6. Tessa
Tessa
Tessa sat back against the leather seat as Greer navigated the old, country roads to the antique shop now infamous in her mind.
Forgotten Treasures Antique Emporium was on the only major route that went through town, a quintessential red barned business with a dirt parking lot, surrounded by tall grass fields and the mountain peaks in the distance.
Looking over at the gorgeous man driving, she fought a sigh of admiration.
It was no secret that Greer Murphy was a handsome man.
Tall, curly chestnut brown hair that sprang across his forehead and over his ears, a jawline that always seemed to be stubbly within a few hours after shaving, and sparkling green eyes that spoke to his heritage.
Ah, yes, her Irish great-grandmother would have loved that about him.
And after Greer’s dunk and subsequent kiss in the lake last night, Tessa found herself looking at him in ways she’d been trying to hide back in Boston.
Desirable ways.
Turning her head to her half-rolled-down window, she felt the cool morning breeze filtering in.
She’d been up with the birds, literally, hearing them as the sun shone through the blinds in her room.
After getting up quickly and dressing in her activewear, she found Greer in the kitchen, run-ready and stretching.
They’d done a quick three-mile breakout run on the old camp roads around the lake.
Greer was true to his word, letting her set the pace and asking if she needed to stop when she was struggling.
But she fought everything in her system that demanded she quit.
She knew exercise was good for her. She also loved being around Greer.
And watching him exert himself right alongside her was certainly a motivating sight.
She arrived home out of breath, sweaty, and practically every muscle in her body protesting for having taken off so many months.
But at the same time, she’d never felt better.
It also made her think about other pleasurable activities she might be able to get up to with Greer.
“What’s got you so quiet over there?” Greer asked, startling her out of her thoughts.
“Just thinking about how beautiful it is up here,” she said, quickly, hoping her voice didn’t betray her thoughts.
Still, if anyone was going to see through it, Greer would.
“It is pretty,” he said, looking out over the field they drove next to, filled with Queen Anne’s Lace. “You ever think of leaving Boston?”
“No, never,” she said, sitting up straighter in her chair. “I’ve never pictured myself anywhere else.”
“You like it that much?” he asked.
“No, not necessarily,” she said, making Greer laugh. “It’s just that Boston’s… I don’t know… home? Everything I need is there, and my family’s there. My school, just… everything?” Why did she always get so tongue-tied around him?
“I think I can understand that,” he said, letting her off the hook some. “I’m a born and raised Boston boy, but there is something to these nice, quiet towns far away from the hustle and bustle.”
“You can always go on vacation here,” Tessa said, chuckling. “You don’t have to move.”
“True,” Greer said, lifting a shoulder. “From a distance, though, it seems like a nice, quiet life. Beautiful scenery. Good for the soul.”
Tessa did a double-take at the man now waxing poetic from the driver’s seat. In all the weeks they’d been together, she’d never seen this side of him before. It was almost as if the words he spoke gripped her and were physically trying to draw her closer.
“Would you move to a place like this?”
“Maybe?” he said without hesitation. “The coast is nice, but I’ve lived my whole life there. There’s something majestic about the mountains. I could see myself in a simple cabin, getting up with the sunrise every day.”
“You want to become a mountain man?” Tessa asked, her eyes wide as she tried to tamp down her laughter. She’d never want him to think she was making fun of his dreams, but the idea of him turning into a solitary creature in a cabin far, far away was nothing like the man she thought she knew.
“Nothing wrong with a mountain man, sweetheart.” Greer reached over, tickling his fingers along the inside of her knee, causing her to yelp and bat him away.
“It might be a quiet life, but it could be a welcome change. It’d take a special woman, but it would be an excellent place to raise a family. ”
Once again, Tessa was surprised. If that wasn’t the most romantic thing she’d ever heard.
“Oh, I love this song,” Greer said out of the blue.
Suddenly, the cab was filled with heavy pounding drums and screeching guitars.
The lead singer wasn’t so much singing the words as he was shouting them, and Tessa’s eyebrows flew upward as she turned to Greer, mumbling along and tapping his fingers to the beat.
Tessa hadn’t realized the radio was even on, her entire focus on their conversation.
“What on earth is that?” Tessa asked, her mind still trying to catch up with what could possibly be going on with this song, band, and maybe even the lead singer.
Listening to it was like being audibly dragged through a fireworks factory on fire.
A whole variety of sounds were bursting out of nowhere, and she felt physically winded trying to make her way through it.
“You don’t know Sudden Rush?” Greer asked, continuing to tap his fingers, performing his own drum solo.
“No, I don’t know—” she gestured wildly at the radio, “—Sudden… Rush.”
Greer burst out laughing. “Stick with me, we’ll make you a hard rock fan yet.”
“I doubt it,” she said, solidifying in her mind how very opposite she and Greer truly were.
As the big red barn came into view, Greer slowed down and put on his indicator for absolutely nobody on the highway before he pulled into the parking lot, which could have easily doubled as the surface of the moon.
There were only two other vehicles there now, giving Tessa hope that they weren’t busy, which would allow them to get right in to search.
Gathering her purse at her feet, she put away her sunglasses when she felt her door open. Jumping slightly, she was surprised to see Greer standing before her, ever the gentleman.
“Thanks,” she said, taking his hand as she slid down out of the passenger’s seat. At first, she was touched, thrilled even at the thought of him taking such care of her. But then she realized… they were out in public again, and that might be all that had prompted it.
The lines between them had certainly gotten blurry, and she still needed to talk to Greer about it. She knew he might have just gotten carried away last night, considering he didn’t push it any further past their kiss, when she knew he could have.
Feeling her shoulders slump just a touch, she let him take her hand anyway as they made their way in.
“Good morning!” a chipper-looking woman called out to them from behind the counter. “Are you Tessa?”
“I am,” she said, smiling at the woman’s infectious laugh.
“I’m Natalie, the owner,” she said, coming around and giving Tessa a firm handshake. “When I got your call, I couldn’t believe you were able to make it up so quickly. That necklace must be awfully special to you and your family.”
“It is,” Tessa admitted, turning to see Greer and nearly forgetting her manners. “This is Greer,” she said, not wanting to even go into what all he was to her.
“Pleased to meet you,” he said cordially, delivering another perfect handshake as the woman nearly swooned. Yes, he apparently had that effect on just about everyone.
Tessa wasn’t sure if she loved or hated that.
“Well, let’s get to it,” Natalie proposed, reaching for a ring of keys on her belt as she began walking across the old, creaky wooden floor.
Tessa followed with Greer behind her, having a look at all and sundry as they passed.
The shop had that overstuffed feel with things of every size, shape, and color stacked and placed on nearly every horizontal surface.
There were chests of drawers, ornate mirrors, clocks, lamps, and bookends in one room, but they soon found themselves in a small, neighboring room with dishware and antique goblets.
As Natalie rifled through her keys, they finally arrived at an innocuous red-painted door. The rooms to either side of it called to shoppers, so most probably didn’t even realize this was anything more than a closet.
Natalie slid the key into the lock and twisted, giving the door a few good pushes with her hip before it sprang open.
They followed her down a couple of steps into what felt like might have been a pantry or a storage cellar originally.
The room itself was cool and dry, the large pebbled stones underfoot no doubt holding in the cooler temperatures. It was a perfect place to store stock.
“Wow, there’s a lot in here,” Tessa said, noticing several rows of metal shelving filled with unmarked boxes. She’d really hoped the necklace was going to be lying by itself on a shelf in a small box, just waiting to be discovered.
“My family couldn’t part with anything,” Natalie said.
“And I guess that trait has been passed on to me. While other antique shops have sales or sell to other shops, we tend to recycle our stock. If it doesn’t sell for a few months, we store it for a year, then bring it out again.
Sometimes it doesn’t even make it to the shelf before it gets snapped up. ”
“Huh,” Greer said, lifting up the lid on a box and having a peek into its dark depths. “No kidding.”
“I need to get back out there, but if you two need anything, just holler,” she said.
“We will, and thank you,” Tessa said, trying to be gracious, but feeling desperately overwhelmed as she took in the packed shelves. Natalie left, the door thunking behind her, and suddenly the silence felt too quiet.
“Hey,” Greer said, approaching her and sliding a hand to her back, gently rubbing that spot between her shoulder blades. “You okay?”