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“Societally, divorce, separation, and breakups all come with certain stigmas attached. Expectations, too. One of the more substantial expectations revolves around the idea of dating during a separation, as well as dating immediately after it.”
Immediately, niggling apprehension morphed into piqued curiosity. Liam lost the mild slouch that had infiltrated his posture, and a swift excitement caused by a forbidden hope kicked his heart rate up a gear. He gave Tess his full, undivided attention and answered her statements with a quick nod.
“Not long ago, even here in the Western world, the idea of a woman dating while going through a divorce, or when separated, or even in other less-defined relationships that they seek to leave, was considered taboo. Fortunately, in most places, this is less frowned upon than it was in the prior century.” Tess punctuated her clear distress that it was only “most places” with a sigh. “The progress we have made as a society is good, however. So far as my personal opinion goes, anyway.”
“I don’t see any reason why anybody would think otherwise,” Liam said. “If you’re not with someone, you should be free to pursue a relationship wherever you want.”
His reply earned him a radiant smile of approval, and his heart accelerated into another faster gear. Sipping her mug, he saw Tess’s eyes twinkling over its rim. With each passing second, a thought that had hovered in his mind like a flicker of fog slowly grew more opaque, more real. Yet, still, he worried about grabbing hold of it, fearing that it might just be a trick of the eye that would dissipate if he made a grab for it.
“I am glad you are of a like mind,” Tess said after returning her cup to the table. “There are still many cultures worldwide where such thoughts would be considered unorthodox, even taboo. Even inourculture, pockets of people still carry stigmas toward such actions.”
“Well, I’m not one of them,” Liam quickly reaffirmed, heart racing. “Separated is separated for a reason.”
The gorgeous woman’s smile flashed again. He could see how his words pleased her, which only further enflamed the fierce hope burgeoning within his chest. Her impossibly blue eyes shimmered as she met his gaze, and she unknowingly chewed on the corner of her lower lip.
“Of course, there are still complexities to every situation, but I ultimately agree with you. Especially in this day and age, a person should be able to pursue her happiness, even if they still have a few tethers clutching onto them.”
Now, Liam’s joy slightly diminished, replaced by, at first, confusion, then worry. Hadn’t she just told him that her divorce from Douglas was uncontested? What tethers could still remain? Based on their conversation last night, he couldn’t imagine she felt any lingering attachment to the brusque man.
“Right, everyone has baggage,” he said carefully, wary of wading onto a mine he wasn’t aware was in his path. “That’s normal.”
Tess nodded. “Yes, we all have it, regardless of our situation or station. Life is complex, after all, even unfair at times. Still, we must all do our best in lieu of those complexities. That’s life.”
“That’s true,” he told her, searching within her eyes for the final clarification he hoped he might see. “And it’s better to move forward than get stuck in place because of the past.”
“I am relieved that you feel that way,” Tess said, beaming at him with the brilliance of a personalized spotlight. “Because I have an… unusual request I want to make of you. To answer your original question,thatis why Victoria was unhappy to see us spending time together last night. She is against my plan. However, consenting adults can ultimately do whatever they like, so don’t fret over her unhappiness about all this.”
Liam’s tongue felt dry. His mind whirled around like a marble trapped in a spinning bowl, and it was all he could do to complete a single swallow.
“Consenting adults can ultimately do whatever they like.”
What a statement. It might be the most glorious statement ever uttered. Liam felt as if he’d spent years climbing a mountaintop, exhausted, belabored, unsure if he would ever see the summit he so strongly yearned to stand upon. And now, less than twenty-four hours since his return from his first semester of college, it seemed like he had finally gripped the final handhold.
“I agree,” Liam said again, regaining enough composure to speak a few words. “I agree completely.”
“That’s everything I was hoping to hear,” she said excitedly. “It has set my heart at ease.” She splayed a hand over her voluptuous chest meaningfully, though Liam kept himself on his best behavior. “I have what amounts to a…highly unusualrequest to make of you, Liam. Before I share any details, however, I want to clarify that you are within your rights to decline. If you don’t feel you can go through with it, you should just say so. I won’t think any less of you if you do.”
Holy shit, it reallywashappening! Christmas had come over a week early this year, and it looked like this one was destined to take the top slot as the best one of his life. Lunacy would have to take him before he ever declined this offer. He’d pined for Tess since he’d first laid eyes on her; today was about to become the most wonderful day of his life, and no amount of cold outside or scowling friends would bother him going forward. He gave Tess a nod.
“I understand,” he said, barely able to contain his glee, which thrust tiny shivers of anticipation up his spine. He hadn’t just made it to the summit he’d squinted at for so long; he would find a hand outstretched and ready to pull him up into what he hoped would be averylong embrace.
“All right,” Tess said, taking a deep, steadying breath. “What I wanted to talk to you about was a potential relationship between you and a student of mine. Her situation is… tricky, to say the least, especially because her father intends to push her into an arranged marriage with another man. If you’ll hear me out, I’ll explain everything and let you make your decision.”
W-what?
Apparently, almost entirely because of his blind assumptions, he hadn’t realized that Tess wanted the hand waiting for him at the summit to be someone else’s.
Chapter Six
Matchmaker
Stupefied, Liam sat there like a small child who’d expected an ice cream cone at the drive-thru but had instead been handed an oversized cookie. It was possible he’d like his new option, maybe even love it, but the prior expectation stuffed up his ability to react meaningfully. So, he just stared at the cookie, unsure if he should mention that he’d expected ice cream or just try a bite and see how it turned out.
She hadn’t been talking about herself, as he’d so foolishly assumed. When she’d been testing how he felt about the ethics behind complicated relationships, she hadn’t been looking to see how he felt becauseshewanted a relationship with him. The unfathomable excitement he’d experienced dissolved into ash faster than if someone had taken a blowtorch to a stack of dried leaves.
However, as he wasnota small child who was allowed to bawl his eyes out over this shock, Liam eventually needed to overcome it and present some semblance of a reply to Tess, who was waiting anxiously but hopefully just a couple of feet away. The latter gleaming in her eyes was blinding in a different way than before; he wanted to look away, not stare into its brightness. Yet, there it remained, silently waiting for his response.
So, he collected all his dismal feelings about this new twist and hastily shoved them into the furthest recesses of his mind. He didn’t know when he’d look at them again, if ever. Confusion, shock, and humiliation—they currently reigned supreme. The last of those burned so hotly that he could have almost melted through his chair, the floor, and the house’s foundations.
