Tags:
Fiction,
Romance,
love,
fear,
affair,
betrayed,
kidnapped,
hope,
Deceived,
Reconcile,
confused,
boredom,
disillusionment,
tempted,
disillusioned,
seduced
her stubborn suspicions evaporated
instantly. Amazing that the connection between them could still
wreak so much havoc on her resolve. Ever
since we were kids, she sighed internally.
Despite her daily irritations with him, Tessa still adored the
young man that Merritt had been, and when that man peeked out from
beneath the smooth exterior that had since overtaken him, Tessa
could refuse him nothing.
“Of course, you're right,” she allowed,
returning his smile and converting the tension she felt into a
taunt. “A couple of weeks without having to take care of your
incessant demands will seem like paradise.”
Merritt used their linked hands to pull her
onto his lap, and Tessa pushed her suspicion deep into oblivion in
her thoughts, wrapping her arm around his neck. “You only think I'm
demanding now,” he teased, wrapping her in his vice-like arms.
“You'll have to earn those two weeks of uninterrupted time by
conceding to my incessant demands.”
“Um, we're still here,” Mike reminded them,
and Tessa couldn't help but laugh.
“I can remedy that,” Merritt countered and,
keeping one arm around Tessa's waist, he rose and headed toward the
exit. “We'll see you in a couple of weeks,” he deadpanned, reaching
to open the door.
Tessa peeled Merritt's hand from her waist
and stopped, breathlessly chuckling at her exertion. “Not so fast,”
she insisted, stepping back into the center of the room. “Mike and
I have some things to talk about.”
“There are these things called phones,”
Merritt insisted, but he didn't move to ensnare Tessa again.
“No, really,” Mike agreed. “I should go
now.”
“Children,” Tessa accused with feigned
superiority, and then headed back to the table where Liset sat
smirking at the spectacle before her. Though Tessa hesitated to
release Liset without interrogating her, Tessa knew the futility of
making her own plans. Once Merritt had an idea in his head, there
was no point arguing with him. “Mike, sit down and eat this food I
cooked! This is way too difficult a task for me to let you dismiss
it without tasting it.”
“Well, as long as it doesn't kill me,” Mike
mocked in a mumble. Five minutes later though, the entire crew
tucked noisily into their dinner, and Tessa smiled. No matter what
happened in the next few days, she would remember the fun of that
dinner.
Though Tessa had made light of the situation,
the thought of spending two uninterrupted weeks alone with Merritt
both thrilled and frightened her. Since Sophie's birth, they had
found little time for trips, and those few vacations had proved
either painfully short or achingly tense, depending on Merritt's
mood. Would he decided to sweep Tessa off her feet, or would he
want to diagnose all of Tessa's shortcomings? Or, she worried,
would she have to endure several cycles of each during Merritt's
two week vacation? No business meetings to distract him, no
children to distract her. Could she stand to have his entire
scrutiny upon her for that long?
Before Tessa would have imagined possible,
Liset had packed the kids’ bags, and Grandpa was driving them down
the road and out of sight. Everything felt so rushed – so Merritt.
Spontaneous, insistent, confident. The kids seemed excited, but
Tessa worried that such a sudden and dramatic change might cause
them emotional trauma. When she last glimpsed the car, Tessa let
out a sigh, torn between relief at the removed burden and concern
for her children's hearts. In the end, however, a sudden thought
decided Tessa, making her glad to see the kids go. If Tessa's
suspicions about Liset proved true, the children needed to stay far
away from the au pair. With the kids safely in the hands of Grandma
and Grandpa, Tessa could relax her concerns. Plus, with no other
pressing responsibility, Tessa could invest some time in finding
out why Liset had suddenly gone nuts.
Unaware of Tessa's anxiety,
Mike convinced Liset to accompany him to a nearby coffee shop, so
Tessa saw the