“I got a copy of the check Tessa signed at the bank and then forged her signature on the agreement stating that she wouldn’t blackmail us for additional money.”
His blood stopped pumping, and he stared at his mother in disbelief. Vaguely, Jordan was aware that his dad had come to stand beside the couch where his mom was. What he’d had heard couldn’t be right. Tessa’s words as she defended herself played in his head.
“What she told me is true? You found her at the pool house door? She didn’t come to see you specifically? Did you give her the check, or did she ask for it?”
His sobbing mom covered her face with her hands and didn’t say anything, confirming that Tessa’s version of the facts had been right all along.
“You knew Tessa was pregnant with my child? You gave her a check to pay for an abortion and forged her signature on a document she knew nothing about, then lied to me about it?”
His mom reached out with a beseeching hand. “I did it for your future, Jordan.”
With each word she uttered, the red haze forming over his eyes grew darker.
“You lied to me—your son—repeatedly! I blackmailed her into marriage. I’ve treated her like the scum of the earth. All to defend my mother, who I knew would never lie to her own son! Why would you do this? Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”
Jordan asked the questions, but he didn’t care about the answers. All he could think about was Tessa’s face when he belittled her last night and forced her out of her home. FUCK! He turned to his dad and asked stiffly, “Did you know about this?”
Jordan held his breath waiting for his answer, but it was his mom who answered.
“No. He knew nothing until he walked in on Tessa and me arguing about it last night. I deserve your hate, but he does not. He believed the same thing you did.”
Jordan’s brows drew together, and he looked at his dad. “If you believed it, then why were you nice to her?”
“Because she never acted like a moneygrubbing wife. I had begun to suspect, but I didn’t put any true thought into it because that would mean my wife was lying to me.”
Jordan realized he’d never done that for the mother of his daughter. He’d never given his wife the benefit of the doubt. Jordan hadn’t even heard her out last night when she’d tried to explain. Instead, he’d thrown her out.
His mind raced. He needed to fix this. Hardening his heart, Jordan turned cold eyes to his mom. “You need to leave. You are not welcome back here.”
She rose on shaky legs. “Please, Jordan. I did it for you. I didn’t want your future jeopardized.”
Jordan put his hand up to stop his mom.
“It might have made my path into the NBA more difficult, but I still could’ve done it. Even if it didn’t work out, I had a place in our company waiting for me. What did Tessa have, Mom? She lived with three other people in a small apartment. The same apartment she was still living in before we were married. She worked full-time and took care of her mom and Jordis. Did you think about how you jeopardized her future?”
“I did it for you.”
“Get out.”
Jordan couldn’t deal with her right now. He had to find Tessa.
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Chapter 38
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“What do you mean she’s not here? Where the hell is she?”
Based on the quick rise of Jessica’s eyebrows, Jordan probably shouldn’t have yelled that in the apartment doorway.
“Where is Mommy?”
Shit! He needed to get it together. Now Jordis looked scared, and he had no idea what to say.
Luckily Sophia was there and came to his rescue. She held out her hand for Jordis, but her scathing look was all for him as she soothed her.
“Your mom needed to run some errands. Why don’t you show me all the new toys you have in that bag, Jordis?”
Jessica stood blocking his entry into the apartment as Sophia and Jordis walked down the hall. As soon as they heard the bedroom door close, Jessica turned to him with narrowed eyes.
“What happened? What did you do to her now?”
His knee-jerk reaction was to scathingly tell Jessica it was none of her business, but then he realized he needed her help. Jordan ran a hand down his face and admitted, “I didn’t hear her out, accused her of something she didn’t do, and kicked her out of the house.”
Jessica stiffly opened the door wider while glaring at him and tersely said, “Get in. I’m only talking to you to make sure she’s okay.”
Jordan knew he had whatever was coming, but he was in agreement with her. They needed to make sure Tessa was okay.
“Tessa called me this morning,” she admitted.
Relief whooshed through him. “Where was she?”
“I thought she was at your home.”
Shit! “No, she left last night.”
“You kicked her out on Christmas Eve?”
Jordan flinched at her disbelief but kept eye contact, even with the censure radiating from her. “Yes. I assumed she came here.”
Jessica stared him down for a few more seconds and then deflated into a worried mother.
“She said you weren’t coming over this morning, that you wanted to spend the day together as a family. I thought she sounded . . . reserved. When I asked if everything was okay, she said yes.”
“Shit,” he mumbled to himself, but Jessica jumped on it.
“Are you trying to find her to hurt her again or to beg for forgiveness?”
Wearily he admitted, “I found out this morning that what I was told happened four years ago was a lie. I need to tell her. I need her to know she can come home.” Jordan had to make sure she was okay. “I need her.”
Jessica nodded. “We’ll keep Jordis until you two figure this out.”
She got up, and Jordan took that as his cue to leave. He formed plans as he went.
_________________________
“Fuck!” Jordan roared and threw his whisky glass across the room, not even blinking when it fell down the wall in pieces. It had been over forty-eight hours since Tessa had left, and he still didn’t know where she was.
What the hell was wrong with him? How could he accuse Tessa of being a gold digger when she'd never asked him for one thing after six months of dating in college? Even after they’d gotten married, the only money she’d ever spent was on groceries and clothes for Jordis.
He’d looked online at their credit-card charges, hoping she had charged something that would tell him where she was. All the charges were from the grocery store or children’s shops. It was obvious nothing had been for herself. He saw that she had withdrawn a measly $900 from her account, but it didn’t give him any clues why she’d taken it or where she was.
Then he’d called the Student Equality Center because he was sure Tessa wouldn’t miss work. She loved her job and the kids she tutored. To his amazement, he was told that she no longer worked there. She’d quit.
Laura had told him when she’d given her notice. Thinking back, Jordan knew it was when he’d disregarded Tessa’s demand that his mom never be alone with Jordis. He piled more self-loathing on himself when he remembered his scathing response. It was the same day their fragile truce had been shattered.
The only other thing left to do was call Lindy, but he needed her number. He sucked it up and called Jessica to ask for it. Even though Lindy was across the country, she was the only other person Jordan could think to contact, and he dreaded doing it.
Jessica hadn’t laid into him when he’d talked to her. Her worry for Tessa had overridden her anger at him. Lindy would not hold back. He more than deserved her wrath, but he didn’t know if she would even know where Tessa was or tell him if she did.
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Chapter 39
___________________
“Are you okay, Tessa?”
Tessa couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard Lindy so hesitant.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Why?” She
was tired and wanted to go back to sleep, but Lindy never called her during the day so she’d made herself pick up the phone.
There was a long silence followed by a long exhale. Then the Lindy she knew was back.
“If you’re okay, then you pick up the phone when people call! Both moms called wondering if I knew where you were. Then about five minutes later, Jordan called. He’s worried about you, Tessa.”
She choked out a laugh. “I don’t know what Jordan said, Lindy, but he is not worried about me.”
“He specifically said, ‘I’m worried about Tessa. Can you at least tell me if she is okay?’”
Anger pulled Tessa out of her state of numb devastation. “Don’t talk to him again, Lindy.”
There was another prolonged silence before Lindy asked carefully, “You don’t want me to talk to your husband?”
Tears formed again, but Tessa blinked them away. She was so sick of crying, but whenever she was awake, that was all she seemed to do.
“No, I don’t, Lindy!” she spit with more vehemence than she thought she was capable of. “After he called me manipulative on Christmas Eve, he told me to get out of his house. So I came to a motel, and I’m still here.”
“What! That son of a bitch. What about Jordis?”
Tessa broke down, her anger gone. “I talked to her on Christmas, buutt nooot ssince.” Her shaking body hurt all over, especially her heart. Thinking about Jordis brought sharp pains to her chest. Between gulps of air, she managed to continue.
“I . . . I’m trying to get myself together and figure out a way to hire an attorney.”
Lindy broke in and said determinedly, “You leave that to me. I’m flying home and helping you.”
Tessa knew she should protest or even ask how she could afford the flight, but she needed her strong-willed lifelong friend with her.
“I don’t know what to do, Lindy. I want nothing from him. I just want Jordis.”
“We’ll get her, Tessa. Now call the moms and go stay with them. I don’t understand why you didn’t go there in the first place.”
Tessa was still curled in a ball under the covers. “I just didn’t want to answer their questions and get the life isn’t fair, so find a way to get what you want speech.”
“Yeah, I get it, but you’ve had two days. Go be with family. Go home.”
“Okay,” Tessa finally agreed.
She didn’t know if she was ready to face their disappointment about her failed marriage, but she could really use their hugs right now.
Tessa dragged herself into the shower, then put her dirty clothes back on and took the necessary busses to get her back to the only real home she’d ever had.
When she was in front of the familiar apartment door, she took a minute to gather herself. The moms would bombard her with questions as soon as she walked in, and Tessa needed to have concise answers. If she didn’t, the questions would just keep coming.
She unlocked the door. The first thing she saw was Sophia and her mom sitting on the couch with Jordis between them. Jordis slid down and rushed toward her. Tessa’s hand choked the doorknob as she tried to keep her emotions in check. Jordis was here.
“Mommy!”
Tessa squatted down and swept her daughter up into her arms. She buried her face into Jordis’s neck and absorbed her energy and innocence. It wasn’t long before Jordis squirmed to be put down. Tessa loosened her grip and carried her over to the only chair in the room, but she didn’t put her down. Right now her daughter was the only person who could ease her rampant emotions.
“Where was Mommy?”
Tessa heard the worry in Jordis’s question, and her heart clenched at the vulnerability she heard. She vowed on the spot that she would never feel that way again.
Jordis sat across her legs, looking at her with a little dent between her eyes. She cuddled her daughter closer to her chest and told her as much truth as a four-year-old should hear.
“Remember when Mommy told you to stop playing basketball because we had to eat supper? You didn’t want to, and you were so mad that you ran to our room and wouldn’t come out?”
Gravely, like it was happening now, Jordis nodded. “You took my basketball!”
Tessa allowed herself a small smile at how disgruntled Jordis still was. “Well, Daddy and I got into a fight like that, and I left. I wanted to be by myself.”
Jordis scrunched up her nose as she digested what Tessa had said. She waited patiently, but it was her mom who spoke first.
“Tessa, you have every right to have some alone time, but you need to tell your family. Where were you? We were worried.”
Her mom was right, and by the way Jordis’s tense body relaxed against her, that’s exactly what her daughter thought. Jordis was just too young to verbalize it.
“You’re right. I should have let you know. That was irresponsible of me.”
Jordis started sliding off her lap, but Tessa caught her and swiped a kiss across her head. “I’m sorry, Jordis.”
Sophia stood up with a book in her hand. “Come on, Jordis, let’s go finish this book in your room.”
She looked between the book and Tessa. Even as she berated herself for putting that worry in her daughter, Tessa smiled and said, “I’m not going anywhere, sweetie. I’ll be here.”
Sophia swept her up and gave her loud smacking kisses all over her face. Jordis’s unrestrained laugh soothed a portion of Tessa’s fractured soul, but she was still broken.
She slumped back into the chair and tried to decide where to go from here. Tessa had no job, a bitter divorce to go through, and a daughter to care for.
“Are you okay?” Her mom’s soft question was full of worry.
“I don’t know,” Tessa said without looking at her. “I’ve done everything you warned me not to do.”
She leaned her head back against the chair and sucked in air to stop the emotion churning up her throat. Tessa had already had two days to feel sorry for herself. It was time to figure out where to go from here.
Her mom reached over and grabbed her hand. She gripped it like it was her only lifeline.
“I think you made the only choices you could with the options you had at the time. I don’t know what happened with you and Jordan, but he seems to be regretting it.”
Tessa rolled her head to her mom and opened her eyes. “Why would you say that?”
Loud pounding on the door made them both jump. Their conversation was forgotten.
“I know you’re in there, Tessa. I’m not leaving until we talk.”
Tessa frantically looked around the apartment like a second exit would suddenly appear. “How does he know I’m here?” she hissed.
The blood pounding in her head blocked out rational thought, and the only message getting through was she did not want to talk to Jordan, the guy who threw her out of her house and her daughter’s life.
“Is it Daddy?”
Jordis must have come running as soon as she heard Jordan’s voice. The excitement in her voice penetrated Tessa’s panic.
She strangled out, “Yes, it’s your dad.” Tessa stood up and walked away before completing her thought. “Go ahead and answer the door.”
As soon as she shut the bedroom door behind her, Tessa leaned her forehead against it. She closed her eyes and tried to suck in some air to soothe her tight chest. Her ears focused on Jordan’s deep murmurs reaching her through the door. She said a silent prayer that he wouldn’t come back here.
“Why are you hiding, Tessa?”
She whirled around with her hand over her heart. Sophia stood a couple of feet from her with her hands on her hips, demanding an answer.
“What?” The answer seemed obvious to Tessa. She wasn’t ready to talk to Jordan.
“Have you ever lied to him?” Sophia demanded.
“No,” Tessa answered hesitantly. She wasn’t sure where this was going.
“Have you disrespected Christina?”
“No, she’s Jordan’s mom.”
&nbs
p; “Did you give up your job to protect Jordis from that bitch of a mother-in-law who you should have told off a long time ago?”
“How did you know . . . ?” Tessa had told them she’d quit her job to spend more time with Jordis.
Sophia waved her question away. “You loved your job. Your mom and I knew there was more to it than just spending more time with Jordis.”
“Oh.”
She relaxed her rigid, ready-to-fight pose and pulled Tessa to the bed to sit with her.
“Tessa.” She gripped her hand. “Look at me.”
She reluctantly looked at Sophia, who was a force to be reckoned with just like Lindy. Sophia was a fighter, and Tessa was ashamed that this lady who had endured so much had caught her running.
“Do you deserve to be mistreated by Jordan?”
With Sophia looking at her expectantly, Tessa looked deep into herself and spoke honestly. “I did take money from his mom and not tell him about Jordis.”
Throughout her pregnancy, she’d wanted to call Jordan. Then the flames of guilt would follow when she reminded herself that she’d given up the right to do that. The reminder of why she didn’t tell Jordan was always on repeat in her head. It was best for him and his future that he knew nothing about Jordis. The reminder never worked. The guilt never went away.
Calloused fingers gently raised her chin. “You did take money. You were twenty-one, pregnant, scared, and confused. You listened to the grandmother of your baby, who you assumed would have her son’s best interest at heart.”
Sophia let her words sink in and then continued just as passionately, “Did you make mistakes? Yes. But you also told Jordan the truth when confronted with his questions. You took the money on the advice of his mother to help secure his future at the cost of your own. If Jordan Davis can’t see what a selfless act that was, then he doesn’t deserve you.”
“I agree.”
Tessa gasped and sprang up, folding her arms protectively in front of herself at Jordan’s husky agreement. He stood in the doorway looking disheveled. She had never seen him anything other than put together, even when he rolled out of bed.
Jordan's Justice: A New Adult Sport Romance (Tessa and Jordan Book 2) Page 19
