Chapter 13
TESSA
Tessa stood at the kitchen counter, waiting for the coffee to brew.
She yawned sleepily. She had tossed and turned all night.
It was strange having Hayes just down the hall from her.
Her husband. She felt a little thrill at that thought, but also a little guilt.
She still wasn’t sure this was the best plan, and she was not looking forward to lying to everyone, but it was nice to have someone who was in this with her.
Thinking of her partner-in-crime seemed to make him appear.
She smiled as Hayes walked into the kitchen, looking ready to face the day.
“Good morning,” he said cheerfully.
“Good morning,” Tessa replied, not as cheerfully.
Hayes laughed, “I know you aren’t a morning person, but it’s not that early.”
“I know. I didn’t sleep very well,” Tessa said. “Just a lot on my mind.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Hayes said, pouring them each a cup of coffee. He automatically fixed Tessa’s coffee the way he knew she liked it.
“What’s on your schedule today?” Tessa asked.
“Summer workouts for the team start tomorrow,” Hayes said. “So, today is an off day for me. What can I help you with?”
Tessa turned to flip open her notebook, “Well –”
She was interrupted by her phone ringing. She glanced at the caller ID, then at Hayes. “It’s my mother,” she said with wide eyes.
“So, answer it,” Hayes said nonchalantly.
“Hayes!” Tessa hissed. “I don’t know if I am ready for this. I am a terrible liar! I barely got through it the last time I talked to her!”
Hayes grabbed her hands. “It will be okay. Just remember what is at stake, and that I am behind you in this.”
She looked down at their clasped hands. It felt nice.
She looked up into Hayes’s eyes. “Okay,” she whispered.
She looked back at her phone. She had missed the call.
Tessa took a deep breath. She resolved to commit to what she had decided.
Hayes did seem to be truly okay with the situation; they were already married, and she would get to keep The Hickory. It was time to sell this marriage.
She grabbed her phone off the counter and dialed her mother back. “Hi, Mom!” she said brightly when her mother answered. “Sorry, I missed your call. What’s up?”
“Good morning, sweetie,” her mother answered. “I hope you and Hayes are good this morning.”
“Yes, ma’am, we are. We were just about to go over what needed to be done at the resort.”
“Well, I won’t keep you long, but I just have a couple of ideas I wanted to run by you.”
“Okay,” Tessa said hesitantly.
“I know I mentioned this the other day, but I wanted to go ahead and get plans in motion for wedding activities.”
“Wedding activities?” Tessa questioned.
“Yes, we talked about this, remember? While I am happy for you and Hayes, I would like to be able to celebrate my only daughter getting married with a few more formal parties.”
“Formal parties?” Tessa echoed, motioning at Hayes to stay and listen.
“Yes, I would like to have a wedding shower for you and a formal reception and . . .” her mother paused for a moment, “if you and Hayes agree, I would like for you two to have another ceremony, so we could be there.”
Tessa looked at Hayes with wide eyes, “A small party sounds fun, but could Hayes and I talk about the rest? I mean, we kind of eloped for a reason.”
“Okay, sure, dear,” her mother tried to hide her disappointment. “Call me back when you get a chance, but I would like to do something when we visit in a few weeks.”
“Okay, Mom, sounds good,” Tessa hurried her mom off the phone. “Talk to you later. Love you.”
“Love you, too, dear, bye.”
Tessa ended the call and set her phone on the counter, followed by her head.
“Ugh!” she groaned. “I just told myself that I was going to woman up and be all in this plan, but that was hard!”
Hayes walked over and rubbed her shoulders. “I know, but you have to focus on the goal.”
“But how does this all end, Hayes. This plan is tremulous at best. There is no way it doesn’t blow up in our faces.”
Hayes turned her around to face him. “We will make this plan a success. Right now, our focus is on you keeping the resort. After you turn 30, we will worry about the fallout, okay?”
“Okay,” Tessa looked up at him. “I can’t promise not to freak out again.”
“It’s okay,” Hayes said. “We are a team. I am here for you.”
“Thank you so much, Hayes,” Tessa replied. “You are the best.”
They looked at each other, Tessa still in Hayes’s arms as they stood together in the kitchen. Hayes leaned in a little. Tessa held her breath.
“Knock! Knock!” someone called from the front door. Hayes and Tessa jumped apart.
Willow sauntered into the kitchen with a basket. “I come bearing gifts for the newlyweds!”
She looked closely at each of them. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” she said slyly.
“Of course not. Don’t be silly,” Tessa fluttered. “What did you bring us?”
“Just a little sampling of my latest pastry magnificence,” Willow laughed.
“Smells delicious,” Hayes said, reaching for the basket.
“Here, help yourself,” Willow said, handing it over. “Hey, Tessa, can I talk with you for a minute?”
“Sure,” Tessa said, helping herself to a chocolate croissant.
Willow grabbed Tessa’s hand, “Let’s talk out on the porch.”
“Okay,” Tessa said, shrugging at Hayes as she was dragged from the kitchen.
On the front porch, Willow turned aggressively and faced Tessa. “What exactly is going on with you and Hayes?”
“What do you mean?” Tessa asked.
“I mean, how married are you?” Willow looked at Tessa meaningfully.
“Willow!”
“What?” Willow shrugged. “This is totally out of character for you, and I definitely walked in on something in there.”
“What do you mean?” Tessa fidgeted with her t-shirt.
“I mean, there were definite sparks between the two of you.”
“Do you think so?” Tessa asked. “I mean, no, there wasn’t.”
Willow raised her eyebrows at Tessa.
“Hayes is just helping me keep the resort. We have talked about it, and right now we are just focusing on convincing people this is real and saving my resort. After the resort is secure, we will discuss our next steps.” Tessa said with conviction.
“Next steps?” Willow questioned.
“Like how we end the marriage without too much controversy,” Tessa answered. “I admit it, we really rushed into the plan. I didn’t think past saving the resort. I don’t like lying to everyone, but that is where we are now.”
“Okay,” Willow said. “But what if things change? What if y’all are attracted to each other?”
“I don’t know,” Tessa answered honestly. “I mean, Landry and I just broke up recently. I can’t really have feelings for another man already, can I?”
“You have feelings for Hayes?” Willow exclaimed.
“Shhh!” Tessa looked around anxiously. “I’m not saying that I have feelings for Hayes. I’m just talking hypothetically.”
“Sure, sure,” Willow said with a smirk. “Hypothetically.”
“Okay,” Tessa whispered. “I have noticed a little bit of spark between us, and Hayes is very handsome.”
“Tessa! What are you saying?”
“Nothing. I am not saying anything,” Tessa shook her head. “All I can focus on right now is the resort. Hayes is a good friend, that’s all.”
“A good friend who happens to be your husband,” Willow murmured.
Tessa shot her friend a look.
“Okay, okay,” Willow held up her hands. “I will drop it, for now. But you two need to be very careful with all this. I don’t want either of my friends to be hurt.”
“Thank you, Willow,” Tessa said. “We will be careful, I promise. I’m glad that we told you about all this. I know you are here for us. Both of us.”
HAYES
Tessa and Willow returned to the kitchen after their secret conversation on the porch.
They did not give Hayes any clues as to what they discussed, and he was not about to ask.
They all ate breakfast together, then Willow left to head back to the bakery.
Tessa and Hayes went over their to-do list and planned to head into town for lunch.
“Might as well face the firing squad together,” Hayes joked.
“Do you think it will be that bad?” Tess groaned.
“No, but you know how it is in town. They will not let this go without a good bit of discussion,” Hayes said. “But they will find something else to gossip about soon enough, and we will fade into the background.”
“Gosh, I hope so,” Tessa sighed. “I just want to get back to focusing on The Hickory and my plans for it.”
Later that afternoon, Hayes parked near Landmark Cafe in the town square.
“You ready?” he asked Tessa.
“Yes, let’s do this,” she answered.
They exited the truck and reached the sidewalk at the same time. Hayes reached out and took Tessa’s hand. “Shall we have a late lunch, Mrs. Adams?”
Tess smiled at him, “Yes, we shall.”
Hand-in-hand, they strolled down the sidewalk toward the café. Hayes felt several pairs of eyes on them. He knew Tessa could feel them too, but she kept her head focused straight ahead and swung his hand with a smile on her face.
He had to hand it to her; she was selling the newlywed vibe pretty well.
They entered the café and took a seat near the window. Might as well let the whole town see that they were there together and get all of the questions out of the way.
They had just opened their menu when Mrs. Carmichael, their third-grade teacher and well-known town gossip, approached them.
“Hello, kids,” Mrs. Carmichael addressed them. “How are you two?”
“We are doing very well, Mrs. Carmichael,” Hayes answered politely. “How are you?”
“Oh, wonderful, Hayes, just wonderful. I am enjoying retirement very much,” Mrs. Carmichael clapped her hands together. “So, tell me, kids, I have heard something about the two of you, and I was wondering if you could offer me some clarity?”
Hayes and Tessa exchanged glances. “Of course, Mrs. Carmichael,” Tessa answered. “We are happy to help anyway we can.”
“Well, I have heard that you two ran off to South Carolina and got married,” Mrs. Carmichael said breathlessly. “Is that true?”
Hayes grabbed Tessa’s hand and looked at Mrs. Carmichael. “Yes, it is true.”
“Oh, my goodness! I cannot believe it!” Mrs. Carmichael looked overjoyed. “I always thought you two would make a cute couple. Well, congratulations! This is just delightful! But why did you run off? You should have known we would all want to celebrate with you.”
“Well, once we admitted how we felt about each other, we just didn’t want to wait another minute to be married,” Hayes answered, squeezing Tessa’s hand.
“And my mother will be in town in a few weeks; we are planning a reception for then,” Tessa contributed. “That way we can celebrate with everyone.”
“Well, wonderful!” Mrs. Carmichael said. “I look forward to my invitation. I will let you get back to your lunch, now.”
Mrs. Carmichael waved at Tessa and Hayes as she rejoined her group across the restaurant. They watched, and she took her seat, and her friends leaned in eagerly to hear what she had to report.
“I can’t believe we just lied to Mrs. Carmichael,” Tess said. “I don’t think I even lied to her when I was in third grade.”
“Just think of it as stretching the truth a little bit. And it looks like our story will be making the rounds in no time.” Hayes replied as he nodded toward the table of ladies who were eating up Mrs. Carmichael’s story.
“Well, I guess that is good,” Tessa smiled.
After a couple of other townspeople dropped by their table, they were finally able to order. As they were about to dig in, another person approached them.
“Hello, Hayes, Tessa. I hear congratulations are in order.”
“Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor,” Hayes answered.
“Oh, Mr. Mayor is so formal, you know I’m just Bob,” Bob Jenkins replied, smiling at his constituents.
Bob Jenkins had been the mayor of Hickory Falls since Hayes and Tessa were teenagers.
He loved the town, maybe a little too much, but he had always been a good mayor; no one ever ran against him, and there were no term limits on the office of mayor in Hickory Falls.
“Thanks, Bob,” Tessa smiled.
“Well, I came over to congratulate you two on your marriage, but also I have something I would like to ask you.”
“What can we do for you, Bob?” Hayes asked.
“Well, you know our big Fourth of July celebration is coming up,” Bob started.
The Fourth of July celebration was always a big deal to the town, especially since Georgia was one of the original 13 colonies, a fact much celebrated in Hickory Falls.
The annual Fourth of July celebration included a parade through town, a fair in town on the square, a boat parade, and fireworks at the lake.
It was a massive draw for tourists and a big money-maker for the town.
“With this year being the 250th birthday of America, we have added quite a few new events.”
“Of course,” Hayes acknowledged.
“One of the new events is having a Mr. & Mrs. Hickory Falls to attend several of the town events this summer, leading up to riding the town float in the parade, and appearing at the boat parade and fireworks event.”
“That sounds like a very good addition to the celebration,” Tessa said.
“I’m glad you think so!” Bob enthused. “Since you two are our most recent newlyweds, we thought that you two would make the perfect pair to serve as Mr. & Mrs. Hickory Falls!”
Hayes and Tessa stared at each other in shock. Hayes shook his head. It looked like he and Tessa would not be fading into the background any time soon.