Perfect Song (Mason Creek Book 2) by Lauren Runow (christmas read aloud .txt) 📕

“You okay over there, Tucker?” Beau shouts over the car he’s working on.

“Yeah.” I let out a breath, rubbing my hand. “Just having an off day.”

More like an off couple of months, I want to say but keep that part to myself.

My grip hasn’t been what it used to be, and when I try to tighten something, I haven’t been able to lately.

Reaching back under the hood, I try again and fail—again. Not wanting to call attention to it, I grunt to myself and keep attempting what I’m doing until I finally get it.

Standing back up, I wipe my hands, opening and closing my fists to see if I feel anything weird.

I just don’t understand why my hand would do such a thing.

Moving on, I try my hardest to finish the oil change I’m working on, so I can get out of here and go fishing with my son.

“Are you still dropping stuff?” I hear Matthew say as he walks in the garage after I dropped a tool for what seems like the hundredth time.

“Don’t make fun of your old man,” I say in response.

“Old is right!” he teases.

I give him the eye, and he holds up his hands in defeat.

“You ready to go though?”

“Yeah, just let me finish up, and I’ll meet you out front.”

“Cool. See you later, Beau.” Matthew waves to Beau from the front office, and he waves back.

I put away my tools and clean up my space before heading toward the front. “I’m out of here too. Do you need anything before I go?” I ask Beau.

“I’m good. Thanks though. Go on with your son. I’ll close up.”

I nod my head. “Thanks, man. Have a great night.”

“You guys too.”

I head out to where Matthew is already sitting next to my truck. Opening the door, I take the opportunity to change my shirt from the grease-stained uniform I wear to an old George Strait concert tee I had in the back before I hop in.

“You ready to catch some fish?” I ask my son, probably more excited than I should be. What can I say though? I’m always happy when I get to hang out with my boy. My dad used to take me fishing, and I love getting to pass this tradition on to my son.

“I’m ready,” he says with a slight laugh, making fun of me.

I crank the engine and pull out of the parking spot, heading to our favorite spot down the creek.

Pulling off the road, I make my way through the dirt path that I’ve driven a thousand times.

As I park, I turn to Matthew, who has his sight glued to his phone as his fingers race across the screen.

“Who are you texting?” I ask.

He holds up the phone and shows me. “Not texting. I’m on Snapchat.”

I see the conversation he has going that seems exactly like a text thread and look back to him. “But you’re basically texting. Why not just do it through your phone’s Messages app? Why use Snapchat?”

He shakes his head. “Whatever, Dad. You’ll never get it.”

I let out a hard laugh. “You’re right. Because I didn’t have this shit when I was your age.” I take it from his hand and put it in the glove box. “Now, let’s go without devices while we’re here.”

“Sure, if you leave yours too.”

He holds out his hand, and for the first time, I think I understand what it means to have a slight addiction to your phone.

My instant thought is, What if Justine calls?

Knowing I have to do as I say and not as I do when it comes to being on my phone when we’re together, I take it from the cupholder and put it in the glove box, checking it one last time to make sure I don’t miss anything.

Before I think twice about it, I jump out of the car and grab my tackle box from the back. Matthew joins me with our poles, and we head toward the creek. We find our favorite spot, where two boulders sit so we can set our stuff on them instead of having to lean down and feed our lures.

Once we’re both set and we have our lines in the water, I turn to him. “So, what’s new?”

“Nothing with me, but I keep hearing people talk about you.”

“Oh jeez, enough about me. What’s going on with Hannah?”

“We’re good. She’s good.”

“Any talk about college?”

I worry that they might be getting a little too close for their age. I don’t know what her plans are, but I don’t want him to not follow his dreams because he’d rather be with her. If he gets a scholarship to a college to play baseball, he’s going, no matter what.

“She’s looking into a few.”

“The ones that you’re hoping to go to or her own?”

He eyes me. “Does that matter?”

“Yeah, it does. Your mom and I married young—too young. I don’t want to see that happen to you.”

“Dad, you don’t need to compare us to you and Mom. I know you regret settling down like you did.”

I face him fully, so he knows how serious I am. “I don’t regret settling down with your mom one bit. And I didn’t settle. We chose to get married that young. We didn’t know any better. But we didn’t get to live our lives or learn who we were as people. That’s all I’m saying. Plus, she gave me you. Even with the divorce and how hard that was, I love my life and wouldn’t want it any other way.”

He raises his eyebrows at me, and I turn to face the lake.

“Okay, maybe that one thing could have been different. But that’s behind us now. I just know you want more than what Mason Creek can offer. I want to see you follow your dreams. Even if that means you leave me.”

He places his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll always come back to go fishing with you.”

I grin his way and take in the mini me