Page 43 of Jack Raider

“No. I mean, you are Mr. Clean. I need to get moved into my place so my Dad can visit me.”

“He can still visit you. Are you coming home?” The minute that came out of my mouth, I backed away. If you decide to come to the barbecue, I’ll save you a steak.”

“Thank you.” When he left, I called my Dad.

“How is my girl doing?”

“Daddy, I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, sweetheart. Now tell me what’s happened,” he said.

“Max wants me to go to a cookout at the B&B.

“Well, sweetie, you live there, so why don’t you join the fun?”

“It’s just that I wanted to be on my own, sometimes I feel different from others.”

Why would you feel like that? You are smarter than anyone I know. Has something happened? Did someone say something to you?”

“No, I guess I’m just homesick. I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you, sweetie. I’ll be there soon to visit you.”

“Okay, I guess I’ll go to the cookout. Bye, Daddy.”

“Goodbye, Tessa. Sweetheart, I’ll bring your brother and we’ll visit. Are you getting time off for Easter?”

“Yes, I get a week off. I can’t wait to see you and Jake. Make him come with you. Is he still angry that I moved away?”

“I’ll twist his arm, sweetie. He’s still a little bit upset that you moved so far away. He misses you as much as I do. But I understand why you want to make it on your own. I reminded Jake about when he disappeared for two years, trying to find himself.”

“I love you, bye,” I said before hanging up.

18

Max

I had to walk away.I was at the point of climbing inside her jeep to see why she looked so sad. I wouldn’t let Tessa into my life like that. I would never allow someone else to control my soul or my happiness. Never. I hopped on my bike and went back to my place.

“Where is Tessa? We wanted to meet her,” Eloise said as she walked into my kitchen. I was mixing up a potato salad to go with dinner. Jack set some things on the counter, and I glanced at them. “Yummy, I can’t wait to dig into that fruit salad,” I said.

“Is she not coming?” Eloise asked again.

“I reminded her about it, but I think she is scrubbing out that old cabin.”

“That cabin has a giant beehive in it, which is why we didn’t finish the repairs, Fraiser said, joining us. “Someone will be here on Monday to clear it out.”

“What’s this?” Eloise asked, looking at the corkboard.

“It’s a list of things Tessa loses every day.”

“Why would you do this? Know wonder she would rather clean out the cabin,” Fraiser said. “Couldn’t you just put them at the bottom of the stairs like anyone else would do?”

“It was no big deal. She laughed about it.”

“Are you sure she laughed about it?” Jack asked. Can you put her things at the foot of the stairs, and not let her know you picked them up? Some people have reasons out of their control I’m sure that must be why Eloise forgets things. Get rid of that list, and don’t start another one. That cabin is not ready for anyone to move into. It took forever before we found a teacher to come here.

“The lists I make are fine. I only made them to remind her that she leaves her stuff everywhere. I’ll go get her and apologize to her and be right back.”

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