Page 188 of No Headlines Please

Haranguing and Honors

Delaney

Everything should've been perfectly lovely. The coffee shop was bright and cheerful. My vanilla latte was warm and delicious. Outside the windows, a steady stream of tourists, horse-drawn carriages, and bicycles made it seem almost like peak season.

Then again, it was a Saturday, and the weather was absolutely glorious – unseasonably warm with only a gentle breeze. During the short walk to the coffee shop, I had barely needed a jacket.

I should've been delighted.

Instead, I was irritated, because Tessa was acting like a total stranger – not like she didn't know me, but like I didn't know her.

Or at least, I had never met this version of her. Normally, Tessa was smooth and polished. Not today. Today, she was like a java junkie amped up on caffeine, which was really weird because she hadn't taken a single sip of her latte.

At this rate, she was going to give herself a heart attack.

We'd barely left the house when she'd started warning me away from Maddox, like he'd murder me in my sleep. And she still wasn't letting up.

Finally, I held up a hand. "Just stop, okay?"

She stopped in mid-sentence. "Stop what?"

"Stop nagging me. Maddox is really nice, and you need to give him a chance."

She stiffened. "I am giving him a chance. I did agree to let him stay, remember?"

"You mean last night?" I almost rolled my eyes. "Sure, you didn't kick him out, but you weren't exactly rolling out the welcome mat."

"I don't mean last night," she said. "I meant a few days ago, when Ryder wanted to invite him." She straightened in her chair. "I could've said no."

I gave her a look. "Yeah, and if you had, I wouldn't be sitting here right now. You do remember he brought me here, right?"

"Of course I remember. You've only mentioned it a hundred times."

Well, that was rich. "Yeah, just like you've been 'mentioning' Sloane Hayworth." I smirked. "So I guess we're even."

She stared across the table. "How can you even smile? Don't you feel bad about it?" Tessa shuddered. "That poor girl."

Great. Now Tessa thought I was a monster. "It wasn't a smile," I told her. "It was a smirk."

"So?"

"So of course I feel bad. Everyone feels bad. But what's Maddox supposed to do? Grab his scuba gear and go searching for her personally?"

Tessa looked slightly scandalized. "It's not funny."

Yeah, no kidding. My heart went out to everyone – Sloane, her family, and all of the people who loved her.

Still, all of this felt incredibly one-sided. The headlines had been absolutely brutal – not to the captain of the yacht, or the friends who didn't realize she was missing until pulling into port, or even to the local authorities who seemed more interested in managing the fallout than actually finding her.

Apparently, all of them got a pass.

But not Maddox. The headlines had been brutal only to him, even though he'd been half a world away.

I gave Tessa a pointed look. "I know it's not funny."

"So, why are you joking?"

"I'm not," I said. "I'm just making a point."