CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Tess
“Ya nervous?” Tess asked the bride.
Alex stood in front of a full-length mirror, smoothing the white satin with one hand and holding a peach Bellini in the other.
“Hell, no,” Alex said. “I can’t wait.”
Maddie chuckled. “Well, you got about twenty more minutes.”
Tess and her entire team—Maddie and Holly had flown in the day before—had just finished dressing in matching sage green silk dresses and lounged at Alex’s cabin, killing time before the ceremony.
“I love events that get us all together,” Maddie said. “I miss you guys so much.”
“Ditto,” Holly said. “Even my new little one can’t fill the gap you guys leave.”
“You think you’ll go back to work?” Juliet asked Holly.
“I doubt it.” She cooed at two-month-old Maggie, who wore a matching tiny silk onesie custom-made for the occasion. “How could I possibly abandon this sweet thing?”
“So, Tess,” Maddie said. “What’s up with you and that Logan guy? I sense a little somethin’ somethin’.”
Tess glared at Faith, who threw up her hands. “I didn’t say a word. I swear.”
“It’s kind of obvious,” Holly said, nodding. “I see it too, and we only spent a couple of hours with y’all last night.”
Tess frowned. “See what?”
“He likes you,” Juliet said, a hint of “duh” in her voice.
“Doesn’t it seem like he’s hiding something?” Tess asked. “I get this weird feeling he’s not being totally honest about something.”
“You thinkin’ serial killer?” Holly asked, with a head hitch. “Russian spy? Assassin for hire?”
Tess laughed. “You’ve been living with a cop too long.”
“Maybe he has a secret family,” Faith suggested. “Like a wife and a gaggle of kids back in Texas he doesn’t want anyone to know about.”
“What if he’s dying?” Juliet said. “And is hesitating to make his move ’cause he’ll just break your heart when he’s gone.”
“That actually might make sense,” Tess said after pondering for a second. “He was pretty careless on the campout. Rappelling down the cliff to help me with Joseph, running headlong, barefoot into the woods, again, to help me.”
“Sounds like he just wants to help you,” Faith said. She put “help” in air quotes and wiggled her eyebrows. Tess ignored her.
“Maybe that’s why he’s staying here,” Juliet said. “Just wants to live simply in the peaceful mountains for his final days.”
“It is a pretty place to die,” Maddie mused.
“It must be irreversible then,” Holly said. “Otherwise he’d want to be near a doctor or hospital.”
“Should we bury him here?” Alex asked. “Or ship him back to Texas?”
“Okay,” Tess said. “I think this conversation has gotten away from us.”
“If he is dying,” Faith said, ignoring Tess’s attempt to move on. “Then it’s even more important that you date him. You wouldn’t want him spending his last days alone, would you?”
“I’m not into pity dating.” Tess took a sip of her drink. “Plus, I’m too old to waste time in a relationship going nowhere.”
“Pfft. You just turned twenty-eight,” Juliet said. “Sure it’s not your trust issues?”
All eyes stared at Tess. “Seth might have left a mark,” she admitted.
“You were young,” Holly said.
“And naive,” Maddie added. “Age brings wisdom. Sooner or later, you’re gonna have to open up again.”
“This topic’s a real downer,” Tess said. “Aren’t we supposed to be celebrating Alex’s wedding? Faith’s pregnancy? Holly’s little bundle of joy?”
They were interrupted by a knock at the door—Nick and Cole coming to escort them.
“It’s time, ladies,” Nick said. “Brody’s getting lonely.”
They carefully jumped into ATVs and made the short trip to the rec cabin. They’d spent all day transforming the recreation center into a silk-strewn, flower-laden rustic wedding venue.
Warm-toned string lights zigzagged across the ceiling and served as the main source of light.
The guys had built a wooden arch that the girls then decorated with swaths of white silk, fairy lights, and flowers.
Half the cabin was set up for the reception.
The other half, lined with rows of white wooden chairs that would be cleared later to make room for dancing.
The wedding party assembled on the porch, waiting for the signal to enter. When the music started, Faith and Nick walked first, followed by Holly and Cole. Tess, Juliet, and Maddie brought up the rear.
Alex’s grandpa escorted her down the aisle and left her next to a deliriously happy Brody.
After a brief but lovely ceremony, they went directly into party mode. Alex and Brody had agreed to postpone the honeymoon until the off-season, so there would be no big send-off tonight.
Tess had gone to refill her drink and returned to Nick and Faith arguing about baby names.
“We are not naming our baby Door Knob or Laundry,” Nick said. “Or whatever you came up with.”
Faith rolled her eyes. “I proposed Damian Knox or Lavanya.”
“Why can’t it just have a normal name?” Nick asked. “Like Jack.”
“So kids can call him Jerky Jack?” Faith asked.
“Kids called me Nerdy Nick,” Nick said. “And look at me now.” He waved a hand up and down his body.
“Yeah, I was Angry Alex,” Alex said. “And I turned out all right.”
“Debatable,” Tess teased.
“Angry?” Brody said, wrapping his arms around his new wife. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
“Alex was the angstiest of us all,” Faith said. “But she had her reasons, and I agree, she turned out fantastic.”
“What was your nickname, Tess?” Logan asked.
“Bossy!” everyone said at once.
“Hey,” Tess complained.
“You denying it?” Nick asked, raising a brow.
“Well, no.” Tess smiled. “But I feel like we’ve derailed. Maddie, what’s up in Hollywood? How’s Patrick?”
“Not much,” Maddie said, shrugging. “Show’s plugging along. Patrick’s been shooting in Vancouver, so I only see him every couple of weeks.”
“Are the rumors about your co-stars, Amber and Jaxson, true?” Faith asked. “Are they really drug-addled wild children?”
“We’re not supposed to talk about it,” Maddie said. Tess thought she caught a hint of weariness. “But the term train wreck wouldn’t be amiss.”
“Tell them about the movie you auditioned for.” Juliet used an elbow to nudge her sister.
“What?” Faith exclaimed. “That sounds exciting.”
“Oh, yeah.” Maddie blushed. “That’s a thing I did. I find out next month, but I want it soooo bad.” She gave a synopsis of the plot—an action-packed drama à la Mission Impossible .
Tess noticed Max shoot a discreet, but scornful glare at Maddie and wondered what that was all about. Did he disapprove of her career choice? Or her decision to leave GVF? Her haircut?
A slow song came on, and Brody stood. “May I have this dance, Mrs. Collins?”
“Ooh. I like the sound of that,” Alex said. “Of course.”
“Gimmie,” Juliet said to Holly, who passed the baby to her so she could dance with Cole.
Nick took Faith’s hand and led her to the dance floor behind the others.
Logan locked eyes with Tess, and a zing raced down her spine. Probably guilt from talking crap about him earlier.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said, ignoring Juliet and Maddie’s snickers.
“You clean up nicely,” he said, pulling her close. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was into her. As more than just a friend. But that couldn’t be right.
Etta James crooned as he slowly spun her around.
“The wedding was beautiful,” Logan said, and she nodded.
“Do you want to get married again, Tess?” he asked, leaning back to look into her eyes as if wanting to gauge her honesty.
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“What happened with your ex?”
“I don’t usually talk about him,” she said, assuming—wrongly—that he wouldn’t pry.
“But if you did, what would you say?”
“He hid a gambling problem from me,” she said tersely.
“I take it he wasn’t successful at it?”
She huffed out a laugh. “That would be an understatement. He wanted me to pay his debts.”
“Ballsy,” Logan pulled her tight once again. “Did you?”
Man, he was nosy. She paused, but figured there was no harm in answering.
“Until I found out he was still losing money and still lying to me about it.” She sighed. “In my book, the lying was as bad as the gambling. I was very young and dumb. Lesson learned.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said sincerely.
“How about you?” she asked. “Were you serious when you said you wanted to get married?”
“I do.” He chuckled at his lame pun. “Just haven’t found the right woman.”
The song ended, but he didn’t let her go. He was staring at her in that intense, weird way again. Like on the campout when she thought he might kiss her. Only this time, he didn’t hold back. Moving in slowly, he pressed his lips to hers as an upbeat song started in the background.
“Sorry,” he said after a second. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while now.”
Holy crap. The ground beneath her shifted, as if his kiss had caused an earthquake. Her thoughts fluttered away, suddenly untethered to anything concrete. She put her fingers to her tingling lips and stared at him.
“Say something,” he pleaded.
She looked for words, but her brain had shut down. His kiss was kind of expected. She’d felt something building between them, but she hadn’t realized how completely it would rock her world.
“Me too,” she finally choked out.
“Let’s take a quick walk,” he suggested, grabbing her hand and tugging with urgency.
“To make out, you mean?” He nodded once, and she laughed but followed him. The second they cleared the rec cabin doors, he grabbed her face and planted another kiss on her. She went up on her toes to meet him halfway, also eager to test this new wrinkle in their relationship.
Tongues swirled, hair was grasped, and moans escaped. It had been so long since she’d been kissed like this. And man, did it feel good. Against her better judgment, she’d envisioned this moment. More than once, if she was being totally honest.
“We should probably head back in,” she said reluctantly after a few minutes. It was that, or invite him back to her place, and she couldn’t leave the reception so early.
“Tess, I want to take you out. On a date.”