Page 27 of My Heart Still Beats
“Are you excited?”
“About what?” she asks.
“This weekend. The trip to Jamaica. The bachelor and bachelorette parties.”
“Oh yeah. Sure,” she replies. Her tone sounds more bothered than excited.
“All right, Tessa. I’m going to get you excited about this.” I pull up all the details on my phone. “Did you know we’re flying out on the company private jet?”
“Yeah.”
“You ever been on a private jet before?”
She scoffs. “Are you kidding? Only about a hundred times.” Her lips curve upward once more.
Yeah! I’m getting there. Sarcasm is a good thing. “You have such an amazing smile,” I say.
The redness hits her cheeks again, this time spreading to the top of her chest.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Tessa, but I think you probably already know that.”
Her smile fades. “Don’t tell me I’m beautiful,” she says.
“Why not?”
She looks down. “Because I don’tfeelbeautiful. Sometimes I look in the mirror, and I see…”
“You see what?”
“I see…a shadow. No features. Just a blank face.”
My heart cracks a little. “I know you don’t want to talk to me about this. And you don’t have to. I’m not going to insult you and say I understand, because I know I don’t. But I do know what it’s like to be fighting something, Tessa. It’s not pretty. But thereishelp.”
“I’m getting help.”
“I’m glad to hear that. And if there’s anything I can—”
She holds up a hand. “Stop. I don’t want to go there. I was actually having a semi-good time, and this will just ruin it.”
I nod. “I hear that.”
Olivia returns with our lunches and sets the Reuben in front of Tessa by mistake.
“That’s mine,” I say. “The lady doesn’t like sauerkraut.”
“Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Tessa frowns at me. “You don’t need to make a big deal out of it, Ben.”
I wasn’t trying to do that. To the contrary, I wanted to make Tessa smile. She shouldn’t have to be in such close proximity to sauerkraut.
Olivia reddens, flustered. She probably thinks I’m angry with her.
“Olivia, it’s okay,” I assure her with a smile. “Honest mistake.”
She attempts a smile in return, but it’s wary. I really don’t want her thinking I was upset. I’ll give her a huge-ass tip.
She sets the hamburger in front of Tessa. “I hope you like this. We’re famous for our burgers.”
