Chapter 54
Chapter 54
After the subdued tension of Sunday, Monday seemed largely back
to normal. A late February snowfall was drifting down in big, fat flakes. The dining room was filled with the usual hum of conversation and the clatter of plates. Except for Jess
and Connor,
lown for
to be
the usual regulars were in the dining room when breakfast. Arthur was sitting at the counter, prete. guarding Natasha. Tessa took the seat next to him. Without lifting his gaze from where Natasha was fiddling with the coffee maker, he reached over and gave Tessa’s shoulder a brief squeeze.
“Morning, Arthur p>
“Morning. You tell your family what happened?” he asked, picking up his cup of coffee.
“No.” They wouldn’t care. If Tessa had been seriously hurt, they would’ve worried. But since she was fine, her mom would only be interested in hearing about the wolves, and her dad would just subside into one of his skeptical silences, the way he did whenever Tessa had tried to tell him something bad had happened to her. It wasn’t that he thought she was a liar. It was just that he was so low–key and unexcitable that he found it hard to believe that disasters and traumas actually did happen to people. Or so her mom
said.
“You don’t want them to worry?” Arthur asked.
“They wouldn’t be worried.” She spoke before she realized how odd it would sound to someone like Arthur, whose love for his family radiated from him like a constant, calming glow.
He frowned at her. “Why wouldn’t they worry p>
Chapter 54
Tessa shrugged off the uncomfortable heaviness that had settled over her. “They’re pretty laid–back, I guess p>
Arthur’s thick, salt–and–pepper eyebrows climbed nearly to his hairline. “Laid–back p>
She shrugged again. Natasha appeared with a coffee carafe, and Tessa tried to shift the conversation to her. “How are you doing p>
she asked.
Natasha’s expression turned thunderous. “Nobody i
me that question anymore! I am perfectly fine p>
o ask
Tessa froze with her hand halfway to her coffee mug. “Oh. Uh. Glad
to hear it p>
Arthur hid a grin with a sip of coffee.
Natasha softened as she searched Tessa’s face. “And how are you,
then p>
“No fair. You can ask me, but I can’t ask you p>
“A mother’s privilege p>
“I think that only applies to your own children p>
Natasha gave her an impatient look. “I am your Alaskan mother p>
“Sounds like she could use one,” Arthur muttered.
Tessa flushed. “I’m fine,” she said firmly, to both of them.
She finished her breakfast without any more questions about her emotional state or her family issues. On the way out, she caught sight of Declan sitting at a table with Harry Lance. He wasn’t as polished as he’d been the night of the party, but the haircut and
Chapter 54
beard trim were very much in evidence, and they were doing the
same things to Tessa as they had two nights ago. Unfortunately, she
had to walk past his table to get to the door. She straightened her
shoulders and made herself go. As she passed by, he didn’t so much
as glance in her direction.
Harry, on the other hand, said, “Morning, Tessa p>
Tessa faltered, caught off guard by his pleasantness. “Oh–uh, good morning, Harry.” She flicked a glance at Declan. He was staring out the window, resolutely ignoring her.
Well fine, then.
She went out to the garage, started her truck, and headed to school. When she got to her classroom, she flipped on the light and froze in the doorway. Her desk was covered–absolutely covered–in blue yarn. Everything on top of her desk was strapped down by crissc Romanong wefts of yarn–her stapler, her ceramic pen holder, the school laptop, her lamp. All the drawers were wrapped shut.
Tessa stared at the mess with a slow smile spreading across her face. Cursing on a breath that came perilously close to a giggle, she crossed the room and began peeling the yarn off her desk. When her first period freshman started drifting in, she had a massive heap of tangled blue yarn sitting on her desktop, and she was trying to extract the laptop cord from it without making the tangle worse.
“Uh, Ms. Romano? What’s this?” Leo Daaldinh asked.
“The work of a madman.” She gathered the whole heap and stuffed it into her bag. “Don’t worry, it’s not for class p>
The day passed so slowly, she thought she’d scream. Every time she glanced towards her bag and saw all that blue yarn overflowing the top, she thought of Declan. She wondered when he’d done it. What he’d been thinking. Had he been smiling? Laughing? Is that why he wouldn’t look at her this morning?
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