by Karen Pokras
Tessa laughed again. “It’s pronounced keen-wa, and it happens to be very good and healthy. What was wrong with my kale? Everyone I’ve made it for so far has raved about it.”
“Nothing, sweetie. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. It was fabulous. The bomb. It was better than—”
“Todd! Todd! You’re here!”
“There’s my favorite three year old.” He grinned, scooping her up in his arms. He swung her around in a circle as she squealed in delight. “I hope you’re hungry. I brought you macaroni and cheese and ravioli. And, um, chicken nuggets and French fries. And, well … spaghetti and meatballs, too.” He laughed.
“That’s too much food,” Sophie said, frowning. “I’ll get a belly ache.”
“Maybe I did bring a little too much.”
“Sweetie,” Tessa said, “For tonight, you can just pick one of those to eat. We’ll save the rest for another time.”
“Okay. I’ll take ravioli.”
“Oh, and for dessert, I have chocolate chip cookies for you, Sophie, and three different kinds of cheesecake for us.” Todd smiled, looking at Tessa.
“Yum! Mommy, can I go play?”
“Of course, we’ll eat in a little bit.” She watched as her daughter ran off. “You’re trying to make me fat, aren’t you? Is that your plan?”
“Nope. My plan is to spoil you. I know you’ll be working hard the next few days with the meeting coming up, so this way you won’t have to think about meals. They said you could freeze whatever you don’t eat, and I figure you can bring some stuff to work, too. Maybe Abbott will even give you ten minutes to eat lunch.”
Tessa raised her eyebrows as she finished unpacking the bags.
“Five minutes?” he asked.
“Thirty seconds if I’m lucky. I can’t wait until this meeting is over. No offense, of course. Without your boss, I’d probably be without a job. The fees from these consultations pay my salary.”
“I just wish Abbott treated you better. It’s not right. You deserve better. If only there was a way to get that message through to him.”
Tessa felt a well of panic rise up. “You’re not going to say anything to Mr. Schilling, are you? Please, promise me. I know you mean well. There’s only one thing greater than the fees that Mr. Schilling pays and that’s Mr. Abbott’s enormous ego. If your boss says anything to him about me, he’d kick me out on my ass so hard I wouldn’t even see it coming, and I need this job—at least until I find another one. Please, Todd, promise me?”
Taking her hands in his own, he looked at her sadly. “I don’t like it, but I promise. Listen, you don’t have to worry, Tessa. I know Nicholas would never let anything bad happen to you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you … for everything. You’re so good to me. How’d I get so lucky? Not just for the food, but for the way you care about me … and Sophie.”
“I’m the lucky one,” he responded, kissing her. “And as for the food, I was kind of selfishly hoping you’d invite me over for another meal. I mean, look at all of this stuff! You can’t possibly eat this all by yourself.”
She wondered if he realized he could probably get whatever he wanted just by showing her those dimples. “Ah, now I see your true plan,” she snickered.
“And? Did it work?” he asked, pulling her in tighter.
Closing her eyes, she pressed her body against his even more. She wanted him so desperately. For weeks they’d waited. They’d been close many times, but she’d always been the one to slow things down. Tonight she felt different. Tonight she felt ready.
“Todd,” she whispered. She wanted to let him know this evening would be special … so special. She felt him tense up and pull back. “What’s the matter?” she asked.
He looked at her with a serious expression she knew couldn’t be good; an expression she dreaded seeing. Had she been misreading all of the signs this entire time? Was the food a parting gift? A pity offering for the poor, single mom to ease his guilt? Were his words of him being the lucky one and wanting to spoil her just that: only words? What about what he’d just said about hoping she’d invite him back for another meal? He took her hand and led her over to the couch.
Chapter 28
This is it, Tessa thought. This is the part where I find out my perfect guy is not perfect. Poor Sophie. She’s going to be devastated, and she’s going to blame me. For good reason, too. I’m her mother. It’s my job to protect her from getting hurt—to protect both of us.
Tessa wouldn’t look him in the eyes; she couldn’t. She didn’t want him to see the tears that were starting to form. Todd placed his hands over hers just as one of those tears dropped onto it. He lifted her chin to see her face.
“Why are you crying?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, “I just … I–I have a bad feeling.”
He embraced her fully with both arms as she sobbed into his shoulder, trembling as years of pent up emotions finally escaped. He held her tight, stroking her hair, allowing her to weep until there were no more tears to shed.
So much for not letting him see you cry, Tessa. “I feel like a fool,” she stated, slowly lifting herself off his shoulder. “Me and my crazy emotions. I understand if you want to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he replied, rubbing her back. “But I do need to talk to you.”
Tessa glanced down and wrung her hands together in her lap, not sure she was ready for whatever he needed to say.
Letting out a hard breath, he looked away for a moment. “I’ve been wanting to tell you something for a while now, there just never seemed to be a good time.”
She glanced his way and waited for more as silence filled the air, but he only leaned his head back into the couch, appearing distressed as he scrubbed his hands over his face. Was he seriously going to pretend breaking up with her was painful to him?
“A good time to tell me what?” she finally asked, not wanting to prolong the inevitable.
At any moment, her daughter could walk into the room asking about dinner or wanting to crawl into Todd’s lap as she’d done so many times before. Would this be the last time Sophie would ever see him? How would she explain his sudden disappearance? Her tears began to flow freely once again.
Shifting his body toward her, he tried to take her hands … unsuccessfully.
“Tessa, please, don’t cry,” he began, “it’s not like that. Nothing has changed about the way I feel for you. In fact I–I … ugh, I suck at this.”
Furrowing her brow, she studied his face. His expression appeared to be one of adoration and kindness mixed with fear. Maybe her sisters were right. He was trying to tell her the L word. That had to have been what he’d been trying to tell her the last few weeks. Ben was right. Men really were stupid buffoons. Deciding to take pity on him, she allowed him to take her hands after all.
“It’s okay,” she said, hoping her smile would put him at ease. “You can tell me.”
He took another deep breath and nodded. “All right.” His face softened up and his lips curled into a smile to match her own. “As I was saying. When I first walked into Abbott and Associates, I didn’t realize that you thought I was someone other than who I am.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “Sorry about that. I tend to get a little nervous when I’m in the office by myself. My mom always kept our doors and windows locked once my dad left for work in the morning. Anytime anyone came to the door it was like she was on a covert mission, peeking behind the curtains, trying to decide if it was safe to let them in or not. She had 9-1-1 on speed dial, even though it was only three numbers and not really all that hard to remember. I think her paranoia rubbed off on me a bit.”
“Well, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“I’m glad you weren’t a murderer or anything … and even happier for your own sake that I didn’t have any pepper spray on me.”
“Yeah,” Todd cringed, “me too.”
“That was such a great day,�
�� Tessa added.
“It was, and so was our date,” he said, bringing his hand up to caress her cheek. “In fact, that’s the night I … started falling in love with you.”
He said it.
“You love me?” she asked. She needed to hear it one more time.
Placing his other hand on her cheek, he brought her face in close. “Yes, Tessa. I never thought it was possible to fall in love so quickly, but there is no doubt about it. I am completely in love with you. I knew it when I realized you cared about me even though you thought I was someone different.”
Her eyes filled with tears, as she laughed. “Well, just so you know, I don’t usually date guys who are hardened criminals.”
Pulling away slowly, he looked her in the eyes. “I know that. What I meant was—”
“Mommy!” Running into the room, Sophie jumped onto the tiny couch landing squarely on the two of them. She snuggled into their laps before saying, “I’m hungry.”
“Me, too, actually,” Tessa said. “We should probably start eating.”
“Sure,” Todd said with a hint of reluctance. He helped Sophie down as he stood up, and added, “I don’t want to stay too late. I know you have a busy day at work tomorrow, and I’ve got an early morning meeting myself. However, I do want to finish this conversation … soon.”
She nodded, and he offered her a hand. As she pulled herself up to standing, she wrapped her arms around his neck and quietly told him, “I love you, too.”
Chapter 29
“I haven’t had a chance to see him all week,” Tessa whispered into the phone to Ava. “It’s killing me. Friday night can’t come soon enough. I really appreciate you taking Sophie for me this weekend. I have no idea what Todd has planned, but I have a feeling it’s something extra special for just for the two of us. I do know it has something to do with the conversation we started before Sophie interrupted us. He keeps saying he wants to finish it, and it started with I love you, so I can only imagine the rest is going to be even better. Oh that reminds me, can I borrow that dress again? I want to wow him when he comes over.”
“Of course. Um … you don’t think he’s going to propose, do you?” Ava asked, her excitement radiating through the phone.
“What? No. I don’t think we’re there yet. At least, I’m not, but I do think we’re ready to take the next step. You know …”
“I know? Oh!” Her sister suddenly laughed, realizing what Tessa was talking about. “Yes, okay. If that’s what you want. Is it?”
“It’s been a really long time for me,” she sighed, “and Todd is the one I’ve been waiting for. I do love him. Yes, I’m ready.”
“Well then, I’m happy to watch Sophie. It’s no problem at all. The kids are looking forward to it, especially Jenna.”
“Really? I’d have thought Logan would be more excited.”
“Oh, he’s plenty excited, but Jenna’s excited there will be someone else here to entertain Logan all day Saturday. He bugs her non-stop to play with him. I think she’s looking forward to the break.”
Tessa laughed. “I suppose that’s how you and Holly used to feel when I had friends over?”
“I refuse to comment on the grounds that … um … well, I just refuse to comment. And what do you mean used to feel. Why do you think I jumped at the chance to take Sophie so you could go out with Todd this weekend? We’re all excited you have a new playmate.”
“What?” she said a little too loudly. She hoped Mr. Abbott wouldn’t be showing up in her doorway any second. She lowered her voice back down. “Are you saying you just want Todd around so he’ll take me off your hands?”
“Of course not. You’re an absolute pleasure to have around … All. The. Time.”
Tessa scowled without responding. She knew her sister was kidding. Or was she?
“Oh, I’m just teasing. Wow, you really do need some stress relief.”
She dropped her voice down to the softest whisper possible. “You have no idea. Especially in the last few days with this meeting coming up today. You know how my boss can be. I’ve barely gotten any sleep.”
“Tessa!” Mr. Abbott’s voice was so loud she swore she felt the building shake.
“Shit,” she groaned. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you when I get home later … if I survive.”
She hung up her phone without waiting for Ava to respond and swiftly walked into her boss’ office with a pad of paper and pen, ready for the onslaught of orders. The meeting was scheduled to begin in an hour in their conference room, which was unusual. Mr. Abbott and Mr. Schilling always met downtown. In fact, Nicholas Schilling had never been to the offices of Abbott and Associates before. She gathered from conversations she’d had with Todd that his boss did not have the temper Mr. Abbott had; however, with all that money she imagined he had to be just as self-centered. She wondered how both of their egos would fit in their tiny conference room.
Tessa had gotten to work an hour early. In addition to her professional duties as financial accountant, the job she’d actually been hired to do, she’d assumed that as the only woman in the office, her boss would expect that she clean and set up the conference room. Not that he would notice or acknowledge her taking initiative to perform any of these tasks, but she knew had she not done them, he’d find a way to belittle her for missing them. Trying to avoid such a confrontation, she decided to come in early and spend her time vacuuming, dusting, and emptying the trashcan, as he was too cheap to hire a cleaning service to come more than once a month. She set out water pitchers, coffee urns, cups, napkins, tea bags, and anything else she could think of that they might need for morning drinks. She then placed three business folders, complete with reports, papers, and writing utensils on the conference table, one each for Mr. Abbott, Mr. Schilling, and one for Todd, who always accompanied his boss to these meetings. Of course, she’d have to pretend she didn’t know him, at least for now. Hopefully she’d be able to keep her secret. It would be tough knowing he was in the same building.
“Are you listening?” Mr. Abbott snarled.
“I’m sorry, sir, I was just remembering that I needed to get the coffee started. Would you mind repeating that?”
“Tessa, do you have any idea how important this meeting is?”
“Yes, sir,” she responded, looking confused. After all of the work she put in, how could he even ask her such a question?
He got up from his desk and paced the floor. “Word on the street is that Nicholas has been spending a lot of time out of the office lately. My guess is he’s thinking about a new business venture.”
“Is that a problem?” Tessa asked, wondering why this was of significance. Was he not allowed to leave his office? And how odd that people kept tabs on his whereabouts.
He stopped pacing and stared at her. “Of course it’s a problem. Every day he gets some greedy vultures knocking on his door, wanting him to invest in their hot new idea. I’m Nicholas’ accountant. He’s never once considered a new business venture without running it by me first. These early meetings that he’s most likely been going to without me are always the most vital when dealing in business proposals. He’s always valued my opinion. His lack of contacting me can only mean one thing.”
“I’m sorry, I still don’t completely understand,” Tessa responded.
Mr. Abbott stared at her. She knew that look. It was the warning look to let her know he was about to lose his patience.
“Obviously, it means he’s been vetting some new accountant. Someone in the city, someone who can guide him through this new business deal. Why else would he be acting this way? I’ve suspected for a couple of weeks now that something’s been going on. That’s why I insisted on having the meeting here at Abbott and Associates. I was able to schedule it with some flaky temp in his office. I wanted to have home field advantage. I had visions of his cronies all ganging up on me up there on the 31st floor of his building. At least if he fires me here, I won’t have to do a walk of shame out of there.”
“Well, I doubt it’s anything like that,” she stated confidently.
“How can you say that, Tessa? Do you know something about that office that I don’t?” Mr. Abbott stared right at her, right into her face, as if he knew she had inside information … if he were searching for clues from some great traitor.
“No, of course not,” she responded, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. “Mr. Schilling doesn’t strike me to be someone who likes to waste time. If he wanted a new accountant, why would he go through the trouble of even having a status meeting? Wouldn’t he be more direct, tell you he doesn’t need our services anymore, and then let his new accountant take over these consultations?”
“Maybe.” Mr. Abbott sunk back into his seat. He suddenly looked smaller, less confident. Tessa almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost. “Go on,” he said, waving his hand at her. “Make the coffee. I want to go over these numbers one more time before he and that annoying financial guy he drags along everywhere with him get here. And don’t forget to put out the scotch and cigars.”
“Right,” Tessa said, cringing as she walked out the door.
Chapter 30
Tessa watched from her office window as the limousine pulled in at exactly ten o’clock. Right on time and arriving in style, Tessa thought. She stood up from her desk and wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt. It was time for her to play receptionist. Walking into the lobby, she waited by the door as the two men approached. The sight of Todd in a suit took her breath away. She’d never seen him look quite so handsome. Mr. Schilling, on the other hand, looked exactly as she expected—stodgy and old. If she had to guess, she’d say he was close to seventy. He was also impeccably dressed in a suit and a very nice one at that. She wasn’t surprised. With the amount of money he had, he probably had it custom made. Both men held briefcases as they entered through the front door.