One Little Kiss (Christian Romance) Page 10

  Things had changed on his mission. He'd spent many Sundays filling in for speakers who canceled last minute, and once he got to talk about something he was passionate about, over time, the fear left him. Then Ava had snatched him up for these regular appearances on her cooking show, and he realized he'd officially shed the last of the shy kid sitting in the back row, too afraid to be a part of anything.

  “There was this inner confidence that came through. I've seen it when you talk about school, but usually you seem really content to be in the background." She shrugged, but smiled. "It was cool."

  "Thanks. I think."

  "I liked the wink, by the way. Winking once a day is going to be a part of the Henry Renovation Project."

  "I did not wink." Henry stood and Tessa followed, hardly having touched her food.

  "You so did. Right at the Olympic goddess."

  "I have never winked before and I did not start today."

  Tessa raised her brows in challenge. "Then you had a well-timed bug fly in your eye. Why would it be so bad to wink?"

  Because only arrogant people like Logan did that kind of thing. One-hundred and thirty-seven times since fall semester had started, and those were only the times he and Henry were together, which they tried to minimize as much as possible.

  "I didn't wink," he said, feeling less confident about the truth of his statement even as he said it. He did feel like a different person once the camera went on, and the Olympian had been flirting with him. She'd even slipped him her number before she'd had to rush out of the studio for practice. Could he have winked at her without even realizing it? And what did it matter anyway?

  "Come on," he said to Tessa. "I promised you I'd have you back to your apartment by now. Let me say goodbye to Dad real quick."

  Tessa complimented Clarissa while Henry’s dad pulled him into a hug.

  “Dad.” Henry hesitated to even say something, but with Clarissa being distracted with Tessa, it was as good a time as any. “Ava thinks there’s something going on with you and Clarissa.”

  His dad’s face turned ruddy and he lowered his voice. “I don’t know what to call us that doesn’t sound like we’re teenagers. We started talking after one of your shows and from there…” he shrugged.

  “Do you have feelings for her?” Henry asked, the words sounding as awkward as they felt coming out. This was a conversation he’d never anticipated having with his dad.

  “I do.” He paused. “Are you okay with that?”

  Henry gave him a slow nod. Surprisingly, he was okay with it. It was a little weird, sure, but had he expected his dad to be alone forever? No, but Ava probably did. “You need to tell Ava.”

  “I will, I will.” But his dad looked as worried as Henry felt. They both knew she wouldn’t take it well. They hugged again, and Clarissa slipped her arm through his dad’s. It was strange to see them touch now that he knew they had a relationship, but he tried to shake off any weirdness he felt.

  “Ready to go?” he asked Tessa.

  “Sure.”

  They wound their way through the cleaning crew and stepped into the hallway. Tessa got ahead of him and turned right instead of left when she reached the doorway into the hall. Henry caught up and took her arm to steer her in the right direction. His palm slid down to the small of her back again where it fit perfectly.

  He snatched his hand away like he’d been burned. Writing and directing the road show had romantic thoughts filtering into his mind. His hand didn't fit perfectly in the small of anyone's back, especially not Tessa’s, and the sooner he could get that through his head, the better. He brushed past her and walked in front so she wouldn't get turned around again.

  Chapter 16

  Henry walked into his apartment after dropping Tessa off, whistling a primary tune from the road show, but stopped when he saw Chelsea sitting on his couch. Logan sat right beside her instead of in his recliner, and Henry was gladder than ever that Soot had scratched that chair all up.

  "I didn’t expect to see you here." Or ever again. He closed the door, though he wanted to leave it open and usher her away from his apartment and out of his life.

  Logan stretched his arm across the back of the couch, nearly touching Chelsea's shoulder, but not quite. "You didn't tell me you'd been engaged before." He shared a look with Chelsea like they'd become best friends in what could have only been minutes. "I find that hard to believe."

  Henry went into the kitchen to get a drink of water. He should have listened to his gut and gone into the lab after the show.

  "It's true," Chelsea said, her voice sounding too close. He turned to find her behind him in the kitchen, looking even better than she had two years before. She lowered her voice so only Henry could hear, making the entire situation feel too intimate. "How have you been?"

  Henry drained the water in his cup and took a step away from her. "Good. Really good. You?"

  “Still adjusting to being home. It's weird, you know?"

  He remembered well, only for him, he'd left on his mission with a healthy and happy mom, and had come home to a somber dad, a serious Ava, and Adam who never seemed to have time for anyone but his friends. And then Chelsea had come along, full of light and sunshine, and pulled Ava and Henry out of their funks. It wasn't long before Chelsea and Henry began dating. She didn't like hearing about his entomology classes and she constantly tried to change his mind about the field he was going into, but he didn't let it bother him too much. Maybe he should have.

  When he got into the PhD program at the University of Arizona, they'd gotten into a huge fight where Chelsea revealed that there were a lot of annoying things about Henry: the way he lost things all the time, how he forgot dates and meetings even if they were written down, the way he wanted to stop and look at insects and talk about them and save them and eat them when it turned out she just wanted someone who would smash them. Which, okay, he could understand her not wanting him to eat insects. But the rest of it was so enmeshed into who he was, he didn’t think he could separate himself from it. Then her pressure had turned to getting him to drop his major.

  Henry had been willing to try to have better control over his belongings and his calendar, but he'd just been accepted into his dream program at his dream school. He couldn't walk away from it all and change his passion to something more socially acceptable. Not even for Chelsea.

  She broke off the engagement and went on a mission, sending him and Ava back into a funk that rivaled the one they were in when he got home from his mission. Henry left the singles ward, found a casita to rent in the massive back yard of an acquaintance of their father's, and went to a family ward for two years. Ava threw herself into her cooking blog, which up until that point had been only sporadically updated and had lacked focus. She’d found her brand and with it came popularity. Then Ava had finally convinced Henry to go to his singles ward and give social life another try.

  So he had.

  And now Chelsea was back.

  "I've missed you." She moved closer.

  Henry was very aware of Logan still sitting on the couch, watching them. Henry motioned for Logan to leave, but he kicked his feet up onto the coffee table and picked up his phone. Henry went out the front door, knowing Chelsea would follow him outside, where they would at least have some privacy.

  He shut the door behind them and led her downstairs to the parking lot. He didn't see her old car anywhere, so he stood on the sidewalk beside his truck. The hot afternoon sun glared down on him, and all the lightness from earlier was gone, replaced with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. "So what’s going on?"

  She grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry, Henry. The way I handled things before I left... I had a lot of time to think on my mission, about how I felt and what I said, and if I could go back in time, I would. I made a mistake, and I don't know if there's any way you can forgive me." She paused, shading her eyes from the bright sun as she looked up at him. "You look good."

  He still had his hair styled from Ava’s sh
ow, and even had the powder and foundation they'd rubbed all over his face to keep it from being so shiny on camera. Ava had given him his new black-rimmed glasses right before the show went on. He exhaled slowly, wishing he could have the shield of his normal hair and his dad’s old glasses.

  The Henry Renovation Project was officially paused until further notice, though he didn't look forward to telling Tessa.

  "You look good, too," he answered truthfully. She’d always been a beautiful woman and had grown even more so since he’d seen her last. When Henry was on his mission, he’d also thought often of the people he’d hurt or done wrong in some way and wished he could apologize. Maybe it was a universal thing. "It was all so long ago, so don't worry about it anymore, okay?"

  A familiar smile lit up her face. "I don't think you understand what I'm trying to say. I want us to try again."

  His stomach knotted at her words, bringing back all the feelings from the tense weeks prior to their break up. The passive aggressive comments, the feeling like no matter what he did it was never good enough for her. "I'm still the same person I was two years ago, and we didn't work then."

  "We were good together."

  “Until we weren’t.” And he couldn’t go back to that kind of relationship. Not with her, not with anyone. They’d both said too much to take it all back.

  "Don't say no!" She grabbed both of his hands.

  He squeezed her hands before letting her go. "There’s someone out there who is better for you than I am.”

  "I'm not giving up on you. Not this time."

  Exhaustion ran through him. This wasn't some game, and if she tried to make one, he wasn't playing.

  She backed away before he could come up with a decent reply, pulling her keys from her pocket as she moved. "It was really, really good to see you again, Henry. See you on Sunday!"

  She walked to a small, white economy car and stuck her keys into the door as her words caught up with him. "Sunday?"

  She paused before getting into her car, a mischievous grin crossing her face. Then she drove off, leaving Henry wishing for the simpler times when he lived in his tiny casita and went to the family ward. Alone.

  Chapter 17

  Before Tessa left for her date with Logan, her cell phone rang with an unfamiliar number. "Do you mind if I take this?"

  Logan motioned for her to go ahead and checked his phone while she answered.

  "Hi, is this Tessa?" A young woman's voice asked.

  "This is."

  "Oh, good! I'm new in the ward. Chelsea Norlin. Bishop Riggs gave me your number to talk to you about the road show. I know it may be too late, but I was hoping I could be in it."

  Tessa rifled through all the positions in her mind, but they'd given out the last of the spots at their last practice. They had a total of fifteen people in the play, more than Tessa had dared hope they’d get, and so far everyone got along great. Too great.

  Her thoughts darkened when she recalled Dawn, the girl playing the princess, flirting with Logan, who had stopped by to bring Tessa dinner at their practice the night before. Dawn had pulled out all the moves: touching Logan’s arm, complimenting him, and making up some ailment on her lip for him to check out.

  Even Henry had noticed the extra attention and had shared a knowing look with Tessa. If she could, she'd give Chelsea the lead role, sight unseen, but jealousy wasn't a good enough reason to kick Dawn out of the road show.

  "I don't have any speaking parts left, but you're welcome to join the chorus," Tessa finally responded.

  "That would be so great! I'm also a painter. Nothing professional, but I can whip up a mean back drop if you need me."

  Tessa let out a huge breath. This girl was a gift from heaven. Addison had volunteered to do their backdrops, but she was swamped with school and work, and Tessa had worried she wasn't going to have time to get it done. "I would love that. Our next practice is a week from today. Saturday at the church."

  "I'll be there. Bishop mentioned that Henry White is your assistant," she said.

  Logan tugged Tessa's arm and mouthed, Our reservation is in fifteen minutes.

  Sorry, she mouthed back, following him out of the apartment toward his car. The sun streaked pink across the sky. "Henry, yes. He's helping me. Do you know him?"

  "We're old friends."

  The crack in her voice over the word “friends” caught Tessa’s attention. This girl was helpful and kind, and had a sweet voice. And she and Henry were old friends. Maybe she and Henry would be perfect for each other.

  “Let’s chat tomorrow and I’ll give you a script,” Tessa said.

  “I’m speaking in my home ward about my mission tomorrow.”

  “Oh. I’ll have Henry drop it off for you then.”

  “No!” Chelsea laughed. “Sorry. I’d like to surprise him when I show up. It’ll be fun.”

  Okay. Henry didn’t strike Tessa as the kind of person who liked surprises, but Chelsea had known him longer. “See you at practice then.” They said goodbye and hung up.

  "Who was that?" Logan asked, backing out of his parking spot with one quick pump to the gas. Tessa clicked her seat belt in quickly.

  "A new girl in the ward who wants to do the road show. I guess she's an old friend of Henry's."

  Logan's smile grew into a wide grin and he glanced sideways at her. "Her name wouldn't happen to be Chelsea, would it?"

  "It is," Tessa said. "How did you know?"

  Instead of answering, Logan let out a barking laugh and hit the steering wheel. "Oh man. Things just got interesting."

  Chapter 18

  Jenkins and Cami had officially moved to Arizona. According to Mom, most of their things were still in boxes spread around their new house up in Oro Valley, but their old house had sold and they started their new jobs on Monday. Tomorrow night was their first family dinner together since the move, and although Tessa was thrilled to hold Katie again, she didn't look forward to facing her brother.

  More than anything she wished she could go back in time, swallow her stupid pride, and not say anything about Logan. She still hadn't invited him to dinner at her parents' house, even though they were holding a special family dinner Monday instead of Sunday because she told Jenkins that Logan worked Sunday evenings at the hospital, and he insisted they would do whatever it took to meet him. She didn't know why she hadn't asked him yet. Even now, he sat beside her in church, something they'd been doing for several weeks, and he loosely held her hand in his. While Bishop gave announcements, she could lean over, or even write a note, asking him if he wanted to have dinner with her family. It wasn't a big deal.

  Except it would be because Jenkins made everything a big deal. No doubt it would be a night filled with embarrassment, and if Logan looked twice at her afterward, it would be a miracle. But if she didn't bring Logan, especially after she'd talked him up so much and they'd switched the dinner night just to meet him, she wouldn't hear the end of it for the rest of her life. If she and Logan were going to be serious, he needed to meet her family some time.

  How serious could they be, though, if even now, holding hands, she caught him stealing glances at Dawn?

  Which was the lesser evil? Bringing him and being embarrassed in front of him, or not bringing him and dealing with Jenkins and his smug smile? Without realizing it, she'd been twisting her cow bracelet until her wrist was almost raw. Layla's hand came down over her arm and she leaned close to whisper, "You need to stop stressing and ask him."

  "I will," Tessa said back, knowing she had to. She'd promised her family.

  The chorister got up to lead the opening song, "Abide with Me." Tessa flipped through the hymnbook until she found the song. From behind her, she heard Henry's clear tenor voice, and her shoulders relaxed. Henry had taken to sitting behind her, Layla, and Logan in church and listening to him sing the hymns had become one of her favorite parts.

  Their Henry Renovation Project had come to a standstill before it even had time for lift-off with the onslaught of m
id-term papers and tests. He was elbow-deep in grading papers, and she was desperately trying to make up for all the studying she'd blown off so she could work on the road show and go on dates with Logan. Her first midterm grade had been uploaded into the online grading system a few hours before church. Anatomy: 64%. Some of her classes had a curve, but that one didn't. Her heart sat in her stomach. How was she going to get her grade up to at least the 71% she needed in order to pass the class?

  If Jenkins found out, he’d probably insist on going through all of the problems with her to point out what she did wrong. She had to invite Logan to dinner at least, to show she had something going for her. After church, so she could have time to build up her nerves. Sacrament meeting went quickly, but on the way to Sunday school, Tessa was stopped by Rhett, the guy playing the prince for their road show.

  "Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

  Tessa let go of Logan's hand and told him to save her a seat. He nodded, but before he was five steps away, Dawn had latched onto his arm, and he was laughing at something she said. Tessa felt the tips of her ears burn with repressed anger, but pushed it down as far as possible. This jealousy thing was really getting out of hand.

  "What's up?" she asked Rhett. They found an empty couch in the foyer and sat down.

  "My unit is being deployed in a few weeks, so I'm not going to be able to do the road show. I'm sorry." He did look sorry, but there was also an underlying current of excitement. She knew it had been a risk casting him in the role of the prince, but had been hoping his unit wouldn't have to go out until after Christmas.

  "Is there anything I can do to help before I leave? I can teach the new prince the lines or the song."

  "That would be really great. I'll let you know when I find the prince," she said. "Any ideas on who could replace you?"

  "I'm irreplaceable." They laughed, but both knew it was true. "Let me think about it and I'll call you if I think of someone."