  We do a detailed analysis of a well-theoretically motivated interacting dark
energy scalar field model with a time-varying interaction term. Using current
cosmological datasets from CMB, BAO, Type Ia Supernova, $H(z)$ measurements
from cosmic chronometers, angular diameter measurements from Megamasers, growth
measurements, and local SH0ES measurements, we found that dark energy component
may act differently than a cosmological constant at early times. The
observational data also does not disfavor a small interaction between dark
energy and dark matter at late times. When using all these datasets in
combination, our value of $H_0$ agrees well with SH0ES results but in
2.5$\sigma$ tension with Planck results. We also did AIC and BIC analysis, and
we found that the cosmological data prefer coupled quintessence model over
$\Lambda$CDM, although the chi-square per number of degrees of freedom test
prefers the latter.
