Author: Teresa Mummert

I slid my leg over the back of his bike and grabbed the spare helmet from his hand. I slipped it on and laced my arms around his body, holding on to him for dear life as we took off out of the parking lot. In a blink, we left that dirty trailer park in our dust and made our way to the city. At every light, Tucker’s hand rested on one of my legs, rubbing my chilled skin. He left a trail of heat in the wake of his fingertips. We only slowed when we went over the cobblestone streets. Tucker pulled off the side of the road at the City Market. Hundreds of bodies filled the streets as live music played off in the distance.

“This is amazing!” I took in the surroundings as I slipped off my helmet. Tucker did the same and ran his hand through his messy hair. I slipped my leg over the bike and stood waiting for Tucker. He propped the bike up on its kickstand.

“It only gets better.” He got off the bike and took my hand as we rounded a public fountain that was still alive with children trying to escape the balmy evening. We began to weave our way through the crowd. We made our way past the band and made a beeline for a place called Café that sat off to the right. The hostess out front greeted us with a warm smile.

“Two hard Savannah sweet teas, please.” Tucker pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket and handed a twenty to the woman.

“Coming right up.” She smiled brightly and took off to prepare our drinks.

We took a seat on the wooden bench just outside the restaurant, taking in the sights and the sounds. The crowd applauded as the band finished their version of “Hotel California.”

“ ‘Freebird,’ ” Tucker yelled over the crowd members who were screaming out song suggestions. I laughed and ducked my head as the band began to play his requested song.

“Here are your drinks.” The hostess was in front of us with two plastic cups and Tucker’s change. He waved the money away and took our drinks, holding one out for me. We both took a sip, and my cheeks puckered from the strong concoction.

“Oh. Shit. We have to hurry!” He glanced down at his watch before taking my hand and pulling me from the bench.

“Where are we going?” I let him pull me through the crowd to a carriage drawn by two massive horses. His grin grew wide as I took in the massive wooden cart. “Oh, no!” I pulled back from him, but he held on to my hand tight.

“You’re not scared of a couple of ponies are you?” His lips curled up into a playful smile.

“They’re huge!”

He stepped closer and took my other hand in his. “I know they’re not white and technically we’re not riding on them, but this is the best I could do on short notice.” His eyes searched mine, and I felt my heart clutch in my chest.

This was my fairy tale. Even if it was for just one night. I put my fears aside and nodded, unable to contain my smile, not that I wanted to.

I let him pull me closer to the cart as a woman set out a small ladder for us. I hesitantly climbed it and slid across the black vinyl seat. Tucker followed, and the woman removed the ladder as the carriage jerked into motion.

Tucker slipped his arm around me and pulled me into his side. At that moment, I feared nothing. Not the massive horses, not what waited for me in the morning, not even Jackson.

We sipped our drinks as we toured the cobbled streets, weaving our way around the squares as our tour guide told us of the history of Savannah. It was hard to focus on anything she said with Tucker so incredibly close. We were transported to another time and place. It was perfect. We even passed by the Savannah Theatre where I’d watched Tucker perform only a few days before. It felt as if an eternity had passed. So much had happened in these few days that it could have spanned a lifetime. We learned of the city’s burning down three times and being rebuilt as new. I thought of what it would be like to let everything I had been through go, nothing left but ashes. Let the memories go up in smoke and start again.

“What are you thinking about?” Tucker ran the back of his finger down my cheek and along my jaw.

“How people change, life changes, but it all still stays the same.”

“It’s not always a bad thing.”

“I feel like it is my fate to be stuck in that trailer, and no matter what I do to get myself out, I will somehow end up back in there.”

“I don’t believe in fate.”

“Really?” I turned toward him with a smirk. “What do you believe in, Tucker White?”

“Karma.”

“Karma?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I think it was karma that brought you into my life.”

“Then tell me, what is it I did to deserve Jax?”

“You don’t. That’s the bad karma he is putting into the world. One day it is going to pay him back for everything he has done to you.” Tucker pulled my head against his chest and rubbed his hand over my back.

“I wish karma would hurry the hell up.”

He laughed and kissed the top of my head.

Much too soon, our ride came to an end, and we pulled back into the City Market. The ladder reappeared next to the cart and Tucker climbed down, holding out his arms for me. He grabbed me by the waist and slowly lowered me to the ground in front of him.

“Thank you.” I was breathless, staring into his blue eyes, which sparkled in the streetlights. He leaned closer and placed a soft kiss against my forehead.

“Anytime.” His fingers looped in mine and we made our way farther down the Market. “Hungry?”

The smell of pizza was heavy in the air, and I realized I couldn’t remember the last meal I had eaten. I nodded and he pulled me into a corner pizza parlor called Vinnie Van Go-Go’s. The hostess led us to a little bistro table outside and left us with a couple of menus.

“This place is amazing. I had no idea it even existed.”

“Sometimes we don’t know what we’re missing until we find it.” Tucker smiled over his menu.

My cheeks flushed and I looked down at the menu, trying to calm my rapid heartbeat. “What are you hungry for?” Everything on the menu looked amazing.

Tucker sighed. “I guess pizza will do for now.”

The waitress approached us with a bright smile. “Can I start ya’ll with something to drink?” Her eyes darted between us and came to rest on Tucker as they narrowed. She looked as if she recognized his face but couldn’t quite place him.

“Beer?” He didn’t even glance in the server’s direction.

I smiled and nodded.

“Two Buds would be good.” He flashed her a quick smile.

She beamed from ear to ear as she took off to fill our orders.

“When do you leave for Florida?” I asked, addressing the huge elephant in the room.

“Can we just not talk about that tonight?”

The waitress returned with our drinks and placed the bottles in front of us. I picked up my bottle and took a long swig.

“Have you decided on what you want?” She was batting her eyelashes at Tucker, but his eyes stay fixed on mine.

“I know exactly what I want.” He grinned and shot me a wink, sending the butterflies in my belly into a frenzy. “Medium cheese.”

“I’ll get that to you in a few minutes.” She disappeared inside the building.

Tucker and I stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, pausing only to sip our drinks. Finally, Tucker broke the silence, digging in his pocket and taking out a small, black square and holding it out for me. “I picked this up for you today.”

I took the small phone from his hand and pulled my eyebrows together in confusion.

“I want you to be able to get ahold of me whenever you . . . want to.” He cleared his throat. “It has my cell programmed into it.”

“You didn’t have to—”

“I had to,” he said, ending the conversation, just as the pizza arrived.

I smiled and slipped the phone into the back pocket of my shorts. “Thank you.”

The waitress set a metal contraption in the center of the small table to put the pizza on, raising it off the surface. She placed two metal plates in front of us and asked if we needed anything else. Her question was directed to Tucker and held more than an offer of food service. He smiled politely and told her no. She left us alone.

Tucker slid an oversize slice of New York–style pizza onto my plate before taking one for himself.

It was quite possibly the best pizza I had ever eaten in my life. It could have had something to do with the company I was keeping. I watched his jaw flex as he chewed and licked the sauce off his fingers, sending my thoughts into overdrive.

“You could be here with any girl you wanted. Why me?” I suddenly needed something solid to cling to.

“I don’t want to be with just any girl. I want to be here with you.” He smiled as if it were a silly question. “You understand what it’s like not to have everything handed to you on a platter. You know what it is to work hard, to struggle. No one else out there cares about that side of my life.”

“I want to be here with you, too,” I said quietly, then resumed eating. A comfortable silence—but a silence nonetheless—settled over us.

“What is your greatest memory?” I asked after a few minutes, trying to lighten the mood.

The waitress returned to check our progress, and we ordered two more beers to go as Tucker settled the bill.

“The day I went home with Dorris.”

The waitress returned quickly with our drinks and Tucker’s change, along with a slip of paper containing her phone number. I glowered at the back of her head as she left our table. Tucker smirked and crumpled the paper into a tiny ball, leaving it on top of a tip in the center of the table.

“It was just days before the holidays. All I wanted for Christmas was to be wanted. Dorris had been coming in to visit me, but she always left alone. I was beginning to think that she didn’t want me, I wasn’t good enough.”

“Tucker.” My heart was breaking for the child in him that I never knew.

He smiled and reached across the table, slipping his hand over mine. “I was too young to understand that adoption is a long process.” He shrugged.

“What was it like, getting a new family and being able to start your life over?”

“It was one of the scariest things I had ever gone through. I had all of these new toys, new clothes . . . everything was different. It was like I stepped inside someone else’s shoes. I sort of did, actually. Dorris had a son who was killed in a car accident when he was six years old. She left his room untouched for four years before she decided to adopt a child.”

“Oh my God.”

“Yeah . . .” He blew out a long breath and picked up his beer to take a sip. “She’s the one who named me Tucker. That’s what my birth certificate says now. I got a new name with my new toys and clothing.” He shook his head. “I became a new person.”

“What was your name? Your birth name?”

“Nathaniel, after my father.”

“I like it.”

“What about you, Cass?” He leaned forward in his seat, his eyes locked on mine. “What’s your greatest memory?”

I grabbed my drink and took a long sip. I was too terrified to let him know exactly how much meeting him meant to me, so I searched my memories for a happier time.

“My father had given me a teddy bear for my birthday.”

“A teddy bear? That’s your greatest memory?” He grinned.

“It’s all I have to remember what life was like before it all went to hell.” I nodded and the smile left his lips.

“Well, we’ll have to make you some new memories then. Let’s get out of here.” He stood and held out his hand to me. I slipped my fingers in his and he pulled me from my seat back toward the busy street.

We made our way to the first block, where the band continued to play. The music slowed as they began “I Won’t Give Up.” Tucker pulled me into his arms in the middle of the street, and we began to dance slowly in the center of the crowd.