“You pipe down, you no-good busybody.”
“Am not.”
“Are so,” Granny shot back. For a minute there, Tessa thought she’d stick her tongue out.
“Ah, mom, maybe it’s time for us to go see Grandma Marshall,” Sean said, gazing back and forth at the argument. “At least she acts like an adult.”
Both older women turned on him. “Young man, you keep a civil tongue in your mouth,” Granny and Mrs. Deveraux said in unison.
“There you go again, being a thief,” Granny said nastily. Turning to Tessa she said, “I’ve had enough of your Thanksgiving dinner.”
Nick stood up then, saying, “I think we’ve all had enough of your feud.” He helped Bree to stand, and then nodded to Tessa. “I’m sorry, but I can’t be a part of this any longer and I sure don’t want Bree and Sydney to hear all this bickering. It’s not good for either one of them or the baby.”
Suddenly all her guests were getting up and leaving. Her heart sank as her granny and Chance’s grandmother continued their tirade.
“You spoiled the whole meal with your vile mouth,” Mrs. Deveraux said, pointing a finger at granny.
“Spoiled it, the meal was lousy to begin with. Nothing could make it worse.”
“My Chance cooked most of it and it was delicious.”
“Was not.”
“Was so.”
Chance held up his hands. “That’s enough.”
“See, you did it now.” Mrs. Deveraux smiled smugly.
“It wasn’t me,” Granny countered.
Tessa shoved back her chair so hard it tipped over and fell on the floor. The loud crack halted the heated exchange. Gritting her teeth, she nodded to each woman, “Ladies, you have ruined my last get together with my friends. Either you both learn to behave or you will not be invited to join in the next holiday dinner, do you understand?”
Her granny stared up at her blankly. “Why, Tessa, that’s Christmas. You wouldn’t do that to me at Christmas, would you?” A thread of fear sliced through her question.
“If she doesn’t go through with it, I will,” Chance said forcefully. His grim features told Tessa he meant business even if she hadn’t exactly planned on following through; she didn't have the heart to shut out her granny for the upcoming holidays.
The gasp that tore through the room was followed by a sharp cry. “How could you let him poison you against me, your own grandmother?” The hurt-filled gaze cut Tessa to her core. With one last look her granny got up, gathered her things, and walked to the door. “I’ll be at home expecting your apology, your lady.”
Her middle clutched as a war raged inside her.
***
“Chance, I have to go to her.”
“The hell you do,” he bit back, washing the dish she handed to him. “She’s playing you like a fiddle.”
Tessa curled her hands into fists. “I didn’t see you turn your back on your grandmother.”
“There was no reason to. She didn’t storm outta here like a spoiled brat.”
Heat crept up her neck. “Well, she certainly didn’t help matters by putting her two cents in.”
He shot her a glance over his shoulder. “Really?”
“Yes, really!”
Stilling for a second, he threw down the washcloth. It landed hard in the water, making it splash upward. “Did you hear us just then?”
“Huh?” She scraped out the rest of the stuffing into a plastic container, banging the spoon on the side a little too rough.
“We’re beginning to sound just like them. Childish.”
“You maybe, not me.”
“See you just did it.”
“The hell—” She stopped herself, grimacing. Blowing out a breath, she said, “Okay, maybe I did.”
“Maybe? There’s no maybe about it, sunshine.”
Putting her hands on her hips, she faced him and said, “You don’t have to rub it in, you know.”
He smiled at that, scratching his jaw, and then shook his head. “God, why didn’t I see it before now?”
“See what?”
“Us. Them. All of us acting badly.”
She chuckled at that. “You’ve just noticed that now. Hello, we’re in the middle of a feud.”
Laughing, too, he held up his hand. “No, not that. It’s mostly us. We followed their lead then and we’re doing the same now, picking fights with each other.” He moved closer. “Look, all this time I thought we had to get them to resolve their differences.” He waved his hand back and forth between him and her. “It starts with us, because we can’t change them when they don’t want to.”
Her heart sank. “So, it’s hopeless then.”
“No, sunshine, not if we don’t want it to be.”
Shaking her head in confusion, she said, “I don’t understand.”
He thumped his chest. “It has to begin with us. For so long we’ve been hiding from everything, you by not saying anything to your granny and me by hitting the bottle. It went on and on because we let it. Our parents did it before us. We have to stand up to them and show them a united front. All this time I thought I was leading my own life, but they’ve been dictating to us all along. Granddad must have known that because the way he wrote out his will. We have to stop the madness. We have to take the lead, not them.”
Her insides trembled with the thought. “But, that means turning our backs on them.”
“No, it means standing up for ourselves.”
“There’s no difference as far as I can tell.”
He ran a hand through his close cropped hair. “Tessa, I can’t make it anymore plain to you. Either we keep playing their games or we change things to suit our own lives.”
“Or what?” A block of ice formed in her middle.
“Or we kiss us or anything remotely what we both want good-bye.”
Shaking her head, she said, “No.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You mean you won’t.”
Fear grabbed ahold of her and wouldn’t let go. “I have to call granny.” She rushed for the phone, and then dialed her number. After one ring the phone was snatched from the cradle. “Granny, it’s me Tessa.”
Chance shot her a menacing look, and then stormed out. The loud slamming of the door made her jump. A cold hand wrapped around her heart and squeezed all the hope right out of it.
Chapter 19
Tessa heaved a heavy sigh as she got out of her car and slammed the door. Looking up at the house she’d lived in for most of her life, mixed emotions scattered through her veins. Delving deeper, she realized she’d had little happiness inside that dwelling. She glanced across the street and a smile tugged at her lips. “Chance,” she murmured, thinking how he’d made it all bearable for her.
Their talk a few days ago about being happy and living her own life reverberated through her mind over and over again. Dancing had filled in some voids, but could never replace the love she missed out on. Her heart ached at how lonely she’d been as a child.
Trudging up the sidewalk, she dreaded facing granny once again. If possible, granny’s disposition had gotten worse since Tessa had married and moved out, and worse still since Thanksgiving. In just two weeks she’d fired three perfectly capable nurses, complaining bitterly about each and every one. No one could please the woman.
Sometimes, in sour reflection, Tessa swore nothing was wrong with her granny at all. She only craved being the center of attention. Then, just as quickly, as if she’d blasphemed her kin, she shook the notion right out of her head.
Taking a deep, calming breath, Tessa climbed the porch steps, walked across the wooden planks, and then opened the door. The stuffiness of the house assailed her first. The familiar scent of mothballs soon followed.
She hated coming here more and more. In the back of her mind, she knew how much she’d grown away from this part of her life in so short a time. Was Chance right after all? Was it all up to them? And could she dare make
that final emotional break from her granny?
“Gran, it’s me,” Tessa called out.
“About time you got here, young lady.”
Tessa cringed. “Nice to see you, too,” she muttered under her breath, and then chastised herself for the nasty remark. “I’ll be right up with your dinner.”
Carrying the sack of food into the kitchen, she glanced around at the cold, dark, impersonal house. Every stick of furniture, every knickknack, and every dolly was in its proper place. Where was the warmth, sunshine, and lived-in feeling that she was now accustomed to? Tessa shivered from the frosty air. A thought nagged at her, could she ever live here again, live this life again? Hurriedly she entered the kitchen, thrusting away the disturbing questions.
Flicking on the light, she emptied the paper sack of the still warm containers, gathered a plate, silverware, a glass, and a napkin, and then arranged them nicely on a nearby tray. She dished out the mouthwatering food, hoping that granny wouldn’t snarl at the meal she’d prepared. The meatloaf turned out to be delicious and the mashed potatoes and green beans had just the right touch of seasonings. Chance had done a great job taking over as cook. Now if only granny would eat it.
“What’s taking so long?” Granny asked.
Holding back another cringe, Tessa called out, “Coming right up.”
Carefully, she negotiated the stairs, mindful of the glass of milk she’d added to the tray. In another minute, she braced herself as she entered her granny’s room.
“It’s about time you got here.”
This time she allowed her granny to hear her. “It’s nice to see you too, Granny.” She plastered a smile on her face, her jaw aching from the effort. “How was your day?”
“As awful as ever,” she snapped. “That new nurse the agency sent out was worse than the others. For land’s sake, the woman knew nothing about one darn thing. I could have been a better nurse than she ever could have imagined.”
Placing the tray gingerly over her granny’s lap, Tessa sagged inwardly in defeat. “You fired her.” The dull, lifeless tone seemed to have seeped from her soul.
“Of course I did. I can’t stand for incompetence.”
Don’t I know that? Tessa sank down into a nearby chair, wondering how she would cope with this new setback. “Do you plan on firing them all?” Once the tart question sprang out she couldn’t pull it back into her mouth.
Granny jerked her head to stare at Tessa. The grim lines around the old woman’s mouth spoke volumes. “I will not have you talk to me like that, young lady, do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The automatic response rolled off her tongue. She’d answered in kind for years.
“Good.” Turning away, granny easily dismissed the issue. Eyeing the food, she scowled. “Meatloaf? My word, couldn’t you have come up with anything better than this?”
The harsh reprimand coupled with the ungratefulness caused a hot path to burn through Tessa’s chest. She had all she could do not to tell her granny a thing or two. Instead, she stomped down the anger as she usually did.
“Try it. You may end up liking it. If not, I can always make you a can of chicken noodle soup.”
Granny pushed the food around her plate with her fork as if the food might be contaminated. “That stuff isn’t much better than this.”
“How do you know unless you try it?” Tessa asked between gritted teeth.
Gingerly, granny nibbled at a small piece, and then once that went down, ate the rest. Tessa breathed a sigh of relief. In utter silence, her grandmother slowly finished her meal and drank her milk.
During the interminable time, Tessa was hard pressed to keep still as she swung her gaze around the room, thinking how she’d have to give it a good cleaning soon. With granny laid up for the weeks, she hadn’t allowed anyone to tidy up in here.
“Here, take this thing off of me now.” Granny shoved at the tray.
Tessa sprang from her chair and lifted the burden, and then deposited it on the chest of drawers. “Did you enjoy your dinner?”
“Hah! It was passable.”
The imp in Tessa couldn’t suppress a little dig. “I’ll let Chance know you liked his meatloaf.”
A gasp rattled out of her grandmother. “I did not say that and what is he doing cooking my meals? You’re supposed to be doing that. You know I can’t eat anything but bland foods. Why he could have put something in there, poisoned me for all I know.”
More battles to fight, Tessa thought wearily. “Granny, since I work long hours I can’t do all the cooking, otherwise you wouldn’t get to eat until eight or nine most nights.”
“You could if you gave up those silly dance classes.”
That stung, striking her in her heart. She blinked back tears. “They are not silly.” She spoke each word slowly and forcefully.
Granny snorted. “Waste of time and money, mine, over the years. Why I ever listened to that dance teacher, I’ll never know. Just gave you fanciful thoughts and you haven’t shaken them loose since.”
The anger from earlier returned in full force. “I happen to love to dance. And I happen to be good at it, too. If it weren’t for you, I would have gone off to become a dancer. But no, I stayed because you wouldn’t let me go.” The tears were now rolling down her cheeks. “You still won’t let me go,” she choked out the last, knowing she meant the grip the older woman exerted on every aspect of her life even today.
Through blurry eyes, Tessa saw the shock and pain etched in her granny’s face. “How dare you say those things to me. Why I sacrificed everything for you. I gave and gave, until there was nothing left to give, then I gave some more. You were like a leech sucking me dry. But did I throw you out in the streets? No. I laid down my life so you could have a decent one. So don’t you go and sass me, young lady.”
She swiped at her fast falling tears. “You should have given me away then. It would have been better for both of us.”
“Why you ungrateful child. It’s him. Ever since you married that no-good—”
“Don’t you say another word about Chance, granny,” she warned. “I happen to actually like him.”
The shocked gasp tore through the room. “No!”
“Yes.” Her voice shook with conviction.
Granny’s eyes narrowed. “He’ll never stay with you.”
Another dagger chopped up her heart. Standing tall, she stared into her grandmother’s face. “Maybe not. But I’m going to do everything in my power to have his baby.”
“No!” The sharp cry rang in Tessa’s ears as she walked out the door.
***
“Yo, another round over here,” one of the regulars cried out over the boisterous crowd assembled for the pool tournament.
Nodding, Chance acknowledged the request, and then squeezed by several occupied seats in the room full of animated contestants and onlookers to do the patron’s biding. The hum in the air and the constant ring of the register should have had him crowing at Tessa’s brilliant idea of an ongoing tournament which would culminate in six weeks with the winners of each week’s game duking it out in one big bang-up finale. The thousand dollar grand price had brought every age-eligible man in town into the bar tonight or so it seemed to Chance.
Edging his way to the gleaming bar, Chance called out, “Hey, Walter, four more brews for Ed’s table.”
“Coming up,” he shot back. In less than two minutes, he handed Chance the chilled bottles. Winking at him, he said, “Got yourself a winner, boy. But for the next one, you gotta get me some help.”
“Sure thing,” he shot back, realizing he’d never anticipated such a turnout of this magnitude. He should be thrilled, but for some reason, he felt empty inside. Tessa. He missed her terribly.
Working his way through the throng of customers, Chance glanced at the clock over the pool table. She’d gone to visit her granny and didn’t plan on returning before nine. Dread formed in his middle; he had two hours to go before he could sneak away and see her.
An hour later, the click of the cue hitting the balls added to the noisy gatherers. Cheers followed, drowning out the constant chatter for a moment. Chance thought he’d never catch up with all the demands of the men begging for refills.
“Some party you have going here, son,” Father Thomas O’Malley said, patting Chance on the shoulder as he passed by.
“Father Tom, nice to see you.” He made an effort to smile at the craggy priest; even his face hurt from all the forced gaiety. “Have you set up that meeting with the kids for next week yet? Devon and Nick are going to sit in for the first one.”
“Sure have. Mind you, the kids aren’t impressed at all. But you know how that goes, don’t you, son?”
A slither of dread snaked its way through his gut, knowing what he was up against. “Yeah, I’ve been there myself.”
“Thought you had.”
“Ah, can I get you something?” he offered, trying to shove aside the desperate tone as more men called for him to refill their drinks.
“Looks like you’re the one who needs something or, should I say, someone.” His blue eyes twinkled merrily.
Chance’s heart skipped a beat at that knowing look. Did he hear something? He jerked his head in Walter’s direction, but the bartender was filling another beer mug. “Yeah.” He shrugged, turning back to Father Tom. “Sure, I need to hire someone to help out. You offering?” He tacked on the last, making a weak attempt at humor.
It worked. The priest chuckled heartily. “No, no, not me. I already have a job, if you haven’t noticed.”
“Ah, listen, I’d love to talk some, but I’m so behind now. How about you ask Walter for a drink. It’s on the house.” Chance made to leave, but the priest’s hand clamped down on his forearm, halting him. The firm grasp took him by surprise. “Father?”
For the first time Father Tom’s face lost his usual jovial air, taking on a somber one. “Son, forget about the families and the feud. You need her. She needs you. Don’t let that get away from you, understand? Not like Gabe did.” He dropped his hold, turned, and then walked toward the bar.
“Granddad? What about him?” His voice had risen along with his curiosity. He reached out, trying to stay the older man, but it was too late. The crowd opened and allowed the priest through, swallowing him whole.
Lies of the Heart (Heart Romance #3) Page 16
