Roxanne Claire - Barefoot by the Sea

Drawing back with a little surprise, Henry crossed his arms and scowled. “This is not my timing,” he said quietly. “This timing was dictated by your son.”

John’s grip tightened. “What?”

“Edward is sick.”

“Sam,” John said softly, coming around the table as if the news somehow drew him closer to Henry. “His name is Samuel. What’s wrong with him?”

“They don’t know. He’d developed a strange infection and he’s been hospitalized overnight. To be blunt, it’s touch and go and you need to get there, fast.”

“Good Lord.”

At John’s pained whisper, Tessa stood, her own light-headedness forgotten and replaced by his. She put her hand on his back. “You better go.”

He gave Henry a questioning look, then nodded solemnly.

Tessa barely breathed and John turned to her, his anger at Henry replaced by something else even more intense. Raw, rugged determination and the same certainty she had seen on the beach.

“Come with me.”

The words stunned her.

“John, I—”

“Tess, please. Please. Come with me. We’re married now. Stay with me, be with me, don’t ever leave me.”

She stood paralyzed by the invitation and sincerity in his eyes.

Henry stepped closer, practically between them. “If you get the children in your custody, we’d still strongly recommend you start over with a new name in a new location.” He looked hard at Tessa. “You’d have no contact with anyone.”

“Come with me,” he repeated as if Henry weren’t even there. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her closer. “I meant every bloody word I said out there, woman. I love you. I love you. Come with me, live with me, be my reason.”

“Your reason.”

He squeezed and practically shook her, his eyes on fire. “For living. For breathing. For everything.”

Blood pulsed so loudly she couldn’t hear herself think. And she needed to. She needed to think hard and straight. “You want me to leave and go into the program with you?”

“Yes. It’s wrong. It’s selfish.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “But I love you. Tessa, I love you so much, but I love my kids, too.”

And now one of them was sick. When push came to shove, that was the family he’d choose—as he should. Just like…

She closed her eyes as the image of her mother popped so unexpectedly into her head. Her mother who gave up everything for a man who wouldn’t give up a damn thing for her. And look how she’d ended up. Alone.

She’d promised to help him, but did that mean she would give up everything so he could have—everything?

“Does he still have to prove he’s married?” she asked Henry.

“It’s going to help the process, yes. All I know is I was sent here to fly you up there immediately because of the situation with your son. Beyond that, I can’t say what will happen, but I’m confident that you’ll be taking a new identity and so would your…” He gestured to Tessa.

“She’s my wife,” he said simply.

Three words that nearly buckled her knees again. Then the front door opened and Mayor Lennox walked in.

Henry didn’t wait or bother with introductions. “I’ll be outside,” he said. “I have a car waiting.”

“You two going somewhere?” The mayor asked as Henry brushed by him and left.

They didn’t answer but looked at each other, John’s stare so hard that prickles of heat stung Tessa’s neck, her pulse thrumming every vein in her body.

She’s my wife.

Not quite yet.

“Here’s the certificate of marriage.” Mayor Lennox flipped open a manila envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper, taking it to the table. “Most people have a photographer here for this part.”

“We’re not most people,” John said.

He chuckled. “I got that impression during the ceremony.”

“In fact, we’d like to be alone.”

The mayor’s white brow shot up. “I need to witness the signatures.”

John gestured around the room. “You see anyone else?”

“Like I said, unconventional.” But he took out a pen, set it on the table, and gave a nod. “Have at it, kids.”

Neither of them moved, even after the door clicked shut and they were alone. For a long moment, they looked at each other, both taking slow, uneven, slightly terrified breaths.

“Are you going to sign that?” she finally asked.

“Are you going to come with me?”

“How can I do that?” she asked, wishing he really had an answer but knowing he didn’t. “How can I walk out of here and get in a car and disappear from the people who love me most in the whole world? They’d never stop looking for me.”

“They’d never find you.”

And that hurt. “I love them too much to put them through that.”

He closed his eyes and nodded. “I understand that, but I want you to know something, too.” He reached for her hands, pulling her closer. “I meant every word I said during that wedding. I really did. I’ve been given a second chance and a second life, so I wanted to—”

She put her hand over his mouth, not sure she could take this confession. It would hurt too much on lonely nights to remember these words and how close they came to happiness.

“You’ve been given a second chance with your children. Love—our love—is great and glorious. But that love? The parent love? That is it, Ian. That is what counts the most. And, honestly?” She smiled as the real truth descended. “I would make the same choice, if I only could.”

He bit his lip, eyes filling, pulling her into an embrace so tight she couldn’t breathe. “I know you would.”

“Go to them, Ian,” she whispered. “I could never love a man who wouldn’t, and I could never forgive myself if I went with you.”

Sighing in agreement, he kissed her head. “I will never forget you, Tessa. I’ll never forget you.”

She pinched her eyes shut and fought the tears, nudging him away. “One more thing,” she said, her voice hoarse. She picked up the pen. “We’re not quite married yet.”

“You don’t have to sign that,” he said. “I understand if you don’t want to.”

“I want to.” She scratched Tessa Galloway above her typed name. “Here.”

He took the pen, looking miserable, unable to do anything but stare at the document.

“You said Henry will arrange the annulment,” she reminded him. “This is a formality.”

He squeezed the pen in a death grip, staring at the certificate. “It’s not a bloody formality to me.”

“It’s a way to get your children, and that’s all that matters.”

“Is it, Tessa?” He didn’t look up from the paper, but his jaw clenched tight and a vein in his neck throbbed at about the same rate as her heart. “Because I think it’s a fucking lie.” He tossed the pen on the table and took a step back. “And we made a promise never to lie to each other.”

“You’re not lying to me,” she said softly.

He turned to her, eyes blazing. “I’m making a mockery of marriage and of us. I won’t do that. When I sign that, it’s forever and it’s real. I won’t do that for some stupid board who thinks they know what’s right for me and for my family.”

She fisted her hands, fighting another wave of emotion and dizziness. “Your family consists of two little children, one of whom is sick. I am not part of this decision.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

An impatient tap on the door made Ian step back and look around the room.

“I need a piece of paper,” he said. He scanned the living room, seeing none. “Damn it.” He took the marriage certificate and ripped a corner off, then grabbed the pen to write on the scrap. “This is Henry’s secure, private, and totally trustworthy number. If you ever need anything, absolutely anything, or if you want to get a message to me, call Henry.”

He stuffed the paper into her hand, then grabbed her fingers and pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her. Tessa closed her eyes and nodded into his chest, his heart hammering against her, yet not loud enough to drown out her thoughts.

Go with him, you idiot! Go!

But she simply couldn’t move.

He slipped out of her arms, brushed her hair back one last time, and gave her a smile. “I don’t blame you, Tess. Not at all.”

“Okay. Bye.” She closed her eyes and turned away, incapable of watching him walk out the door. When she finally opened her eyes, she focused on the scene out the window in front of her.

The hot-air balloon was lifting off, surrounded by the people she loved, all cheering and waving and wishing them well. Everyone was too immersed in the excitement to notice the groom walking across the path, on his way to a car that would take him away forever.

Forevah and evah.

She squeezed the shell so hard she thought she heard it crack. But it didn’t. The seashell was stronger than that. Only her heart was broken.

The verdict’s in. Meet at my house. Now!

Lacey’s text went to all three of her best friends and business partners simultaneously. Instantly, Tessa dropped the composting fork and pulled off her gloves, throwing them on a work table as she headed out of the gardens toward Lacey’s backyard.

It had been two weeks since the wedding planners left Barefoot Bay; and, of course, two weeks, one day, and fourteen hours since John had left.

Stop counting, Tess.

Her friends had surprised her by accepting the “family emergency” explanation—though she’d caught their looks of worry and pity when they thought she wasn’t paying attention. However, Willow, Arielle, and Gussie hadn’t been quite so understanding and, with the groom gone, the reception fizzled. And so, they feared, had their chances of being a “recommended resort” at the next meeting of the American Association of Bridal Consultants.