Come What May (Ember Falls #4)

Chapter 1

one

Tessa

You are beautiful.

You are smart.

You are loved.

You are going to do amazing things.

Doesn’t matter that you’re a little weird sometimes. And maybe you could use a haircut, but that’s okay.

Also, you have this thing you do when you’re upset—your eye kind of tics, and you should probably see a doctor, but again, totally fine.

Dating might be a good idea too. It’s been like two years since you’ve been on one and really, it’s time.

I lean toward the mirror.

“Are those wrinkles on your forehead?” I ask myself as I stare at my reflection. I sigh. “I really suck at this whole morning affirmations thing.”

My roommate Brianna chuckles as she leans against the doorjamb, eating a yogurt. “What nonsense did you tell yourself this time?”

I turn, resting against the sink. “I start off well and always go off the rails. I need a haircut, by the way.”

Brianna is an up-and-coming stylist who just got her first gig working for a huge brand during fashion week. She’s going to do amazing things, which means at some point, I’ll never get her to fix my hair.

She comes up close, lifting the brown strands and letting them fall. “Yeah, we’ll do that tomorrow. Can you come into the salon after work?”

I nod quickly. “Yes, put me on the calendar!”

If she doesn’t, she’ll take a client and I’ll never get in.

“Fine. Tomorrow at seven.”

I nod once. “Thank-you.”

“As always, you are most welcome.”

Brianna dips her spoon into her yogurt. As I open my mouth to ask her a question, I hear a deep groan coming from the room next to me.

Great. She brought another guy home.

She always gets some and I keep getting none.

“Where did we meet this man in your bed?” I ask.

She grins. “He’s a model. We were doing some test work…”

“Bri, it’s not a good idea to sleep with the models before the event,” I say, immediately slipping into publicist mode. “After, fine, but not before or during. You have to be professional.”

Brianna gives zero fucks and rolls her eyes. “He’s from another company. Relax, Mom.”

I guess that’s a little different. “I’m just looking out for you. You worked so damn hard for this job.”

“And I promise, I won’t do anything stupid. I’ll be the good little angel like you are.”

I’m not an angel. I mean, I can break rules. Maybe. I haven’t really yet, but I could. “I could be reckless and put myself out there,” I tell her.

She smiles as she approaches me and pats my cheek. “Sure, you can.”

I hold back a deep huff. “I need to shower and get to work.”

She grins. “Have fun, honey bunch.”

This time I let that huff fly, and she giggles.

I quickly shower, and since we only get maybe four minutes of hot water, I have it down to a science. You have to love tiny apartment living in New York City, right?

I leave Brianna and Antonio, who made a groggy introduction and is way too freaking pretty, and head into the Anchor Light office.

Each time I walk through the doors, it’s like the best moment of my life.

I love being a publicist and to have been hired, right out of grad school, to work at a company like this? It’s everything.

Anchor Light Corporate is a newer sub-office with a very small staff of intelligent women. The co-owners, Brynlee and Thea, are both supportive and have great visions for the company. I work most closely with the senior publicist, Aarabelle Dempsey.

The atmosphere is warm, supportive, and endlessly inspiring.

As soon as I step in, though, the energy is different.

Aarabelle spots me. “Conference room, right away,” she says, her voice clipped.

“Okay,” I say quickly, my heart rate jumping a bit.

We don’t really have immediate meetings, or at least we haven’t since I started. Something must be going on.

I walk to my desk, toss my stuff down, and rush in just as Aarabelle is sitting. The team is gathered around the table, and the phone speaker is in the middle. Brynlee is supposed to be on maternity leave, but her voice fills the room. “Everyone there?”

“Yes,” Thea says as I sink into an empty chair. “Go ahead, Brynn.”

“I know I’m not supposed to be working and all that, but we have an issue with one of my clients who is a real estate mogul. I don’t have much information on what’s going on, but it seems urgent, and our presence is needed.”

“Where is the client located?” Aarabelle asks.

“Boston, but they are out of town so someone would need to meet them,” Brynn explains. There is some noise on her end of the line before she returns to the call. “Sorry, the baby was fussing. The client is in Ember Falls, Virginia?”

Aarabelle jumps in quickly. “I can do it. I’m from Virginia, and I have most of your clients assigned to me while you’re out.”

Disappointment fills me. I also have some of her clients. I push down my own feeling of failure and decide to speak up. Closed mouths don’t get fed as my best friend used to say. “I can also go if it’s one of the clients you have me handling.”

Thea smiles. “We have two eager publicists, and I think they both could do it, just depends who you think would work best with the client.”

“Okay, let me think…” Brynn says as she soothes her son who is fussing behind her with shh-ing noises.

I wait with bated breath, hoping so much that they’ll ask me to go.

“As much as I agree, both Aarabelle and Tessa can handle it, I think it would be best to send Aarabelle.”

Aarabelle glances at me, and I force a smile.

Yes, I would’ve loved to have had the chance to do it, and I know I can do it, I understand the decision.

I’ve only been here a few weeks and I don’t have a ton of experience, but man, I wanted a chance to prove myself.

“Whatever Aarabelle needs, I’ll be here to help,” I say, tamping down my disappointment and working to sound helpful.

“Thank-you, Tessa. I promise, your time is coming,” Brynlee says quickly. “You both are truly talented and capable.”

“There’s no need to explain,” I assure her.

The last thing I want to do is come off ungrateful for the opportunity to work here.

Anchor Light is a well-respected company.

Originally, they started off working out of California with celebrities.

Catherine Cole is the owner and has allowed Brynlee and Thea to buy into the company to start a corporate subdivision, which gives us a huge advantage as Catherine’s contacts are extensive and her name is respected.

We leave the meeting, and while Aarabelle is running around, getting her client folders in order so that I can help her manage while she’s out of the office.

I also help get travel arrangements set for her.

Lodging in that town is a bit of a risk since there are literally no hotels within forty miles, but I do my best with a short-term rental I found online.

“Thank-you, Tessa. You have no idea how much this helps,” Aara says as I give her a folder with all the travel details she’ll need.

“Of course.”

“Walk with me? I need to get home to pack since it’s ten-hour drive.”

I smile and fall in line with her. As we head down to the lobby, she sighs. “I tried to get permission to take you, but with Brynlee out, we really need you here.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t think,” I say quickly, shaking my head, but I stop when she places a hand on my arm.

“I remember being a junior publicist and it sucks. Especially because you’ve already shown how great you’ll be. Which is why, while I’m gone, I really need your help as I’m really deep in one project and according to Brynlee, helping her client is my sole responsibility.”

“Whatever you need.”

“I’m in the middle of two company launch proposals. One is a relaunch of a clothing line that flopped before and no matter what anyone says, the owners are absolutely sure it will take off. Can you maybe take a look at it and give me some notes?”

I nod. “Not a problem.”

“Thank-you. I’ve tried, but I’m telling you, this is going to be a dud and I can’t do a damn thing to save it.

The other is the museum we just signed—they’re having a big gala in about a week.

All the plans are laid out, but I need you to get all dressed up and attend.

It’s black tie, and fancy. I assured my client I would be there, arranging the press and making sure we get them the attention they deserve. I think you’ll really do well.”

“I can do that,” I assure her.

We exit the lobby, standing on the busy New York City sidewalk as people shove and move around each other, heading to wherever they’re going.

“Oh, I know you can, and so do Thea and Brynlee. When I said I needed to offload these, they were absolutely on board with them going to you,” she says with a warm smile. “You’re a natural at this, you know that, right?”

I don’t, but I appreciate her telling me that and mentally add it to my list of affirmations.

“Thank-you,” I say instead of my natural instinct to deflect any kind of praise. Lord knows I didn’t grow up hearing any of it.

“All right, I’ll see you in a week or two,” Aarabelle says.

She turns and right as she does, I swear, her life flashes before my eyes. Her heel gets stuck in a crack and a bicyclist is coming right at her.

“Aarabelle!” I scream.

Her eyes widen a heartbeat before she lets out a loud noise, but it does nothing to stop what comes next.

The cyclist turns his wheel to the left, but she goes that way as well, causing him to slam right into her.

Aarabelle goes down, slamming her head on the pavement—hard.

“Oh my god!” I scream and drop, trying to help her.

Her hand goes to her head and she moans.

“Aara?”

“My head,” she croaks.

She tries to move, but then lets out a scream so loud I feel it in my bones.

“Don’t move!” I say quickly.

Aarabelle grabs at her leg and…well…that is definitely not the way it should look.

I immediately call 911, and the ambulance arrives quickly. Aarabelle is howling in pain through the entire ride.