Loving Tessa (January Cove) (12 page)

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.”

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.

“Aren’t baby boys wonderful?” Adele said.

“Of course. Tyler is a hand full, but the biggest blessing in my life,” Tessa said as she sat down.

“Well, Aaron is my baby boy, you know?”

“Yes. I’m sure that love never changes, Mrs. Parker.”

“And neither does the protectiveness a mother feels for her children, Dawn.” She raised an eyebrow when she said her name, and Tessa knew her cover was quickly being blown.

“Tessa. My name is Tessa.”

“Why did you lie, Tessa?” she asked softly.

“Because I’m in hiding. I’m protecting myself and my son, Mrs. Parker.”

“Please, call me Adele.”

“Okay, Adele,” she said with a slight smile as she looked down at her hands.

“Someone hurt you?”

“Yes. For a long time. And he’s going to try to find me. I ran away.”

“Good for you, Tessa,” she said, surprising Tessa completely. “And my son?”

“He found out and has been trying to help me. I told him not to, because it could be dangerous…”

“I probably don’t want to know more. I had a mild stroke recently,” Adele said with her hand on her chest.

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t mean to stress you out,” Tessa said sitting at the edge of her chair.

“It’s okay, honey, I’m not that fragile. But no mother wants to think of her baby in danger. I’m sure you understand.” Adele smiled.

“You’re right. I’m sorry I brought him into this, Adele. I’ll make it right, I promise,” Tessa said as Aaron walked back into the room. Adele opened her mouth to say something, but Aaron cut her off.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“Everything okay?” Tessa asked.

“Yep. Except I need to go get a new cell phone,” he said laughing. “Maybe we can stop by the cell phone place on the way out of town. See you soon, Mom,” he said, kissing her on the cheek. Adele looked at Aaron with such love, and it broke Tessa’s heart. She’d just dragged this wonderful woman and her family into the middle of her mess, and she had to do something to stop it.

***

“You’re being quiet again,” Aaron said as they neared the campground. Tessa had barely said a word all the way home, while Tyler jabbered on about everything he’d done all day.

“Just listening to my son,” she said softly.

Aaron didn’t buy it, but he wasn’t going to press her in front of Tyler. After stopping by the phone store and activating his new phone, they arrived back at the campground to pack up some things for their stay at the other house.

Tessa went to the camper immediately and packed up what little they had while Aaron took care of Tyler and the dog. An hour later, they were on their way back to the other house. Still, she was quiet.

“I think we should get some groceries so we can minimize our trips into the city,” Aaron said, stopping at a small grocery store just before they left town.

“Sure. Good idea,” she said, glancing two doors down at the pawn shop. “Listen, would you mind taking Tyler with you? I wanted to look for something at the pawn shop.”

“The pawn shop?” Aaron asked with a questioning look on his face.

“Yeah. I’m looking for a lighted makeup mirror. Unless you have one?” she said with a smile.

“Um, no. Just be careful, okay?” he said softly as he took Tyler’s hand and went into the store.

“I will,” she said, and then she walked toward the pawn shop. Aaron wondered what she was really up to as she didn’t wear much makeup, but he had to get Tyler into the store.

About fifteen minutes later, Tessa joined them in the grocery store like everything was fine. He decided not to press her on it. Maybe she was just feeling comfortable enough to venture out on her own for a few minutes since Ethan was being watched.