Tessa was saved from having to answer when a breathless Henry entered the quad. She could tell he'd come straight from the lab. His clothes were wrinkled, his hair a mess, he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and his ugly glasses sat askew on his nose. Still, Tessa's traitorous heart skipped a beat when his arm brushed hers.
"Sorry I’m so late. I misplaced my phone yesterday and lost track of time in the lab." He ran his hand through his hair and then finally seeming to catch onto the tension in the air, took in Tessa's mom and brother. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," Tessa said, as cheerily as she could manage.
Jenkins let out an amused snort.
"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Henry straightened his spine to his full height, several inches above Jenkins.
Jenkins took in Henry’s disheveled appearance and then raised an eyebrow at Tessa as if they shared an inside joke. “Jenkins. Tessa’s older brother.”
Tessa’s mom, still juggling the oversized box in her arms, held out a free hand to Henry next. "I'm Elaine. Tessa's mom."
Henry held her hand briefly. "I’m Henry. Tessa’s road show partner. Can I take that from you?"
"Sure.” She handed off the box and then straightened the bottom of her lavender blouse. She turned to Tessa. “Since you missed Sunday dinner, I wanted to bring the pillow to you.”
The life-changing pillow. Of course.
Logan’s hand rested on Tessa’s back, his smile set to a million watts. Jenkins' spine straightened like he was subconsciously trying to impress Logan, who looked amazing as usual.
Logan shook Jenkins’ hand. "Logan Richardson."
"Logan?" Jenkins looked back and forth between Logan and Tessa. "You exist."
Logan laughed while steam rose in Tessa's lungs, ready to spew out in her next breath. "I didn't know my existence was ever called into question,” he said.
"Tessa has a tendency of… overstating things. No offense."
“Jenkins,” Tessa’s mom said, warningly.
Jenkins squeezed Tessa’s shoulder and flashed his charming smile. “Tessa knows I’m messing with her.”
Tessa shrugged him off. Sure Jenkins. I won’t be offended you told all my friends that you think I’m a liar.
Logan laughed. "Well I’m the real thing. Tessa mentioned you work at Northwest. Which department?"
Tessa tuned out Jenkins’ reply. Henry gave her arm a gentle squeeze, a comforting reminder that he was there for her. Tessa turned to her mom, who was chatting with Henry about the road show. Her mom watched Henry with careful attention, like she might be listening to a patient and not a friend of Tessa's talk about their silly play.
"Tessa wrote most of it herself."
"And she's acting in it as well?"
"No. She’s behind the scenes."
Her mom’s polite smile never failed. “And do you go to the university?”
“Yes. I’m working on my doctorate.” He turned to Tessa. “In fact, that’s why I’m so late. We discovered a new species down by the border and we got lost in studying it.”
"Species?" her mom asked.
"Insect," he replied and it was all Tessa could do not to cringe. "I'm an entomologist."
Logan piped in then, hooking his thumb in Henry's direction. "Henry White, doctor to the insects."
"I don't provide insects any sort of medical care—"
But Jenkins laughed too hard at Logan's dumb joke for anyone to care that Henry was trying to speak. This time Tessa squeezed his forearm in solidarity.
"Well, you seem like a lovely person, Logan," her mom said once the group grew silent. How her mom could determine that after not saying more than a handful of sentences to him was a mystery to Tessa, but she seemed sincere.
"Thank you." Logan checked his watch. "I don't want to rush everyone, but I made dinner reservations for me and Tessa and it seems like rehearsal is done."
Tessa glanced around to see at least half of their cast had left. She closed her eyes in frustration. This road show was a disaster in the making.
"I need to talk with Tessa for a moment." Tessa’s mom looked at her pointedly.
Tessa sighed. Their road show practice was officially a bust. She grabbed Henry's sleeve. "Can you send everyone home, but remind them we have practice next Wednesday at the stake center? And make sure they don't take the costumes and props home. I don't want them to get lost."
"Sure." He leaned close enough for the breath of his words to move the little hairs by her ear, causing darts of lightening to shoot through her bones. Confusion rose once again at Henry’s closeness.
"I can punch him, too, if you want. Both of them at the same time."
It took her a moment for his words to sink in. When they did, she snorted, knowing he’d never do any such thing. But the image was still nice. And a good distraction from the feelings roiling around inside of her. "That would be impressive." She turned toward him, searched his eyes and found the worry there she thought she'd heard. "Thank you."
She stepped away, feeling the loss of his closeness right away. She picked up the box Henry had set on the sidewalk and tucked it under her arm.
"So is that a yes?" Henry called after her. She rolled her eyes in response and led her mom to the base of her apartment stairs.
"A road show," her mom said. "It seems like a lot of work."
"It's my church calling," she replied, already feeling defensive. "I would have said yes if they'd asked me to be Sunday school teacher or the Relief Society president, so it shouldn't be a big deal I agreed to run the road show."
"Let's sit down." Her mom sat on the stairs, her navy slacks pulling tight against her knees. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I knew you'd think it was a distraction from my classes and studying for the GMAT."
"And is it?"
Tessa didn't respond. They both knew the answer.
Her mom sighed. "I want what's best for you, Tessa. Medical school is a huge commitment, and I have yet to see you understand that."
"I'm not stupid, Mom."
Her mom's eyebrows flew upward. "I know you're not stupid." She paused, like she was trying to think through what she needed to say. "But you're not always focused, either. You gather ideas and projects like you have the luxury of dividing your time between so many things, but you don't. Not in medical school." She took Tessa's hand. "I'm sure you're having fun with this road show, playing around with scripts and songs and costumes. Right now, it's great. But you have to think long-term, Tessa. And when you do, you'll realize things like this, while fun, can hurt you and keep you from your goals."
"It's just a road show. It won't keep me out of medical school." If anything, it would be the distraction of everything else—her brother, Logan, Henry—keeping her from good grades.
"I sure hope not." She stood and gave Tessa a hug. "Come to dinner on Sunday, okay? We miss you."
"I'll think about it," she said, already thinking of a way to get out of it. She loved her mom and dad, but she knew she was in for a heavy dose of Jenkins’ criticism over this road show, and possibly Lecture Part Two on priorities from her dad, something she didn't think she could take right then.
Logan popped up beside them. "Ready?"
She didn't want to go to dinner with him. Didn't know if she could even smile at him and pretend like she hadn't seen him kissing Dawn or flirting with every girl in sight. But Jenkins was watching her, like he already expected she was going to screw this up like she screwed everything else up. Making a quick decision, she took Logan's outstretched hand and said, "Let's go."
Chapter 27
Henry watched Tessa and Logan walk away from the road show practice holding hands and felt like someone had punched him in the gut. Her brother was a real piece of work. Jenkins reminded Henry of Logan, two insufferable doctors with overblown opinions of themselves. And neither of them treated Tessa well, but for some reason, she didn't say anything to defend herself. He wanted her to yell at them, make a scene eve
n, but she stood there, stoic and detached, almost like she was used to things like this happening.
He hated that. He hated it more than anything. No one should be used to having someone treat them like crap.
"What can I do to help?"
Henry turned around at the familiar voice and found Chelsea standing behind him. He barely held in his groan. Every time he turned around this week, Chelsea had been there.
"I think everyone took care of it all."
Layla and Addison were hauling the last two bins upstairs to their apartment and called out good bye. The kids who’d gathered for their non-practice had scattered. The sun had set enough that the lamps in the courtyard had turned on, giving everything a golden glow. He walked toward the parking lot and Chelsea fell in step beside him.
Meeting Tessa's family had been interesting. They were all so... perfect. Like he couldn't imagine them sitting in a twenty-year old recliner, eating chicken wings with their fingers while they watched the Cardinals play on the big screen. Tessa mentioned that both of her parents and her brother were doctors, and he could see it. While he'd been talking to her mom, he could tell she was used to coaxing information from people.
Jenkins, though. Henry couldn't think about him without having to exhale all the words he wished he could have said. He couldn't imagine being so condescending to Ava—who would break his nose if he tried. He was usually oblivious to underlying currents in a room, something Ava had pointed out to him on more than one occasion when she had to explain what was going on, but he’d sensed the tension between the siblings. There was no love lost there, and he couldn't blame them.
And if he thought for longer than a second about Logan, about seeing he and Tessa walk off holding hands... He clenched his jaw against the sudden anger that filled him. Tessa had looked so different than she usually did. Vulnerable. Submissive. Like she didn’t believe she deserved any better.
She couldn't believe that. Right?
"Penny for your thoughts?" Chelsea said, startling him out of his reverie. He'd completely forgotten she was there.
"Sorry. Where's your car?"
"This way." He walked with her through the too-dark parking lot until they came to her white compact car. He spotted Tessa's red car parked across from it, and smiled at the thought of her hitting the curb at his apartment. At least she wasn't driving.
"I've been texting you all week and you haven't responded. Do you hate me so much?" Chelsea asked, her voice quiet. Henry tried to put his head back into the moment, but was struggling to think of anything besides Tessa.
"I lost my phone," he said, distractedly. "See you Sunday, okay?" He jogged toward his car without a backward glance, but then last minute, veered toward Tessa's apartment. He took the steps two at a time and knocked on the door. Layla answered it, glancing around him. "Did we forget something?"
"No. But I have a huge favor to ask you."
"Sure. What do you need?"
"How do you feel about cutting hair?" he asked.
"Yours?"
When he nodded she grabbed his arm and yanked him inside. "Oh, I feel very good about it. Addison! Come here. Bring my clippers!"
Soot wound her way around his ankles while Layla pulled out a folding chair and set it up in the kitchen. Henry's heart pounded with second thoughts. What was he doing? He needed to get back to the school, back to his microscopes. He told everyone he'd be gone for an hour, tops, but that time had come and gone, and now he was setting himself up to have his hair cut by a girl he barely knew.
Something about Tessa made him do spontaneous things. But he hadn't regretted any of those decisions yet.
Addison came down the hall with the clippers in one hand and a comb in the other. She paused when she saw Henry sitting in the chair in front of Layla, who had taken off his glasses and was running her fingers across his scalp, tugging on long strands for inspection. Addison let out an excited laugh. "Oh. This is going to be so much fun."
Henry didn't know if fun was the word he'd use to describe what he was about to let these girls do, but he'd promised himself he'd make a change, and now seemed as good a time to start as any.
Chapter 28
Tessa looked at herself in the mirror again, wishing Henry had given her enough notice about this wedding for her to lose five pounds. Addison's hands rested on her shoulders and she looked at Tessa in the mirror. "You look gorgeous."
Tessa sucked in her stomach and turned to the side, loving how the dress fell over a flat stomach. She had to breathe after a moment though, and her body went back to its normal softness. What had she been thinking, buying a clingy dress? She'd been drawn in by the knee-length satin dress in a rich amethyst that made her dark brown eyes appear to have purple hues. Layla had loaned her a diamond solitaire necklace, and Addison had curled her hair into spirals before pulling the right side of it away from her ear and clipping it with jeweled bobby pins. The dress was beautiful, the jewelry breathtaking, and her hair looked lovelier than Tessa had ever seen it. If only her body could do it all justice. She frowned at her reflection.
"Stop." Addison grabbed Tessa’s shoulders. "You've got his voice in your head again, don't you?"
"Whose?"
"Your bone-headed brother's."
"He has a way of digging into my brain. Like a parasite."
Addison lifted Tessa's arm, where she wore her cow bracelet even though it didn't match with the rest of the jewelry. She needed the reminder it gave her tonight when she felt so uncomfortable. The only thing that helped her breathe easy was knowing she was going to this wedding with Henry. Henry—whose soft, warm lips kept her up at night.
No.
Henry—who ate bugs, forgot things worse than an absent-minded professor, and wore clothes only fit for ripping up into rags and washing a car with.
That was the Henry she agreed to go to this wedding with. Not the one who was a really, really good actor.
Addison's encouraging voice broke into Tessa's warring thoughts. "You're beautiful inside and out, and don't you forget it."
Tessa's heart warmed at her roommate's sweet pep talk. She didn't know what she'd done to deserve having people like Addison and Layla in her life, but they always seemed to be there when she needed them and believed the best about her even when she could only see the worst. On impulse, she pulled Addison into a hug, then grabbed Layla when she walked past the bathroom door and hugged her too.
"This is touching and all," Layla said, her face smooshed into Addison's shoulder. "But I came back here to tell you that Henry's here."
"He's here?" Tessa’s voice pitched up at the end, and she cleared her throat, unable to look any of her roommates in the eye, but she caught them exchange a meaningful glance between them.
"Is that a problem?" Layla asked slowly.
"No. I just didn't hear the knock."
"He didn't knock. I heard him coming up the stairs so I opened the door."
Tessa took a deep breath and looked at herself one last time in the mirror. Pull yourself together. Think of the bugs.
She walked into the living room, but stopped, stunned, when she saw the man standing in front of her. He wore a crisp white shirt under a black tux the same color as his hair, which was short and styled. She could see his brilliant blue eyes behind the lenses of his black glasses. He smiled at her, but it was nervous, filled with trepidation. Still, it was enough to cause her heart to race traitorously at the thought of being close to him all night.
"You look beautiful," he said.
"You look... I honestly have no words. I..." She didn't know how to express what she was thinking without freaking both of them out. She could happily stare at him forever and never grow tired of it. She'd seen glimpses of this Henry when he brushed back his hair or slipped off his glasses, but as a whole it was almost overwhelming.
And a part of her felt a surprising twinge of loss for the man she'd met several months ago.
He glanced down at his tux self-consciously, which mad
e him all the more endearing. He was still the old Henry, the person she'd gotten to know. He'd completed the make-over part of the Henry renovation project. Without her.
But when he took her hand to tuck it into the crook of his arm, any thoughts of sadness fled. "Ready to go?"
She nodded and snagged her wrap from the back of the couch before following him into a night that promised to be magical.
Chapter 29
Henry parked in his reserved spot at the parking garage behind the Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson. Traffic hummed around them as commuters left work and drove down the narrow streets. Already crowds lined up in front of some of the popular restaurants and bars. Hotel Congress loomed on the street edge, a stately, but elegant building with brick facing on the second and third levels. The neon Hotel Congress sign had been turned on even though it wasn’t quite dusk yet.
Studying the building took Henry’s mind off of how unsteady he felt around Tessa. He hadn't been this nervous since senior prom, when he'd gone with a girl he'd liked for all of high school. He had put so much pressure on himself to do everything perfect that he'd done the exact opposite and the girl had avoided him the rest of the school year. He didn't want a replay of that night to happen.
But Tessa was gorgeous. Too gorgeous for him. She wore a form-fitting, dark purple dress that made it difficult for him to think straight. Her hair twisted in curls that tempted him to hold one in his fingers to see if it was as soft as it looked.
He and Tessa walked into the lobby where a camera crew was setting up to tape the ceremony. Clarissa wanted to air a clip of it on her show when they got back from their honeymoon, so the entire evening would be filmed. An employee of the hotel introduced himself to Henry and pointed them toward the big assembly room.
Over one-hundred chairs were set up on the red clay tiles facing the white rose entwined, wrought iron arch in the front. Roses in all colors lined the aisles and hung in cascades from glass planters that dangled from the vaulted ceilings. Henry didn't know much about decorating, but even he could tell this would take a tremendous amount of work and money. How Clarissa managed to pull this off in a week was a mystery to him.
One Little Kiss (Christian Romance) Page 15
