“Yeah, I do. And I’ve never felt lighter. I felt guilt for so long, but it wasn’t my fault, Phoebe. It was never my fault.”
It’s not exactly a comforting feeling to see your boyfriend so happy after visiting his ex-girlfriend—even at a cemetery—but he does look happier.
“We have one more person to visit.”
He nearly bounces like a little kid, and I giggle as he leads me through a maze to another headstone until we stop in front of a large headstone with a picture of a smiling woman front and center. Patricia Vega.
Tucker’s Mom?
“Hey, Mom. I know I said I wasn’t sure when I’d be back next, but surprise,” Tucker says with a chuckle.
He brought me to meet his mom? Well, her picture. On a headstone.
“And before you give me any signs like before, yes, I know she’s too thin. But she’s a baker, and she really is damn good at it. She made carrot bars that are just as good as yours.”
“That’s not true,” I interject.
I’ve never come to a cemetery other than right after a funeral before. My beliefs differ from most. I believe our loved ones are with us wherever we go, not where their body resides. But it’s a really sweet gesture. Like I’m being taken home to meet Mom.
“It is, but she’s trained. She owns her own bakery, and we met after Ryan robbed her. Then she force-fed me donuts that melted in my mouth.”
Gaping, I gasp. “I did not force-feed you! Why do you keep telling everyone that?”
“Because you weren’t going to let me leave without at least one of them in my stomach. Admit it.”
He’s really playful. Something he’s never been. Not outside of the bedroom, anyway. It’s really refreshing to see. I don’t know exactly what happened between the time he left me and got home, but something changed.
“Okay, fine. But it’s only because I wanted you to be impressed with me before I annoyed you and made you run away screaming.”
“Oh, you annoyed me. In the best possible way.”
I smile. “Thank you for bringing me to meet your mom, Tucker.”
“What happened to your friendship bracelets?”
My smile disappears. “The one you made me broke when Ryan grabbed my arm, and I don’t know what happened to the others. They were gone when I woke up in the basement.”
Gauze covers my wrists still, but I miss my bracelets. The first time someone made me something, and they represented friendship.
“I figured as much. That’s why Bernie and Misty made you new ones,” he says, pulling bracelets from his leather pocket.
Tears fill my eyes as I take them, sliding them over the ugly white wrappings. My friends. “Thank you! They mean so much to me.”
“I made you a new one, too.”
“You did? Where is it?”
Tucker pulls it out of his pocket and winks at me as he slips it onto my left wrist. I stare down at it, and I can’t breathe.
MARRY ME
When I look back up at him, he’s holding a jewelry box, his hand shaking slightly. “Will you?”
“You want to… marry…me?”
“Yellow Crayon, you have turned my entire life upside down in the best ways possible. You wormed your way into my heart, and I know it’s soon. It’s really soon, but you told me that everything is always temporary in your life. I want to change that.”
I gape as he opens the box, and I gasp at the beautiful ring. The center stone is yellow, and I laugh as tears fall at the symbolism.
