The Bachelor's Sweetheart (5 page)

“I'm here, listening.”

“I know.” His voice was gravelly. “You always do.”

His lopsided attempt at a grin pierced her heart. “Tell me what's going on.”

“We never had concrete proof that my father was dead. We heard from him off and on for a while after he left and then nothing. Mom filed a missing person report. The last time anyone saw him was more than nine years ago, around the time Hope was born. According to the police report, he staggered out of a bar in Saranac Lake and disappeared, leaving his old truck in the parking lot. It was the middle of winter. Anything could have happened to him.”

She shivered at the thought of what could happen to someone passed out in the woods on a sub-zero Adirondack winter night. Josh spoke with such detachment, as if commenting on something he'd heard on the news, rather than someone in his family, someone Tessa suspected Josh loved in the deepest recesses of his heart.

“Neither the police nor the private detective Jared hired for Mom found a trace of him after that. Until now.” He puckered his mouth as if trying to get rid of a bad taste.

“So you all assumed he was dead? I don't think I could accept a family member's death without proof.”

“You don't know my father.”

She didn't know his father. But she knew people—men and women—like him, or like he was. Some of them were friends. One was her AA sponsor.

“Mom may have harbored a small hope that he was alive. But a couple of years ago when she wanted to sell the house in Paradox Lake and buy a condo near my aunt in Pennsylvania, she had to have him declared legally dead. It's been nine years since anyone has seen or heard from him.”

He stood and began pacing the room, making Tessa wonder if his mother wasn't the only one who'd held open the thought that Jerry Donnelly wasn't dead. In Josh's case, though, it may have been fear he was still alive.

“My father's name was on the deed to the house, although I can't think that he ever contributed a thing toward it in money or keeping it up. His style was more trashing the place. My guess is that's why he showed up. Somehow he got wind that Mom sold the house and he wants his half of the proceeds to drink away.”

Josh stopped at the other side of the room, back to her, facing the wall, and Tessa waited for him to continue.

The silence grew too loud for her. “So why's he here? The house sale is between him and your mother. It doesn't involve you guys.” Tessa counted her heartbeats as she waited for Josh to answer.

“He's already visited Mom.”

“Have you or your brothers talked with her?”

Josh picked up the pacing again.

“Can you sit?”

He stopped by the chair. “I don't know.”

“You don't know whether your brothers have talked with your mother or whether you can sit?”

“Both. When I talked with Connor, they hadn't.” He lowered himself into the chair and tapped his foot. “I'm certainly not going to be the first to call her. I'm not sure what I'd do if she's caved to him as usual and given him money.” He blew out a breath. “Or worse, said she'd take him back. Since Mom moved to Pennsylvania, she's been happier than I ever remember her being.”

Tessa studied Josh's rugged profile, choosing and discarding words in her mind. There was no way to step around the ones she needed to say. “You said your father wanted to make amends.”

He jerked his focus toward her. “That's what he told Connor.”

As if words could make up for what the old man had done to Mom and him and his brothers. He ran his gaze over Tessa's open face. What he'd done to his ability to have any kind of lasting relationship with a woman beyond his friendship with Tessa. What his father's parenting had done to any thoughts he ever might have entertained about having children of his own.

“It sounds to me like he's working a twelve-step program, like AA. Can you consider that maybe he's not drinking and does want to make amends?”

“Dear old Dad is always working something. As for him not drinking, once a drunk, always a drunk, no matter how you try to dress it up with programs.”

While she should have been prepared, his words knocked the breath out of her. She reached for Josh's arm, and he jumped from the chair, opening a hollow space in her chest.

“Sorry. I need to go. I have to get some air. Maybe I'll swing by for the movie Friday night.”

Tessa couldn't remember the last time Josh hadn't shown up on Friday night to help her show the weekly feature. “Wait. I'm done for the night. I'll walk down with you.”

Josh held the door for her, tension radiating from him. When they got downstairs to the main door, she asked, “Will you consider what I said about your father making amends?”

He turned on her, his mouth drawn in a grim line. “No more questions. All I know is that I don't need any drunks in my life.”

* * *

Tessa scrubbed the grout between the tiles surrounding the bathtub at the garage apartment as if her life depended on it being sparkling white. Josh hadn't stopped by the Majestic for the Friday or Saturday evening shows or the Sunday matinee. Nor had he sat with her and her grandmother at Sunday morning church service as he often did. In fact, if he was at church at all, he must have sat in the back and left before she and Grandma made it up the aisle.

But that's what she wanted, wasn't it, to be less dependent on Josh's friendship? His avoidance could be God's way of weaning her, which was why she hadn't contacted him since she'd seen him last Monday. But that didn't mean he wasn't on her mind. Constantly. Sunday evening on her way home from work, she'd checked the apartment to see if he'd been there. He was supposed to be moved in, except they'd never finished the cleaning. She'd found new boxes on the living room floor, air fresheners plugged in a few of the electrical sockets and the carpeting no longer had the muddy look the several years' accumulation of dust had given it.

She sprayed more cleaner on the wall. So what had she done? Instead of texting or calling Josh to get together to finish the cleaning, she'd come over to the apartment late the past three afternoons and cleaned, thinking Josh might stop in after work.
Pitiful
. She needed to get a life, which was what she'd been trying to do with the Majestic renovations, and redirect her relationship with Josh to a working one. She didn't need the grief of getting in the middle of him and his father. Josh needed to work that out himself.

The click of the apartment door opening made her drop the scrub brush in the tub. It landed with a thud that echoed through the apartment. The only people who had keys besides her were her grandmother and Josh, and Josh would be at work.

“Hello, what brings you up here?” she called to her grandmother, rising and walking to the doorway to the main room.

Josh and Claire Delacroix stood by the entry door. “I didn't expect you to be here,” he said.

“Why aren't you at work?” she blurted.
And why is Claire with you?
“I mean, I thought I'd finish the cleaning.” She dug the toe of her sneaker into the corner of the doorjamb. As of last Thursday, the apartment was his. She was the one who didn't belong here.

“I appreciate it, but I was caught up at work for the moment, so took off a couple of hours this afternoon to move. I didn't get it all done over the weekend.”

Right, because the only time you had was the hours I was working and you knew you wouldn't run in to me.

“I can finish. You've got better things to do than clean my apartment,” he said.

Of course he could finish—him and Claire
. “Sure, I'll get my stuff. There's not much left to do.” She went back into the bathroom. What was with her? She never got tongue-tied and uneasy with Josh. Nor did she pay particular attention to who he was seeing, except to bust on him. Tessa dumped the dirty cleaning water in the tub and watched the grime spiral down the drain before she rinsed the tub and her bucket. Pasting a smile on her face, she crossed the main room to the door where Josh and Claire were still standing.

“Have fun,” she said, pulling the door open. “And Josh, once you're settled in, text me about when you can get started with the work at the Majestic.”

“Wait,” Claire said, grabbing the door as Tessa pulled it closed. “I'm here to see you. I couldn't get you on your cell phone. I stopped by the house, and your grandmother said you were here. I ran into Josh on the walk over.”

Tessa released the door handle. “Oh, I thought...”

Or, rather, she hadn't thought. She'd reacted. She and Claire had had lunch together yesterday when Tessa was shopping in Ticonderoga near Claire's satellite work office. Lunch had been a spur of the moment idea Tessa had had to expand her friendships beyond Josh. Claire had spent the whole time talking about Nick, a guy she'd recently started seeing.

“Never mind. What's up?”

Claire stared at her. “You thought I was here with Josh, to help him move in?” She laughed. “And I thought you knew me.”

Tessa shook her head. “Yes, what was I thinking?”

“Hey.” Josh waved his hand in front of them. “I'm right here.”

She patted him on the shoulder. “We know. We're your friends. We're keeping you from becoming too self-important. So, back to why you're looking for me, Claire.”

“What we talked about at lunch yesterday.” Claire glanced at Josh and back.

Tessa's mind blanked.

“Me, Nick, his cousin. Remember, I told you that when I talked Nick into the Resurrection Light concert a week from Friday, he bought tickets for his cousin and a date.” Claire twisted a lock of her hair. “Safety in numbers. I don't know about his cousin, but Nick's not really a practicing Christian. I have hopes, though.”

Equal measures of guilt about forgetting and compassion for Claire's hopes filled Tessa as she recalled their lunch conversation.

“You were going to let me know today if you had someone to handle the concessions at the Majestic, so Myles could cover for you in the projector room,” Claire said.

“Let me see if I can help,” Josh said, grinning. “Claire's setting you up, or trying to set you up, with a date for the concert. Have I got that right, Claire?”

“Nothing gets by you.”

“I can collect tickets and manage the concession stand for Friday. Or run the movie,” Josh said.

“You aren't going to the concert?”

“No, don't you remember? I waited too long to get tickets and they were sold out.” Josh crossed his arms over his chest.

She shook her head. He sounded almost hurt, as if she should remember.

“Yeah, Myles said his mom and Eli were going. She's a huge fan. He asked if he could bring his sisters to watch the movie while he worked, so Jamie and Eli wouldn't have to get a sitter for them.”

“I remember Myles asking about Rose and Opal. They'd love to see the movie from the projector room.”

Josh frowned. “I said we should go to the concert, too. That I'd check on getting tickets.”

“Wait. Wasn't that when Myles was putting a new CO2 container in the soft drink machine and Pepsi spewed out all over him? I guess what you said didn't register.”

Why was he making such a big deal? Was he that disappointed about missing the concert? Her pulse ticked up. Or was he bothered that she'd forgotten he'd suggested they go and now she was going with Claire and her friends? If she decided to go. She wanted to cool her friendship with Josh, not kill it.

“Maybe you could buy Claire's friend's extra ticket. The theater's my responsibility, not yours, and I only work the three days.”

Josh's frown transferred to Claire's face.
Another disgruntled friend
. She was losing what social skills she'd thought she'd developed, and fast.

“You'd give up your concert ticket for me?” Josh uncrossed his arms, placed his hands over his heart and lifted his chin. “Now that's friendship. But you don't get out of the first date you've agreed to in months that easily.”

“I hadn't agreed.” Tessa pushed a stray strand of hair off her face and dropped her gaze to the floor. The teasing was more Josh, but he was still acting weird.

“Sure you had. Right, Claire?”

“I thought so.”

“It's settled. I'll fill in for Myles Saturday, so he can show the movie and you can go out with Claire and her friends.”

“Works for me,” Claire said. “I'll get in touch with the details after I talk with Nick.” She checked her watch. “I'd better get back to work.”

“Yeah, it'll be fun,” Tessa said, remembering how excited Claire had been at lunch yesterday when she'd invited her to the concert.

The door closed behind Claire. “Why do I feel like I did in high school when my other grandmother in Batavia told one of her friends that I needed a date to the Spring Fling, and the friend said her son, the class clown, would be happy to take me? I could have had a date if I'd wanted one. But I hadn't, and certainly not with him. I'd planned to study for the SATs with another friend that weekend.”

Josh shrugged. “You'd planned to spend a Saturday night studying?”

“My friend was really nervous about the test. It was the only evening we both had free before we were scheduled to take it.”

“That's why Claire and I had to step in.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sit down.” He directed her to the couch. “It's okay. I aired out the cushions Sunday morning and vacuumed the rest of it.”

So he hadn't been at church. He'd been avoiding her. She sat and tried to find a comfortable spot between the lumps and springs. “You might want to get a new couch.”

“Stay on topic. Sometimes, you're too responsible.”

Being responsible worked for her. Moving to Schroon Lake and taking over the movie theater had gotten her away from the dark pit she'd crawled out of and helped her stay sober. “But I only work Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.”