“What are you doing?” A sharp snap from Evelyn has Tessie glancing over. “That’s Serena’s guitar.”
She retracts her hand, instantly feeling like an asshole. The back of her neck warms, an embarrassed flush coating her all over. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Well, don’t touch it.”
“Evilyn,” Jo hisses. “Stop it.”
An uncomfortable silence falls.
Tessie shifts on her sore feet, ignoring Ash’s worried eyes on her. Suddenly, she wishes she had a glass of alcohol. She’s too sober, too pregnant for this shit. For Evelyn’s judgmental gaze, broadcasting clear as day: You’re not Serena.
Ping.
“You need to take that, sweetheart?” Solomon’s mother asks, giving her an out, a breather. A tight smile on her face, Grace looks like she’s about to rip into her oldest daughter.
Tessie nods. “I do. Thanks.”
“Here, I’ll help you,” Ash says, snatching Tessie’s phone from the coffee table. Whip quick, she grabs Tessie’s elbow and guides her away from the others. They scoot into the hall, where Tessie flattens herself against the wall, staring down at the phone in her hands.
Hot tears fill her eyes, the screen a blur of words she can’t read. But she knows who the message is from. Nova.
She swipes wetness from her cheeks with a shaky hand and then groans. “Ugh, I’m crying. What is wrong with me? Why am I always crying?”
“It’s hormones,” Ash says, shooting a glare at the living room. “Hormones and one asshole of a woman.” She runs a soothing hand down Tessie’s arm, her expression softening. “Don’t listen to her, okay?”
Easier said than done, because despite their hushed tones, the voices in the living room carry down the hallway.
“Why are you even here if you’re not going to support Solomon?”
“You’re scowling,” Melody whispers. “You can’t scowl at a baby shower.”
Evelyn’s strained voice floats from the living room. “Solomon isn’t over Serena.”
“He is,” Jo argues. “You don’t want him to be over her.”
A scoff. “Serena was easy and this one she’s. . .she’s terrible.”
Tessie’s body is a cringe. Her cheeks on fire, her legs so shaky she could fall over where she stands.
Oh God. That word.
“Tess.” A hand on her shoulder. Ash, nudging her, coaxing her in the direction of the bathroom, trying to spare her from the conversation.
But Tessie stays planted, frozen to the spot. A hot tear rolls down her cheek. She wants to disappear. The truth of Evelyn’s words like a stinging slap.
She’s still Terrible Tess. Not easy. She’s never been easy. Never could escape that cold, closed-off world she’s built for herself.
For the first time since she’s been in Chinook, a sharp swell of self-doubt and despair rises up inside her. That old insecurity. Of never being good enough, of never being chosen, of always being left. Of wanting to run before someone else can ramble.
“She is,” Evelyn continues, still on her Tessie tirade. “She’s too flashy for Solomon. What’s she going to do, wear high heels in winter? He needs someone down to earth. Like Serena was.”
“You’re acting crazy, Evy.”
A withering sigh. “He hasn’t asked her to stay, Jo. And you know it.”
And so does Tessie.
What if she’s not meant to find love because she’s hard to love? What if the reason Solomon hasn’t asked her to stay is because he’s figured out that they don’t click? What if it’s because she’s not Serena?
Solomon assured her he’s ready. He’s been widowed for seven years, but still. . .what if he isn’t? What if she’s not good enough for this great grump of a giant man?
Something tight and hollow grows in Tessie’s chest. Maybe all that matters is her baby. Nothing else.
Evelyn’s voice, louder now. “He’s jumping into something he’s not ready for. This is all temporary. I don’t understand how you can support this.”
“I know you loved Serena, Evy, but you’re being selfish,” Grace chides gently. “It’s been seven years. We support Solomon because he is having a child, and Tessie is a lovely woman. And if we don’t”—tears fill her voice—“he will disappear into that cabin, and we will never see him again.”
Silence. The soft sound of sniffling.
Then a bright cry. A splat of something against the wall. And then Evelyn’s storming out the front door without so much as a backward glance.
Ping.
Tessie’s phone is still clenched in her hands.
Decision, Truelove? Don’t make me beg.
Her eyes flood.
“What are you doing?” Ash’s soft voice floats.
She sags against the wall and admits the terrifying truth. “I don’t know.”
Solomon opens the door to the cabin, a frown tugging at his lips as Tessie slips off her puffy parka and hangs it on the wall hook before drifting to the kitchen island to set down her purse and kick off her heels.
There’s nothing he hates more than the look on her face right now.
Ever since they left his parents’ house, she’s had those same sad brown eyes she had when they first met at the Bear’s Ear bar. Vulnerable. Lonesome.
He’s trapped by a need to figure out what’s wrong. To fix it.
It’s what he didn’t do with Serena. His one mistake. He let her work it out, instead of working it out with her. This time, he’s determined to be present, to be here for Tessie. If she wants to fume while he watches, done. Or if she wants to scream at him, he’ll gladly take it. But no matter what, he’ll be here.
He steps up behind her and presses a kiss to the back of her blond head. “You want to tell me what happened at the shower?” he murmurs, inhaling her sunshine scent.
Her slender form shifts against him. Tenses. “Your sister threw a canapé across the room.”
“Jesus.” Fucking Evelyn.
Wrapping an arm high around her midsection, he turns her so she faces him.
“What else?”
She’s silent for a long minute, wetting her lips, and then she says, “They don’t like me. No one likes me.” Before he can rebut the statement, she untangles from his arms to pace across the floor. “Your best friend won’t even make me a mocktail.”
God, he hates how small her voice has gotten. How she’s left his arms. He has to fight the urge to pull her back to him.
Crossing the room, he closes the growing gap between them. “Howler’s acting like an asshole. But we settled it. And Evelyn needs to mind her own damn business.”
“She said—”
She presses her lips together, looks out the window. Fear has Solomon clinched by the balls. Christ. If his sister brought up custody, he’ll never forgive her.
“What did she say to you?” Reaching out, he takes her by the shoulders and gives her a soft shake. Her silence threatens to take him to his knees. “Tess.”
Lower lip trembling, Tessie tilts up her chin. “She said that I’m just temporary. That I’m not Serena.”
Fuck.
If Solomon had known he’d be bringing Tessie back to fight with the ghost of Serena, he would have kept her away from Chinook. Leaving her alone with his family, with Evelyn, was a complete failure of a decision. He should have been beside her today, making sure she was okay. Make no mistake, the next time he sees his sister, they will have words.
Moving away from him, she shrugs. “Your family loved her. She was your wife. She’s all over their house, which I understand.” She turns to him, a fierce earnestness filling her voice. “She will always be yours, Solomon. I would never ask you to put her away.”
He shakes his head. “No. You’d never ask me that.”
“But what if”—her voice wobbles, the sound twisting a dagger in Solomon’s stomach—“what if I’m not Serena?”
“You don’t have to be Serena.” His gaze rakes over Tessie where she stands, her arms clutched around her belly. Like she has to protect Bear. So much doubt and worry in her eyes it makes him sick. “I don’t want you to be. You’re Tessie. You’re my Tessie.”