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Chapter Thirteen
On Monday midmorning, her day off from the salon, Tessa inhaled the scent of the roses just delivered to her home and smiled at the note on the card.
Until tonight... Kirk
Some women might consider flowers frivolous, but she loved the thought and effort that went into the gift. She closed the door with her foot and carried the large vase with her into the kitchen, noting the instant upheaval they caused amongst the Babes.
"Well, well, well," Cheryl said.
"What have we here?" Adaline asked.
"Would you look at those," Rayna Jo said.
Only Mary Elizabeth remained silent, and Tessa could feel her friend's worry from across the room.
"So? Who is he?" Cheryl asked.
Tessa set the flowers on the counter and tucked the card back into the clear plastic holder. "Just a friend."
"A friend who sendstwodozen roses?" Cheryltsked.
Since Tessa took Sundays and Mondays off, the Babes gathered at her house on Mondays before taking a long walk. Each wore walking shoes and athletic clothes with a stack of jackets and ear warmers piled nearby for the wind coming in off the water. "We're getting to know one another."
Rayna Jo walked over to smell the flowers, her face relaxing as she inhaled.
"I can't remember the last time I got flowers," Rayna Jo said. "They're so beautiful."
"So who is this man?" Cheryl asked.
Tessa gave them a quick rundown of Kirk and how they'd met but left out the part regarding him being younger. Something she noted that Mary Elizabeth picked up on right away if her pursed lips were any indication.
"What does he do?" Cheryl asked.
"He's a businessman. He's working on several large projects right now, including a new restaurant in Carolina Cove."
"Oh, really? Where?" Adaline asked.
"It's just in conception at the moment, I believe. He's looking for investors while trying to firm up details," she said, repeating the news Kirk had told her last night over dinner. He'd surprised her with a call and request to go out and taken her to one of the nicest restaurants in town.
"Is it serious?" Rayna Jo asked.
Tessa felt Mary Elizabeth's stare and shrugged. "I don't know yet. It could get there. Maybe." It was too soon to be thinking about such things, but Kirk had proven himself to be the perfect gentleman. He texted her throughout the day to ask about her well-being, called her at night or took her out. He made a point to come see her, even on his busiest days. That said something about a man, didn't it? That he'd take time out of his day to connect?
"Well, it certainly didn't take long for you to meet someone."
"It just happened," she said in response to Cheryl's statement. "I didn't seek it out. Maybe that's why it's...working so well."
"Just be careful," Mary Elizabeth said.
"When do we get to meet this gentleman?" Rayna Jo asked.
Tessa grabbed her jacket from the pile and shrugged it on, indicating that they needed to get going and hoping it would mean a change in topic. "Soon. I don't know. We'll see."
"It's my turn to host Christmas dinner," Mary Elizabeth said. "Will you be bringing him as your plus-one?"
Tessa glanced at Mary Elizabeth and noted her friend's tense gaze. Why did it matter so much to her? "I don't know yet. Is Izzy bringing her new beau?"
She didn't mean to throw Izzy under the bus, so to speak, but she felt Mary Elizabeth needed the reminder that there were other people she needed to concern herself with more, namely her youngest daughter.
