She had to tell the two women she was closest to on this continent what was going on—she owed it to them. But how much to get into? Tessa didn’t have a deceitful nature. This was only the beginning of the deceit that was sure to ensue from her sham marriage. And she didn’t quite know what to do about that.
“What’s going on here?” Juliet asked. She looked at the chaos that used to be Tessa’s cozy apartment above the garage of the Queen Anne–style house of her landlord, Mrs. O’Hannigan. Lilac was right behind Juliet, blinking in disbelief.
Tessa had just shoved yet another stuffed box toward the door for Leo to pick up. He’d offered to start taking some loads over to the new house today with Jack’s truck. She straightened up and greeted her sister and her friend. “I’m moving,” she said with a fake smile and a shrug.
“We can see that,” Lilac said. “But why?” Lilac was looking at the purple couch she’d helped Tessa pick out, the pink beads that hung between the bathroom and the main room, and the bright afghan full of colorful squares she’d crocheted, all to lend a very boho, retro, and colorful vibe.
They’d had good times here. Tessa loved this little place. Now it was all upended, like her life.
Her stomach roiled as she grabbed them by the arms and made them sit down on her purple couch. “Okay, I’m going to tell you something a little unbelievable.” She took a breath to try and calm down, recognizing that she needed to spill and get this over with before she had a heart attack. “This might be a little shocking, but I need you to trust me on this. And you have to promise me you won’t tell a soul.”
She hadn’t meant to be dramatic. But this was important. And she couldn’t do this without them; she just couldn’t. She took another big breath. “I hope that no matter what you think, you’ll still stick with me.”
“Are you sick?” Lilac went pale, which looked especially pronounced against her violet-hued hair and bright flowery outfit. “Is it cancer?”
“Is it your mental health?” Juliet added. “If it is, I’m proud you’ve sought help, and I’ll do whatever it takes to support you.”
Cosette, her little rescue cat, who was mostly furry yellow but with a little gray, too, darted out from her bedroom and scrambled across the floor, chasing the dust bunnies that had kicked up when she’d dragged out some storage boxes from under her bed. Cosette batted enthusiastically at one like it was a mouse, oblivious to the tension in the room.
“I’ve reconnected with Leo. Leo Castorini.” She avoided looking at Juliet, whose mouth had dropped open. “We…we’re in love. We bought a house. And we’re getting married. Tuesday at noon. Will you both come and support me?”
No one said anything.
“It is a mental health issue,” Juliet said. “We’ve got to get you out of that bakery.”
Just then, Leo showed up in her doorway, wearing a ball cap backward on his head and a gray Pacers T-shirt. On the one hand, her relief to see him was palpable. On the other, she couldn’t believe that she noticed he looked…hot.
“Hey,” he said without batting an eye. While she was freaking. The heck. Out. “Ladies.”
“You remember Juliet and Lilac,” she managed.
He planted a firm kiss on her lips. Except it made an awkward smacking sound. But also made her lips tingle and sent her already skyrocketing pulse through the roof. That was when she noticed that he smelled really good. Even the spot where he’d grasped hold of her arm was tingling. She rubbed the tingles away.
“Are these boxes ready to go?” He looked at the ones she’d dragged outside the door.
She grabbed a roll of packing tape and herded him quickly out to the landing. The door closed on its own behind her.
“How’s it going in there?” he asked with a smile on his beautiful face.
“Great. Considering I just told them I’m moving and getting married to someone I didn’t even speak to last week—in twenty words or less.”
Leo held out his hand for the tape. “Take a break and tell me if you want these boxes labeled,” he requested, ignoring what she’d just said. The open boxes in front of him contained all her books, mostly. And whatever else she could conveniently toss inside.
“You can just seal them up,” she said.
He blinked.
“What?” she asked. “What is it?” Because she really had to get back inside and deal with things.
“I have a great labeling system,” he said. “Blue for clothing, red for essentials like kitchen stuff, and green for hobbies.” He pulled three markers out of his back pocket.
“I bet you alphabetize your books on your shelves.”
“No, I arrange them by color,” he said without skipping a beat. “What’s in here?”
“Stuff,” she hedged, too stressed to argue with him. “I—I’ll sort it out later.”
He hovered his marker over the box, eager to establish order with a few color-coded slashes. “May I?” he asked, wanting to see what was in the box.
“Go for it.”
He riffled through the box. “Let’s see. Hmm, not just cookbooks.”
“Are you surprised that I actually read other kinds of books?”
He looked too interested in what he was finding to answer. “Hamilton by Chernow,” he said, looking over the back cover.
“Did you read it?” she asked.
He flashed a grin. “I saw the musical. Does that count?” He picked up another book. “The Godfather?”
“I’m studying Italian families.”
He laughed out loud at that. “Well, I’ve studied some French works in my time.”
“Oh yeah? Which ones?”
“The Hunchback of Notre-Dame,” he said with a mischievous look that told her not to believe him for a minute.
“You’ve actually read Victor Hugo?”
“Actually, I saw the movie. Does that count?”
She shook her head. “I really can’t agree to live with you if you’re one of those people who thinks the movie’s always better than the book.”
“I don’t think that, but I’m an overachiever. I always try to read and watch.”
She crossed her arms. “You say overachiever, I say a good BS-er.”
“Ha! Good one.” He was chuckling—and giving her credit for winning that round.
Their gazes locked. It occurred to Tessa that he might actually be distracting her on purpose. Nah, that would be too nice. “I’ve got to get back in there.”