Page 101 of Always on My Mind

Tessa melted. “Ach, you’re so sweet. You’ll rot my teeth if you’re not careful.”

“And I’d still kiss you.”

Tessa wrinkled her nose. “Okay, there’s love and there’s being disgusting.”

“Shut up!” Jamie laughed and swatted her arm.

Tessa grabbed Jamie’s hand and pulled her into a cuddle on the couch, making sure to keep her injured foot elevated on the stack of pillows they had arranged on one end. Jamie was sleeping on the couch full-time to spare her from navigating the stairs on crutches. Tessa ended up sleeping there too mostnights. Now that they were together, she never wanted to be apart again. Even one night was too long.

Jamie nestled her face into the crook of Tessa’s neck. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Tessa replied, kissing Jamie’s forehead.

Mary Ann bustled into the living room and picked her purse up off the coffee table.

“Okay, girls, what do we want for dinner?” she asked.

Jamie popped her head up. “Oh, will you make that creamy lemon chicken dish you made the other night? I loved that.”

“Of course, love.”

“With some rice and veg?”

“Oh, aye.”

“You’re the best, Mrs. Gallagher.”

“Hold on, don’t I get a say in dinner?” Tessa protested.

“Are you the one with the broken ankle, Tessa?” Mary Ann countered.

“Well, no—”

“Then I can’t be doing with your opinion now, can I?”

Tessa’s mouth fell open while Jamie snickered behind her hand.

“I’m away to the shops now,” Mary Ann said casually. “Behave yourselves, girls. Tessa, your Jamie is to want for nothing, do you understand?”

“Ma, she’s fine—”

“Actually,” Jamie cut in. “I would love some water and a pain pill.”

“Alright, shift it, Tessa,” Mary Ann ordered. “Up you get.”

Tessa groaned and rolled her eyes, but did as she was told. Mary Ann bid them farewell as Tessa returned with Jamie’s requested water and one of her prescribed pain pills.

“Turning my ma against me is diabolical,” she said. “If I weren’t so happy, I’d be raging.”

“You know what? If it took getting a broken ankle for your mother to forgive me for being English and Protestant, I’d say it’s well worth it.”

“Aye, those were two big hurdles to overcome, for sure.”

“She told me she prays to Saint Raphael for me every night doing her rosaries,” Jamie said. “I am truly touched.”

Tessa smiled. “Hopefully, he’s listening.”

Jamie finished the water and set it on the end table closest to her. Tessa, though aware her mother was not in the house, but somehow felt her presence, fluffed Jamie’s pillows and got her comfortable under a blanket before joining her.

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