were telling me. I wanted to kiss her so badly. Actually, I had never remembered wanting something so much in my life. In that alone, I knew this girl was different than the others. What I already felt for June Russell went beyond what I had ever felt in the past. I knew kissing her this soon could ruin it. It was our first date after all, and I had no way of knowing for sure how she felt about me. There was no way she felt the same as me. I could barely breathe. She seemed so carefree and relaxed. I couldn’t afford to scare her away—not now. For a first date, things were going great. I couldn’t screw them up. I knew I could be patient. I also knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I could do it.

             
I took a great risk, but I was waiting for her on her front porch the next morning with two cups of the duplicate coffee from the day before in hand. It actually wasn’t early by my standards, but it must’ve been by hers, because she was still in her pajamas and her hair was all askew when she opened the door. And yet she was the most beautiful thing my eyes had ever seen. I soaked in her beauty for as long as I could before she finally cleared her throat, breaking my mind from its wandering.

             
“Good morning, beautiful. I hope you haven’t had your coffee yet.” I smiled and scrunched my nose. For some reason this amused her, and this morning was no exception as she giggled softly.

             
“Come in, handsome,” she retorted as she ushered me inside. “No, I haven’t had my first cup yet. You’re just in time.”

             
“Great,” I said cheerfully.

             
She laughed. “Are you always this chipper this early in the morning?”

             
“Umm, June, you do know its 9:30 am?”

             
“Yeah, I know.”

             
I laughed at the realization that to her it was early.

             
As we sat at the bar in her kitchen and sipped on our lattes, she asked, “So, does your dad just let you take time off any time you want, or are you taking a sick day?”

             
“No. I had some errands to run so I stopped here afterwards.” I looked up just as she scratched her head hard while yawning. It caused her hair to stick out like she had static electricity running through it. The thing that amused me the most was that she didn’t seem to care to impress me…and this impressed me. Without warning, I burst into laughter, spewing coffee out of my nose in the process.

             
“Tucker? Are you okay?” But she was laughing too.

             
I wiped my face with a napkin as we continued to laugh. She had no idea what had struck me so funny and this made me laugh harder. Before I realized what I was doing I had pulled her into my arms and planted my face in her hair.

She froze.

But I didn’t stop. I pressed small, gentle kisses into her hair as I made my way slowly down to her cheek. She didn’t pull away so I continued trailing soft kisses across her cheek toward her moist and waiting lips. Suddenly, her fat cat jumped onto the counter and meowed loudly and this time there was no mistaking the ‘get out’ directed at me.

I
jumped in fear and fell backwards, pulling June to the floor with me. I gazed down at her in surprise, and we both lay frozen for a brief moment until we burst into laughter again.

Chapter Nine

Tucker

I didn’t understand why it was so hard for me to leave her, but as I drove to work later that morning, my mind was lost in daydreams of her. I remembered her expression when she spotted me on her front porch and the way she looked when she stepped out onto the porch in her pajamas. I didn’t know what it was that drew me to her in such a powerful way. Was it just her beauty, or her carefree spirit that intrigued me so much? Whatever it was, I couldn’t seem to think of anything else.

             
After work, I stopped by my parents’ house for dinner.

             
“Oh, honey!” my mom said and put her arms around my neck for a hug as I stepped into the kitchen. “It’s so good to see you. Thank you for coming. I made all your favorites; beef stew, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole. It’s been over a week since I’ve seen you. What’s been keeping you busy?”

             
“Oh, Mom. It’s good to see you too.” I pressed a small kiss to her cheek. “Where is Dad?”

             
“He came home and went straight to the shower. He’ll be down in a minute. Take a seat at the table.” She took off her apron and began carrying the dishes, full of food, to the table.

             
I took them from her and she busied herself with the drinks.

             
As I placed the dishes on the table, I took a deep breath and blurted out, “I met a girl.”

             
I didn’t expect the reaction I got. My mom spun and clasped her hands together in glee.
Wow, was she that ready to marry me off?

             
“Oh, Tucker. That’s wonderful. You haven’t had much luck with the girls lately, have you?”

             
“It’s not that. It’s just that I haven’t really met anyone I like.”              

             
Her smile grew. “And you really like this girl?”

             
“Oh yeah,” I said a little too quickly.

             
Her suspicious eyes grew wide. “Tell me more.”

             
“I’ll tell you during dinner so you won’t have to repeat it to Dad.”

             
“Of course, dear.”

             
Later, during our meal, my mom spoke up, “Jim, dear, did you know that Tucker met a girl?”

             
He glanced up from his plate and studied me. “So, that’s what has had you preoccupied these last few days? Tell us about her.”

             
“Yes,” my mom spoke up, “Is she a debutante? Who are her parents? Do they attend the country club?”

             
I sighed.
Here we go
. “No, Mom. This girl isn’t like that. Her parents live in Charlotte, and she lives on Oak Island in a little cottage she inherited from her aunt.” My mom’s eyes were already disapproving so I held my breath as I continued. “She’s an artist. She has paintings in Eden Blair’s Art Gallery.” 

             
My mom’s chewing slowed and she then took a big swig from her wine glass. Her tone was controlled as she spoke. “Now, Tucker, you know we desire for you to marry a girl with class, someone with a good family name.” Then she brightened. “No worries. You’ve only just met her. It’s not too late to walk away. You know, Mrs. Ledford was telling me that Regina Bowman is no longer engaged. Perhaps she…”

             
I shook my head. “No, Mom. I’m not interested in those girls. I’ve tried that. They’re just no fun.”

             
“Oh well, if it’s fun you want then…”

             
“No, not that kind of fun. They’re just so stiff. It’s impossible to relax with them. This girl is different. She’s beautiful and she makes me laugh. I really enjoy her company.”

             
She stiffened then. “I’m sorry, Tucker but I must insist you break this off immediately. Jim?”

             
I turned to watch my father as he chose his next words wisely. “Tucker, I’m sure this girl is lovely, but you know why we wish this for you. You deserve a wife who will bring honor to your name and this family. You must choose wisely. This is your life…your name is at stake.”

             
I put my napkin down on the table and stood. Thank you, Mom, for a delicious dinner as always. I’ll be leaving now.”

             
“Tucker.” My mom whined. “Don’t be angry. This is what’s best for you. It won’t hurt for long.”

             
I turned back to face them. “I love and respect you both very much, but I will continue to see this girl for as long as she’ll allow me. Goodnight.” I turned and exited the house.