Loving Tessa (January Cove)

by Hanna, Rachel

  “Well?” she asked anxiously.

  “It’s good news, for now at least. He seems to be at home, and it doesn’t look like he’s packing up to leave or anything. Stan said he saw him about a half hour ago, and he’s got a guy doing surveillance right now.”

  “But, Aaron, how long can that go on? I can’t afford to pay someone to watch Ethan for the rest of my life.” She chewed on her bottom lip, an old anxious habit, and sighed.

  “I’m paying Stan, Tessa.”

  “Aaron, you’re too good to be true, and I am so thankful that you’re here to help me. But even you have to admit that watching Ethan long term isn’t the answer.”

  “True. So what is the answer?”

  “I don’t know. I really don’t know. I feel like I’m still in prison. He’s still got me because he’s in my head. As long as he is free and breathing air, he’s still got me captive,” she said, unable to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. “It’s not fair.”

  “Nothing about what happened to you is fair,” he said as he leaned in and took both of her hands. “But we’re going to make this right somehow. I promise.” She looked into his eyes and believed him, but she wasn’t sure why. It seemed like Aaron could make everything right, but then again she didn’t want to trust a man like that again. It hadn’t served her well in the past.

  “Aaron! The oar!” she yelped as she watched his knee bump it into the water.

  “Crap!” he yelled as his automatic reaction made him lean to try to catch it. Instead, the canoe started to wobble back and forth violently while he tried to stabilize himself. Again, they locked eyes for a brief second as each of them realized that they were going down whether they liked it or not.

  The canoe tipped on its side, throwing both of them into the water. Aaron was on the outside, but somehow Tessa got stuck with her head under the boat.

  “Tessa!” he yelled as he swam a couple of feet to her and pushed the boat back upright. She was gasping for air, panic stricken from falling and then getting sucked under the toppled canoe. He slid his arms around her waist and held her close to his chest as she caught her breath. Wearing her white dress, she felt like she was in a wet t-shirt contest on a crowded Spring Break beach.

  “I’m okay,” she whispered, trying not to look at him for fear that he would see the attraction in her eyes. Just holding her upright and pulling her close was enough to make Tessa want to hug him back or kiss him or worse. He had a quiet confidence and strength that made her feel more secure than she ever had.

  “You sure? Can you swim?”

  “Yes. Unless I’m having a panic attack at the time!” she said with a giggle, finally mustering the courage to look at him. They were nose to nose, and she could feel his warm breath floating across her cheek as he spoke.

  “I’m so sorry. I’m normally very good with canoes. I think you make me nervous,” he said, his voice soft but husky. For the first time, she noticed his dimples and wanted to lick one. Mentally slapping herself across the face for thinking that, she tried to divert her attention to something else. Maybe those full lips of his?

  “You’re starting to make me nervous too,” she finally managed to say. “Guess we’d better start swimming for shore?”

  “Can you grab onto the canoe?”

  “Yeah,” she said reaching her right arm out and pulling it closer.

  “We can’t climb in from out here. It’ll just topple over again. But there’s a rock over here that we can climb onto and then get back into the canoe. You just hang onto the canoe, and I will swim us to the rock.”

  Slowly but surely, Aaron pulled himself, Tessa and the canoe all the way to the rock. She was amazed at how strong he was and it sent electricity rocketing through her body to think of what else he could do.

  When they reached the rock, he picked her up around her waist and hoisted her onto the rock. As he tied off the canoe, she checked her dress and had her worst fears confirmed. Not much was hidden under the gauzy white garment.

  Aaron climbed up on the rock beside her, and she noticed him noticing her.

  “My dress… Not a good day to wear white…” she said as she fumbled with the straps to keep them pulled up under the weight of the water saturating her clothing.

  “I’m not complaining,” he said softly as he looked at her eyes. He was out of breath, still panting for air from the swim. He pulled his navy blue t-shirt over his head, twisted it to get as much of the water out as possible and handed it to Tessa. “Here. Cover up.” She smiled, and then slid the shirt over her head. For the first time, she got a real look at his taut muscles. He was blond, but tanned from working outside so much. His abs were solid and she could see an actual six pack for the first time in her life. Ethan didn’t have a six pack, and the thought of seeing him without clothes made her shudder. “Why, Miss Reeves, are you checking me out?” he asked with a dimpled smile that made her want to touch those muscles and more.

  “What? No, of course not. I thought I saw a mosquito on your chest,” she said. A mosquito on his chest? Really, Tessa? Way to think on your feet. Duh.

  “A mosquito, huh?”

  “Yes. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it,” she said, realizing that she’d been caught. “What about you? You certainly noticed my dress clinging to me for dear life.”

  “Guilty as charged. I’d have to be dead not to notice a gorgeous woman with a wet, white, clinging dress on.” They both started laughing at the predicament they were in. “I’m supposed to be protecting you, and so far today I’ve made you fall and almost got you drowned.” He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

  “And I still feel safer with you than I’ve ever felt,” she responded softly.

  “You do?” he asked, kicking his foot across the water.

  “I do. This is the most peaceful I’ve been in years, Aaron. From the time I was ten, my life has been tumultuous to say the least. The past couple of days has given me a little hope that I might have a normal life at some point.”

  “You will, Tessa. You deserve a great life, and so does Tyler. It will happen, but it might take some time. We just have to come up with a plan. Let me ask you something. Do you have any proof that he was holding you captive?”

  “Proof?”

  “I mean, I believe you one hundred percent, but the police are going to want to see proof. How can they be sure you weren’t off somewhere else for three years and had a baby?”

  She pondered his question for a moment. The truth was, she didn’t have much of anything. Obviously, they could find her DNA in the basement, but it would have been there anyway since she lived with Ethan. She hadn’t been allowed to have a phone or a computer, so she had no photos or videos to prove anything.

  “That’s the problem. I have nothing, and he knows it. He knows he can do whatever the hell he wants, and I can’t prove a thing.”

  “That’s not true, Tessa. We’ll figure something out.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because I have to be,” he said bumping her shoulder. “But, for now, I think we should take some time to think. To plan.”

  “How much time?”

  “A week. All of this is so raw and fresh for you, and maybe you will think of something that we can use on him if you just have some time to think. You need space to feel safe and secure for a bit so you can relax.”

  She thought for a moment about what he was saying, and he was exactly right. It was like he was reading her mind. She’d been so consumed with escaping and keeping Tyler safe that she hadn’t been able to calm herself down until this moment.

  “You’re probably right. I need some time to focus on what to do. Maybe I’ll think of something. But we can’t keep taking up space in your cabin, Aaron. It’s not fair to you, and I’m sure it will raise some eyebrows with your employees.”

  “I don’t care what anyone thinks, Tessa.”

  “I know you don’t, but I do. I cannot have it on my conscience that I gave y
ou a bad reputation,” she said, bumping his shoulder in return.

  “Trying to protect my virtue, are you?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “I don’t think we have to worry about that, but if it makes you feel better, why don’t we move over here for a week? It’ll be like a little mini vacation for me. I love this place.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. It’ll be nice to spend some time teaching Tyler how to fish in this spring. Has he ever fished?”

  She looked at him, and then it registered in his face that Tyler had never really learned anything outside of that basement.

  “Oh, God, Tessa… I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  “It’s okay, Aaron. Tyler hasn’t had a chance to learn much of anything.”

  “Well, that’s my new goal. For the next week, we’re going to let that kid have a blast. I’m gonna teach him to fish and make paper airplanes and make the best ice cream sundaes…” Aaron was rattling off all of the cool things he was doing to teach her son, and her heart literally skipped a beat. She was practically filling up with pride at the kind of man Aaron was even though she had nothing to do with it.

  Tessa kicked her feet back and forth in the water like a kid. “This has been really nice.”

  “Really? I haven’t scared you off yet?”

  “It takes a lot more to scare me off, Aaron,” she said rolling her eyes.

  “So, are you in agreement to staying here for a week?”

  “Can I bring Beau?”

  “Of course.”

  “Would you say no to me about anything, Aaron Parker?” she asked batting her eyelashes.

  “I doubt it, Tessa Reeves.”

  Chapter 8

  After spending awhile sitting on the rock chatting, Aaron realized it was getting late and they needed to pick Tyler up from his mother’s house.

  “I guess we’d better get brave and try to get back into the canoe,” he said nodding toward the old boat.

  “You sure?”

  “Not really. I’m not very confident in my skills at the moment.”

  “Lovely,” she said laughing. Without warning, Tessa put her foot into the canoe and jumped across, narrowly escaping turning it over again.

  “What are you doing, crazy woman?” Aaron said.

  “I took charge. I’m gonna save us both,” she said proudly with her hands on her hips. She was perched with her feet on each side of the floor of the canoe, holding her hand out to Aaron.

  “My hero,” he said with a wink as he took her hand and pulled the canoe closer. He got one foot in, but the canoe started to tip, and he didn’t want to chance dumping her out of it all over again.

  Aaron slid into the water and started to pull the canoe across the spring. “Why didn’t you get in?” she asked.

  “Because I don’t want to dump you out.”

  “But now you’re all wet again.”

  “I’ll dry off, don’t worry.”

  He looked up at her as he paddled, watching her now dry hair float in the breeze. It had a natural curl to it, but not enough to look kinky or frizzy. No, it was perfect just like everything about her. And that was the real danger in all of this. He wasn’t worried about his physical safety, but about the safety of his heart. She was a shattered woman, and he hoped she wouldn’t shatter him at some point.

  When they finally reached the shore, she climbed out, gingerly avoiding the rocks that dotted the shoreline of the small spring. Aaron crawled to the shore and then stood up. She removed his blue shirt and handed it to him, and if he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought she was trying not to look at his chest. It made him want to smile, but he forced his face to stay still.

  “You don’t need this anymore?”

  “No. I think my dress has dried enough,” she said softly as she looked down to check. He could no longer see through it, so it was at least dry enough to make her feel comfortable.

  “Damn it!” Aaron said as he reached into his pocket and dug out his drenched, non-working cell phone.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “My phone. It’s toast.”

  “Which means Stan can’t reach you if Ethan moves…”

  “Right. We’d better load up and go pick up Tyler before it gets too late. I’ll call Addison from Mom’s house and get Stan’s number again.”

  “Sorry about your phone,” she said with a sly smile.

  “Then why are you about to laugh?” he asked as he poked her in the arm.

  “Because you make me laugh, Aaron Parker.”

  ***

  The ride back to Adele’s house was quiet, and Tessa’s mind was racing. How was she already starting to feel things for Aaron? She barely knew him, yet here she was making a potentially stupid mistake by getting too close too soon. Was she just starting to rely on him because she had no one else? Was he really as great as he appeared to be?

  Tessa had had a lot of time to think during those three years locked in her basement. She thought about how stupid she was for trusting Ethan, and how she’d never make that mistake again. She’d never let a man “rescue” her and make her depend on him like Ethan had. She wouldn’t fall for charm or wit or kindness. She vowed to become hardened and tough and independent. The only problem was, she had no idea how to do that.

  “Everything okay?” Aaron asked as they drove into town.

  “Huh? Oh. Yeah. I’m fine,” she stammered, worried that he was reading her thoughts.

  “You’re awfully quiet.”

  “Just thinking. I do a lot of that,” she said looking at him and smiling.

  “I bet. Three years is a lot of time to think.” How did he do that?

  “It is. I’ve had plenty of time to beat myself up over the last few years.”

  “Can I say something?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’d be willing to bet that you think you don’t make good decisions. I’d also be willing to bet that you’re worried that I’m some jackass in disguise like your ex.”

  “Well, I…”

  “And that would be totally understandable,” he said. “But, here’s the thing. You’re gonna have to trust someone at some point. If you let that jerk taint who you are inside, he’s already won. He will have you imprisoned forever. Trusting is more courageous than walling yourself off forever, Tessa.”

  She knew he was right, but she wasn’t sure she could do it. Trust again? Dangerous, she thought.

  A few minutes later, they pulled into Adele’s driveway. Aaron walked around and opened her door, as usual. Before they could get into the front entryway, Tyler came bounding toward them with a grin on his face and chocolate on his cheeks.

  “Mommy!” he squealed as he hugged her waist tightly. She leaned down and picked him up.

  “Hey, sweetie! I’m guessing from the chocolate on your face, you had fun?”

  “Yes! We made cookies and took them to the fire department! Kaitlyn helped me too.”

  Adele came from around the corner with her apron on and a smile on her face. “He did great!” she said ruffling his hair as she walked into the foyer. “What a sweet boy he was. The firemen even let him climb inside their truck. He said he’d never seen a fire truck before. I was surprised,” she said with a hint of concern in her voice.

  “We lived in a small town,” Tessa said quickly before shooting a glance at Aaron.

  “Listen, Mom, can I borrow your phone? I dropped mine in the water.”

  “Aaron, you’ve always been a klutz, son,” she said shaking her head. “Sure, you know where it is.”

  As Aaron walked into the kitchen, Tessa stood there, unsure of what to do.

  “Dawn, would you like to sit down for a few minutes?” Adele asked. Tessa didn’t turn around at first. “Dawn?”

  Realizing her mistake at not recognizing her fake name, she turned around.

  “Who’s Dawn?” Tyler asked with his head cocked to the side.

  “Your Mommy’s name is Dawn,” Adele
said with a laugh as she sat down in a chair in the front room.

  “No it’s not, silly!” Tyler said as he scooted out of Tessa’s arms and ran back into the kitchen where Kaitlyn was mixing more cookie dough.

  Tessa froze in place, a look of fear overtaking her face. Adele stared at her for a moment before patting the chair next to hers. “Come. Sit,” she said sweetly.