Page 95 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

‘Oh my God. Who are you and what have you done with the real Tessa?’

She fixed a steady stare on me. ‘I’m serious. Things are about to change. I’m not sitting back and letting the store die without putting up a fight. Dad and I have a meeting set up for next week. We’re going to talk about simplifying my purchasing habits. Other streams of revenue I can research to bring in more money.’

I tugged her in close. ‘That’s my girl. I love that you’re coming out swinging.’

She put on a determined face but I could still feel her trembling.

‘That’s enough about me and my problems.’ She tipped her chin to the marker. ‘Were you getting any good advice from Mom?’

‘I wish. I’d do anything to have just a few more minutes with her. Tell her how lost and broken I’ve been without her.’ I plucked a piece of grass and twirled it between my fingers. ‘If she was here, I know she’d tell me what to do about the house. How to handle things with Beck.’

Tessa went quiet. Her eyes focused on the birth and death dates carved into the solid black marker Dad had insisted on. I’d wanted a muted gray. It was like Mom. Much more subtle. But, as usual, he did whatever he wanted.

‘She would have liked it here. All the magnolias. The way the gardeners carefully clip all the grass around each headstone.’

‘True, even though she would have never chosen the one Dad picked.’

Her brows pulled together. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘The headstone. We told Dad she’d want gray.’

‘I never said that. In fact it was Mom who told Dad this is the one she wanted.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes. You were right there when she spoke about it.’

She paused and pulled in a heavy breath.

‘This is the problem, Tor. You have tunnel vision when it comes to Dad. You want to blame him for everything without even knowing or remembering the truth.’

‘I think I remember everything he’s done quite clearly, Tessa,’ I bit out.

‘Really? Did you know that he almost resigned as mayor over the permit incident?’

I blanched. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘He and Amos had nothing to do with it. It was the rest of the council who went behind his back and got the permit held up. Did you even bother to ask how he voted at the council meeting?’

‘No. I just assumed he voted against me.’

I didn’t like the exasperated way she looked at me. ‘I love you but there are times I want to shake some sense into you.’

‘Okay.’ I gave in. ‘He helped a bit. That still doesn’t take away from what happened at the hospital.’

She turned to me, her mouth a thin, angry line. ‘How many times has he asked you to make time for dinner? Or to talk? If you’d get out of your own way, open your eyes for once, you’d see that he’s been trying to explain what happened.’

‘Do you know the truth?’

She dipped her chin down. ‘We had coffee at Sugar Rush after the council meeting. I pushed him to tell me the truth. We went round and round about it until he finally gave in.’

I kept my face emotionless, but I had to admit that it hurt that he’d spoken to her without me there.

‘Tell me what he said.’

‘Mom asked him to stay away. Not to say a word about it to us.’

‘No,’ I snapped. ‘She’d never do that.’