Page 107 of Love Is…?
“Yes. But also finding your person. That’s why love is real.” She tapped her chest with two fingers. “And that’s why love is you.” Jayde gently pressed her finger to Tessa’s chest.
A smile lifted Tessa’s lips. “So much for our challenge lessons pretend curriculum whatever it was. Looks like we worked it out ourselves.”
Jayde held Tessa’s chin and ghosted her lips over Tessa’s. “I wasn’t pretending.”
Tessa smiled into the kiss. “Neither was I.”
Epilogue
People saya lot can happen in eighteen months. Tessa had no idea who those people were but they were right. Leaving her job as Grace Taylor’s chaperone starred as number one on her ‘a lot’ list. As soon as Grace turned sixteen, Abby and Sam decided that Grace no longer needed a chaperone. Tessa knew it was coming. Who needs a chaperone at sixteen, or fourteen for that matter? Certainly not Grace Taylor. However, amidst the tears and goodbyes, another job offer arrived in the form of a local TV celebrity who needed a daytime nanny for her daughter and so, armed with a reference from Abigail Taylor, international superstar, Tessa scored the position.
It didn’t mean that ties were cut. Grace had taken to visiting Oliver Ferguson when Tessa and Jayde were home, regaling him with anecdotes about her mum’s new films, adding jokes to his still yet-to-be-published book, and eating two-minute noodles with cubed vegetables that Oliver was thrilled to present to the daughter of his favourite celebrity.
Tessa and Jayde had discussed moving in together and they’d basically done so. Tessa spent six nights out of seven at Jayde’s flat, as they both acknowledged that Jayde wasn’t ever going to move away, given her father’s special needs. The visits,the staying over, the love-making, the sleepy breakfasts. It all felt so right. Tessa wore a permanent smile.
Angel pointed out the sappy smile only last week.
“Kittens, puppies, and ponies. The pair of you. You’d think after eighteen months it would have worn off, like the gold spray on dodgy jewellery.”
“You’re grumpy,” Tessa pointed out, as she sorted out some more items of clothing to take back to Jayde’s.
“Of course I’m grumpy. I’m rattling around the apartment like that solitary satellite that NASA lost ten years ago.”
When Tessa paused and looked at her cousin, she saw Angel’s eyes shining with tears. Tessa sprang up. “I’m sorry,” she said, then hugged Angel fiercely.
“It’s okay. I guess I can get a smaller place. You two will eventually move in together and I can’t keep this flat. It’s too big.”
Tessa disentangled herself, then held Angel’s upper arms. “Sounds like a plan. It’s not like you won’t see me. We’ll visit all the time.”
Angel pursed her lips. “Well, let’s not get excited.”
Tessa laughed, then squinted. “Did NASA really lose a satellite?”
Angel shrugged. “Who knows? It’s probably hovering above Kansas creating swirly corn circles so people keep away from Area 51.”
“That’s in a whole separate state.”
But at the moment, swirly corn was not at the forefront of Tessa’s mind. She leaned into the concrete column in the enormous bookstore located on Graham Street. The culmination of another event on the ‘a lot’ list. Jayde’s book,Lovers of Melbourne, had been fast-tracked by the publishing company that picked up the manuscript, resulting in a huge deal, and seemingly an entire marketing team to promote it. So hereJayde was, absolutely hot property, signing copies for readers who’d stood in line since the crack of dawn. Even now, the line still snaked around the book displays, out the door, down the footpath, eventually stopping at the entrance to the candle place whose manager got very excited that so many people potentially wanted to purchase cinnamon soy candles. Jayde had gaped when she’d seen everyone.
“This is insane!” she’d hissed.
Tessa held Jayde’s head. “No. It’s. Not. You wrote a brilliant book and people have responded to it.”
“It helped that Abby mentioned it so often,” Jayde muttered.
“Hey,” Tessa growled. “You did this all on your own. People are not buying it because Abby dropped the title onGood Morning Australia.People are buying it because it’s really good.”
“Although I did like her interview,” Oliver piped up from where he was standing next to Tessa. That was another ‘a lot’ moment. Jayde had convinced her father to leave the house beyond his visits to see Thomas in the Botanic Gardens. So, on Friday mornings Oliver slowly walked the two-hundred metres to the community hall to play chess and checkers. Tessa had held a thrilled yet sobbing Jayde to her chest when she recounted how her father had beamed in excitement after his first visit. Today was a moment of bravery. He’d wanted to accompany Tessa to watch Jayde autograph hundreds of copies of her book, even if the noise was too much and his leg ached. Tessa snuck a look at his face. Pride, deep swallows, and eyes that were glistening with tears. It was a lot. She tucked her arm into his.
“She’s remarkable,” Tessa whispered.
“Oh, Tessa, love. She’s the most wonderful person and I’m so grateful that I’m her dad.” He swallowed more tears, then winced as he shifted his body to adjust his cane.
“Would you like to go, Oliver?”
He looked disappointed, but resigned. “Yes. I’m finding the amount of people very claustrophobic. I’m not used to such a crowd, so perhaps it’s a good idea. Can you let Jayde know that I’ll see her later on, please?”
Tessa nodded. “No worries. I’ll just pop over and tell her we’re going.”