"I need Clarissa. My wife!" he shouted this time, causing the crowd to go quiet except for the whispers erupting among people. Henry's dad wound his arm around Clarissa's waist, whose face had gone completely white.
"Come on." Henry took the man's arm. He didn't know who this guy was or what he was doing there, but they were not going to have a scene at his dad’s wedding. The man swung his fist at Henry's head and clocked him in the temple. Henry blinked a few times. For a drunk guy, he was surprisingly strong.
"That's enough." He tightened his grip on the guy's arm, ready to drag him out.
"Clarissa!" The guy yelled again, fighting against Henry's hold. With a shout, he turned and punched Henry on the nose. Pain exploded across his face and blood ran from his nostrils down into his mouth.
With strength Henry didn’t expect, the guy then rammed his shoulder into Henry’s chest, throwing him against the wall with a thud. Henry blinked his vision back into focus.
Security showed up and tackled the guy, then dragged him from the room still yelling. Clarissa rushed after them while Henry’s dad paused in front of him. He pulled the decorative handkerchief from his tux with shaking hands. Henry held it to his nose to stem the dripping blood before collapsing into the chair behind him. The loud buzzing of guests filled the dining hall. He searched for Tessa but didn’t see her anywhere.
Henry’s dad blocked his line of vision. “Do we need to go to the hospital?”
"No,” Henry said. The last thing he wanted was to add more drama by heading to the hospital, where they’d most likely give him expensive pain killers and send him home. "Who was that?"
"Clarissa's first husband.”
“Nice guy.” A raging headache pulsed behind Henry’s eyes, making him want to lie down in a dark, noiseless place.
"You okay here?" his dad said. "I'm going to run and check on Clarissa."
Henry waved him away. The crowd around him dispersed and he saw Tessa, pale and looking worse than he felt. Her eyes kept darting to the bloody handkerchief. After a few test dabs, he realized his nose was mostly not bleeding and stuck the now red handkerchief in his pocket. He winced at the thought of the bloody rag in his pocket. There was a good chance the rental place was going to make them purchase this tux. He stood and walked to her, his legs only a little shaky.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She swallowed a few times, her eyes not rising above his tie. "I should be asking you that."
"I'm fine. A little embarrassed. That guy had killer strength!"
As he'd hoped, Tessa smiled. This time, though, her smile did something to his stomach. He'd heard Ava talk about butterflies and he thought it was one of her exaggerations, but he'd been wrong. As unmanly as it was to even think it, his stomach felt like it was filled with a bunch of flapping, brightly colored rhopaloceras. He closed his eyes. Something must have gotten jarred loose when he'd hit his head against the wall, but when he opened them and looked at Tessa again, he caught his breath.
Strands of her silky hair had escaped around her forehead and she kept absently tucking them back behind her ears, but moments later they'd be down by her cheeks again. Her rosy cheeks hovered at the edge of a blush. He bent over until she was forced to look at him, though her face seemed to turn pale when her glance darted toward his nose. If it looked half as gruesome as it felt, he couldn’t blame her. Worry creased her brow. He held out his hand and she slipped her trembling fingers into his.
And every single reason he'd come up with for why they shouldn't be together flew from his mind.
He loved Tessa. He loved that she was funny and ambitious and that she could catch him off-guard by throwing a simple smile in his direction. He wanted to help her believe she was beautiful and smart, and she deserved to have someone she could depend on. Someone who put her first in their life, for once, who supported her in wherever her passions led. Because even though she tried to suppress those passions, he knew they were there. He saw it while they wrote the road show, he heard it anytime she talked with the children who came to watch their practices, and he felt it when they'd kissed.
And nothing had felt the same since.
He'd been holding back for too long. He'd let himself become someone he almost didn't recognize, but no longer. He was done letting what happened in the past keep him from going after what he wanted for his future. He'd changed his look, but now it was time to change his heart.
It was possible, and he could feel it happening already. But the next impossible task wouldn't be as easy to tackle: Somehow convincing Tessa to fall in love with him, too.
Chapter 31
Clarissa and Mr. White left their wedding without saying goodbye to anyone, and Henry and Tessa followed only a few minutes later. What a miserable, unhappy person her ex was to ruin their day. She glanced at Henry, who held the car door open for her, and winced at the bruise forming under his right eye.
“How’s your nose?” Tessa asked once he settled into the drivers’ seat beside her.
He touched it gingerly. “It’s been better. I can honestly say, when I thought about how tonight might go, I never once imagined getting into a fight.”
Tessa laughed. “Is this your first fight?”
“Yeah.” He backed out of his spot and slid into the light, one-way traffic in downtown Tucson. “And hopefully my last.”
She agreed with that sentiment. “Your dad looked happy though.” Even after the fight, she’d seen him take Clarissa’s face in his hands and wipe away her tears. The tender, private moment had opened up an aching inside she didn’t know existed.
“He did.” Henry braked, and the red stoplight cast a dim glow into the cab of the truck. He turned to her and took her hand in his. Her heart stopped. “Thank you for coming. Tonight would have been a lot harder without you there.”
“I didn’t do much,” she replied, breathy. His grip tightened, and she let her fingers slide between his to return the hold.
“Having you there was enough.” He smiled sardonically. “I’m still trying to be happy for my dad, but it’s hard to see him married to someone other than Mom.”
“I can’t imagine,” she said. And it was true. Her parents were almost like one entity in her mind. One without the other always seemed incomplete.
The light turned green. Tessa thought he’d drop her hand, but instead, his thumb brushed across her knuckles. She froze. She should pull her hand away; regain the equilibrium of their friendship.
Henry tugged her hand closer to the middle. He needed comfort, and touch had been proven medically necessary. As a friend, she was obligated to help.
But really? It anchored her when she hadn’t even realized she’d been adrift.
The silence in the truck turned from comfortable to charged. It had been a long, emotional night for Henry. And Tessa wanted compassion to be the strongest emotion she felt for him at that moment. Instead, desire swirled through her like a potent fragrance, muddling all of her senses. Making her goals seem silly and easily set aside.
They arrived at the apartment and Henry walked her upstairs. At the door, he pulled Tessa into a long hug, his cheek pressed against her temple. His breathing melded with her own until she couldn’t tell where she began and he ended.
Had she ever felt so comfortable with a man? With Henry she didn’t have to brace herself for thoughtless comments or hold back in fear of judgement. She felt free to be herself, which was both thrilling and terrifying at the same time.
More so now when she found herself rethinking her entire life. She pulled back from him, missing his warmth immediately. She needed distance, both physical and emotional, from the intensity radiating from them.
She cleared her throat. “The girls are going to be all over you on Sunday,” she tried to tease, but the truth of the words sat heavy in her stomach. Of course the other girls in her ward were going to notice him and flirt with him and try to snag him, and what guy could resist? And why would she even want him to? That had been the g
oal of this whole entire make-over project.
Henry’s stare burned into her. "There's only one girl I notice."
Butterflies erupted in Tessa’s stomach. He stepped closer, and she found herself leaning toward him. Her eyes fluttered closed.
An apartment door slammed from below followed by the yapping of a tiny dog. “Be quiet!” her neighbor growled angrily.
Tessa opened her eyes, brought back to the moment and took such a large step back she hit the door. What were they thinking? Amusement lit Henry’s eyes. He went to say something, but she cut him off.
“Goodnight” she squeaked. She twisted the door handle and nearly fell inside in her haste to escape the thick and tempting air of expectation hanging between them. She closed the door and leaned against it while she caught her breath. After a few seconds, she heard Henry’s firm footfalls on the stairs.
She went into the bathroom and slipped out of her dress, glad her roommates were gone. It had been a magical night, one she wasn’t ready to share with anyone else yet. She'd felt like a princess, and the way Henry had looked at her made her believe she was beautiful. Every time he touched her, fire burned across her skin.
She’d gotten caught up in a fairy tale, but reality was crashing down on her. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her curls were limp, flyaway hairs had come out of the clip holding her hair back, and her mascara was streaked beside her eyes like she'd absently rubbed them at some point in the night.
She turned on the water and splashed it against her face, then stared at the sink.
What had she been thinking? In real life, she was dating Logan. And she had already arranged to set Henry up with Chelsea.
Tessa had postponed their blind date until next week because of the wedding, and for some reason had held back the information from Henry that Chelsea was his date. Maybe because she wasn’t as ready as she should be for Henry and Chelsea to discover they were perfect for each other. Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she grabbed her towel to wipe them away. Mascara streaked across the towel but she didn't care.
For the first time, maybe ever, she didn't go through her nightly routine of washing her face, brushing her teeth, and combing her hair until it shined. Instead she fell face first into her bed with mascara stained cheeks and wearing only the slip she'd had on under her dress, wishing for sleep to come and take her into oblivion.
Chapter 32
Church was about to start and Henry still hadn’t arrived. He usually showed up early and buried himself in his scriptures until the opening song. They hadn’t spoken or texted since the wedding. But she had remained wrapped up in the warm glow of the wedding for the weekend. She checked the entrance again when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, but still no Henry.
“What do you have going on after church?” Logan took Tessa’s hand and squeezed it to get her attention. She tore her gaze away from the doors and turned to Logan, trying to get her mind back into this conversation.
“Dinner with my family,” she said absently. Hopefully nothing had happened with Mr. White or Clarissa. Maybe Henry had been called into the police station to give a report about the fight. Or maybe he’d been hit harder than she’d realized. She should have texted him to see how his nose was. She still could. It would help calm her worries. Except, he hadn’t messaged her either. What if this was his way of saying he wanted to ignore what happened between them on Friday?
She didn’t know if the twist in her stomach was from regret or relief.
“Do you mind if I come?” Logan whispered close to her ear.
“Come where?”
“To dinner with your family.”
Tessa snapped to attention. “No!”
Logan moved away a few inches, taken aback. “Why not?”
“It’s not you,” she said, cursing her distraction. “I wasn’t thinking. I usually eat dinner at my parents’ house on Sundays, but I’m taking a break for a while.”
“I’d love to meet the rest of your family.” He stared at her with his hopeful expression. This was the moment she’d been waiting for since Jenkins moved home. Logan was perfect. Everything she was looking for in someone to share her life with. His last meeting with Jenkins and her mom had been less than optimal, and this time she could better control her environment. Be in control. Show them the kind of person she was trying to be.
She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and shot her glance at the door, but it was only the bishop walking to the front of the room to start Sacrament meeting. She needed to focus. She had a wonderful man sitting beside her, wanting to meet her parents. It was her dream. Perfection.
So why did it feel unsatisfying?
She forced a smile. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
* * *
Tessa’s head ached as she waited for Logan to open her car door. It had started with a dull pain at the base of her neck during Sunday school and had spread with every minute the clock ticked closer to dinner. Tessa had sent her mom a quick text to let her know she was bringing a guest to dinner, and her mom had been thrilled when she heard it was Logan.
Logan knocked purposefully on the door of her parents’ house before opening it and stepping in, something Tessa herself had never felt comfortable doing. She followed him inside, where they met her mom coming into the entryway, a huge smile on her face.
“Come in! I’m so glad you made it.”
Logan stepped forward and took her mom’s hand. “Thank you for having me over for dinner on such short notice.”
“Of course!” Mom led them into the dining room where she’d set out the fine china, something they usually saved for special occasions. But Tessa had finally brought someone home to meet them. A doctor, no less. This was a special occasion.
Dad came into the dining room with a large grin. He’d removed his tie and unbuttoned the top of his shirt, a look that always felt like home for Tessa. Her dad rarely wore anything but a suit or scrubs, and dressing down for him meant taking off his coat and tie.
“Hello, Mr. Alexander.” Logan took her dad’s hand in what looked like a firm handshake.
“Logan. Nice to finally meet you. I hear you’re a doctor as well.”
“Anesthesiology resident,” he said.
“Have you worked with Dr. Marcoza?” Dad motioned for Logan to take a seat, and Tessa collapsed into the chair next to him. Mom filled her glass with ice water, which Tessa gratefully drank. The coolness soothed her tight throat.
“Is Jenkins coming?” Tessa asked Mom while Logan went through the list of doctors he’d met so far.
“He is, but he can’t stay. Kate didn’t sleep well so they’re both exhausted, but I insisted Jenkins come pick up some dinner at least.”
“Is Kate sick?” Another downside to Tessa not feeling close to her brother was that it was difficult to keep up to date on her niece, whom she did adore.
“Teething.”
Dad cleared his throat. “Should we say a prayer and eat before the food gets cold?”
“Yes.” Mom offered the prayer and then passed around the roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted carrots, and warm rolls. Tessa’s stomach turned at the sight of all the food. She took only a small portion of everything.
Mom’s eyebrows lowered in concern, but she didn’t say anything.
“I hear you’re doing a road show in your ward,” Dad said. “How is it coming along?”
Tessa shifted in her chair. “It’s going well.”
“How much time does something like that take?”
Too much. “About three or four hours a week.”
“Does that leave enough time for your studies?”
She knew Dad didn’t mean to come across as critical, so she took a deep breath before answering. To her parents, academics were everything. You set your sights on a goal and didn’t let anything deter you. Tessa had never had the single-minded, focused vision they’d hoped for her to have, which had resulted in many lectures on priorities over the yea
rs. And as long as they could steer the conversation away from how Tessa was actually doing in her classes they’d be fine. “I have plenty of time to study.”
“Good,” Dad said with a proud smile.
Mom turned to Logan. “We’ve tried to teach our kids that short-term decisions have long-term effects.”
“It’s true,” Dad jumped in, both of them warming up to one of their favorite lectures. Tessa dropped her fork on her plate and sat back in her chair. The ache in her head had turned into a stabbing pain that stretched from her neck into her throat.
“I believe that as well,” Logan said. “In fact, when I was in Texas, I had a mentor sit down with me and make a five-year plan. If I didn’t know where I was going, how was I supposed to get there?”
Dad’s eyes lit up. “Exactly! You are an impressive young man, Logan.” Then he winked at Tessa. It was an epidemic, this winking business. But she knew exactly what his wink meant. Logan is perfect for this family.
The thought didn’t sit as well with her as it once had.
The front door squeaked open and closed with a bang, and Tessa closed her eyes, longing for her bed.
“Save any food for me?” Jenkins asked. He ran his hand over Tessa’s head, ruffling her hair like she was still a little kid. She batted his hand away, the achiness in her shoulders and arms increasing with every movement. He kissed Mom on the cheek, waved to Dad, and shook Logan’s hand.
“How’s Kate?” Mom asked. She jumped up to fix a plate for Jenkins to take home. He sat in his usual chair across from Tessa and grabbed a buttery roll.
“Sleeping, finally. Cami too.” He had dark circles under his eyes, and she could almost feel bad for him. Until he spoke again. “So when are you two getting married?”
Logan choked on the water he’d been drinking.
“Jenkins!” Tessa said, her throat hurting even worse now. Her face burned with embarrassment.
One Little Kiss (Christian Romance) Page 17
