The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester (best ereader for comics .txt) 📗

“That sounds great.” Relief seeped into her mind, calming it, as they exited the bar and made for the front door.

“It’s a nice evening,” Silas said once they were on the sand.

Tessa took in the scene. The sun was beginning to set, casting a glittery reflection on the ocean, which was calm—only tiny waves lapped at the shore, making a faint tinkling sound. She took off her shoes and got close enough to the water to get her toes wet. “It’s perfect,” she agreed.

“I spent most of the day on the beach, but it’s better with you.” Silas looked at his feet instead of making eye contact.

She was glad about that because she could feel heat in her cheeks—a much better feeling than she’d had in the bar. “Beach life is nice, huh?”

He nodded. “I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time like this in my life.”

“Didn’t you get to take many vacations when you were a kid?” Tessa’s parents had made it a point to take a family vacation somewhere warm every February. That was the time of year when most Michiganders were well and truly tired of winter dreariness.

“I can’t remember going on any,” he answered. “We didn’t have the money to do stuff like that.” He glanced at her and then looked right back down. “My dad left when I was six. There were four of us little kids for Mom to feed and clothe. She did a fantastic job. I never needed something I didn’t have. But there weren’t a lot of extras. No sandy beaches or Mickey Mouse.”

“That’s understandable.” She felt a stab of guilt. Sometimes, it was easy to forget how good you had it.

“Once my older brother, Liam, turned sixteen, he got a job, and that made things a little easier. In fact, I was able to join Little League. And Liam bought me a bat.”

“Baseball,” she said. “My dad loved baseball.”

“Me, too.”

“Did you play?”

The moonlight glinted off his gentle smile. “Something like that.”

“Come on,” she teased him, “what does that even mean?”

“Well, I didn’t have anybody at home to practice with, but I spent every minute I could over at the ball field, talking anybody who wandered past into throwing for me for a few minutes. Mostly, I just threw the ball at the fence. Wore out this little section, perfecting my pitches.”

“And?”

“I was pretty good. High school all-star and all that. I wanted to make a career out of it. Make the big bucks and get my whole family a big house and fancy cars.” He snorted. “A kid’s ridiculous dream.”

Tessa’s heart squeezed as she imagined young Silas spending hours on the ball field, late into the night, trying to get good enough to lift his family out of poverty. “I think it’s a beautiful dream.”

His head snapped up and he met her gaze with a wide-eyed one. “It didn’t work out, though. I made it to the minor leagues but blew out my shoulder before I could get to the majors.” He shook his head. “I should have spent that time studying computer science or something. Maybe it would have worked out better.”

She wanted to say something smart, but nothing came to mind. She stared at the water instead.

“My family’s doing fine, though,” he said in a more cheerful tone. “Liam worked his way up to management and now he owns a little grocery store. My younger sisters both went into the medical field. My mom has a nice house in the suburbs, and she doesn’t have to worry about anything. We all help take care of her. She deserves it.”

That must be why he worked so hard. Silas knew what it was like to not have enough.

“Wow, I can’t believe I just told you all that. Way to go, Si—you managed to be more boring than the woman’s life insurance presentations.” He snorted and shook his head again. “Sorry about that. I don’t know what got into me. I don’t talk about myself all that much. I promise.”

“It’s not boring,” she insisted. “I’m glad you told me about it. I’d love to meet your family some day.” Oh, geez, Tessa. You basically just invited yourself to be his girlfriend.

He stopped suddenly in the sand, grabbed her hand, and looked into her face. “I’d like that too,” he said with a smile. “Tessa?”

“Yes?” She felt her body leaning toward his, anticipating a kiss.

His expression was earnest, and he leaned forward a bit too. “Do you want to find that empanada truck again?”

Chapter 9

“YOU LOOK LIKE SOMETHING that cat of yours swallowed, partly digested, and then brought back up.” Gloria’s head tipped as she evaluated Tessa.

“Thanks. I appreciate your candor.” Tessa rubbed her face and then ran a hand through tangled hair. “I’m going to hop in the shower.”

“You don’t look in any state to hop. How late were you out last night?” Gloria perched on the edge of her bed, already dressed for the conference in khaki capris and a scarlet scoop-neck blouse. “Thankfully, I didn’t hear you come in—or else you’d have other problems this morning.” She smiled.

Tessa groaned as she pawed through her suitcase for an outfit. “I don’t know. Two or maybe three in the morning, I think.”

“And you were with hottie landlord that whole time?”

“We lost track of time. We found this great food truck. But last night, it was parked next to a margarita truck. I’m not even kidding. Then we went for a walk and got hungry again.”

“Not a good sign.”

“Yeah, we found a little restaurant with a patio facing the ocean and had appetizers and drinks. There was a band. Some very bad dancing—on my part. Silas, it turns out, is an excellent dancer.” She groaned again. “I missed my alarm this morning, too exhausted to get up and do my workout. I guess I’m too old to stay up past midnight.”

Gloria snorted. “Okay, Cinderella.” She grinned. “At least