Tessa's Wishes (Whispered Wishes #3) (14 page)

She hung up the phone and smiled. Might as well enjoy dinner tonight since it seemed inevitable there would be long nights of work ahead later in the week. Picking the phone back up, she called Ava to make arrangements for babysitting—just in case.

Chapter 27

Tessa couldn’t help but chuckle as she opened her apartment door. Todd clumsily balanced four grocery bags in his arms, with another two resting against the door.

 “You know there’s only three of us here, right?” She helped take the packages out of his arms before their dinner wound up all over her apartment floor.

“I may have gone a little overboard,” he said, “but a new gourmet market opened downtown, and they have all of these pre-packaged fresh meals. I’m afraid I’m not much of a cook, and everything looked so good. I couldn’t decide, so I bought one of everything.”

Placing the bags on her small kitchen table, she couldn’t believe the amount of food being brought in for one night. Her eyes widened as she lifted out each container. He must have spent a small fortune. She’d have to work a month or two to afford all of this gourmet food and forgo paying any other bills such as rent or utilities. She and Sophie would be homeless, but well fed.

“Chicken Parmesan, Shrimp Scampi, Beef Enchiladas, Striped Bass, Lamb Chops, Lobster Tails … Fillet Mignon? Did I mention I decided to become a vegetarian today?” she teased.

Todd smirked. “No problem. In this bag,” he started, pulling out more containers, “we’ve got grilled zucchini, honey glazed carrots, sautéed green beans with almonds, baby potatoes roasted with garlic and rosemary, some sort of lentil salad, and,” he hesitated as he tried to read the label, “queen-ie-o-a? I’ve personally never heard of it, but it’s apparently the new trendy thing that everyone’s eating these days. I’m a little afraid, but hey, I’m willing to try anything once. Like that kale stuff you made me last week.” He made a face that looked like he was being tortured. “That stuff was awesome. Loved it.”

Tessa laughed again. “It’s pronounced
keen-wa,
and it happens to be very good
and healthy
. What was wrong with my kale? Everyone I’ve made it for so far has raved about it.”

“Nothing, sweetie. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. It was fabulous. The bomb. It was better than—”

“Todd! Todd! You’re here!”

“There’s my favorite three year old.” He grinned, scooping her up in his arms. He swung her around in a circle as she squealed in delight. “I hope you’re hungry. I brought you macaroni and cheese and ravioli. And, um, chicken nuggets and French fries. And, well … spaghetti and meatballs, too.” He laughed.

“That’s too much food,” Sophie said, frowning. “I’ll get a belly ache.”

“Maybe I did bring a little too much.”

“Sweetie,” Tessa said, “For tonight, you can just pick one of those to eat. We’ll save the rest for another time.”

“Okay. I’ll take ravioli.”

“Oh, and for dessert, I have chocolate chip cookies for you, Sophie, and three different kinds of cheesecake for us.” Todd smiled, looking at Tessa.

 “Yum! Mommy, can I go play?”

“Of course, we’ll eat in a little bit.” She watched as her daughter ran off. “You’re trying to make me fat, aren’t you? Is that your plan?”

 “Nope. My plan is to spoil you. I know you’ll be working hard the next few days with the meeting coming up, so this way you won’t have to think about meals. They said you could freeze whatever you don’t eat, and I figure you can bring some stuff to work, too. Maybe Abbott will even give you ten minutes to eat lunch.”

Tessa raised her eyebrows as she finished unpacking the bags.

“Five minutes?” he asked.

“Thirty seconds if I’m lucky. I can’t wait until this meeting is over. No offense, of course. Without your boss, I’d probably be without a job. The fees from these consultations pay my salary.”

 “I just wish Abbott treated you better. It’s not right. You deserve better. If only there was a way to get that message through to him.”

Tessa felt a well of panic rise up. “You’re not going to say anything to Mr. Schilling, are you? Please, promise me. I know you mean well. There’s only one thing greater than the fees that Mr. Schilling pays and that’s Mr. Abbott’s enormous ego. If your boss says anything to him about me, he’d kick me out on my ass so hard I wouldn’t even see it coming, and I need this job—at least until I find another one. Please, Todd, promise me?”

Taking her hands in his own, he looked at her sadly. “I don’t like it, but I promise. Listen, you don’t have to worry, Tessa. I know Nicholas would never let anything bad happen to you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you … for everything. You’re so good to me. How’d I get so lucky? Not just for the food, but for the way you care about me … and Sophie.”

“I’m the lucky one,” he responded, kissing her. “And as for the food, I was kind of selfishly hoping you’d invite me over for another meal. I mean, look at all of this stuff! You can’t possibly eat this all by yourself.”

She wondered if he realized he could probably get whatever he wanted just by showing her those dimples. “Ah, now I see your true plan,” she snickered.

“And? Did it work?” he asked, pulling her in tighter.

Closing her eyes, she pressed her body against his even more. She wanted him so desperately. For weeks they’d waited. They’d been close many times, but she’d always been the one to slow things down. Tonight she felt different. Tonight she felt ready.

“Todd,” she whispered. She wanted to let him know this evening would be special …
so special.
She felt him tense up and pull back. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

He looked at her with a serious expression she knew couldn’t be good; an expression she dreaded seeing. Had she been misreading all of the signs this entire time? Was the food a parting gift? A pity offering for the poor, single mom to ease his guilt? Were his words of
him being the lucky one
and
wanting to spoil her
just that: only words? What about what he’d just said about hoping she’d invite him back for another meal? He took her hand and led her over to the couch.

Chapter 28

This is it,
Tessa thought.
This is the part where I find out my perfect guy is not perfect. Poor Sophie. She’s going to be devastated, and she’s going to blame me. For good reason, too. I’m her mother. It’s my job to protect her from getting hurt—to protect both of us.

Tessa wouldn’t look him in the eyes; she couldn’t. She didn’t want him to see the tears that were starting to form. Todd placed his hands over hers just as one of those tears dropped onto it. He lifted her chin to see her face.

“Why are you crying?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, “I just … I–I have a bad feeling.”

He embraced her fully with both arms as she sobbed into his shoulder, trembling as years of pent up emotions finally escaped. He held her tight, stroking her hair, allowing her to weep until there were no more tears to shed.

So much for not letting him see you cry, Tessa.
“I feel like a fool,” she stated, slowly lifting herself off his shoulder. “Me and my crazy emotions. I understand if you want to leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he replied, rubbing her back. “But I do need to talk to you.”

Tessa glanced down and wrung her hands together in her lap, not sure she was ready for whatever he needed to say.

Letting out a hard breath, he looked away for a moment. “I’ve been wanting to tell you something for a while now, there just never seemed to be a good time.”

She glanced his way and waited for more as silence filled the air, but he only leaned his head back into the couch, appearing distressed as he scrubbed his hands over his face. Was he seriously going to pretend breaking up with her was painful to him?

  “A good time to tell me what?” she finally asked, not wanting to prolong the inevitable.

At any moment, her daughter could walk into the room asking about dinner or wanting to crawl into Todd’s lap as she’d done so many times before. Would this be the last time Sophie would ever see him? How would she explain his sudden disappearance? Her tears began to flow freely once again.

Shifting his body toward her, he tried to take her hands … unsuccessfully.

“Tessa, please, don’t cry,” he began, “it’s not like that. Nothing has changed about the way I feel for you. In fact I–I … ugh, I suck at this.”

Furrowing her brow, she studied his face. His expression appeared to be one of adoration and kindness mixed with fear. Maybe her sisters were right. He was trying to tell her the L word. That had to have been what he’d been trying to tell her the last few weeks. Ben was right. Men really were stupid buffoons. Deciding to take pity on him, she allowed him to take her hands after all.

“It’s okay,” she said, hoping her smile would put him at ease. “You can tell me.”

He took another deep breath and nodded. “All right.” His face softened up and his lips curled into a smile to match her own. “As I was saying. When I first walked into Abbott and Associates, I didn’t realize that you thought I was someone other than who I am.”

Laughing, she shook her head. “Sorry about that. I tend to get a little nervous when I’m in the office by myself. My mom always kept our doors and windows locked once my dad left for work in the morning. Anytime anyone came to the door it was like she was on a covert mission, peeking behind the curtains, trying to decide if it was safe to let them in or not. She had 9-1-1 on speed dial, even though it was only three numbers and not really all that hard to remember. I think her paranoia rubbed off on me a bit.”

“Well, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“I’m glad you weren’t a murderer or anything … and even happier for your own sake that I didn’t have any pepper spray on me.”

“Yeah,” Todd cringed, “me too.”

“That was such a great day,” Tessa added.

“It was, and so was our date,” he said, bringing his hand up to caress her cheek. “In fact, that’s the night I … started falling in love with you.”

He said it.

“You love me?” she asked. She needed to hear it one more time.

Placing his other hand on her cheek, he brought her face in close. “Yes, Tessa. I never thought it was possible to fall in love so quickly, but there is no doubt about it. I am completely in love with you. I knew it when I realized you cared about me even though you thought I was someone different.”

Her eyes filled with tears, as she laughed. “Well, just so you know, I don’t usually date guys who are hardened criminals.”

 Pulling away slowly, he looked her in the eyes. “I know that. What I meant was—”

“Mommy!” Running into the room, Sophie jumped onto the tiny couch landing squarely on the two of them. She snuggled into their laps before saying, “I’m hungry.”

“Me, too, actually,” Tessa said. “We should probably start eating.”

“Sure,” Todd said with a hint of reluctance. He helped Sophie down as he stood up, and added, “I don’t want to stay too late. I know you have a busy day at work tomorrow, and I’ve got an early morning meeting myself. However, I do want to finish this conversation … soon.”

She nodded, and he offered her a hand. As she pulled herself up to standing, she wrapped her arms around his neck and quietly told him, “I love you, too.”

Chapter 29

“I haven’t had a chance to see him all week,” Tessa whispered into the phone to Ava. “It’s killing me. Friday night can’t come soon enough. I really appreciate you taking Sophie for me this weekend. I have no idea what Todd has planned, but I have a feeling it’s something extra special for just for the two of us. I do know it has something to do with the conversation we started before Sophie interrupted us. He keeps saying he wants to finish it, and it started with
I love you,
so I can only imagine the rest is going to be even better. Oh that reminds me, can I borrow that dress again? I want to wow him when he comes over.”

“Of course. Um … you don’t think he’s going to propose, do you?” Ava asked, her excitement radiating through the phone.

“What? No. I don’t think we’re there yet. At least, I’m not, but I do think we’re ready to take the next step. You know …”

“I know? Oh!” Her sister suddenly laughed, realizing what Tessa was talking about. “Yes, okay. If that’s what you want. Is it?”

“It’s been a really long time for me,” she sighed, “and Todd is the one I’ve been waiting for. I do love him. Yes, I’m ready.”

“Well then, I’m happy to watch Sophie. It’s no problem at all. The kids are looking forward to it, especially Jenna.”

“Really? I’d have thought Logan would be more excited.”

 “Oh, he’s plenty excited, but Jenna’s excited there will be someone else here to entertain Logan all day Saturday. He bugs her non-stop to play with him. I think she’s looking forward to the break.”

Tessa laughed. “I suppose that’s how you and Holly used to feel when I had friends over?”

“I refuse to comment on the grounds that … um … well, I just refuse to comment. And what do you mean
used to feel.
Why do you think I jumped at the chance to take Sophie so you could go out with Todd this weekend? We’re all excited you have a new playmate.”

“What?” she said a little too loudly. She hoped Mr. Abbott wouldn’t be showing up in her doorway any second. She lowered her voice back down. “Are you saying you just want Todd around so he’ll take me off your hands?”

“Of course not. You’re an absolute pleasure to have around … All. The. Time.”

Tessa scowled without responding. She knew her sister was kidding. Or was she?