Chapter Six #2
Tess swallowed her feelings with a large gulp of tea. “Okay, I get it. Your new career and getting established need to take precedence.”
A flash of frustration crossed Bree’s face, then she leaned back in her chair.
“I understand.” Tess stood up and collected her cup and purse.
Bree looked torn. Tess battled her ingrained avoidance of being rejected and the feelings she’d struggled with since she was a child. She fought to appear indifferent. One of her major tenets was to never let a blow show, even if it had landed.
“It’s not that simple. I made all this change because I needed to, for me. I have to make this relocation go well.” Bree paused and cleared her throat. “Blame me—it’s not you, Tess.” She stood up too, then looked directly into Tess’s eyes. “Can we at least try to get along?”
Tess had no clue what label would work. Cordial didn’t seem to be the word, though. “Amiable?” slipped out.
“How about friendly, if that word works for you?” Bree pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Friendly.” Tess found herself nodding.
That term wasn’t nearly as restrained as cordial was in Tess’s mind, but her frigging heart had puppet-mastered that affirmative nod.
She was cordial with acquaintances and strangers, even amiable with someone like Marnie.
But she was friendly with Flo—there was a lot of interaction latitude in that word.
For Pete’s sake, friends with benefits was even a term.
This would probably end badly. The wisest choice would be to throw up the highest wall she could manage and lick her wounds, but she couldn’t bring herself to do that.
Sitting here facing Bree, she just couldn’t do that.
“Okay, then. Friendly.” Bree replied in a tone Tess couldn’t read. She wanted to hear regret, but that was likely just wishful thinking.
“Well, I’m glad that’s settled.” Tess made an effort to prevent her feelings from affecting her tone.
She wanted to be furious with Bree. This meeting had been such a disaster, veering completely off her agenda.
An agenda that would keep her from any deeper hurt than she’d already felt when Bree had just walked away after their encounter in the courthouse lounge.
That had been a wake-up call. A warning.
She didn’t set herself up for that kind of pain anymore.
Yet here she was, keeping hope alive, dangling herself over the chasm of heartbreak with so far to fall.
“I’ll see you at work tomorrow, then.” Bree’s smile was a bit crooked, and lethal. Kryptonite.
Tess forced herself to look away. She’d come here with the sole purpose of distancing herself, of resetting their future encounters into that controlled-and-courteous-interaction box, the one she’d been constructing for decades.
Instead, something about that smile sparked Tess’s irrational desire to connect her life to Bree’s.
She’d been outside that box with Bree, and it had proven addictive. Way outside that box.
“Yes, I’ll see you at work,” Tess affirmed.
“Maybe in the lounge—with my head in the refrigerator.” That was an acceptable reply, but because Bree had the gift of freeing Tess to be herself, Tess couldn’t resist adding, “You’ll know it’s me by my backside.
” She hoped Bree couldn’t detect the husk in her voice. So not cordial. Effing addictive.
“Tomorrow at work, Judge Theresa Fairchild.” Bree clearly lost her battle with a grin. “But known as Tess to those who are familiar with her backside.” It was a cheeky grin. And so blasted sexy.
Oh fuck, so far off her agenda. They couldn’t seem to stop playing with fire. Creating distance would be Tess’s only savior.
Bree had agreed to come spend this Saturday afternoon with her brother and her niece at Cayucos Beach, so she could watch Gabby try out her new surfboard.
The one Bree’s birthday check had funded.
Bree had arrived with sandwiches, and they were just finishing off lunch before Gabby headed back to the water.
“Thanks for coming, Aunt Bree. The new board is awesome.”
“Glad you like it, kiddo.”
“My friend Suzie is just over there”—Gabby pointed at a family on a blanket—“and we’re going back out together in a minute.”
“I’m glad you’ve got a friend to surf with. I bet that makes it all the more fun,” Bree said.
“It does. I never said it, but I’m sorry about Aunt Cora, about the divorce. You know, you need a friend. A girlfriend. All the more fun here on the beach.” Gabby stood up and grabbed her board. “Just sayin’.”
Bree watched Gabby join Suzie before they headed out to where the swells were breaking.
Gabby paddled hard and stood up as a large wave propelled the board toward the beach.
Bree watched the teenagers ride toward them until they reached shallow water, offered huge grins, then turned and paddled back out toward the swells.