“You deserve to be grounded,” her mom said. She had stopped being in a hugging, relief frame of mind.
Tessie nodded, and since she wasn’t sure where to start with this, she looked up at Lawson. “I’m guessing you remember the day you saw me drunk at the sorority house?” She didn’t wait for him to confirm it because, yeah, he remembered. “Well, that was the first time I’d ever had anything to drink. It was one drink, a margarita, and I think it’s accurate to say that I don’t handle my liquor well.”
She couldn’t tell if they believed her about that being her first time. Probably not. But it was the truth. Well, almost the truth. She hadn’t even managed to finish the entire glass before she’d gotten shit-faced.
“Who were the two puking clowns with you?” Lawson snarled. Actually, his expression and body language were a snarl, as well.
“They’re just some people I used to hang out with.” Maybe he wouldn’t ask for their names since she’d added the used to, as in she didn’t hang out with them any longer. “The other girl was the one who fixed the drinks from stuff she got from someone she knew who lived up the street. The guy is...was her boyfriend.”
“And where exactly were you going with these two puking clowns?” That didn’t come from Lawson but rather her mom.
Tessie gave a weary sigh because no way were they going to believe this. “The other girl had thrown up in the room, and the smell was god-awful. We were going outside for some fresh air, but when we got on the elevator, the motion made us feel even sicker. Trust me, I’ve learned my lesson about tequila.”
This was usually about the time when she would have added some humor—her go-to response when things got uncomfortable. Like now. But Tessie doubted there was any humor that was going to make this better.
“You went to rehab,” her mom said. Apparently, they were moving on to the second part of “things that had gotten Tessie’s butt in trouble.”
Tessie nodded and knew this was going to hurt. “I went because I panicked when I figured Lawson had told you about seeing me drunk. But the panic isn’t why I went to rehab. It’s because my first reaction was to have another drink.”
Her mom huffed. “I thought you said you’d learned your lesson.”
“I did...about tequila. My panicking mind was leaning more toward a beer. Something to settle my nerves. Which obviously wasn’t a good way to think, considering the other incident. So, I figured I could check myself into rehab to avoid seeing you and that I would also avoid being tempted to drink a beer. I didn’t think there’d be many opportunities for getting drunk in rehab.”
Oh, yes. Her go-to humor had not gone down well.
“You didn’t stay in rehab though,” Lawson pointed out. “Why not and where did you go?”
Tessie nodded again. “After my mental health exam and a boatload of personal questions, the worker was escorting me to my room, and I saw these other people. I think they were going through withdrawals or something. They looked bad. And I started to realize that I no longer had the least bit of desire for a beer or any other booze. So, I left and went to stay with a friend.”
There it was—all the dumb she’d done, including but not limited to worrying the heck out of her mother. It made her sound like one of those privileged, wimpy kids in California that she’d hated. She had always sworn she wouldn’t become one of them, but here she was talking about getting drunk, rehab and running away.
She wasn’t just one of them now. She was the reigning princess of privileged, wimpy kids. And she saw what she believed to be disgust in Lawson’s eyes. She didn’t have to guess about the look in her mom’s eyes though.
That was all hurt.
Tessie wanted to reach out to her and hug her, but there was still so much between them. Well, one thing, anyway. The lie that made her mom the reigning queen of liars in the Cooper household. As much as she wanted to forget that, Tessie just couldn’t.
She wasn’t the person she’d always thought she was. She wasn’t Eve Cooper’s adopted daughter. The child who was lucky enough to have been chosen by someone as beautiful and idolized as Eve.
Instead, she was the secret that her mom had tried to hide from her fans.
And now maybe she was trying to hide it from Lawson, too.
Tessie glanced at both of them, trying to figure how what she was about to say would go over with them. It’d be like the failed humor, but Tessie had to try to see if she could make some sense out of this. She didn’t expect to get this new perspective from her mom, either.
But rather from a glaring cowboy who didn’t seem to have a fatherly bone in his body.
Tessie slid her hand over her mom’s, hoping it would soften the mood a bit. “I’d like to talk to Lawson alone for a few minutes. Is that okay?”
She might as well have asked if it was okay if she threw the cowboy out the window. “Why?” her mother pressed.
Oh, this was going to get touchy. If Tessie told her she was going on a paternity fishing expedition, no way would her mom agree. She might even blurt out everything. And if Lawson didn’t know, this was not the way for him to find out.
Since there’d been enough lies, Tessie didn’t want to go that route. “I just want to ask him some things. Please. It won’t take long.”
Tessie could practically hear the debate her mom was having with herself, but as usual, the please worked. Tessie could thank Cassidy for that. Her nanny–keeper of her mom’s secrets had always told her please could open lots of doors. In this case, it closed one. Because her mom nodded—hesitantly though—and slowly walked to one of the rooms off the hall, went in and shut the door.
“She’ll try to listen,” Tessie and Lawson said at the same time.
Since they were right, Tessie took hold of his arm, leading him to the kitchen, where she turned on the exhaust fan over the stove, both faucets on the sink and the garbage disposal. From there, she led him to the fancy copper-framed mirror in the foyer.
While they stood side by side, their reflections said it all. Of course, Tessie couldn’t help but add more.
“I learned in science that a kid inherits fifty percent of their DNA from their mom and fifty percent from their dad. What percentage of your DNA do you think it took to give me this face?”
His jaw tightened. “Enough of it.”
When she’d tossed out that question, Tessie hadn’t actually prepared herself for an answer. Or for the truth. But Lawson hadn’t pulled any punches.
“At least now I know,” she said. “How long have you known?” She didn’t move. Neither did he. They just continued to stare at each other in the mirror.
“I found out two days ago,” he snarled. “According to some people, I’m not very bright to have missed the family resemblance before then.”
“And, of course, my mom wasn’t jumping up and down to tell you. She lied to both of us.”