Page 5 of Irresistible (Landstad)

Taking a notebook from the side table, Tess added the information for the new baby on the appropriate day. When she left home at eighteen, she had invested in a book to write down all family births and marriages. There were few dates that were empty. A few deaths were listed and only one divorce, but that was Tess’s own failed marriage.

Being a part of such a large family made it hard to be away from them, but she loved being in the middle of the conversations, the yelling, the teasing. It made her own life seem quiet. But she was different; she had little in common with all of them. She had a four-year degree, whereas none of her five siblings had graduated from high school. She lived nine hours from home, and they each lived within three miles of her parents. They all had long marriages and had many kids; she had divorced after a short nine months.

Tess set her notebook down and picked up her tablet. Maybe she would read another book about Ted Bundy before tomorrow’s meeting. She’d rather get lost in a book instead of dwelling on her failings.

CHAPTER3

“Not what I heard.I heard you gave her a mouthful.” Mia was scolding Math as if she had the right to tell him what and what not to do. Just because their mothers were sisters didn’t give her the right to talk to him like that.

“I lost my temper,” he explained. Somehow, his conversation with the bank president had gotten around town. It seemed the consensus was that he was in the wrong. Buttheywere completely wrong. Including Mia Lawson

“Just be nice to her. She’s having a hard time here.” Again, she looked over at the blonde a few booths from them.

“She seems to be doing pretty well.” He took the opportunity to look at her head and shoulders again. Today her hair was down and slightly curly, just reaching her shoulders. He liked this look better than the bank look. It was far more relaxed.

“She puts up a good front, but just leave her alone,” Mia warned.

“Fine. Just get us burgers all around,” he replied, stopping the conversation, which made the kids all change their orders before Mia bounced off to help someone else.

Looking at the back of her head again, he wondered what Mia was talking about. With her friends and a good job, she seemed like she was doing just fine. Just then, she got up, and he caught sight of her butt in tight-fitting jeans, maybe too tight since they fit like a second skin, making her rear look even better than the skirt had earlier in the week. And the purple sweater was shapelier than the blazer had been, giving him more of a hint at the curves below. Her figure was excellent for such a witch!

As she paid for her lunch, he saw her laugh at something Mia had said behind the register. It made her face light up and seemed to relax her, though she hadn’t given the impression she was tense. Strangely, he thought he had heard her laugh, though it was across the crowded, loud room.

Math continued to watch as she put on her coat and left the restaurant. Since he was near a window, he was able to watch her walk down the sidewalk until she and her friend separated, and she went into a door near the pharmacy, maybe the door on the other side.

Mila’s voice brought him back. “Dad? Can I?”

“What?” He turned back to his oldest daughter, her face in the shape of a strange pout she had started using last summer. He still hated it.

“You weren’t listening,” she whined.

“What do you want?” He tried to stop thinking about the banker, but she was clouding his thoughts even when she wasn’t here. Since seeing her he had been unable to wipe her from his mind.

“Beth asked if I could go over there. Can I go?”

“It’s storming, Mila,” he reminded her.

“We’re in town already. You can just leave me here.”

As tempting as it was to have just two kids for a while, he knew he would have to come into town and get her later. Beth’s parents wouldn’t want to drive her to the farm. And if the storm turned into what everyone said it would, he didn’t want to come back to town.

“No, Mila, maybe next weekend,” he replied as the food came. But he was sure that wouldn’t work either because it was his ex’s weekend. He’d make her be the bad guy for once.

Nobody said anything as they ate, but Cora sent him faces every few minutes, faces that said her life was awful and that she hated him. Nothing new.

Mia’s words came floating back into his mind. Was Tess really having trouble settling in? It had been almost two years since she came to town. But he remembered the look in her eye when he had said she wasn’t from here; was that look pain? Had his comment hurt the unfeeling bank president?

CHAPTER4

Listeningto Mike rant and rave at her was one thing; it was normal. Having him do it when the temperatures were hovering at thirty below zero when Tess was not wearing a coat was too much. Her brother was getting on her last nerve.

“Mike, I refuse to talk to you about this right now. I have things going on.” She listened as he made snide comments about how he would have her married if he had his way—same old ramblings.

“You have no control over my life anymore!” she yelled into the phone as she shivered a little. She was only wearing a leather jacket, but the wind was cutting through every piece of clothing she wore.

Before her brother could make a comment, she lowered her voice a little and added, “You sure do have a way of ruining someone’s birthday.”

His immediate defense was to say he didn’t know it was her birthday, and that was probably true—birthdays got lost when there’s one every day in the family. She didn’t actually think he knew when her birthday was; she couldn’t tell you when his was. Maybe in June?

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