One Little Kiss (Christian Romance)

by Kaylee Baldwin

  As evidenced by himself.

  He rubbed the back of his neck again and then forced himself to stand casually. A group of teenage girls smiled and waved at him before they rushed into the restaurant, giggling.

  "Flirting with teenagers now?" Logan called out.

  Henry didn't respond. He'd be happy if he could avoid talking to Logan for the rest of his life. Whatever inspiration the bishop had been operating under to suggest the two of them be roommates was clearly flawed. Or at least questionable. The Lord did work in mysterious ways, but what kind of work was it to have two opposite people living together, and who would both end up in love with the same woman? Logan's phone rang and he stepped away to answer it. From the few things Henry overheard, he was talking to someone from work.

  A white car pulled into the parking lot, and Tessa stepped out from the passenger side. She'd curled her long hair into loose waves that flowed around her shoulders and over the soft pink shirt she wore. She reached inside and grabbed her purse before closing the door and heading toward them.

  Henry couldn't take his eyes off of her. She hadn't acknowledged the note he'd left with her soup, but he hoped she'd taken it to heart. They were quite a pair. He didn't care enough about his appearance, and she cared too much. Or at least cared what other people thought to the point that she held herself back. Maybe she needed a Tessa Renovation project. Not to change who she was or how she looked, but rather how she perceived herself. She saw herself through a distorted lens, one that diminished instead of showing her as she truly was.

  He got caught up in watching Tessa, thinking about how cute she'd been with her hair all awry, imperfect for once, but real. Accessible even, for someone like him. Their eyes met and her lips curved in a way that shot feelings straight to his stomach. Her gaze was soft, welcoming, and without thinking, he found himself stretching out his hand for hers, wanting to draw her in closer. She reached toward him and he anticipated the feel of her fingers against his but at the last moment, the girl beside Tessa bumped her to the side, causing her to stumble and drop her purse along with the hand that had been about to touch him.

  He glanced at the girl and his heart stopped. Chelsea. He'd been so focused on seeing Tessa he hadn't even taken a second glance at who drove them there. His date.

  "I'm so sorry!" Chelsea grabbed Tessa's purse from the ground and handed it to her. "I knew I shouldn't have worn these shoes. They're impossible to walk in." She held out her foot, showing off the four inch monstrosities she wore, and flexing her calf while they all looked. He remembered how much pride she took in how her legs looked, and worked hard for them. It was a struggle for him not to rub at the sudden headache forming between his eyes.

  "That's okay." Tessa took a huge step back from Henry, but he caught her eye again, along with the hint of pink on her cheeks. "Thank you for the soup.”

  He grinned. "Feel any better?"

  "A little. Yeah." She shifted her long hair from one shoulder to the other, a gesture he'd noticed she did when she got flustered.

  "Henry's always doing sweet things," Chelsea said. "He's brought me soup at least half a dozen times."

  Tessa took her eyes off of Henry to turn to Chelsea, and he missed having her full attention. He wished again this was a date between the two of them. No Chelsea. No Logan.

  Chelsea hugged him and his arms automatically wrapped around her. He cursed the reaction when he saw Tessa bite her lip. With the way his family hugged, he didn't think too much about hugging anyone, but Chelsea held on for a little too long, seconds after Henry had dropped his arms to his sides. Logan walked up behind Tessa, sticking his phone in his pocket, before leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek.

  "Our table is ready," he said, holding out the pager the hostess had given them when they'd shown up.

  They walked into the dimly-lit restaurant that smelled of tomato sauce and fresh-baked bread. The pizza was supposed to be amazing, but even after living in Tucson for most of his life, he'd never eaten there. They were led to a corner booth, and he made the mistake of sliding in first. Chelsea followed sitting a lot closer to him than he wanted.

  Tessa sat across from Henry and their feet bumped. She smiled at him, but then went back to listening to Logan's story about a surgery he scrubbed in for. Tessa looked pale, like she wasn’t all the way better yet. He wanted to ask her if she was okay, but the hand on his leg stopped him.

  As nicely as possible, he picked up Chelsea's hand and moved it into her own lap. She clasped her fingers together with a sigh. "Henry, I don't know why you keep fighting this," she whispered.

  "Did you know Tessa was setting you up with me?"

  "Yes. You didn't?"

  He shook his head. "She never told me who my blind date was going to be with."

  "See? We're supposed together. Can you deny that Tessa was inspired to set us up?"

  There was that word again. Inspired.

  He could say with some confidence that he'd been inspired many times in his life. While praying about his schooling, he knew he should come home to Tucson and get his doctorate at the U of A. After his mom died, he and his companion had been inspired to walk down a street they'd gone down a million times before with no luck and met a woman whose mother had also died in the past week. She ended up being his last baptism before coming home. He'd been inspired to call an old companion a few weeks before and found out he was struggling with his testimony and they'd had a chance to talk. He didn't know if he'd made a difference at all, but that didn't really matter. The Lord knew this man needed a call and trusted Henry to do it.

  Those things he believed were inspired, yes. But being set up on a date with the girl who'd trashed his heart and changed who he was? Doubtful.

  "You look like your old self, and I don't think that's a coincidence. We were good together, Henry. We almost got married. Feelings that deep don't go away."

  "Chelsea, you know I respect you and think you'll do great things in this world, but—"

  "Sharing dirty secrets over there?" Logan cut into their conversation before Henry could let Chelsea down again.

  "Maybe," Chelsea said in a flirty tone.

  Henry tried to catch Tessa's eye, but she stared studiously at the menu. The waitress showed up a few minutes later and took their order, after which Logan launched into another bloody story about an operation he'd observed when he started rotations fresh out of med school and how the person ended up dying. Henry dissected insects all day long and saw some pretty nasty things, but by the time his food arrived, he'd lost most of his appetite.

  It didn't help that Chelsea kept finding reasons to touch him. First Henry had an eyelash on his cheek she needed to brush off, then she grabbed his arm every time Logan told another gruesome detail in his story. She even reached behind him at one point and scratched the back of his neck absently, something she used to do while they were dating. He reached up and gently brought her hand down to her side before continuing with his dinner.

  He had to admit, at one point he did wonder what it would be like if Chelsea had never left. They’d be married for two years now, maybe even have a child together. But that line of thinking was pointless and would take him in a direction he didn’t want to go in.

  "I'm going to run to the restroom." Tessa placed her napkin on her plate. She'd hardly touched the pizza they'd all shared, not even eating half of the piece she'd taken.

  Chelsea stood as well and followed Tessa. The minute the girls were out of sight, Logan had his phone back out again.

  "Texting a new girl?" Henry asked, not knowing exactly what possessed him to say that.

  Logan smirked, but didn't look up from his phone. "Jealous?"

  Henry clenched his jaw, resolved once again to ignore his roommate for the remainder of the night.

  * * *

  Tessa washed her hands in the bathroom and checked her teeth for any stray pieces of food tucked between them. She hadn't eaten much, her stomach still not feeling all the way better,
but it only took one piece of spinach or oregano to get stuck for her to be humiliated the rest of the evening.

  But mostly Tessa needed a break from Chelsea and Henry. She’d noticed the intimacy between the two of them all night. The casual touches between them, even the way Chelsea felt comfortable enough touch the back of Henry's neck. Tessa's traitorous fingers had been itching all evening to touch the silky locks of Henry's hair. She wanted nothing more than to stare at him all night long. Except every time she tried, she caught Chelsea leaning in, whispering in his ear, touching his arm, and she wished she'd never glanced his way.

  Chelsea stood beside her, reapplying her lipstick in the mirror. "Thank you again for setting me up with Henry. We used to be engaged." Chelsea smacked her lips like she hadn't just stopped Tessa's heart.

  "Wait. What?"

  "Before my mission." She screwed the cap back on her lipstick and stuffed it into her purse. She held out a piece of gum to Tessa who took it in a daze. "I wanted to go on a mission and he needed to finish school, so we parted ways for a while. Now that I'm home, we're ready to get back to where we were."

  Tessa shook her head, trying to clear out the persistent fuzz muddling up her brain. "Why did you need me to set you up with him?" The moment the question was out of her mouth, she realized how rude she sounded, but things weren't adding up.

  Chelsea zipped up her purse and put it over her shoulder. "You know Henry."

  That in no way answered her question, but Chelsea was already heading out the door, so Tessa followed.

  "We've been in love for so long, and we let life sidetrack us for a while.” Chelsea paused and her gaze softened when it landed on Henry. “When something is meant to be, it happens, despite how much we mess it up along the way."

  Meant to be. Tessa had used the same words before to describe her potential relationship with Logan. But what had once sounded romantic, didn’t strike her with the same feelings of anticipation.

  "When we get married, it will be all thanks to you." Chelsea gave Tessa a side hug and went back to the table, sliding in right next to Henry and laying her head on his shoulder.

  All thanks to me, Tessa thought, following her over but not sitting down.

  She meant to tell everyone their movie was starting soon, but instead she said, "I'm not feeling well."

  Henry straightened and Chelsea's head slipped off his shoulder. "Do you need to go home?"

  "Maybe," she said, waiting for Logan to respond, but he was still typing on his phone. The waitress slipped around her to drop the checks onto the table, and Logan did look up from his phone then to give the blushing waitress a wink. Without thinking, Tessa looked over at Henry to share a knowing glance.

  "I'm still up for the movie," Chelsea said, looking at Logan expectantly. “I drove, so if Logan can take Tessa home….”

  Henry glanced at his watch. "I should get home, too. I've got a bunch of tests I need to grade by Monday. I can drop you off, Tessa."

  Logan laid his cash down on the bill and stood. "I've got it."

  Tessa's stomach churned. She didn't care who took her home as long as they got there quickly. Going out that night had been too soon after being sick. They left the restaurant and she got into Logan's car. She laid her head against the back of the seat, staring at the ceiling. Some part of her that she didn’t want to analyze was glad Chelsea and Henry were leaving in separate cars.

  Logan pulled out of the parking lot and headed home, silence between them. How had she never noticed how little she and Logan spoke? They listened to music, played on their phones, and occasionally made comments about their day, but she didn't really know much about Logan. He never talked about his family or his life before medical school. She knew he was from Utah, but other than that, he didn't open up about who he was or what he believed. They always kept everything on the surface.

  He seemed so perfect on the outside she'd overlooked that they didn't connect in all of the most important ways. Maybe that’s why he’d turned to Dawn.

  Logan's phone beeped and he set it on his leg to slide his finger across the screen. "It's Mitch from the hospital. He says they need me to come in tonight."

  He lifted the phone onto the steering wheel to type in his response. Tessa hated it when he texted and drove, but he did it often, assuring her he'd never had a problem. She closed her eyes and tried not to picture Chelsea's head on Henry's shoulder. This would be the night they told their children about—how some girl helped them reconcile over pizza. They'd start dating again and get married quickly because they were already engaged once before after all. And they’d forget Tessa ever existed. Which made sense, because she was only a supporting character in the story of their lives.

  The engine whined as Logan raced down the road, his foot heavy on the accelerator as usual. She popped her eyes open to see him sending another text.

  "Can I do that for you?"

  “No. I’m almost done.”

  She sighed and faced forward to the sound of squealing tires, a bright light in her window, and then the jolt of everything going black.

  Chapter 36

  Henry’s heart pounded painfully in his ribs as he left his car in the lane and raced toward Tessa. Logan had driven through an intersection after the light turned red and hit the front end of an old, green van. Henry had watched, helpless, as the tiny car spun around in a circle before screeching to a stop.

  He bypassed the van and other observers who were coming over to help and went straight to the passenger side of Logan's car, the blood rushing through his ears dulling all sounds. He ripped the door open and saw a dazed Tessa. He took in every detail of her, from her disheveled hair to the dark bruise forming on her temple.

  "Are you okay?" He leaned across her and undid her seat belt, hauling her from the car when she still didn't answer him. "Tessa!"

  She blinked a few times, her vision finally focusing on him. "Henry?"

  "Where are you hurt?" He kept his arms around her, holding her close to his chest. His breaths came out in ragged, anxious pulses.

  "I'm fine," she said. "I'm okay." She pulled back from him, stretching out her arms and legs like she was double-checking. "The van hit on the other side of the car. Logan!" She tried to run around to the driver's side, but stumbled on gravel, and Henry caught her before she fell.

  "He's walking around," Henry said to her. "See? Over there." Logan had gotten out of the car and was over at the van, blood on his hands and shirt. Three young children gathered around their mom who bled from a wound in her head. One of the kids' arms was bent at an angle that made Henry's vision swim.

  "Tessa! I need your help!" Logan waved them over and they made their way through the small crowd to get to the injured people from the van. He crouched beside the woman who leaned against the van, and held a blood-soaked bandage to her head. An open first aid kit lay on the ground beside him. He glanced up at Tessa. "Hold this gauze to her forehead while I check the kids out."

  Tessa didn't move. Her face turned ashen, her grip on Henry's arm loose. Sirens sounded in the distance.

  A man from behind them stepped forward. "I'll hold it. Is that all you need me to do?"

  Logan gave Tessa a questioning look before waving the man close. "Apply steady pressure to the wound until the ambulance arrives."

  The man inhaled a shaky breath, but took over for Logan who rushed to check on the crying kids. Henry watched, impressed despite himself at how proficient Logan was at handling a potentially fatal situation. It was a different side to Logan that Henry hadn't seen before.

  "I'm going to faint," Tessa said. Henry wrapped his arms around her waist as she collapsed against him.

  "Logan!" he yelled while holding Tessa's limp body in his arms.

  Logan glanced up from bandaging one of the kids’ arms. "Does she have any cuts?"

  "No."

  "What does her breathing sound like?"

  Henry leaned close to her mouth and listened. "Normal. Like she's sleeping. But she ha
s a bruise on her head." As he spoke, her eyes fluttered open and she looked around like she was confused about where she was. "She's awake!"

  Logan frowned. "Get her to the sidewalk and see if anyone has something with sugar for her to eat. She didn't eat any of her dinner and her blood sugar might be low. I'll send the EMTs over to you when they get here to check out her head."

  A woman appeared at Henry's side while he led Tessa over to the curb. She held out an apple juice box and a granola bar. "I had these in my baby bag. Do you want them?"

  Henry took the items gratefully and forced Tessa to drink the whole box of juice as the ambulance and police cars finally arrived on scene. Tessa remained quiet, though focus was coming back into her eyes.

  "Hey," he said quietly, still with his arms around her. He wasn't letting go again until he knew for sure she wasn't going to faint. "You're worrying me here."

  "Sorry." She stared at the sidewalk. "Is everyone okay?"

  "I think so." So far he'd seen two people loaded into an ambulance and the rest were being checked out by EMTs. An EMT walked past and Henry snagged him. "She was in the accident too."

  The EMT checked her pupils and heart rate. "Did you hit your head?" he asked.

  "Yeah. But not bad. Not like them."

  "But she's not focusing well. And she fainted," Henry said.

  Concern flashed across the EMT’s face. "We'd better have you come in and get checked out. You might have a concussion."

  Tessa shook her head before he could finish. "No, I'm fine, really. The fainting thing was for something else."

  "If you're sure..." The EMT waited for her to contradict and when she didn't he wrote something in a notepad he'd stashed into his front pocket. "If you feel dizzy or faint again, go straight to the emergency room. And follow up with your doctor tomorrow."

  He jogged back to the van, leaving Henry frustrated. "You should go to the hospital."

  "No." She folded her arms over her bent knees. "I just need rest."