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The older woman laughed softly. “You and those animals. You make me wonder if pets can be soulmates.” Her eyes twinkled with humor as she got up from the table. “Now, go. I have a Sudoku puzzle to keep me company.”
Suddenly faced with solitude, Tessa felt a familiar rise of panic. She was typically so used to being on her own, but now, facing this alone seemed unbearable. Still, she managed to bid Patty farewell without breaking into another round of waterworks, and she made her way upstairs.
The floorboards creaked in their familiar way, and Tessa’s heart hurt. She had come to know this place so well. It had become more of a home to her than her old apartment with Owen in Boston. After all, home wasn’t about leases, where you kept your toothbrush, or where the mail came. It was about more than that. It was love. It was belonging.
Of course, that sense of love and belonging had taken a major blow tonight. Biting her lip, Tessa pressed onward. Swinging the door open to her room, she let her gaze drop to where Merry and Pippin were curled up on the duvet. Pippin looked up sleepily from his position. He seemed to know something was amiss and let out a discontented whine before padding over to her.
“Good boy. You always know, don’t you?” Tessa crouched down and pressed her face into Pippin’s soft fur. There was something about her connection with the Australian Shepherd that went beyond the usual owner/pet relationship. They justgoteach other.
After a few moments of cuddling her pup, she felt more grounded. There was just something about quality time with her pets that left her mind clearer. She climbed into bed once she was feeling somewhat more relaxed. She knew that she should change out of her date clothes and wash off her makeup, but she just didn’t have the energy. Life-changing upheavals could do that to a girl.
Pippin jumped up onto the bed beside her, and Tessa let herself drift between consciousness and sleep as she snuggled up close to her dog. The last month had been an absolute whirlwind. There was no denying it. She had been swept up in her own chaotic hurricane, and now, she was living with the consequences.
Still, it would be hard to say goodbye. Despite everything that had happened tonight, Tessa found that she still cared deeply for Daniel and for Lucas as a whole. The town had taken her in when she was nothing but a free-spirited stranger. They had accepted her eccentricities and given her a home, something she had never really felt she had before.
Did I make the right choice?The thought gnawed at Tessa as she stared at the ceiling. Shadows cast by the moon’s pale glow danced along the edges of the crown molding, and she let them lull her into a fitful sleep. There was no real rest for the wicked, she figured. And she wondered if that applied to her.
Chapter sixteen
Danielwasuplateagain, working on his novel. Since his talk with Randy, it seemed like the words had just flowed out of him, removing whatever mental block was left. There was something in his own heartache that propelled him forward. He sat back and read over the chapter he finished, his eyes scanning over the words.
Suddenly, it struck him that he was finished. The story had run its course, and it was at its final conclusion. Something like pride washed over him as he scanned through the document. Years of work, and he had managed to complete the novel in a matter of a month, with the assistance of Tessa.
Tessa.The thought of her sent a pang of grief through his heart. He had tried calling her the day before, but there had been no response. It figured. The words he had thrown at her were cruel and unfeeling. She had every right to ignore him.
Closing his laptop, a sticky note fluttered to the floor. Another one of Tessa’s notes with her cutesy handwriting, seemingly mocking him. He gripped the sticky note between two fingers and read over it. It was a delightful commentary, as all of her feedback had been.
How had he let it get to this point? His stupid pride, that’s how. Instead of hearing Tessa out, he had lashed out at her with all of his hurt, and now he had likely truly lost her. It had been a few days since the fallout, and Daniel had barely left his apartment, choosing to lose himself in writing his novel rather than face the town after he had hurt their new darling.
Pushing away from the desk, Daniel headed toward the stairs, back down to the bookshop floor. He needed to be among the books—listen to them whisper their stories to him in the dim lighting of twilight.
When he arrived in the shop, he wandered listlessly through the shelves, not really sure what he was looking for. Horror seemed like the wrong mood, and mystery didn’t hold his attention at all. Usually, the fantasy section was where he felt called, but tonight, even Brandon Sanderson couldn’t set Daniel’s head right.
He wound up finding himself at a table Tessa had insisted on setting up with books containing vampires.Twilight, of course, was in a place of honor. Without thinking too much, Daniel reached out and selected that one, flipping through its pages.
He stood there for some time, reading through the words that he had read earlier in the month. It was no less cringey than the first time around. All the characters read like bad fan fiction to him, but he could see the appeal to Tessa.
The story was whimsical and mysterious, and the romance passionate. All things that he knew he loved in a novel. As he skimmed through the book again, he found himself seeing it in an entirely different light.
Sometimes, you don’t need or want a book to challenge you. You want a fun time, and this book was definitely that. Daniel smiled to himself as he closed the book and placed it back on the table. The vampire craze was still a little lost on him, but he felt like he had come to understand Tessa a little better through reading her favorite book.
He had seen her on every page, in every line of dialogue. It left him feeling closer to her.
I’ve made a mistake. He had already begun to realize it, but standing in the dim light of the bookshop at night, he knew with utter clarity that he had let “the one” get away. Cursing himself, he leaned against the table. Tessa wasn’t answering her phone, so he would need to get creative.
Maybe Lily will know where to find her. Without another thought, Daniel was out the door on his way to the diner. The clouds of earlier in the day had finally released their promised rain, and he ran through the drizzle as he kept a single thought in his mind. He needed to make this right.
Tessa would have loved a night like this. Didn’t people in those romance novels always devolve into kissing in the rain? He smiled at the thought. Remarkable how that woman had made him see everything in a completely different light.
Everything from rain to the flowers he saw on a walk through town had taken on a different meaning to him. He saw Tessa in everything. He saw things through her eyes now. A new kind of wonder had begun to change him, and he found that he appreciated it.
The diner was especially busy. It seemed like half the town was sitting at various booths and tables around the establishment. Chatter wafted toward him as Daniel entered. It was unusual for the late-night crowd to be this boisterous, but Daniel hardly noticed as he rushed to the counter.
“Lily, I screwed up, and I’m hoping you can help me make it right.”
Lily looked up from pouring coffee for a young patron and lifted an eyebrow. “I would tell you to be a bit more specific, but everyone in town is already aware of your screwup at this point.” The words were a little biting, yet still had that motherly warmth to them. Daniel deserved the scolding, he figured.
“Yeah, I figure the town is having a field day with what an idiot I am right about now,” he conceded.
