Tessa Ever After

by Brighton Walsh

  Open me.

  I pause for only a moment before I do as the note says, finding the closet empty, save for a small pink coat and matching snow pants, boots set out below them. There’s another note stuck to the hanger, so I peel it off and read.

  In case it snows and Haley doesn’t have all her stuff with her.

  Despite how nervous I am, how wary I am, I can’t stop the small smile from creeping over my lips. I step back and turn to walk into the living room. A single floor lamp plugged into an outlet is the only thing in the space. On the wall directly behind it is another note, and I walk over to it, my stomach a churning mess of nerves.

  Blue, yellow, or gray walls, do you think?

  I glance around the house, pieces of the puzzle Jason’s set out for me slowly clicking into place. Stepping back, I turn around and follow the light pouring from the kitchen. Nothing clutters the counter, though there are appliances in place, and a flash of pink catches my eye on the older, ivory refrigerator.

  You know what to do.

  Assuming it’s a repeat of the hall closet, I pull open the door and see only two things inside—a bottle of my favorite wine and a six-pack of Jason’s favorite beer.

  I don’t know what any of this means, but despite this, excitement is bubbling inside me, bursting under my skin like tiny firecrackers, and I need to see more. Closing the fridge, I walk out of the kitchen and look down the long hallway to what I assume are the bedrooms. The corridor is dim, only a tiny sliver of light coming from one of the rooms. With tentative steps, I follow the path down toward the light and push open the mostly closed door.

  It’s another empty room, the overhead light shining harshly down on what looks like a child’s barn and a wooden horse stable. Walking quickly to it, I squat down to take in the intricate details. The stable is filled with three ponies, and a doll who looks remarkably like Haley is standing next to one.

  A pop of pink on the roof of the barn catches my eye, and I realize it’s another note. With shaky fingers, I peel it off the structure and bring it closer to read.

  My renter’s agreement frowns on having an actual Shetland pony in the backyard. Think Haley has a sense of humor?

  Tears fill my eyes as I breathe out a laugh.

  “I know it’s bare, but I thought maybe she’d want to help decorate it herself.”

  Jason’s voice startles me, and I push up to stand and spin around to face him. His hair is sticking up every which direction, like he’s been nervously tugging at it all night, his eyes bright and a little wild, and I didn’t realize just how much it would affect me to see him after all this time. My heart skips a beat, my mouth going dry, and I want to go to him. To fall in his arms and feel his breath against my lips, feel his hands on my waist, feel them cupping my face. I want to cross through this door and be with him, but it’s not that simple. A few Post-it notes, while lovely and romantic, aren’t going to cut it. All of this has been sweet, but I don’t know what any of it means. Not really.

  And I need him to tell me.

  “I’m glad you found my notes.”

  I lift them up, all of them I’ve collected, even the ones from my house. “What do they mean?”

  He takes tentative steps toward me until he’s so close I can feel his breath against my face. “They mean I’m an idiot for thinking I could be okay not having you and Haley in my life.”

  “But what you said . . . What you told your mom—”

  “Was to get her off my back. To keep you and Haley safe from them.”

  Shaking my head, I say, “I don’t understand.”

  “Thanksgiving night when we were at my parents’, Charles insinuated it was time for me to settle down to appease the partners. The night my mom was at my apartment, when you came by, she confirmed they wanted it to be with you. They wanted to use you and Haley to make me look better—to make the company look better.” He swallows and his eyes harden, his jaw clenching. “I wasn’t about to let them use you for anything.”

  “So you, what?”

  “I lied to her. And then when you overheard everything, I didn’t correct your assumption because I knew they’d always find a way to control something, to use you or Haley for their advantage, and I couldn’t let them do that.”

  I shake my head, wanting to believe him, but still not understanding how anything’s different now than it was before. “Then what changed?”

  “I walked away,” he says with a shrug, like he didn’t completely rewrite the path of his life with those three words.

  “You what?”

  “I walked. I’m done.” Hesitantly, he reaches out to take my hand, and I let him, needing the physical touch as much as he seems to. “The night I left you the note, I went to their house and resigned in front of three hundred of their closest friends and colleagues. It’s safe to say I’m no longer welcome there.”

  “Jason . . .” With the hand not encased in his, I reach up and rest my fingers on his chest, searching his eyes for any kind of regret at his decision. But his gaze is clear. “What are you going to do now?”

  “I got a job.”

  I snap my head back, looking at him with wide eyes. “You did?”

  “Yep, with the firm I interned for. Entry level, but it pays enough to rent this place, so I’m calling that a win.”

  “What about . . . what about your apartment? Or—”

  “It’s gone. All of it’s gone. Everything they ever gave me is gone. I have this little house that’s not furnished and my tiny paycheck and the trust from my grandpa that I plan to use to start up the Elise Montgomery Foundation again. It’s going to be nothing but hard work for a while—as I try to make a name for myself at the firm, and as I get the foundation up and running again—but that’s okay. I’m up for it if you’re by my side. I’m starting fresh, and I want you with me while I do it. I never thought I wanted this, Tess. I never thought I’d be the guy who watched chick flicks and drank wine and played tea parties, but I am. But only if it’s for you. Only for you.” He brings his hands up to cup my face, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip. “Say yes. Please, say yes.”

  His voice is pleading, like everything he has hinges on my answer. Like his whole world will crumble if I say no. I think about those weeks of bliss with Jason, making me laugh and live and love. Reminding me that everything doesn’t need to be so serious, that it’s okay to take things one day at a time. That it’s okay to fall in love with someone who doesn’t fit the perfect mold if they make you happy.

  And I say the only thing I can. “Yes.”

  EPILOGUE

  jason

  “Gotta put the horses away, shorty. It’s bedtime.”

  Haley looks up at me from her perch on the floor in front of the barn and stable I got her last year for Christmas—the gift she got about three weeks late—and pouts. “Five more minutes?”

  “You asked that fifteen minutes ago.”

  “Aww, come on, Jay!” she whines.

  “Nope, not gonna work this time. Get in your fancy bed.”

  “It is pretty fancy, huh?” She smiles at me and gets off the floor to jump into her bed. One that’s piled high with ruffled and feathered pillows and a whole lot of other shit I think looks ridiculous and don’t even understand what the hell their purpose is, but she had a ball picking it all out for her new room. Whatever she wanted—within reason . . . I am on a fixed budget now. That was my motto. Still is.

  “Can you read this one?” She grabs a book from the table next to her bed. “But read it like a pirate!”

  I settle next to her and lean back against the four dozen pillows stacked up behind us, then proceed to do just as she asked. Halfway through, Tessa pokes her head in, smiles when I look up at her, and tips her head in the direction of the bathroom before slipping out of the room. Which brings a smile to my face, because I know exactly where she’s going—this is our nightly routine in motion.

  It’s been almost a year since I moved into this place, since I begged Te
ssa to give me another chance. And now that Cade and Winter have moved back into the house he and Tessa shared, Tessa and Haley spend most nights here with me.

  Can’t complain about that.

  By the time I’ve finished Haley’s story, she’s asleep against my side. Carefully, I pull myself away from her and get her tucked in before I slip out of her room and head straight for the bathroom, already tugging my shirt over my head. I’m half hard by the time I get into the bathroom and see Tessa lying in the tub, the mass of bubbles covering the parts of her I want to see.

  “Hey,” she says, smiling up at me. “She put up a fight?”

  “Nothing a pirate disguised as a prince couldn’t fix.” I pop the buttons on my jeans and shove them down my legs. “How come we can never take showers together? All these bubble baths are fucking with my masculinity.”

  Tessa snorts, looking pointedly at my cock when I drop my boxers to the floor. Raising an eyebrow, she says, “Yeah, looks like it.”

  Unrepentant at my reaction to her, I shrug, which earns me a smile. She sits up and lets me slip in behind her, and I love this torture she puts me through. Brushing up against me when she sits back, her spine to my chest. Grabbing my hands and entwining our fingers, resting them on her bare legs. Forcing me to listen to her breathy sighs when I wash her back. Because I know I’ll get to dry her off and take her to our bedroom and spend all night kissing and licking and sucking on all the parts of her the bubbles are hiding.

  She rests her head against my shoulder while my lips brush against the curve of hers. It’s quiet, only the sound of the bubbles popping, but eventually she breaks the silence. “How was work?”

  “Good. I pitched my idea for the Nelson site and they loved it. Roberts named me lead designer for it.”

  She tips her head back to me, a huge smile lighting up her face. “That’s awesome! See, you were worried for nothing.”

  “Yeah, well. It was my biggest project yet.”

  “I know, but they realize exactly what kind of work you do. They’d be stupid not to choose you for something like that.”

  “Roberts also agreed to do a fund-raiser for the foundation. Help us get some name recognition out there again.”

  She’s resting her head on my arm, and I can feel the puff of her cheek as she smiles. “I’m so proud of you for doing that. Your grandpa would be, too.”

  I have little doubt about that, because for once, I’m content in the life I’m leading now. I’m happy. And that’s all he ever wanted for me.

  A hush falls over the room as I run my hands up and down her bare arms, counting down the minutes until we can get out of the bath and do all the fun stuff I’ve been fantasizing about all day.

  Instead of saying she’s done, like I was hoping she would, she asks, “Do you ever wonder what would’ve happened if you’d gone to work for your parents?”

  I still behind her, my lips pausing against her skin, my fingers tightening around hers. “No.”

  She glances back at me. “Never?”

  With a shake of my head, I confirm, “Never.” And it’s true. While it’s been hard, finding a job in my field, being shunned by my parents, I wouldn’t change it. Because I know, without a doubt, if I’d gone to work for Montgomery International, I wouldn’t have Haley and Tessa, and they’re worth every sacrifice I could’ve made. They’re worth everything. “I wasn’t ever happy in that life, Tess.”

  “And you are now? With us? Even with them out of your life?”

  Happy doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. It’s a single star as compared to the whole galaxy. But I know she needs to hear that I am, that I don’t think I made a mistake doing what I did. That I don’t regret it, choosing her and Haley over my parents. And I don’t. Not for a single second.

  My parents made their choice that day so long ago, when I made my intentions clear—that I wasn’t going to be a part of the company. That I was going to live my life finally for myself. They cut me out of their lives without a backward glance, and after twenty-four years of hanging on so tightly to something that wasn’t good for me in the first place, I’ve finally learned to let go. And I’m more content because of it.

  I lean in and press my lips to hers, lingering for a minute and trying to infuse everything I feel for her into it. Trying to show her without words how much I love her, but I know sometimes she needs the words, too. I kiss the corner of her mouth and across her jaw until my lips rest at her ear. “Yes, I’m happy. I’ll even be happy tonight when you put on your favorite movie again. And tomorrow night when you pour me a glass of wine. And next Saturday when I have to get up at the ass-crack of dawn to get donuts because I’m an idiot and started a ritual I’m never going to live down. Love does crazy things to a guy.”

  I press my lips to her ear and pull back to see her looking at me, a huge smile on her face, and I’m hit once again by how right this feels. Why I was never struck with that panic at being with her, why I didn’t try to get away, why I never wanted to flee . . .

  She’s it for me. She and Haley are it—my family, the kind I’ve always wanted. The kind my grandpa always talked about. They’re the home I desperately sought the entirety of my life.

  Now that I’ve finally found it, I’m never letting them go.

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