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

I don’t take the easy way out by texting her. Instead, I walk up to the door and knock. Then, I step back, not even sure if she’s home.

Her dad opens the door, and I want to chuckle to myself at how I feel like I’m sixteen again and facing my girlfriend’s father.

I stand up straight, showing the man I am. “Hello, Mr. Samson. Is Justine here by chance?”

He narrows his eyes at me, and I wonder if he knows we had an argument. Or rather, that I was a stubborn asshole and dropped her off last night before taking off.

“Who is it, dear?” I hear her mom ask as she comes around the corner. “Oh, Tucker. Please come in.” She motions for me to do so.

I remove my ball cap and step inside. “I was hoping Justine was here.”

“Sure. Let me get her.”

Her mom walks away as her dad stays silent, shutting the door and heading back to his chair. It’s awkward at best.

Justine comes around the corner, and my chest tightens just at the sight of her.

“Hi,” I say.

“Hi,” she replies as she stays across the room.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” I ask, motioning toward the door.

She pauses, and I can see her thought process churning in the way she bites her lip and plays with her fingernails.

“Sure, let me grab my shoes.”

I stand in silence as her dad flips through the newspaper. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Samson.”

He hums his response. I had given him my word that I’d be good to her, and here I am, standing at his door, groveling for her forgiveness this early in our relationship.

Justine walks by, and we step outside together. She stays silent as we head toward the front of the house and down the sidewalk. I know she’s waiting for me to speak first, so I take a deep breath and go for it.

“I owe you an apology.”

She lets out a small laugh. “Yeah, you do,” she says, making me feel even worse about pushing her away.

I stop and turn to face her. “I was scared. I still am. And I took it out on you. That was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

I reach for her hand, and she allows me to hold her.

“I know I’ve been having problems, but I didn’t want to believe they were anything serious. Hearing you say they might be just made me instantly put up my defenses.”

“How do you feel now?”

I search around, wondering if I even know the answer to that. As I see her neighbor washing his car, I can only imagine if I’ll get to a point where I won’t be able to do that. The thought frightens me to the core.

I take a deep breath and go with the truth. “I’m scared shitless.”

She covers her other hand over mine. “But there are treatments. It only gets bad if it goes untreated. And you don’t even know if that’s even it. It could be something even simpler than that.”

I nod and rub my lips together. “I know. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t still be scared. It’s a lot for me to admit that there’s something wrong. If I go to the doctor, I’ll have to admit it to myself and tell my son as well.”

Her expression tears at my heart—the way her eyes are turned down and her normally cheery face is filled with trepidation. She’s sad for me, which is exactly what I don’t want from people.

I don’t want anyone’s pity. I didn’t want it when everything ended with my ex-wife, and I definitely don’t want it if I truly do have something wrong with me. I bite my tongue though. I’m still trying to apologize for my behavior yesterday. If I show my stubborn side now, I might not get another chance with her.

She wraps her arms around me, and I let the feelings of strength, courage, and love that she gives me wash over me and help stomp down the anger that was starting to build up.

“You’re not alone, Tucker. I’ll go to the doctor with you. And I’m sure Linda will come help too.”

I pull her back and tilt my head to her. “Yeah, about that.”

She bows her head, and I can tell she’s a little ashamed, which does make me feel slightly better about the situation.

“Are you mad that I told Adam?”

“I was at first, but Linda smacked some sense into me. Just please, don’t make a habit of running to my family if we have a problem.”

Her shoulders sag even more. “I won’t, I promise. I already had that scheduled phone call with Adam. I couldn’t talk to him and not say something. I only did it because I was worried about you.”

“I know. I see that now. And I should be thankful. It’s been a while since I had someone watching out for me. She made sure to point out how stubborn I can be too.”

The sides of her lips tilt up slightly.

“What? You think I’m stubborn too?” I playfully nudge her.

“Maybe a little?” She holds up her fingers, showing me so.

I try to bite her hand, and she laughs.

“Come home with me tonight?” I pull her in closer to me.

She leans back and eyes me as she ponders my invitation. “Are you going to go to the doctor?”

“Are you going to let me kiss you right now?”

She smiles, and it brightens my entire life.

“Yes, I’ll go to the doctor.”

“Then, yes, you can kiss me.”

I do as she says, taking full advantage as I hold her tightly. With every emotion of the unknown running through me in the last twenty-four hours, there’s only one thing I do know right now—this girl has weaved her way into my heart, no matter how much I tried to fight it.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Justine

I’m glad Tucker agreed to go to the doctor because it’s been quite the process. After living in New York for so long, I forgot what living in a small town really