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

“Let me help the guys pack up the gear and get them on the road, and then we’ll head to the hotel,” I say in a soft tone.

She nods, and I head back to the stage, walking through in my head how I’m going to tell her all about my past.

Chapter Eighteen

Tucker

We’re silent in the car. I can see the wheels turning in Justine’s head, but this is not a conversation I want to have when I need to focus on driving.

Pulling into the parking lot, I grab my guitar from the back. Thankfully, we already checked in, so we both head straight to the elevator without a word said between us.

When we get to the room, I unlock the door and hold it open for her. She walks through and heads straight for the bathroom. She begins to get ready to take a shower, which I’m sure is to just get space from me.

Grabbing her hand to stop her, I set down my guitar and lead her to the bed, guiding her to sit down as I squat in front of her.

I run my palms up her thighs, down her arms, and hold on to her hands that are gripping the comforter. She’s staring down and to the side. I wish she were looking at me. I know this body language. This is the Justine I met weeks ago, who kept herself shielded from the outside world. I want my tough girl back. The one who wasn’t afraid to stare at me in the eyes.

I raise my knuckle to her chin and touch it ever so gently, moving her gaze to mine. When she sees me, her chest falls, and I can see the tension she’s carrying relax just a little.

“What I did tonight was wrong,” I say in a pleading tone.

She raises her eyebrows in a no-shit way.

“You’ve known I have baggage, but what you don’t know is, I have a history,” I start and see her brows fall in confusion. “The reason your father is apprehensive about me is not because of my age or dating rumors. It’s about the truth. Something that happened not too long ago.”

I get the feeling she’s not going to make this easy for me, and I don’t blame her. I was violent tonight. My adrenaline levels are plummeting right now from the outrageous peak they were at earlier. I turned into an animal with zero control. I can’t do that ever again. The price to pay is way too steep.

I take a deep breath and start from the beginning. “Michelle was my first love. I swore up and down she was my one and only and that I’d spend the rest of my life with her.”

Justine takes a breath in, and I can imagine that was a weird sentence for her to hear, but I need her to know the truth.

“We met when she was in college and did the whole marriage thing right, I thought. We waited to get married until after she finished college, and then we moved to Mason Creek since that was where she was from. I wanted to make sure she knew I was the one for her even if there was never a question in my mind.”

I drop my head down, remembering that feeling of complete helplessness and how I had no control over my life. Unfortunately, it’s all coming back with how I’m feeling about Justine.

“When she got pregnant with Matthew, it wasn’t planned, but I was over the moon.”

Justine readjusts on the bed, and I can’t tell if it’s because I’m making her uncomfortable or if she’s into my story, so I rise up and sit next to her. My eyes are on her the entire time even though she’s looking at everything in the room but me.

“Life was good for a while. Michelle’s a great mom, and we got the hang of having a baby around. I guess we started to live in what she called Groundhog Day, where every day was the same. Get up, go to work, help Matthew with his homework, attend his games, and go to bed, only to do the same thing all over again. There were no nights at the bar or big group gatherings. It didn’t bother me. Sometimes we enjoyed movies at home and campfires in the yard. That was enough for me. I loved the life we’d created.”

I smile, thinking about those days. Michelle bringing out the fixings to make s’mores and Matthew and I roasting marshmallows until they were burned to a crisp. Then having the two of them in the yard, falling asleep to the sound of my guitar. We’d have dance parties in the living room and laugh. We laughed a lot. Michelle seemed happy.

Didn’t she?

I rub my hand over my head and down my face, still trying it figure out how I missed it all.

I continue, “I had no idea just how unhappy she was. That’s why we bought the houseboat and the ski boat. It was something we could do that was fun and different than our day-to-day life.

“As time went by, she didn’t like that I didn’t want more than working at the shop. She didn’t want to work anymore, but we couldn’t make it happen on just my income alone. I should have seen it coming, but I was so blind.”

“What happened next?” she asks, her expression showing compassion yet still appearing guarded.

I say a silent pray to the good Lord that she’s willing to hear my story and possibly understand and forgive me for my actions.

“Kenneth.”

Her eyes widen. I’m sure she’s figured out where this story is going.

“They started having an affair the year before I found out.” I chuckle under my breath, shaking my head. “She was able to keep it a secret in this town. The three of us spent so much time together, so no one was the wiser.”

She places her hand over mine. “How