Investigating the Billionaire, page 13
“We don’t make the calls on that here,” Nurse Jackson said. “Just thank whatever angel is looking out for you and get your sister here, okay? We’ll see you soon.” Then she hung up.
Which left Tessa floundering for answers she’d never get.
Unless she finally, finally reached out to Beck.
Gently, she set the phone back down on the table and gazed at her friend. Audrey was chomping at the bit, but she gave Tessa space to gather her thoughts. Only for a few seconds though.
“What was that?” Audrey asked. “You’re white as a sheet and crying.”
After a soft sniffle, Tessa said, “Sarah got approved to go to the clinic.”
Her friend scrunched her face. “But I thought you didn’t apply?”
“I didn’t,” she answered in a monotone voice. “Yet she somehow got this scholarship with the name of something B—” Her voice gave out and the words got stuck. She tried again. “It was Beck. He did this for me. For us.” She let her head fall toward her chest. “Even though I…”
Audrey let out a sad sigh. “Oh, Tessie. This is good though. Good for Sarah. It’ll work out.” She leaned forward and put a hand on Tessa’s back as she started crying harder. “It’ll be okay.”
“But I can’t t-take that, Audrey,” Tessa managed to get out between the sobs that had broken loose. “I don’t d-deserve it.”
A few silent moments passed before Audrey stopped rubbing her back and sat her straight up. “But Sarah does,” she said.
Audrey had a point. Beck probably hadn’t done it for her, but for her sister. Her sister, who deserved better than Tessa could give her. Her sister, who missed Beck as much as she did. Her sister, who’d want to thank Beck for his generosity. And they’d probably end up seeing him at the clinic if he ever took his nephew there.
Then her friend changed tack. “Hey. Answer this question.”
On pins and needles, Tessa waited for her friend to ask it.
Audrey pinned Tessa with her gaze and said, “Did you mean what you said in your blog?”
Tessa’s heart pinched and her gut twisted. Audrey was no doubt referring to the end.
The part where she’d signed off with I love you.
She’d thought about that a lot over the last couple of weeks. She remembered how excited she’d been for their date and how much she’d wished that almost-kiss had ended up happening. She’d wanted to know what his lips would feel like—and she still wanted to know. But was that love?
Maybe that in particular wasn’t. But what she felt for him?
It was. At least the beginning of it. Especially after what he’d now done for her sister.
Who wouldn’t love a man like that?
Audrey leaned back, looking satisfied that she knew the answer without needing the words. “So, what are you going to do?”
Tessa hiccupped, letting her sobs die down and Audrey’s question ring in her ears. What was Tessa, with gratitude filling her shattered and confused heart, going to do?
All she knew was that she’d get her sister to Cambridge. After that…
She’d heal her broken heart. That was all she could do.
16
“I think that’s the last box, Beck,” Cindy said. “You can take a break now, you know.”
Beck hauled the box into the living room and set it on the couch in her brand-new house in Cambridge. The kids ran downstairs and shouted something about playing outside, and Cindy waved as they went. Then she went to the stack of boxes in the corner and started slicing them open.
“I really should have packed smarter.” She chuckled as she removed a spatula and a photo album from the same box.
“If you would have let me pay for movers…” he countered, trailing off and giving her a knowing look.
She hit him with one back. “Don’t.”
In surrender, he lifted his hands, smirking at his sister. “Just saying.”
She scoffed playfully at him and went back to unpacking. “I guess I should just be glad you had all of this newspaper for me to pack with.”
The thought made his heart hurt, but when she peeked back at him, he forced a smile onto his face.
Since Tessa had accused him of being a criminal and then begged him for a story to publish to save her career, he’d felt… Well, he’d felt miserable. For the last month and a half, he hadn’t wanted to think it possible that she’d assume the worst about him. And he hadn’t wanted to feel responsible for her losing her job. It looked like she had, seeing as he’d bought every edition of the Phoenix Tribune since the day after their fight and her byline hadn’t shown up. Not once.
Beck hadn’t been checking to see if she’d gone ahead and published that untrue article about him. He really hadn’t. He didn’t think she would because he didn’t assume the worst about her. She wouldn’t save her job based on lies. Not even for her sister.
Even though she had kind of tried before.
Those had been about herself though. She’d never lied about anyone else. Not her sister, not her parents—he’d checked. Just herself. And after he’d talked to Gwen, he’d found out she hadn’t even been the one to lie in the first place. She’d gone along with it, but she clearly hadn’t been planning on using it as a way to weasel her way into his life.
Too bad she’d done just that. More than that.
She’d burrowed into his heart, and he didn’t know what to do with that.
Well, he had done something about it. He’d made sure Sarah could be seen at the clinic. She shouldn’t have to suffer because her sister had made some poor choices. So he’d taken care of that. For Sarah.
Still. His heart was confused.
Tessa hadn’t lied about the things in her life. But had she been truthful about her feelings for him? Had she really wanted to take their relationship from professional to something more? Or had that been an act to get to know him? To dig up the truth about what he’d been doing with those “ex-cons”? Beck couldn’t be sure now, so he’d stuffed his feelings down and thrown himself into moving his sister and her kids to the Boston area to be closer to the clinic.
He’d go back to Phoenix once they were settled. His company would survive until then. For now, he’d make sure Cindy and the kids adjusted and Caden liked going to the clinic. Then he’d deal with his heart.
Maybe.
He could just go back to work instead. There was a reason he hadn’t dabbled in love. Because he couldn’t guarantee the results he wanted. Not like he could with business. So he’d learned his lesson. Done and done.
When Beck’s watch beeped, he dusted his hands off on his jeans and walked over to the door. He grabbed his coat, shrugging it on and buttoning it up. November was even chillier than October was, so he appreciated the ability to dress for warmth and comfort instead of business. He even thought he was becoming more accustomed to the polo-and-jeans outfit, but he wouldn’t tell anyone that. He’d go back to suits and ties eventually. Just not yet.
“I’ll take Caden to his appointment if you want to keep unpacking here.”
Cindy gazed up from the box she was unloading. “Is it that time already?”
“Yeah.” He peeked through the window on the door and saw all three kids playing in the yard. There was a light dusting of snow, something they’d never seen in Phoenix, and they already couldn’t get enough. “He has a coat, but does he need anything else?”
“I don’t think so. You sure you don’t mind?” she asked, putting a hand on her hip. “I could use the time here, but I can take him. It’s not a big deal.”
He raised an eyebrow at his sister and fixed the collar on his jacket. “I got this. It’s fine.” Then he gave her a warm smile and went out the door.
“Hey,” his sister called, holding the porch door open.
Beck turned toward her and walked the few steps back to the porch. “Yeah?”
Cindy shivered and rubbed her arms for warmth. “Thanks for taking him,” she said. But the words hung in the air, and he knew she had more to tell him. He was right. “I know you’re not just doing me a favor though.”
Beck squinted at her, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets. “What are you talking about?”
“I know why you want to go there,” she continued as goose bumps rose on her exposed skin. “I read that blog, you know.”
The mention of that made him duck his head. If he looked at Cindy, she’d know the truth: that he knew exactly what she was talking about.
“I’m sure no one else could put it together, but I did. And I know it’s about you. It’s her, isn’t it? Her latest blog post talked about—”
He spun around to cut her off. He didn’t want to hear it. He’d stopped checking once he’d found out that she’d accepted the Alliance scholarship. Any more information than that and he’d have done something he might come to regret, like actively try to seek her out. He didn’t even know what he’d do if he found her. But this way, he wouldn’t know if she was there in Cambridge. Then he could accidentally run into her at the clinic and not have to lie when he said he didn’t know she’d moved. Because he truly wouldn’t know.
Just like she wouldn’t know how much he missed her. Because he did—down to his bones.
He missed having dinner with her. Missed hearing Sarah slam the doors. Missed fixing things with duct tape with her.
He missed everything about the woman he knew as Tessa the chef. So he couldn’t hear his sister talk about her any longer.
“Don’t, Cindy. Please.” He could read it himself. Or, better yet, Tessa could tell him instead of telling the entire world their business.
She hugged herself closer and stepped through the door, letting it shut. “Haven’t you done enough for everyone else?” she asked. “Let someone else do something for you for a change. Let your sister take care of you.”
Nope. He wasn’t doing this. Not with Cindy. Not with anyone. He had to figure this out for himself. Or maybe he’d happen to run into Tessa at the clinic and they could figure it out. It wasn’t anyone else’s business. None of it was.
Especially how much he missed her.
* * *
At the clinic, Beck sat in the waiting room while Caden was at his appointment. It was almost surreal to be inside the building he’d funded. The vision had really come from Marty, and the men he’d found all over the country who’d needed help for their kids had inspired him with their determination. He probably couldn’t have figured this out on his own. He should have for his nephew, but he was glad he’d worked with such passionate people on this project. They’d all gone to jail trying to protect and help their kids, so this seemed like a much better solution.
Now that this one was up and running, they’d get clinics open all over the US, in the major cities close to the men who’d banded together to make this happen. He’d get their kids the doctors they needed while he had the money to do it.
As he flicked through a magazine without looking at it at all, someone entered the waiting room. It wasn’t until they stopped right in front of him that he truly noticed though. And when he did, his heart picked up speed.
“What are you doing here?” Sarah asked him. “You don’t have any kids. Or is that a secret you kept from my sister too?”
He had to lock his jaw so his mouth didn’t fall open. The kid was brave; he had to give her that. Then he peeked around, wondering if Sarah’s presence meant—
“She’s not here. She dropped me off and went to work.”
He had to push down the disappointment swirling through his veins. “It wasn’t like that,” he answered as calmly as he could.
“Then what was it like?” she countered.
He let out a deep breath through his nose, debating what to say. “Did you know she was keeping secrets from me too?”
Sarah crossed her arms over her chest and popped her hip out to the side. “She had a good reason.”
He pointed to his chest. “So did I.”
She chewed her lip like she wasn’t sure what to do with that answer. Then she huffed out a breath. “She liked you, you know.” She stared right into his eyes, holding his gaze unwaveringly. “She’s never had a boyfriend, and I heard the way she talked about you to her friend.”
All of that piqued his interest, but he had to stay focused on the truth. “She was talking about me?”
“Yeah. To Audrey. Her work friend.” She rolled her eyes and her shoulders slumped. “Well, her friend from where she used to work. They would talk about you. I could hear her through my bedroom walls.”
“What did she say about me?” Beck asked over the knot in his throat, feeling the need to loosen his nonexistent tie. It felt like his polo and his jacket were choking him.
Sarah shrugged. “That she liked you. A lot. And she was worried.” She kicked the ground with the toe her shoe. “She always got quiet after that, but I assumed it was because you were her boss and had a lot of money. We don’t trus…” Her voice quieted, and then silence stretched between them.
Beck didn’t know what to say to this girl. He knew why they didn’t trust people with money. And of course Tessa could have been worried for those reasons, but Sarah obviously didn’t know the whole story. And the last thing he wanted to do was shatter Sarah’s world by filling her in.
“She learned a lot of things for you,” Sarah went on. “Like how to cook.”
Beck scoffed under his breath and put his arms on the armrests of his chair. “She had to.”
“For her job, I know.” She paused, tapping her foot. “But she learned how to make a lot of different things so you’d have a lot of different things to eat. And she learned how to do them well,” she said, her eyebrows near her hairline.
Apparently, that was shocking to Sarah.
“You don’t understand.” Her tiny arms flew out to her sides. “Tessa couldn’t cook anything before she met you. Not even spaghetti. Now? She bakes muffins, cooks lasagna… I haven’t eaten so good in my life!” she exclaimed dramatically.
He couldn’t help the tiny laugh that escaped his lips.
“Then she learned how to trust,” she said in a less dramatic tone. With every word, she grew more and more serious. “She left me alone overnight for the first time since before I can remember. She trusted that you’d make sure I was safe. And she trusted you.”
Beck’s heart squeezed at the thought. She hadn’t fully trusted him though. She’d thought horrible things about him, so he chalked it up to a thirteen-year-old’s point a view.
“She shouldn’t have though. Because you couldn’t even tell her the truth,” she finished.
“Sarah,” he started, but then his voice faded. He didn’t know what to tell this kid. This young woman who wanted to help and protect her sister as much as her sister wanted to do the same for her.
She didn’t let him keep talking though. “Did she tell you about why she had to write that article about you?”
Curious, Beck shook his head.
“Did she tell you what happened with the article she was supposed to write before that?”
He shook his head again. “No.”
Sarah’s chest puffed up as she took a deep breath, preparing herself to tell this story. “This is a secret I’m supposed to keep, but I’ll tell you anyway. She thought she was supposed to write a story about autism and what it’s like. But her boss wanted her to interview me specifically and write about what it’s like to care for someone with autism. She refused to do that to me and nearly lost her job then. She said my life was no one else’s business. And the only reason she got a second chance was because Audrey begged their boss.” Her voice got quiet and her gaze went to her shoes. “I was supposed to keep that secret, but sometimes it’s better to get them off your chest.”
Beck felt stuck to his chair, heavier than a ton of cement. That was why Tessa had been in hot water with her boss? All because she’d refused to have her privacy invaded? Yet she’d almost done the same to him. He couldn’t understand.
Until Sarah continued. “She never thought you were a bad person. Not until she misunderstood whatever happened in Boston. After she signed her work contract, she decided she was going to prove that you weren’t a bad person. That’s what her original article was going to be about.” Her sigh was short and staccato. “She wanted to tell the world that you were a good man. The man she thought you were when no one else did.”
With those words, Beck no longer felt like cement. He felt like cement had been poured all over him instead. His stomach churned as he realized Tessa hadn’t been the only one to assume the worst of someone.
He’d done the same exact thing to her.
“Anyway,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. “I should say thank you instead of telling you what idiots you two have been. And I need to get back to Nurse Jackson. So I’ll see you later.” She spun around and headed to the door. In the doorway, she paused and faced him, holding the doorframe with one hand. “Thank you.”
“Hey!” he said to get her attention before she left. He rose to his full height, and when Sarah blinked at him, waiting for him to speak, he said, “Her blog. Is it true?”
Sarah simply nodded. And then she disappeared down the hall.
Which left him more confused than he’d been when he’d left Cindy’s house.
He’d been all wrong. They both had. Tessa hadn’t thought he was a criminal—not until she’d been confronted with confusing facts he couldn’t explain. He’d left her no choice. But she really had liked him. She wouldn’t have told her friend lies in the privacy of her own home. And that blog post wasn’t fiction.
She loved him. And she was sincerely sorry.
His heart twisted and his chest tightened when he thought about all the time they’d wasted by being so stubborn and proud. He hadn’t wanted to read her blog because he might have seen she was in town. Clearly, she was, and he might have been able to know that sooner. He could have fixed this sooner. With this new knowledge about the real kind of woman Tessa was, that was all he wanted to do.
