Read Beautifully Unfinished for Free Online Page A

shrugged before she turned and opened the cupboard and took out two coffee mugs.
    “He misses you,” Tucker said, and Lucy knew he wasn’t sure if he was crossing a line. Still, he continued. “He talks about you all the time, he is so proud of you, but I know he finds it hard because he doesn’t see you more.”
    “I miss him, too,” Lucy sighed as she looked at this relative stranger standing before her, yet there was something about him, something that made her want to open up. “I know these last nine years have been hard on him, too, but that’s changed now.”
    She turned back to the cupboard, feeling a little confused as to why she found it easy to open up to Tucker. She opened the cupboard and stretched up to try and reach for the instant coffee. Her dad hated instant coffee, but he always kept a jar for emergencies. She just wished he didn’t keep it quite so high. She leaned up on her tippy toes but couldn’t reach.
    “Let me,” Tucker said, and was on his feet and next to her before Lucy had time to think. He came up behind her and reached up into the cupboard, and his body pressed against her back.
    Without even thinking, Lucy pushed back abruptly and moved away from him as quickly as she could.
    “Lucy! What’s wrong?” Tucker asked, as he gave her a confused look. He stepped towards her and reached out to her but she quickly stepped back until her back was flush with the fridge. “Are you okay?”
    “Don’t…don’t touch me,” Lucy pleaded as her whole body went ridged with absolute fear. She pinched her eyes closed and held up her hands. “Please.”
    “Lucy,” Tucker said as he stepped closer to her, but was careful not to touch her. “I would never hurt you. Please don’t be afraid of me.”
    “I…I know,” she said as she tried to focus on her breathing. “I’m not…I just… I can’t.”
    She finally opened her eyes and looked up at Tucker, who was watching her, looking totally stunned. She stared at him but didn’t speak.
    “Jesus, Lucy, what did he do to you that night?” Tucker asked as he took one more step towards her. Lucy could see he wanted to hold her, to touch her, but he resisted. “I want to rip his fucking head off.”
    “It’s all in the past,” she whispered as she closed her eyes again, completely mortified. “Please, Tucker. Please, can you just leave?”
    “I can’t leave you like this,” Tucker replied, and Lucy could hear the worry, mixed with anger in his voice.
    “Please,” she whispered, as she slowly opened her eyes and gave him a pleading look.
    He stood for a moment and just stared at her before he finally released a long, frustrated breath.
    “Okay,” he said as he slowly took a step back, then another. He then reached into his back pocket and pulled a card out. Setting it down on the counter, he looked back at Lucy. “But if you need me, you call me. Anytime, day or night.”
    Lucy just nodded but didn’t speak.
    Tucker sighed once again before he turned and walked out of the kitchen. It wasn’t until Lucy heard the front door close, that she released the breath she was holding. That was followed by a shuddering sob that came from deep inside her.
    She slid down the fridge to the floor and for the first time in so long, she buried her face in her hand and cried.
    Even on the night she lost it with Steve, she has refused to give herself over to tears, but somehow, coming home, she seemed to have lost that inner strength she once had.
    She didn’t know how long she sat there on the floor, but finally, she pulled herself up to her feet and slowly made her way down the hallway. She turned the latch on the front door then picked up her suitcase and made her way up the stairs, her feet feeling like lead weights.
    When she reached her room, she just dropped her case on the floor, climbed onto her bed and barely had the energy to kick her shoes off before she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

    Lucy woke with a start, but she