Chapter 227 (2/2)

“What did you talk about?” I ask her. It obviously wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but I can tell she’s hesitant to discuss it.

“I met her . . . Natalie. I met her.”

My blood runs cold. I slightly bend my knees to get a better look at her face. “And?”

“She’s lovely,” Tessa says. I wait for her to frown or for her eyes to give away her anger, but nothing comes.

“She’s ‘lovely’?” I repeat, completely and utterly confused by her response.

“Yes, she was so sweet . . . and very pregnant.” Tessa smiles.

“And Susan?” I hesitantly ask.

“Susan was very fun and nice as well.”

But . . . but Susan hated me for what I did to her niece. “It was okay, then?”

“Yes, Hardin. My day was fine. I missed you, but my day was fine.” She reaches her hand out to grab my shirt and bring me closer to her. She looks so fucking beautiful in the dim lighting of the hallway. “Everything is fine, don’t worry,” she declares.

My head rests on top of hers, and she wraps her arms tightly around my waist.

She’s comforting me? Tessa is comforting me, assuring me that everything will be okay, after coming face-to-face with the girl that I nearly destroyed. She says it will be okay . . . Will it?

“It never is, though,” I whisper, almost hoping she won’t hear the words. If she did hear them, she chooses not to respond.

“I don’t want to go to dinner with them,” I admit, breaking the silence between us. I really just want to take Tessa upstairs and lose myself in her, forget all the shit that’s been torturing my mind all day, push all the ghosts and memories away and focus on her. I want hers to be the only damn voice in my head, and burying myself in her right now will ensure that it is.

“We have to—it’s your mother’s wedding weekend. We don’t have to stay long.” She stretches to kiss the top of my cheek, then her lips travel down to my jaw.

“I couldn’t be more excited,” I mutter sarcastically.

“Come on.” Tessa leads me back into the living room, her hand in mine, but the moment we join my mum and Mike, I drop her hand.

I sigh. “Well, let’s go eat.”

DINNER IS JUST AS TEDIOUS as I expected. My mum is keeping Tessa busy, chatting her ear off about weddings and the small guest list. She fills her in in on the family members that will be there, which isn’t much from my mum’s side; only one distant cousin will be attending since both of my mum’s parents are dead and have been for years. Mike is quiet during the meal, like me, but he doesn’t appear to be as bored as I am. He’s watching my mum with an expression that makes me want to smack him in his head. It’s sickening but somehow comforting. It’s obvious that he loves her, so I guess he’s not so bad.