by Whitley Cox
Which she kind of was.
Today, thankfully, Isobel, Violet and Lowenna all met her at the beach with their babies in those front carriers. She was tired of feeling left out, so Atlas let her borrow Cecily, his carrier and his Land Cruiser with the car seat. Now she felt like she belonged with all the mommas, even if it was just for a few hours.
“Nice carrier,” Violet said to Tessa, adjusting the fabric of her baby wrap. “Is that a Tula?”
“I think it’s a Beco,” Isobel said, having strapped Sophie to her back. “Or maybe a Lillebaby.”
“I think it’s just a really nice Ergo.” Lowenna had Willow on her front in a carrier with straps similar to the one Tessa was wearing Cecily in. Because she was a noob at all of this, the women suggested she put Cecily on her back, as it would be more comfortable for both her and the baby.
“I have no idea what any of those words are,” Tessa joked. “You might as well be speaking Latin for all I understood of that.”
The women chuckled as they hit the fobs to lock their vehicles and took off through the beach grass down to the sand.
“You’ll understand someday,” Violet said. She pursed her lips. “I mean I guess I should ask, do you want to understand some day? Do you want children?”
“More than anything,” Tessa answered. Though she wasn’t sure if children of her own were in the cards any longer. Or if she should tempt fate at all and pass along her messed-up genes.
“Then you’ll understand,” Isobel replied with a gentle smile.
“So what do you have for us on Richelle?” Lowenna asked, pecking Willow on the top of her head before she placed a big floppy sunhat on her.
Tessa took in a deep breath. “She is unlike any woman I have ever met, I will tell you that. She is this tiny, little, pixie thing, with short, very blonde hair, fine features and the fiercest amber eyes. They’re like hawk eyes. She sees everything.”
The women stared at her as they walked down the beach, soaking up everything she had to say.
“But even though she may not even be five feet tall, her power, her fierceness, her sheer tenacity are the size of a freaking Amazon woman. She’s also crazy fit. I’m pretty sure she could kick all our asses at once. The arms on her alone are enough to make you think she knows her way around a boxing ring.”
“Liam did mention she goes to the gym,” Violet said thoughtfully.
“Yeah, but obviously not Zak’s gym,” Isobel said. “Probably on purpose. Or if she does, it’s one farther away from the two that most of us frequent.”
“Yeah, but Zak says he’s never met her,” Lowenna added. “He’s even done a search for her in his membership list and she doesn’t come up. She goes elsewhere on purpose. She does not want to be a part of Liam’s life other than for Wednesday night sex.”
“There has to be more to it.” Violet glanced out at the horizon. “I mean, we all know that Liam is putting on this whole born-again bachelor BS. Since Mark and Tori got together to now, he’s definitely softened his resolve about how anti-love he is.”
They all nodded.
“Maybe this is all coming from Richelle,” Isobel offered, her blue eyes sparkling in the glow of the morning sun. “Maybe Liam has asked for more, but she refuses, so he just takes what he can get?”
“That would make sense.” Lowenna kicked off her flip-flops and began walking in the sand with her bare feet. “Though Liam is a great guy, so I don’t know why she wouldn’t want to be with him.”
“She’s a divorce lawyer too, don’t forget,” Tessa added, enjoying the fact that she could now contribute to the conversation because she knew everyone they were discussing. “And Atlas made a passing mention of her having been through her own ugly divorce. Maybe she’s just really jaded and playing it cautious? Eva wasn’t kidding when she said the woman went for the jugular. She’s out for blood with Carlyle—that ferociousness can’t just come from being a good lawyer. There must be something deep-seated that drives her to take a man’s jewels the way she’s determined to take Carlyle’s.”
Violet and Isobel snorted their laughs.
“That would make sense,” Lowenna murmured.
“If that’s how she’s acting, I get it. I’ve been there, too,” Tessa said, more to the seagull in the sand beside her than anyone else.
Lowenna bumped her shoulder. “You and me both, sister.”
Sister.
She would never grow tired of hearing that.
She had a family now. She had sisters, and she was going to do everything she possibly could to keep them—and never forget them.
After a wonderful walk with the women and babies, Tessa texted Atlas to see if she could keep Cecily a bit longer. She wanted to pop in and see her mother and thought perhaps bringing a beautiful baby by might cheer her up. After all, her mother was always painting babies. Maybe a real one would spur some pleasant memories, or perhaps Cecily’s presence might help her mother shed some light on why she was always painting babies.
This time, she decided to wear Cecily on her front and let the little nugget face forward so she could see the world, rather than have to crane her neck around to see out. She also had no idea how to get the baby on her back without help and didn’t want to risk dropping the child on her head in the parking lot to achieve it.
She said hello to the nurses at the front desk of the home and asked if her mother was in her room—she was. She always was. She took most of her meals in her room and rarely, if ever, socialized with anyone. Only once in a while she would go out to the garden and sit under the willow tree by the duck pond, but not very often or for very long. Along with Cecily, she had a bouquet of flowers that Zara specially did up for her mother in the hopes they might brighten her spirits and bring her joy.
With Cecily’s little fist wrapped firmly around her index finger and the bouquet in her other hand, she knocked a knuckle against the partially opened door. “Mom?”
“I’m busy,” came her mother’s distracted voice from the other side.
Tessa pushed inside anyway. “Mom, it’s me.”
“I’m busy. I told you that.”
Continuing to ignore her mother’s routine dismissal of her, Tessa wandered farther into the room and toward the window, where her mother stood behind the canvas. Her pace slowed the closer she grew to her mother, because when she finally caught a glimpse of her face, there was nothing but worry painted across it. Her mother wasn’t even holding a paintbrush. She was standing in front of a blank, pale blue canvas wringing her hands and spinning her wedding ring around and around on her finger.
“Mom?” She set the bouquet down and reached for her mother’s shoulder. “Is everything okay? You look worried.”
Her mother continued to wring her hands, muttering words Tessa couldn’t hear or make sense of. She couldn’t tell if her mother even knew she was there. She hadn’t acknowledged her in any way, not even a lip twitch or the tilt of a brow.
“Mom!” She snapped her fingers in front of her mother’s face. “Mom! It’s me, Tessa. Mom, look at me. Look at me, please.”
Lily blinked slowly once, twice, and then swiveled her gaze toward Tessa as if seeing her there for the first time. Her mouth opened, then her gaze dipped to Cecily, and her brows furrowed in a deep V.
“What are you doing here?” She was speaking to Cecily, not Tessa. “Why are you here? Why are you haunting me? Leave me be, Georgia. I love you. I miss you terribly. My heart shattered when you died, but please, child, let me be. I can’t be a good mother to Tessa with you always there, always reminding me.”
What the heck was she talking about?
“Go!” Her mother screamed into Cecily’s face before she pressed her hands to the side of her head and spun on her heel to face the window. “Go! Leave me be! Please!”
Startled by the screaming, Cecily began to cry.
This was not the visit Tessa had anticipated at all. What on earth was her mother talking about? Who was Georgia? Somebody was haunti
ng her? How long had she been seeing someone? How long had Georgia been haunting her? Years? Was this the reason for her depression all these years? Was her mother crazy?
She just had so many questions.
Cecily’s cries grew louder and more frantic. Tessa was quick to unhook the carrier and pull the baby into her chest, nuzzling her and shushing her until she began to settle. Sniffles and moans along with hot tears blended together as the little girl buried her face deeper into the crook of her neck. She rubbed Cecily’s back. “Shh, baby, it’s okay. It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m right here.”
“Go, Georgia, please,” her mother begged, still showing Tessa her back, her hands still squeezing the sides of her head. “Leave me be!”
“Okay, Mom. We’re going. We’re going,” Tessa said, tears stinging the backs of her eyes as she returned to the door. “I’m sorry I upset you.” Her lips jiggled and her throat grew painfully tight. Her mother still hadn’t turned around. She sat on the cushions of the bay window, holding the sides of her head and moaning.
Cecily nuzzled Tessa even more, her fingers bunched in Tessa’s tank top as soft whimpers and baby murmurs fled from her plump little lips.
Tessa wiped away the tear from beneath her eye, took one final look at her mother, then left, making haste to get to the doors and the hell out of there as fast as she could.
How could she have been so stupid as to take a baby there? She only set her mother off worse than she’d seen her in a long time. And now, Tessa had a buttload of new questions that she knew would probably never get answered.
And if they did get answered, it was only a matter of time before she forgot them anyway.
20
Tessa refused to talk about it, but when she arrived home after her walk with the women and Cecily, she was a person Atlas barely recognized. Closed-off, quiet, withdrawn. She handed him Cecily, said goodbye and then turned around and headed to her car parked in the driveway.
Worried about the woman he knew he was falling in love with, he called Violet to find out what the hell happened. She seemed oblivious and said Tessa was in high spirits when they all parted ways.
So he called Isobel. She was freakishly astute when it came to people’s true feelings and intentions, so she more than anyone else would have probably picked up on Tessa’s weird mood.
She hadn’t.
“Aside from being distracted by her upcoming defense and the meeting with her ex, she wasn’t sending me any weird vibes,” Isobel said. “I’m sorry I can’t help you more, Atlas.”
“It’s okay,” he murmured distractedly into the phone. “Thanks, Iz.”
“She did mention that she was going to take Cecily to see her mother. Figured the baby would bring her mom good cheer.”
Her mother.
Tessa barely mentioned her mother, except for the fact that she was in a nursing home and she went to see her once or twice a week. Other than that, she never brought her up, and Atlas never pried.
“Did she say where her mother lived?” he asked. “Which nursing home?”
“Sorry, she didn’t. But she did say she was going to swing by Zara’s shop to grab her mother some flowers. Maybe she told Zara.”
This was getting fucking ridiculous. But at the same time, he was so grateful for all these women and how connected and caring they were. They had welcomed Tessa into their fold without a moment’s hesitation.
He hung up with Isobel and called Zara. If he hadn’t used all his favors, and Liam’s with McGregor, he’d put his top PI on this. But the man charged a hefty fee, so if he could do the legwork himself first, he would.
“She said her mother was at the Seascape Manor,” Zara said seconds later. “She asked for extra lilies in the bouquet, as her mother’s name is Lily.”
Damn, he fucking loved these women.
“Thanks, Zara, I appreciate it.”
“We all just want to see you happy, Atlas. Let me know if you need an apology bouquet. They’re one of my specialities.”
He groaned. “Thanks, Zara.”
Double-checking that Jenny could stick around and watch the kids until he got back, Atlas leapt into his Land Cruiser and was heading down the I-5 in ten minutes.
“I’m here to see Mrs. Copeland,” he said to the nurse at the front desk less than half an hour later. “I’m a friend of her daughter’s, and after the … uh, upset today, Tessa asked me to come by and check on Lily.”
He was taking a gamble that the reason Tessa was in fact upset was because she’d seen her mother. For all he knew, Carlyle could have texted her or she could have run into Forest again. Though if either of those had happened, she most likely would have told him about it.
The grandmotherly nurse pursed her lips and nodded. “Yes, Lily was rather distraught after Tessa left. Kept discussing Georgia—we’ve never heard her mention a Georgia before. Unless that was the name of the baby Tessa brought with her.” She shrugged. “She’s in a better mood now. Painting in her room if you’d like to go see her. Room number thirty-four.”
He thanked the nurse and then headed off down the hallway toward room thirty-four. The nursing home was very nice, albeit warm inside and a bit stuffy. He regretted that he’d worn a long-sleeved jersey shirt and shorts. He’d probably have pit stains by the time he left.
The door to Lily’s room was partially open, but he knocked anyway and pushed it open a touch more. “Mrs. Copeland? Lily?”
“Busy,” she murmured from inside.
The nurse said she was painting, and the woman was retired and living in a nursing home. How busy could she be?
“Mrs. Copeland, I just need to speak with you for a moment,” he said, stepping into the room, which was even warmer than the hallway. The sun shone into the room from the open window behind her. It was hotter than hell and she had the window open? What did she have the thermostat set to, one hundred?
She didn’t say anything but hummed to herself and continued to paint.
“Mrs. Copeland, I’m Atlas Stark. I’m a friend of Tessa’s, and I just came to ask if everything is okay? Tessa seemed really upset earlier today, and she wouldn’t tell me why. I care about her, and I hate to see her so upset when she has so many important things coming up, like her defense and the meeting with Carlyle. I’m sure you’re aware of it all.”
Slowly, her gaze swung to his face, and focus entered her light blue eyes. “Who are you?”
“I’m Atlas Stark, Mrs. Copeland. I’m a friend of Tessa’s.” The woman didn’t look like she belonged in a nursing home. She was maybe sixty but appeared to be healthy and capable. Why had Tessa put her mother in a home so early?
Lily’s brows pinched into a V. “Who’s Tessa? I don’t know a Tessa.” Her hand fell to her abdomen and she rubbed it as if there were a baby inside. “But my husband and I are expecting, and maybe we should add that name to our list. I like it. He likes Georgia, though.” She smiled and caressed her belly again. “I’m sorry I can’t help you with your friend Tessa.”
This didn’t make any sense. Was this not Lily Copeland’s room?
“Are you Lily Copeland, ma’am?” he asked, scratching the back of his neck as he glanced to his right to check out her painting.
“I am, yes.”
“Then you are Tessa Copeland’s mother, no?”
The look she gave him said she was losing patience with him. “I told you, mister, I don’t know anybody named Tessa. Now could you please leave me alone? My husband will be home shortly, and he’s taking me out for our anniversary. I just need to finish this painting and then go find a dress that will fit over this big belly of mine.”
What the hell was going on?
Still cradling her belly with one hand, she dipped her paintbrush into a pot of yellow and swiped it in the sky above the mother and infant’s head.
“Your painting is beautiful,” he said before he did as she asked and left the sweltering heat of her room.
Back at the desk and desperate to disrobe down to
his underwear, or go jump in the bay across from the property, he waited until the same nurse from earlier was off the phone before he spoke. “Uh … Mrs. Copeland … is she okay?”
The nurse’s smile dropped like an anvil. “What do you mean? How do you know Tessa Copeland? What did you say to Lily?”
“I’m seeing Tessa. She’s my … I’m her … we’re together, okay? But I’ve never met her mother before. Tessa came home today really upset, and she wouldn’t tell me why. She has a lot going on right now, so I thought maybe I could talk to her mother and see what happened. But Mrs. Copeland is pretending she’s pregnant and that she doesn’t even know Tessa.”
“She’s not pretending,” the nurse said slowly, as if he himself were slow. “She has early-onset Alzheimer’s that has progressed rapidly. How well do you know Tessa if she hasn’t even told you about her mother?” She turned to grab the phone again. “I’m going to call Miss Copeland and ask her to verify who you are. You’re giving me weird vibes, buddy.”
Shit.
“No, no, please. Don’t call her. I am who I say I am, I swear. But I also know that if she finds out I came here, she’ll just be even more upset, and Tessa has so much going on right now. I just want to help her. Please don’t bother her.” Damn it, why couldn’t he be a charmer like Zak, Scott or Liam? He’d never been a charmer, never knew how to properly flirt.
Thank God for Tessa. She’d done all the flirting or whatever you called it. He just wandered around like an idiot hoping that the girl he liked liked him back.
She set the phone back down on the base. “I don’t want to see you here again without Miss Copeland.”
He nodded. “You have my word.”
Then before Nurse Tattletale could change her mind, he vacated the premises as fast as his legs could carry him, bursting out into the fresh air and inhaling the cool breeze in gulps.
“I can’t right now, Atlas,” Tessa said impatiently, attempting to shut her apartment door. “I have to study. I’m tired. I just can’t. I’m sorry.”
