23. Levi
23
T he bar is crowded tonight, so I slide into an empty booth at the Inn. Dad’s training Ethan behind the bar, but he’s not as swift as Tessa was back there.
Always quick on her feet.
Dad passes me a bottle that matches his and sits across me. “What happened?”
“Just stopped by for a drink. And maybe an apple pie to go.”
“Apple pie, huh? Tessa loves my apple pie. What’d you do?”
I take a swig and sigh. “I was a dick at dinner.”
“Oh you mean one of the few times that woman eats during the day? Smooth move.”
I glare at him, wary about the fact that Tess barely touched her food. “You’re not helping.”
“If you told me what set you off, maybe I will.”
“Earlier tonight, Jackson showed her a photo of Lilly.”
He grunts, rubbing the stubble on his jaw. Then folds his hands on the table and waits for me.
“I was headin’ to his room and stopped short when I heard him say y ou’re prettier .”
He nods once. “So he sees the resemblance.”
“She did too.”
He checks the bar and turns back to me. “You see it too. You saw it that first day you met her back at the station. It’s why you kept running her out of town. Why you didn’t like her spending time with Jackson when she worked here. Why you didn’t trust her.”
“She’s nothing like Lilly,” I rasp.
I see that now.
“Then what’s the problem? Tell her you know she’s nothing like her.”
I swallow hard. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because facts are facts, Dad. You know Tess as well as I do—”
“Doubtful.”
“She’s flighty. She’s got secrets. A past no one in this town knows. She’s not here to stay. It didn’t even occur to me that Jackson compares her to his mother.”
Dad releases a heavy breath. “Yeah. I’ve been worried about that too.” He twists the bottle in his hands. “Forget Jackson for a moment. What do you want? We all know something’s going on with you and Tess. Have you asked her to stay?”
I shake my head.
“Maybe I should ask if you want her to stay.”
“I know I’m not ready for her to go. That her six weeks are up in less than two, and I’m a wreck about it.”
“Then stop wasting it here with me when you know damn well what you want.” He stands with a grin. “I’ll get that apple pie ready for ya. Go home to your woman.”
Tessa covers her face with a pillow and cries out, jerking against my mouth, then goes limp on the bed. I climb up her soft skin, settling myself behind her naked body and pull her close to me under the sheets.
“You’re getting pretty good at number five, Cowboy.”
I chuckle softly. “I’m sorry about earlier, Tessa.”
She frowns. Twisting to face me. “Uh-oh. You used my name.”
“I like your name.”
“You only use it when you’re serious.” She pouts.
“Well, I’m seriously sorry.” I smile, running my fingers down her arm.
Her face falls as she strokes the hairs on my chest. “I overstepped asking about her today.”
“You didn’t. Okay, maybe for a part-time nanny, you might have overstepped.”
Her eyes flash with hurt.
I hold up a finger. “But you and I both know you’re not just his nanny. You’re his friend. You’re… my friend.”
She giggles. “I’m your special friend.” Then bites her bottom lip. “She is pretty.”
“You heard my son. You’re prettier.”
“He was just being nice.”
I stroke her hair. “You’re nothing like her, Tess. You’re beautiful inside and out.”
“Is she why you didn’t like me all these years?”
I suck in a deep breath. “The similarities were…very distracting. ”
Her eyes water. “Jackson’s mother reminds me of my father. He left when I was a baby and would come back every so often for God knows what. Sex, money, a change of heart. Who knows. I know what you mean when you say Jackson doesn’t care about her anymore. After a while, you just give up. They become a stranger you just hope will leave as soon as they come.”
I lean in to kiss her forehead, grateful for the insight into her life.
“She left, too. When I was seventeen.”
I frown as my mind races. “You lived alone? How?”
She smiles like it’s a happy memory. “Until the house foreclosed. Then, I'd stay with friends, snuck into the Y…I survived.”
“Where was this?”
“Chicago.”
“A city girl.”
She looks around. “City girl obsessed with small towns.”
I chuckle. “Why’s that?”
“Where else am I going to cause trouble and make sexy cowboys yell at me?”
I grin, sliding my hand down to her hips. “Now, how about the real reason?”
“I suppose it’s the slow pace of life. The connections and community. It’s more about big hearts around here than big pockets. The mountains aren’t all that bad to look at either.”
I chance another question. “Is that what Summer Hill is like?”
Her grin fades, and her eyes drop back to my chest. “It’s nothing like here.”
“Then what’s keeping you from staying?”
Fear flashes in her eyes when they meet mine. And I want to make it go away. I’d take anything back to make it go away.
That’s not who I am .
I confront.
I face problems head on instead of avoiding them.
But Tessa is a whole new ballgame.
One I’d play outside the rules to win.
So I backtrack.
“I meant all those times you came to Hideaway Springs. What kept you from staying? Besides the minor detail that a sexy cowboy tried to run you out of town.”
She scoffs. “I don’t know. Unfinished business, I guess. I’ve got Bessie and…” She trails off and looks up with a grin. “I can tell you one thing for certain. This is my favorite time spent in this town. I’m going to miss it.”
For a short second, I’m angry with her for thinking I’m going to let her go, for planning to leave. Until I remember I never asked her to stay.
And I need to be certain she won’t keep leaving us before I do.
“You still have two weeks.”
She nods and sits up in bed, reaching for my T-shirt. It’s what she does when she’s about to slide out of bed and tiptoe across the hall to her room.
I catch her wrist. “You had a nightmare last night.”
Glassy eyes flick to mine. And I can’t hold back anymore. “Sleep with me tonight, Whiskey. I’m not sure I can handle another night hearing you scare yourself awake and not being by your side.”
Her full lips part. The hesitation comes before the response, and I stop it.
“Please, Tess. I’m not asking what they are. I just want you close.”
Pressing her lips together, she nods. “Okay.” She tugs on the shirt anyway and I help her slip into it .
When she falls asleep, I close the drapes in my bedroom. I’ll let her hide her scars before the morning sun. But sooner or later, she’s going to tell me who did this to her.
And when she does, I'm going to bury that son of a bitch so deep, she’ll forget he ever existed.