TUCK EVERLASTING
Spring of Choice
*The same disclaimers apply- Here's another chapter! I hope you enjoy it. I'm glad to finally get this conversation out of the way, I've been avoiding writing it the last couple of days. Things will pick up in the next chapter when Winnie finally leaves. But beware, because there'll be some twists! Hee hee—I never make anything simple. ^^;; I'm such a stinker! Chapter 5- Live to Regret
Winnie couldn't have been more off guard at this sudden question. Her mind was instantly sent into a whirlwind of thought. Should she lie? What would she say? What would her parents do? Should she be mad that they searched her room? She was stunned with the suddenness of the question. Therefore was forced to give the best possible answer she could come up with at such short notice. And so, with absolutely no time to think of an adequate story, she simply told the truth.
" Jesse Tuck," She said softly, her throat suddenly very dry. "He asked me to marry him, and I said yes."
"Ohhh…" Her mother rose from her seat, fanning herself even harder and began pacing back and forth, her free hand clenched at her side. Her father's mouth hung open in shock and he let the letters drop onto the coffee table.
"Tuck?" He said softly. And then the word suddenly made sense and he said it again, this time with more force. "TUCK!" Winnie's eyes grew wide and she gave a small start at his exclamation. "The very family that abducted you?"
"They didn't kidnap me!"
"As we've heard entirely too many times!" Her mother said, panic was clear in her voice. "But it is no mistake that that woman KILLED the man in the yellow coat! They are murderer's Winifred! Cold blooded killers!"
Winnie's eyes popped open at this admonition. And all fear melted away in an instant, anger enveloped her. Anger to defend her friends, defend her love, and defend their way of life that she so envied.
"How dare you say such nasty things about my friends!" Winnie rose out of her seat slowly, staring at her mother, shaking with fury. " You have no idea what that man would have done if Ma Tuck had not stopped him! He was a crazy man!"
"I don't want to hear it!" It was Winnie's father that interrupted this time with a shout. Winnie shut her mouth tight but continued to stare unblinkingly at her mother. There was a moment of silence in the house, and then he continued in a softer voice. "All that is in the past. What I want to know is… why on earth would you choose such a man as that?"
Winnie tore her gaze from her mother, and settled on her father, her eyes softened as she looked at him. She could tell he was genuinely confused and concerned. "I love him, father…"
"You don't know what you are saying." Her mother said coldly.
"I do!" Winnie stamped her foot, making her mother jerk in surprise. "I have loved him ever since the moment I first saw him. And it has stayed that way, even when we were apart, I've always loved him!"
"Winifred…don't mistake love for some youthful crush…" Her father shook his head. " Someone like that is not what you need. You need security. A man like that leads a dangerous path in life! You do not want to get tangled up with the likes of those people."
Winnie opened her mouth to protest, but shut it again as her father continued. "Don't think that I wasn't your age once, full of passion and youthful carelessness! But in time I came to realize that this is a real world we live in, and the real world is dangerous."
"I know that father! I was witness to it myself!" Winnie clenched her fists in the folds of her skirt. " I understand what you're saying, but I'm not like that! It's not a crush! I—
"Your fantasies are not real!" He cut her off with a raised voice. Winnie took a step back in startlement. " I know as well as you do that you're prone to daydreaming! But about something like this…you have to stop fantasizing about something that cannot be! You were not born to lead that sort of life."
He said it with great passion and she could tell he wanted greatly for her to understand. And she did, in a sense.
"They are not fantasies." She said, determined. "And as I've told you before, the kind of life you want for me is not what I want. I know you're concerned for my safety, but don't be! Jesse Tuck is an honest, wonderful, kind and caring person! If you could just believe me!!!"
" If he is so grand, then why does he not present himself to your mother and myself for approval!?" Her father broke in angrily. " It is the way things are done in this day and age! We have never even met the boy and you expect us to just let you go? By his own irresponsible actions, he confirms his own guilt! He is a scoundrel and I will not allow you to marry such a ruffian as that!"
Winnie wanted to drive her fist into the wall, but she restrained herself, and instead, with painful calmness said, "You married mother because you loved her, isn't that true?"
"Well…Yes…"
" So why can't I marry who I love?"
" He is not an option…" It was Winnie's mother this time, she was holding onto the back of the loveseat, her knuckles were white with exertion as she squeezed, but the rest of her face was calm and dangerously composed. " Winifred Foster, I will not allow you to ruin your life in the name of a childish romance."
Winnie took a deep breath, doing her best to control her still growing frustration. " I'm sorry mother, but it's too late. I'm going to leave." She gestured to the crumpled letters on the table. "To answer your question…" Her eyes shifted to her father, who's face had gone quite pale. " I was writing you both a goodbye note." Her voice quivered, emotion welled up inside of her, but she forced herself to continue. "You can make this difficult, or simple… those are your options. I am leaving in four days, no matter what you say. I would like to leave on good terms with you, but if you continue to insist that I'm blind by 'childish fantasies,' then I will have no choice but to leave…just as we are…" her voice trailed off to a whisper. " It's difficult for me to say it… I love you both very much…" She knew tears were fast on their way, but she didn't care. " I'm almost eighteen… and I want my own life. Please… just accept that! I beg of you..."
Her mother only shook her head and let the fan drop to her side, her father stood, staring at her speechless.
Winnie continued, nevertheless, letting tears fall over her cheeks. "I love him, and I trust Jesse with all my heart. He'll give me what I need so don't worry that I'll ever be cold or hungry. We will go far away, to see the world when I join him…" She looked from one to the other sadly. " I will probably never return to Tree Gap…" She paused to wipe her tears with the back of her sleeve, and then sighed loudly, and smiled through a fresh onslaught of tears. "But inside I am content, because I know that we'll be together. After years of thinking about it, I know that is the life I wish to live."
Her father sat down, deep in thought. Winnie hoped that she had at least reached him on some common ground. Her mother was another story though…
"If you go, you will live to regret it." She said softly.
Winnie shook her head, smiling despite herself. "Oh mother… If I can guarantee you anything, it's that I will live…" then she took a deep breath, and said with as much reassurance as she could gather. " But, I will never regret it."