Chapter 21
“Two years?” Tessa gasped as Dusty scrolled to the next page on the rabbit hole known as the Florida Department of Children and Families, the gateway site for the foster process.
They’d been digging through online information and Reddit threads and privatized foster services for—
Tessa glanced at the time. “Oh, dear. We’re supposed to go to the Summer House for Vivien’s bridge-jumping thing.
” She grunted and dropped her head. “Please, can I be sick and get out of it? Because this quagmire of acronyms and processes and home studies and a…what is that again? A social-emotional audit of my life—whoa. This is definitely giving me a headache.”
Dusty pulled off his glasses, squeezing the bridge of his nose. “Same, Tess. But if we want to foster, it’s a full-time job just to get considered.”
“And then, after two years of training and classes and interviews and references up the wazoo…” She pointed to the screen. “They prioritize one thing—reunification with the family.”
“Can you blame them?” Dusty asked. “Most times you support the child only to…”
“Pack them up and send them back to their parents,” she finished, her voice taut with a pain that was still fresh. “I don’t know if I can go through that again, Dusty.”
“We have to if we want to foster.”
“If we foster kids. Can’t I just get a nice little puppy and call her Olive?” Her voice cracked on the last word. “Who I miss so—”
“Yes, but…hang on.” He picked up his phone and put it to his ear, too quickly for her to see who’d just called.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, walking out of the room and lowering his voice. “Where are you now?”
She knew a patient emergency when she heard one, having been with him long enough to know his many clients called on the weekends more often than mid-week. She supposed that must be when grief hit the hardest.
Pushing back from Dusty’s desk, she blew out a breath. This wasn’t about loving a child and giving him or her a beautiful home. This was about navigating a system, and honestly, at fifty, was that what Tessa wanted to do?
What Tessa wanted was…
She picked up her phone and tapped the photos, scrolling through the eight billion she’d taken of Olive.
She wanted her little Olive Oyl. Not…bureaucracy. Yes, she understood the need for it and respected the process and the people who put it in place to protect children.
But this was too much.
“Hey.” Dusty came back in, tucking his phone in his pocket, his expression serious. “I’m sorry, Tess, I have to go.”
“Oh, who is it? Everything okay?”
He just shook his head, which she now knew was code for “don’t ask, ’cause I can’t tell” and she held up a hand.
“It’s fine. I’m going to make the briefest of appearances at Vivien’s shindig and come home.” She pushed up from her chair. “I wanted to surprise her with that boom box I found in a thrift shop.”
“With the ’90s cassette?” His brows lifted. “I really don’t want to miss that playing when we all jump off the bridge. Look, I already have a bathing suit on. I’m ready to let go.”
“Of?”
“A future without a perfect woman by my side.” He kissed her lightly. “’Cause you are not going anywhere, Tessa Wylie.”
She smiled at that. How could she not?
“Well, I know what I’m letting go of.” She waved a hand at the computer.
“Being a foster parent?” he guessed, wrapping her in a hug. “Don’t worry, honey. We can navigate this mess together. We’ll figure out our family, no matter how it looks.”
She gave a whimper and dropped her head on his shoulder, loving the sheer strength of it. “What I’m letting go of is Olive. She’s gone forever and I have to let go of my not-so-secret hope that she’ll come back.”
He kissed her on the head and stepped back, searching her face. In his expression, she saw the deepest and most profound understanding.
No surprise—he was a grief counselor and she was grieving.
“I’ll be there tonight, I promise. I’ll try to get to Vivien’s before you all leave to jump. If not, I’ll meet you at the bridge.”
She kissed him again and stood very still, listening to the sound of him getting keys and his wallet and heading out to his truck.
When the door closed, she dropped back into the seat and stared at the screen, reading the words.
PRIDE training is Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education. Eight to ten classes, three hours each.
“Three hours?” she whined.
Dusty was right. She was letting this go—tonight. With Vivien and her stupid idea that they all make one more jump before the bridge was taken down.
“God help me,” she murmured as she walked out carrying the boom box. “Because I’m gonna need it.”
The Summer House was alive with a warm chaos that almost made Tessa forget her blues. She forced herself to greet friends and family, acknowledging that she was only just emerging from a cocoon she’d spun to protect herself since Olive left.
She started with her mother, who’d returned from an extended stay with Maggie.
Neither one looked like they’d had much “work” done, but something had brightened their faces.
Looking at Jo Ellen, Tessa suspected that her mother and her bestie maybe had a few treatments and abandoned the idea of anything that caused pain and just drove around and had fun.
There was an aura of joy around the two older women that everyone seemed to chalk up to their lifelong friendship, but Tessa sensed it might be more than that.
“So where did you stay the whole time?” Tessa asked her mother.
Jo Ellen lifted a shoulder. “Here and there. You know Mags. She loves a good, unplanned adventure.”
Tessa slid a side-eye to Maggie, who was standing with Crista and Anthony, cooing over pictures of the second home here in Destin they’d purchased.
“Maggie doesn’t love adventure,” Tessa corrected. “But she is kind of glowy. You two get in trouble with some bikers again?”
“Not this time,” her mother said. “But we did make kind of a monumental decision.”
“Do tell.”
“Only if you promise not to share with Kate—yet.”
Tessa drew back and raised her brows. “I don’t usually keep secrets from my twin, Mom. Maybe you shouldn’t tell me.”
“Well, I will. And I’ll tell Kate myself if she ever comes back here.” She inched closer and lowered her voice. “We’re not leaving.”
For a moment, Tessa wasn’t sure what she meant. Not leaving for the bridge? Not leaving on another adventure? Not leaving—
“Ever,” Jo Ellen clarified. “We’re moving into the garage apartment permanently and I’m selling the house in Ithaca and—don’t get mad—everything in it but the memories.”
Tessa stared at her, then blinked. Mom not in Ithaca? It was…
“Perfect,” she breathed.
“You think so?” her mother asked.
“Yes, I do,” Tessa assured her. “And not just because I’m here and I selfishly want you nearby. Because it’s cold and far and life is here—in the sunshine. Anyway, you and Maggie are as much sisters as Kate and I are. You deserve this, Mom.”
“Oh, honey!” She threw her arms around Tessa and they hugged, the action getting the attention of Maggie and those around her.
“What’s all this?” Maggie asked, coming closer.
Tessa didn’t answer but put the rare arm around Maggie Lawson and—even more rare—the usually chilly woman didn’t bristle. Instead, she just shook her head.
“Jo Ellen never met a secret she could keep,” Maggie said.
“Why keep it secret, Mags? I’m so happy.”
“Well, so am I. And look who’s going to live five minutes away.” Maggie beckoned Crista and Anthony closer, and they moved as one, arm in arm.
“Let me see your real estate,” Tessa said, taking Anthony’s phone while Crista yammered on excitedly about having a place down here.
“Guess no one is selling this behemoth,” Tessa said, eyeing Crista. “You were the wild card.”
“I say we keep the Summer House as a family compound,” Crista replied, glancing up at her husband. “I love that he wants that for all of us.”
He smiled, clearly basking in his Husband of the Year Award.
“Hey, boss.” From behind, Lacey wrapped her arms around Tessa’s waist and squeezed her, getting a gasp in response.
“Lacey! You’re here!” Tessa spun and hugged her, then looked around for Roman. “And where’s my boy?”
“He’s getting me a drink, since we just walked in. Surprised?”
“Yes! I didn’t think I’d see you for…ever.”
Lacey made a face. “Stop. We’re there for the season, then back here for the off-season, and you know you’ll see me plenty. Guess what?”
“You found an apartment?”
“We did—on the water in town. Gorgeous. But I also…” She bit her lip with a sly look. “Got our first client for the satellite office of Tessa Wylie Events. I wanted to tell you in person.”
Before Lacey left engaged and joyous, she and Tessa decided that they would be the ones trying to make long-distance work.
If Lacey could scare up business in Jacksonville, Tessa would provide all the support and resources and take a cut of the profit.
Lacey could run a satellite office and build her own event planning business.
But honestly, she’d made the decision in a fog of missing Olive, so Tessa wasn’t quite sure how it would work out. She only knew she couldn’t be the one holding Lacey back from happiness.
“It’s actually for the Jags,” Lacey told her. “I met a woman in the PR department and she’s always looking for help setting up fan events and player appearances. She asked if I wanted a job, and I said no. But she could be our client.”
Tessa’s jaw loosened. “Are you serious?”
“We have three events in August.”
“Lacey!” She threw her arms around her young friend, squeezing before drawing back. “You sure you don’t want a job with her? Or just take this as your own business?”
“I’m positive! I can’t do this without you, Tess. We’ll Zoom every morning, you give me pointers and assistance, and I’ll help you hire someone here if you need it.”
“I don’t need anyone,” Tessa said softly. “Without Olive…”
Lacey made a face. “I know that was hard.”