Free Tessa Ever After by Brighton Walsh Page A

my thoughts back to my date, to the perfect-on-paper man in front of me. It’s the second time we’ve gone out, and now I remember why it took me three weeks to get back to him about another date. He’s very nice, and he’s handsome—if you go for that classic, Ralph Lauren kind of look—but just like I told Paige, he doesn’t do anything for me. No butterflies. No breathless anticipation wondering if he’s going to kiss me. No flutters when his fingers brush the backs of my arms. Nothing.
    Nothing like what I had in spades during those few minutes I was on the dance floor with Jason.
    But Greg, unlike Jason, is the kind of man I’m looking for. He just turned thirty, is looking to settle down, and he seems to be smitten over the idea of Haley, though he hasn’t yet met her. He has a great job—an orthodontist. Except instead of thinking about how dedicated he must be, how intelligent, all I’ve thought about is what my teeth look like to him. Are they white enough? Are they straight enough? Can he tell I didn’t wear my retainer every night like I was supposed to after I got my braces off? Will this guy expect me to floss every night? And then I think about what Paige told me about her last guy, and I start picturing used floss on my bathroom counter, and I’m done .
    “I’m sorry to cut this short, but it’s been a long week at work and I’m a little tired. Would you mind if we headed out?”
    “Oh sure. Of course.” He moves to stand, then reaches for my coat. “Here, let me help you with this.”
    He’s always the gentleman, helping me out of the car, opening doors for me, pulling out chairs. And it’s something I should want, right? That kind of man is exactly what I’m looking for.
    But if he’s what I want, why can’t I even muster up a shiver of excitement when I’m around him?
    And why do I feel so much when I look across the room, my gaze automatically seeking out Jason, and find him staring back at me? The butterflies I’ve been desperately searching for, the same ones who’ve been absent in Greg’s presence, suddenly make themselves known and flutter rampantly in my stomach.
    From a single glance.
    From a single glance from the wrong man.

NINE
    tessa
    “Come on, come on,” I say, turning the key in the ignition once more. When only a soft clicking greets me, I slam my hand on the wheel. “Goddammit!”
    Haley gasps from the backseat. “That’s a bad word, Mama.”
    Closing my eyes, I rest my forehead on the steering wheel, counting backward from ten. It feels like one thing after another is happening, and I just keep getting buried under it all. I need for something to go right. I just need a goddamn break. When I finish counting down and reach zero and it hasn’t helped a bit, I take a deep breath and say in as calm a voice as I can, “I know. Sorry, baby.” I unbuckle my seat belt, then get out and open her door. “Let’s go inside. Mama’s gonna have to call someone and get the car looked at.”
    “What about school?”
    “Looks like we’re skipping school today. I’ll call them when we get inside.”
    “Can we skip Miss Melinda’s, too, and have a jammie day?” Her big brown eyes peer up at me, her expression so hopeful. I quickly go over my schedule in my head, trying to figure out if I can swing it or not. It’s not a packed day, so I know Brenda, the receptionist, will be able to reschedule my clients easily.
    Instead of committing to it until I know for sure, I say, “We’ll see.”
    Once we’re inside, I get her set up with a coloring book and crayons while I grab my phone and figure out what the hell I’m going to do. Normally, I’d call Jason. But after last Friday night¸ things are different. Strange. Tense. We haven’t talked since we parted ways on the dance floor and he went back to his friends while I rejoined my date—something highly unusual for us. I don’t want to think about how much I’ve come to count on his company, how much I’ve