One Little Kiss (Christian Romance) Read online

  "It's a privilege. These parents trust me with their child." He shrugged. Tessa often did the same thing when she said something kind of personal but wanted to take the edge off the emotion in the room. "Mom saved twins this week, though."

  "An entire team saved the twins. I just happened to be the one ordering everyone around." Her mom launched into the story of a woman who had gone into preterm labor and how the babies were failing to thrive in utero. She glowed as she described the c-section and the quick action of the other doctors and nurses in the room. "It was amazing.”

  Tessa blinked away the vision of the two blood-covered babies her mom had described and tried to focus on the miracle of it, not the mechanics. “Sounds like it,” Tessa choked out.

  “Is your throat hurting you again?” Mom set a glass of water in front of Tessa. “Have you been using the salt water gargle?”

  “Sometimes,” Tessa said. If only a sore throat was her actual problem.

  She debated telling them about the road show. About her fears over medical school. Maybe she was underestimating them, and they’d understand her need to take a mental break from the rigors of school work and do something frivolous like run a road show.

  “I have something to tell--”

  Mom’s phone buzzed with an incoming text, cutting Tessa off.

  “It’s Sister Hansen,” Mom said.

  “Everything okay?” Dad looked up from messing with the tablet, his brow lowered.

  “She’s venting about her grandson. She thinks his rear end might be permanently affixed to the living room couch.” Mom typed something back. Sister Hanson was the elderly woman they home taught together. Tessa had heard a lot about Sister Hanson’s lazy grandson, a man in his twenties who’d moved in with her and mooched off her social security check while playing video games all day.

  “I can’t get this Wi-Fi to work on this this thing. Maybe I should call Sister Hanson’s grandson.” He laughed at his own joke, but grew frustrated when he couldn’t figure out why the Wi-Fi wasn’t working. “I’d better call Jenkins to troubleshoot.”

  “Dad.” Tessa held out her hand, and he handed her the tablet. Why did they always assume Jenkins had the answers?

  Tessa went to the settings, found her parents’ Wi-Fi handle, and logged in. Her dad must have mistyped the password. “Done.”

  Mom glanced up from her phone. “I’m so glad you and Jenkins are nothing like Sister Hansen’s grandson. Neither of you have let anything sidetrack you from your goals.”

  Dad dipped his head in ascent. "Too many people have all this potential they waste on things that don't matter. There's a time for play, now and again, but responsibility comes first.”

  How responsible would they think it was that Tessa was running a road show? She found herself spending more and more time on the road show, her thoughts turning to it often this week, instead of homework for her classes. Tessa had a huge test the following day, but instead of studying after church, she'd gone through Henry's notebook, wishing she had time to chat with him about more ideas.

  Before she could decide whether or not to tell them, Jenkins' face appeared in the tablet and in his arms he held Tessa's beautiful niece, Katie. She was dressed in red and blue, with the logo of the University of Arizona on her tiny shoes. Tessa's heart softened. She may not have appreciated her brother's commentary on her life, but he had managed to make a gorgeous baby. Most of which could be attributed to Cami, who bent over Jenkins' shoulder. Mom blew Cami a kiss.

  "So what's this news?" Dad asked. He was so used to having every minute of his day accounted for with surgeries, follow-ups, and consultations, that he’d never excelled at small-talk. Besides, as much as Tessa loved strawberry lemonade, he loved Mom's chicken cordon bleu and would not want to eat it cold.

  "Well," Jenkins said, drawing the moment out. "Cami and I both got the jobs we applied for in Tucson! I'll be working at Tucson Medical Center and Cami got a job at Northwest Hospital."

  For a long moment there was silence while they all digested his news. Mom stood, bracing her hands on the table as she leaned toward the tablet. "Jenkins Alexander, this had better not be one of your jokes!"

  "It's not. I swear. We didn't want to tell you we were even applying for the jobs in case it didn't happen."

  Mom clapped her hands together with a joyful cry while Dad smiled so broad it looked like his face might split. Jenkins hadn't lived in Tucson in over eight years. Mom and Dad flow out often to see them, but to have him and his family close meant the world to them.

  Tessa, on the other hand, felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. Jenkins in Tucson. Right there, all the time. She'd have to deal with more than twice-a-year visits and passive-aggressive Sunday video chats. Now she’d receive his advice and commentary in real time, and be an ever-present paragon she could never live up to.

  "So, Tess, what do you think?" he asked after Mom and Dad had finished getting all the details from him about where they'd be living (Oro Valley for now) and when their jobs started (one month). "Your big brother's coming back to town!"

  "Great," she said with a weak smile.

  "What's great is all the free babysitting we'll be getting," he returned. Cami smacked him on the arm and Katie cooed. Free babysitting, Tessa could handle. It was all the free advice she could do without. "Seriously, Cami. It's not like she's dating anyone." He said it in a teasing way, but like most of his jokes, there was barb beneath them.

  "I've been dating someone," Tessa retorted, sounding too defensive. "His name is Logan, and he's a resident at University Medical Center."

  Silence filled the room. "How long have you been together?" Mom asked, looking a little hurt.

  "It's new." Really new. Like only a day old, and not really an actual thing. But it would be. The power of positive thinking. Plus, they were made for each other, and they sat by each other at church, which was almost the same as declaring their dating status.

  "New, huh. Sounds legit," Jenkins said.

  Cami sat on the arm of the chair, her arm draped around Jenkins. "I'm sure he's wonderful."

  "He is," Tessa said. "He's an anesthesiologist I met in my singles ward and we get along very nicely."

  Jenkins leaned closer to the camera. “He’s not one of those old guys getting ready to age out, is he?”

  "Jenkins," Mom warned. “I’m sure he’s lovely, no matter how old he is.”

  Tessa tamped down her annoyance. “He’s in his twenties, guys.” It was just like Jenkins to think that the only guy who would go for her would be old or desperate.

  He would always see Tessa as the accident-prone, dreamy kid from junior high who was a little chubby, had braces, and didn't realize curly hair turned frizzy without product. His attitude dug deep at her insecurities, but she forced herself to pretend she didn't care.

  "Sorry," Jenkins said, not sounding sorry at all. "I can't wait to meet him."

  "Same here," she said through gritted teeth.

  No matter what she had to do, she’d make sure she was dating Logan by the time Jenkins and Cami moved back to Tucson. Jenkins would never let her hear the end of it if she couldn’t produce Logan for his approval on a whim.

  He’d stricken down many dreams under the guise of helping her. Whether it was having a crush on his college roommate, who Jenkins informed her was out of her league, or wanting to go out for cheer, and him telling her that they looked for a different sort of girl on the cheer squad. Now he'd taken it upon himself to convince her that she should give up the idea of medical school because it would be too difficult for her to get through.

  Of course to her parents he was the perfect son who sometimes took his teasing a little too far, but Tessa shouldn’t be so sensitive anyway. Besides not everyone was lucky enough to have such an involved big brother, or so she’d been told. She’d take a lot less involvement any day. Having a know-it-all in your ear your entire life was exhausting.

  Jenkins jumped into a description of what he’d be
doing at the hospital, and it all had the same result. Saving lives.

  She could only imagine what they all said if she jumped in to tell them about how her production of The Anura Prince was coming along.

  She shuddered.

  They could never know she was doing that. It would result in a smug lecture from Jenkins about how she couldn’t cut it in med school. And her parents would share the same concerned expression they gave her whenever she tried to do something that wasn’t strictly academic. Even with Logan, the only thing keeping her from getting a lecture on time management and dating was that Jenkins had planted the seeds that it couldn’t possibly be a serious relationship.

  Which it wasn’t. But that didn’t mean it couldn’t someday be one.

  Jenkins and Cami signed off to get Katie to bed, and Mom finally opened all the still-steaming dishes and heaped food on onto everyone's plates. She put too much on Tessa's, but for once, she was going to eat her dinner and not feel guilty about the extra calories. She needed the food therapy tonight.

  Jenkins was coming home.

  Chapter 11

  Henry parked his car in the first available parking spot and ran into Tessa's courtyard only twenty minutes late for their road show mock-auditions. They'd both decided that anyone who wanted to be in it would get a part, but they wanted to see if there were any stand-out people who could play the male and female leads.

  Tessa stood in front of a small group people who all held a paper. "I've got the practice schedule on there for you. Most of our practices will be on Saturday evenings because that's when I could schedule the stake center."

  Henry hung back, taking in the crowd. He recognized almost everyone, but he didn't know anyone's names except for Layla and Addison, who sat in the front. Logan sat beside them, his legs kicked out, taking up at least twice as much space as anyone else. He'd done nothing but mock the idea of the road show since Henry had been called as the assistant, so he was almost surprised to see him there.

  If not for the pretty girl running the whole thing, that is.

  "We're doing a musical take on The Frog Prince,” Tessa announced. Excited chatter followed. “Henry and I have already written a few of the songs, and as soon as he gets here, I'll have him tell you more about it."

  "I'm here," he called from the back, and she finally let her smile loose. He'd come straight from working the border so dust and sweat covered him in a fine layer. His hair, limp from the heat, flopped into his eyes no matter how many times he pushed it back. And he still wore his dad's old glasses. Ava had forced him to order a new pair she'd found online, but they hadn’t arrived yet.

  A few of the girls giggled as he walked to stand beside Tessa. One of them whispered something to her friend who covered her mouth and laughed. He waited until they looked at him again and couldn't resist raising an eyebrow, something the old him would have done. His hair was so long, they probably couldn't see it.

  "Hey, Henry,” the laughing girl called out. “Where'd you get those glasses?"

  “Why? You want a pair?” he asked, unable to resist needling her a little.

  “Um. No.”

  This caused a few nervous laughs from most of the group, except for Tessa, who clenched her fists at her sides.

  "It's okay," he said out of the corner of his mouth. He knew why he dressed the way he did, and if they wanted to make fun of him, then it proved his plan was working.

  "No, it's not," she said. "If you're going to be unkind, we don't want you here."

  The girl laughed and looked around the group for more support. "I’m joking around."

  "It’s not funny,” Tessa bit back.

  It was kind of fun watching her get angry. She was so composed, so even-keeled, that he hadn't expected her to be able to put someone in their place. Especially for his sake.

  She took a deep breath and then another. "I know most of you all think this is a silly road show, but if we're going to make this work, we have to have the Spirit here when we get together. We forgot to have an opening prayer. So Henry's going to say it, and then he'll explain some of our ideas." She folded her arms and looked at him expectantly.

  Okay. Prayers he could do. He gave thanks for their talents and for people willing to serve, and asked that they'd get along and be able to work successfully. Before ending his prayer, he added, "There are people here dealing with very personal trials. Please bless them that through this experience they will feel peace and find the courage and strength to become the person they are meant to be."

  The courtyard was quiet for a moment following his prayer, and to his surprise, Tessa reached out and squeezed his upper arm, giving him a grateful look.

  "So, here's the deal," he said, calling on every experience he'd had talking to large groups of people. His nerves melted away. "Like Tessa said, we're doing The Frog Prince. We're almost done with the script, and we'll email it to you in the next week, hopefully. For now, just know it's going to be a modern take on the story."

  Tessa jumped in then. "Anyone who wants a big singing role, head over to Addison." She pointed to her roommate who waved her phone in the air. "She'll take down your name and queue the song you want to sing for auditions."

  Logan raised his hand, slow and lazy. "Yes?"

  "What if you don't sing?"

  "Then head toward Layla’s direction and she’ll write your name down. We're not going to force anyone to sing if they don't want to, though, you'd be missing out on a lot of fun."

  "Well, we don't want that," Logan said with a wink. Henry made a mental tally mark, only a little distracted by the blush spreading across Tessa’s cheeks.

  Henry helped hand out all the papers and once sounds of talking and music filled the courtyard, Tessa carried over two camping chairs and they sat facing each other.

  "Sorry I was late, by the way." He'd realized over the years that most people could get over his chronic lateness if he acknowledged it and apologized right away. He wanted to do better, but sometimes, especially when he was out in the field, time got away from him.

  She waved his apology away. "I grew up with two parents who were doctors. If someone wasn't late or getting called away for an emergency, then we were checking cell phone batteries."

  "Seems like that would get old after a while," he said.

  "It's life."

  He tried to imagine what life for her must have been like, growing up with two doctors, and couldn't. His mom had been a stay-at-home mom, something he appreciated even more now that he realized how few years they’d had with her. His dad also had a pretty standard schedule, so they knew when to expect him home. Henry committed to try harder to be on time for their meetings.

  He reached into his backpack and pulled out the rough script outline they’d hashed out over email since Sunday. Tessa loved the idea of reworked primary songs, and they’d spent most of their time coming up with lyrics. Ava had picked up a few versions of the story after he told her about it, and he had enjoyed reading through the many different ways the story had been told.

  "I was thinking it would be fun to do something unexpected," he said.

  “More unexpected than the princess and the frog not getting together?” she teased.

  "No, but since you keep shooting that idea down...did you know in the original story, the princess doesn't kiss the frog to break the curse?"

  "I didn’t. I'm going to admit that my research so far has consisted of borrowing Layla's little sister's copy of the Disney version to watch this week, but I didn't even have time to do that between studying for two tests.” She paused and took a deep breath, stress radiating off of her. "We're not here to talk about school. So, how did they break the curse?"

  "She threw him against the wall.” He wished he knew her well enough to press her about what was bothering her. Since he didn’t, he’d help alleviate her stress the best way he knew how—distraction. “Isn’t that great?”

  Tessa didn't say anything, but her expression was priceless. Wide eyes, open
mouth with her bottom lip slightly fuller than the top. . . . He forced himself to stop studying her lips.

  "So I thought we should add it into our play."

  “You want to throw the prince against a wall,” she deadpanned.

  “Or over a cliff. Or something really funny. And then he turns into a prince and they live happily ever after." He sat back in the chair and folded his hands over his stomach. "Because when it comes down to it, who really wants to see them kiss?"

  "I do!" she said. "You cannot be serious. There has to be kissing. Has. To. Be."

  He forced himself to keep a straight face. "I wouldn't joke about something like this."

  She sat back in her chair, opened and closed her mouth like she was trying to figure out what to say to him. He fought to keep his serious expression. For the last several years, only his sister could bring out this more lighthearted side of him, but lately Tessa could, too. She was always so stressed, and he found himself wanting to find ways to make her laugh. Even if it was at him.

  He pantomimed picking something up, and made the sound effects of it flying through the air and splatting against the ground. "True love."

  Then he smiled just enough for her to see his amusement. Understanding that he was teasing finally dawned, and she leaned forward and playfully swatted his knee. She did that a lot, but he didn’t mind. Not at all.

  "I swear! I've been trying to think of a kind way to pass on your idea, and you were messing with me."

  He laughed, feeling it all the way down in his bones, and Tessa joined in. Her entire face lit up, showing him tiny dimples on the sides of her mouth. "Maybe, maybe, we could work in some sort of prince-throwing. But the kiss is non-negotiable."

  Henry leaned closer, ready to pitch a mid-air kiss scene, when a heavy hand clamped down on his shoulder. "What are you two laughing about?" Logan asked. "I feel like I'm missing all the fun."

  "Just play stuff," Tessa said, and some part of Henry was glad she didn't let him in on their inside joke. "Are you going to participate?"