Page 88 of Trusting Mr. Sterling
The answer had always been there. She’d just never looked straight at it.
It was never going to be a destination. No client list, no reputation, no man standing in a kitchen asking her to trust him could hand it to her. She had to decide she already had it.
She lay with that for a long time. Then she got up, made coffee, and went to find Lucy.
Monday morning, Tessa walked into Flour & Honey expecting coffee and Lucy’s latest creation. What she got was an ambush.
Lucy stood behind the counter in her flour-dusted apron. Devney sat at their usual table by the window. Both of them were watching the door.
“Oh no,” Tessa said.
“Sit,” Lucy called.
“I’ve work?—“
“Sit.” Devney gestured to the chair across from her. “We have coffee pastries and time.”
“What did Ronan tell you?”
“Ronan told me he had to leave suddenly on Sunday morning because Gabriel needed him.” Devney’s expression was gentle but firm. “And then you didn’t answer any of my texts yesterday. So yes, I put it together. Sit down.”
Tessa sat. There didn’t seem to be another option.
Lucy appeared with three cups and a plate of croissants that smelled like butter and heaven. She slid into the seat beside Devney, forming a united front.
“Okay,” Lucy said. “Talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Tessa.” Lucy’s voice was soft. “You look like you haven’t slept.”
“I haven’t.”
Lucy pushed a croissant toward her. “Eat. Then talk.”
Tessa picked at the pastry. It tasted like cardboard, which wasn’t Lucy’s fault. Everything had tasted like cardboard since Saturday night.
“I found something. In Gabriel’s apartment.”
“Something bad?” Devney asked.
“Something complicated.” Tessa took a breath. “Did Ronan ever tell you about The Oath?”
Devney’s expression changed. “The stupid thing from college? With the three of them?”
“You know about it?”
“I didn’t until after we were already together. He told me after the fact. By the way, I signed a pact with my friends swearing off love until forty, but obviously that didn’t work out.”
“Were you mad?”
Devney laughed. “Over a stupid pact they made in college? Tessa, I once promised my freshman roommate I’d never eat carbs again. That lasted exactly one week until somebody brought garlic bread to a study session.” She shook her head. “People make dumb promises when they’re young. It doesn’t define who they are years later.”
“Gabriel never told me.”
Lucy glanced at Devney, then back at Tessa. The croissant sat untouched on her plate.
“Wait,” Lucy said. “What oath. What are we talking about?”
