Page 45 of Wait For You

A few other staff came into the break room. Word had traveled that there were samples to taste. With Adam’s hand holding mine securely, we walked out to the restaurant and mingled with his family. The Cannon family could be a lot. I had been friends with McKenna since kindergarten, but with her being the youngest sibling, my interactions with her brothers had been mostly brief. Over the years of growing up with her, I’d listened to her various complaints of being teased and annoyed with different brothers. I’d witnessed the gaping silence about her family after their father had died.

It was nice to see the camaraderie they shared and how they had become closer in different ways now that they were adults.

Adam’s mother stopped beside us at one point, smiling warmly over at me. “Hi there!”

“Hi. Nice to see you,” I replied politely.

“I always love to see you, Tessa. I’m really happy to see you with Adam. I think you two might be perfect for each other,” she said.

Adam was beside me, talking with Blake and Rhys about something. When I reflexively glanced his way, he gave me a reassuring smile. My cheeks felt heated when I looked back at his mother.

“Thank you,” I said, unsure what else to say.

My bruised heart wanted to shout for joy and clap, to announce to the world that Adam and I were perfect for each other. But my anxiety knew better. I was deeply cautious and didn’t dare hope for too much. I took a careful breath.

Adam happened to glance toward his mother at that moment. “What did you say to Tessa?” His tone was protective, as if he sensed my uncertainty.

His mother’s eyes twinkled. “I told Tessa I think you two might be perfect for each other.”

His gaze softened. “Might?” He squeezed my hand, and my heart flipped over in my chest.

McKenna and Jack came over to chat with us, and Fiona made her way out. Blake tugged her into a hug, giving her a lingering kiss. Nothing was too overboard about it, but whenever I saw them together, a tender intimacy almost seemed to shimmer around them. I loved that for her. I didn’t like admitting it to myself, but a small part of me wished I could have something like that. I wouldn’t quite call how I felt as jealous, but a pang of wishing for more than I thought I deserved.

Blake and Kenan were joking about something when I experienced a familiar and unsettling sense of awareness. The hairs rose on the back of my neck. Reflexively, I held still. I was relieved there was plenty of conversation flowing around me. I forced myself to wait several minutes before I carefully glanced around the room. Rich was here with his girlfriend. He wasn’t looking in my direction at the moment, but I assumed he had been. It was all I could do not to run out of the room.

Adam squeezed my hand, and I glanced up at him. “Don’t worry.” His words were quiet, only for me to hear. “It’s going to be fine. You’re not doing this alone.”

Tears stung my eyes, and my throat felt thick with emotion. At this moment, they weren’t bad tears. They were tears of relief, of an immense gratitude. I had felt so alone for too long. It was almost surreal to realize I had someone standing right here with me, assuring me that I wasn’t alone anymore.

Not much later, we left. We actually walked past Rich and his girlfriend. If Rich noticed us, he didn’t give any indication. He had his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders, talking to someone I didn’t recognize and gesturing toward the television above the bar.

My body hummed with a confusing muddle of emotions when we walked outside. But rising through the detritus of my fear and anxiety, so easily triggered by Rich, was a sense of triumph and a deep sense of love for Adam.

When he stopped beside his SUV to open the door for me, I placed my hand on his chest. He had his hand curled on the door handle. “What is it?”

“I love you,” I said simply.

I didn’t need him to tell me the same. I just needed to emphasize how much he meant, and how strong my feelings were.

He was silent before a wide smile unfurled across his face. “I’m a lucky man. I love you too.”

He placed his hand over mine, where it rested on his heart. Joy rushed upward inside. It felt like cymbals clanging inside.

“I told you I would wait until you were ready.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Adam

I sifted my fingers through Tessa’s hair, savoring the soft little sigh she made in her sleep. When I woke up with her, I experienced a sense of wonderment. Maybe I had experienced love before, but I’d been so young and definitely naive.

The love I had felt for Julie had been different. Now I could understand it was immature. After I had been so hopeful that I could prove that love would make me feel better about life and about the shitty hand I felt our family had been dealt.

I never expected I’d actually find Tessa and fall in love in this way. Our two flawed selves, the jagged pieces of our hearts hinged together and healed the slivers of bitterness left over. The losses in my life had made it possible for me to love Tessa the way I did.

Tessa shifted in her sleep, her knee bumping into the side of my thigh. She moved a lot when she was sleeping, often elbowing me or curling against me softly. Sometimes it was nice, and sometimes it was jarring. I loved all of it, all of her.

I sensed her coming awake, a subtle hum of electricity, of attention and alertness.