Finding Forever: A Tuck Everlasting Story

Chapter Five

The light above their shared sitting area was the first thing Winnie noticed as she entered their suite. She wasn't entirely sure if Eliza had turned off all the lights when they had departed for the Tucks.

There was a modern open bar decked out in the best glass finery to the right of the sitting area, where a glass had been filled. It sat on the counter just under half full.

Immediately, Winnie panicked and started back toward the door and fidget with her clutch bag to release her phone.

She tried to ignore the steady footsteps approaching her from her side of the suite. Her phone was out ready to dial Jesse, who couldn't have gotten very far. A male throat clearing stopped her in her tracks.

"You weren't going to ask who's there?" Isaac jokingly chuckled.

She whipped around wide-eyed and exhaled sharply, "You scared the life out of me." Of course, this was only figuratively speaking.

He smiled and casually removed his hands from the pockets of his finely pressed dress pants.

"Well, I wanted to surprise you."

"Obviously." Winnie scoffed, "Isaac, you can't do that. I seriously thought you were an axe murderer."

"Aren't you glad to know that I'm not?" He stepped toward her and lightly brushed her cheek, "Nice jacket."

She looked down nervously, completely forgetting she still had it on, "It was chilly. I didn't bring one with me...Jesse was being nice."

"It's fine," He smiled assuring, "You look stunning."

She met his smile and lightly blushed, "Thank you."

Isaac could make her feel great even if she were wearing a burlap sack.

"When did you get here?"

He took her hand and led her to one of the plush loveseats in the center of the room. The whole right side of the room had a spectacular glass view of downtownCharlotte.

"Just a half hour ago. I had assumed you and Liza would be out for a while."

"When did you leave? What about the store? Is your dad alright?" Winnie pried.

"Yea, dad's fine. He thought he was having a heart attack. We found out it was just indigestion. He and mom were...um...well, you know...he uh...overexerted himself. He just needs to take it easy."

"Oh, well...that's good that it was only indigestion." Winnie replied coolly.

"I didn't even get to open the store dealing with that. Our rings were finished, so I picked them up. By mid afternoon, when you guys had landed. I was a maniac. I missed you terribly. I knew I should have come with you. I wanted to meet the people you talked so fondly about."

Winnie rested her delicate her on his knee, "I missed you too. I would like you to meet them. Mae is absolutely amazing. She offered to help with planning."

"Really? You know my mother won't hear of it. She pretty much had mine and Liza's weddings mapped out since birth. On top of that, she's making dad spend a fortune on this planner."

"I don't even think she wants my input," Winnie added, "which is fine, but I don't need all of that extra fluff."

Isaac swiftly reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "I want you to have the fluff. We're only going to get married once."