Page 91 of Always on My Mind

“My heart’s fine. That doctor’s a dose. Get me a burger.”

“Ma will have a cack attack.”

“She won’t know a thing. I’ll eat it before she knows it’s even come in the house.”

Tessa lifted an eyebrow. “You’re gonna eat an entire burger before I get the order to the kitchen?”

“Oh, aye. Don’t you believe in your old granda, love?”

She shook her head. “If you pull that off, I’ll give you your twenty quid back.”

“That’s a good girl,” her granda chuckled, and handed her the bill. “Off you get, then.”

She walked the familiar path to the chippie with an amused grin. It was her first smile in nearly forty-eight hours. It solidified her choice in coming home. Home would heal her.

The chippie was rammed with the usual Friday night crowd. As Tessa pushed her way to the front to place her order, she brushed shoulders with a familiar form. Dominic.

“Tessa?” he said with a grin. “Back already? Or have you finally wised up and come home for good?”

She playfully smacked his arm. “I’m just visiting, dicko.”

He chuckled as they moved a few steps up the line.

“What about you, then?” he asked.

“I’m. . . ” she trailed off, unsure what to say. Similar to last time, she didn’t have the words to explain what was going on in her life. “I’m grand. Grand, so.”

He searched her face, as if he didn’t quite believe her, but he didn’t press. “How many bags of chips is it for you, then?”

“Five for us,” she told him. “You?”

“Six.”

She gaped at him. “Six? For three people?”

“No word of a lie, my da eats three on his own. Ma and I have to split whatever’s left.”

“Jesus, but that’s incredible.”

They shared a laugh, and they finally reached the counter. Dominic placed his order, and Tessa watched him. It wasn’t difficult to remember what she found charming about him when they were teenagers. He was good looking, of course. The hottest ride in Derry at the time. But he was sweet, too. Gentle teasing and good natured. He was thoughtful and considerate when theyhad sex for the first time. It was the first time for them both, and she remembered it fondly.

“Gallagher!” the woman behind the counter barked. Her name was Majella, and she’d been at the chippie as long as Tessa could remember. Majella’s commanding voice snapped Tessa out of her wandering thoughts. “What’s yours?”

“Sorry, that’ll be three white fish, one hamburger, and five bags of chips, please,” Tessa said.

They stepped aside and waited for their orders.

“Say, Dom,” Tessa said. “Does that offer for a pint still stand?”

“Of course,” he replied, smiling wide.

“Not anything romantic like, but. . . I could use a friend right now. A friend who doesn’t have a newborn wain and doesn’t. . . know who I know.”

His gaze softened. “Of course, Tessa. I’d like that a lot, actually.”

She made sure she had his correct number and promised to text him after dinner so they could go to the pub.

When she got home, her grandfather waited in the foyer with a darkly expectant expression on his face. She glanced over his shoulder to make sure the coast was clear before she fished the burger out of the bag and handed it off.

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