the coffee. “Good morning.” She looked directly at Dante.
“How’s Leslie Anne?” he asked.
“She’s still asleep.” Tessa lifted the coffeepot from the warmer and filled her cup.
“Do you have any idea why that child ran off the way she did?” Eustacia asked as she placed two slices of wheat bread into the toaster. “Anything could have happened to her out there all alone the way she was.”
When Tessa didn’t respond immediately—after all what could she say that wouldn’t be a lie?—Eustacia shook her head. “It’s just the age she is, I guess. Lord knows she came by it honestly. You were wild as a buck at sixteen. Yes, sirree, you sure kept your mama and daddy on their toes.”
“So I’ve been told.” Tessa placed her coffee cup on the table and sat down with Dante and Hal.
“You about got Mr. G.W.’s breakfast ready?” Hal asked. “It’s almost seven-thirty.”
“Just as soon as I get Miss Tessa’s toast ready, I’ll set things up on a tray for Mr. G.W.”
As if on cue, the crisp browned bread popped up. Eustacia removed the two slices, buttered them lightly, put them on a plate and brought them over to Tessa. “You should eat more than toast and coffee for breakfast. No wonder you’re so skinny.”
Hal finished off his coffee and rose to his feet. “I don’t think you’re skinny, Miss Tessa. I’d say you’re just right. What do you think, Mr. Moran?”
Apparently taken off guard by Hal’s direct question, Dante jerked around and stared at Tessa for several seconds before responding. “I imagine Ms. Westbrook knows she’s a very attractive woman.”
“Attractive, but skinny,” the plump Eustacia said.
“Can’t win with that woman.” Hal removed a large breakfast tray from the bottom drawer in a massive oak cupboard.
Tessa ignored Hal and Eustacia’s conversation as they prepared her father’s breakfast tray. G. W. Westbrook atebreakfast in his bedroom suite every morning promptly at seven-thirty. The menu seldom altered—bacon, eggs, grits and biscuits laden with butter, real butter, topped off with one of Eustacia’s homemade jellies or jams. All the warnings from his doctor and the pleadings from Tessa hadn’t changed G.W.’s eating habits.
“If I die,” he’d said on numerous occasions, “I’ll die happy with a full stomach.”
Tessa sipped on her black coffee and waited for Dante to say something to her. He remained oddly quiet. She sensed something had changed between them since they’d put Leslie Anne to bed.
Don’t be silly, she told herself. After all, there’s really nothing between you two. Just a mutual attraction. How could that have changed in a matter of hours?
“Did you get any sleep?” she asked.
“I caught a catnap in the library.”
“Hmm…”
“As soon as your father comes down, I’ll finalize my business with him, then I’ll meet up with the other Dundee agents at the motel and we’ll head back to Atlanta.”
No, please don’t go, she wanted to say, but didn’t. “I have a request. I’d like you to delay your departure.”
Furrowing his brow and narrowing his gaze, he stared at her.
Tessa wasn’t in the habit of asking favors. She’d spent the better part of the past seventeen years struggling to be strong and independent; her goal had been to become self-sufficient. After she’d been raped, beaten and left for dead, she had been at the mercy of doctors, nurses, therapists and psychiatrists. And she’d been totally dependent on her family. Only her father and her aunt Sharon had known thecomplete truth. Everyone else believed the lie her father had told—that she’d been in a horrible car wreck.
Whenever she brought up the past with her father, or asked him any questions about how he’d been able to keep the truth hidden, he always told her not to concern herself with those details. She suspected that G.W. had used his money and vast political connections to manipulate the law. It never ceased to
“How’s Leslie Anne?” he asked.
“She’s still asleep.” Tessa lifted the coffeepot from the warmer and filled her cup.
“Do you have any idea why that child ran off the way she did?” Eustacia asked as she placed two slices of wheat bread into the toaster. “Anything could have happened to her out there all alone the way she was.”
When Tessa didn’t respond immediately—after all what could she say that wouldn’t be a lie?—Eustacia shook her head. “It’s just the age she is, I guess. Lord knows she came by it honestly. You were wild as a buck at sixteen. Yes, sirree, you sure kept your mama and daddy on their toes.”
“So I’ve been told.” Tessa placed her coffee cup on the table and sat down with Dante and Hal.
“You about got Mr. G.W.’s breakfast ready?” Hal asked. “It’s almost seven-thirty.”
“Just as soon as I get Miss Tessa’s toast ready, I’ll set things up on a tray for Mr. G.W.”
As if on cue, the crisp browned bread popped up. Eustacia removed the two slices, buttered them lightly, put them on a plate and brought them over to Tessa. “You should eat more than toast and coffee for breakfast. No wonder you’re so skinny.”
Hal finished off his coffee and rose to his feet. “I don’t think you’re skinny, Miss Tessa. I’d say you’re just right. What do you think, Mr. Moran?”
Apparently taken off guard by Hal’s direct question, Dante jerked around and stared at Tessa for several seconds before responding. “I imagine Ms. Westbrook knows she’s a very attractive woman.”
“Attractive, but skinny,” the plump Eustacia said.
“Can’t win with that woman.” Hal removed a large breakfast tray from the bottom drawer in a massive oak cupboard.
Tessa ignored Hal and Eustacia’s conversation as they prepared her father’s breakfast tray. G. W. Westbrook atebreakfast in his bedroom suite every morning promptly at seven-thirty. The menu seldom altered—bacon, eggs, grits and biscuits laden with butter, real butter, topped off with one of Eustacia’s homemade jellies or jams. All the warnings from his doctor and the pleadings from Tessa hadn’t changed G.W.’s eating habits.
“If I die,” he’d said on numerous occasions, “I’ll die happy with a full stomach.”
Tessa sipped on her black coffee and waited for Dante to say something to her. He remained oddly quiet. She sensed something had changed between them since they’d put Leslie Anne to bed.
Don’t be silly, she told herself. After all, there’s really nothing between you two. Just a mutual attraction. How could that have changed in a matter of hours?
“Did you get any sleep?” she asked.
“I caught a catnap in the library.”
“Hmm…”
“As soon as your father comes down, I’ll finalize my business with him, then I’ll meet up with the other Dundee agents at the motel and we’ll head back to Atlanta.”
No, please don’t go, she wanted to say, but didn’t. “I have a request. I’d like you to delay your departure.”
Furrowing his brow and narrowing his gaze, he stared at her.
Tessa wasn’t in the habit of asking favors. She’d spent the better part of the past seventeen years struggling to be strong and independent; her goal had been to become self-sufficient. After she’d been raped, beaten and left for dead, she had been at the mercy of doctors, nurses, therapists and psychiatrists. And she’d been totally dependent on her family. Only her father and her aunt Sharon had known thecomplete truth. Everyone else believed the lie her father had told—that she’d been in a horrible car wreck.
Whenever she brought up the past with her father, or asked him any questions about how he’d been able to keep the truth hidden, he always told her not to concern herself with those details. She suspected that G.W. had used his money and vast political connections to manipulate the law. It never ceased to
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