AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“All right,” Tess said, preemptively shaking her arms to get the blood flowing. “Bushes and lawn decorations first, yes?”
“And then we sprint back inside and drink hot chocolate,” he confirmed.
“A perfect plan.”
As they soon discovered, the shivering cold would rout them a few times before they finished the easier half of their work. They managed to hang a wreath on the front door, situate one of two long garlands around the doorframe, and line his pathway on either side with strings of multi-colored lights before the chilliness forced their first hasty retreat indoors. Inside, they shivered and smiled at one another.
Next, they completed the frustrating task of draping lights over the bushes, after which Liam heeded Tess’s creative guidance on where he should situate the smaller lawn ornaments, such as where he should shove the pair of crossed candy canes whose, for the life of him, usual location he couldn’t remember. Once more, they headed indoors and warmed themselves up while chatting strategy about the remaining ornaments and lights.
He finally grabbed a ladder from the garage on their next foray into the chill. As he hung volleyball-sized snowflakes and icicle lights from his gutters, Tess planted a sign that would flash Merry Christmas in red and green near his driveway. With his garage door open, she worked on the power situation for the lights they’d already put up. Ears turning blue, he finished attaching the last gutter lights just as she emerged from the garage with a thumb lifted. Hauling the plugs from the newly hung lights into the garage, they fitted them into the necessary surge protector and spent only long enough outside to see that their work so far had gone smoothly.
“Back indoors,” Tess said with a shiver, to which he nodded and happily fled back into the heat.
And then his stomach rumbled. Smiling, Tess suggested that they take a late lunch break, and Liam, partially due to hunger, partially due to the extra time he could have with Tess, and partially due to the frigid soreness in his joints, happily agreed. While he directed her to the proper cabinets so she could make them hot chocolate, he scrounged through his fridge for some bologna for sandwiches and a pair of oranges. There wasn’t much else for a “quick and easy” luncheon inside.
“Here we are,” Tess said as she brought two mugs of hot chocolate, their steam wagging like long flowing tails as she hurried over to the table.
“Thanks,” Liam said, taking a much-needed set of sips. Vitality rushed into his core, then spread into his frozen bones.
“We’re making good progress,” Tess noted as she cupped her mug in both hands with a plain intent to warm her palms. Neither of them had thrown on gloves, which was an oversight they were surely suffering because of.
“Yeah, we might actually get it done before we freeze out there and become part of the decorations.”
Tess chuckled as she sat down next to him. “If it’s this cold until Christmas, we wouldn’t unfreeze any time soon.”
Their mild conversation continued as they warmed their fingers and dulled the gnawing hunger in their bellies. Just like last night, Liam experienced the contentment that accompanied time well spent with Tess. Returning home from school and finding that their rapport remained strong—and perhaps it was even stronger—provided the same kind of balmy pleasure that he suspected lounging on a beach in Hawaii would.Shewas his ideal vacation destination.
“So, how come Victoria seemed to hate me so much?”
The question slithered into the conversation without him meaning to bring it up so cavalierly, and it wasn’t the sort that could be recalled.
Tess set down her half-full mug. “She doesn’thateyou.” There was an air of uncertainty that weakened her emphasis. In fact, she looked downright perturbed and concerned by whatever thoughts mulled through her mind. Afterward, an uncomfortable pause further chiseled away at the support structures of her claim.
“It’s no big deal; forget I said anything,” he hastily said, eager to let the topic die.
Tess, however, had other ideas.
“She doesnothate you,” she reiterated, finally finding her resolve. “In fact, this is as good a time as any to talk about last night.”
Liam frowned, spotting a strange glimmer within Tess’s eyes that slightly unnerved him. From how she spoke, there seemed to be more beads in the bowl than just the one involving Victoria’s dislike of him. As Tess scooped her hand into it and drew forth awildlydifferent starting topic, Liam knew nothing except for confusion.
“This, at best, will seem rather unorthodox, but I need for us to jump back to the conversation we had begun just before Victoria’s arrival,” Tess said.
“Be…fore?” Liam crossed his arms over his chest as he tried to rewind his memories to the point before Tess’s wildly beautiful but severely terse friend had arrived. “You mean about your class?”
She nodded. “Specifically, the part about how my recent experiences have enabled me to better lecture about certain topics.”
“Okay, yeah,” he answered tepidly, still uncertain why they’d pivoted to this talking point. “I remember.”
He noticed a noteworthy timidness roiling within Tess, which he imagined didn’t usually roost within her during her typical lectures. It’d be a little while before he understood that it wasn’t the content but thepurposeof sharing it that left her so anxious. By then, he could barely keep his mind focused on anything but the jaw-dropping request she’d dropped onto his lap.
“To provide some insight before diving in fully, my divorce with Douglas was uncontested; neither of us tried to argue that the marriage should continue. Obviously, this made thingsfarless strenuous or unpleasant than they might have been. On average, from the initial filing to the final decree, an uncontested divorce takes six months to a year to fully see through. It was just over eight months for my personal experience.”
“All right, so you filed back in March?” Liam said, unsure if he needed to hold onto that information.
“I did. The Seventh of March, in fact.” However, Tess then waved a dismissive hand at the specific date. “On the other hand,contesteddivorces can sometimes require years before their finalization. In practically all situations, they’re vicious and acrimonious affairs. It’s less about who wins and more about who loses the least.”
“Right,” Liam said, continuing to ride along to wherever Tess was heading with all this.
