“I don’t feel uncomfortable around him. The opposite, actually. It’s just that he kept kind of a big secret from me.”
Teja’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“He has a kid.”
“Oh wow.” Teja didn’t seem as surprised as Jessica would’ve expected.
“It’s a big deal. Right?”
“Right. I get it, that’s a bit of a shock. But he is close to thirty. It’s not unheard of.”
“I guess. And it’s not so much that his daughter exists. It’s that he didn’t tell me about her.”
“I can see why you’d be torn up over it. But at the same time, I get his reluctance. He might’a been fixin’ to tell you all about her earlier, but didn’t know how. I can imagine telling your new girlfriend about your daughter would be a hard thing to do.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. But I can’t be with someone who isn’t totally honest with me. Not after the stress I’ve been through with Hilton.”
“And you think he’s a dishonest guy? You can’t trust him now?”
Jessica frowned. “No, I don’t feel that way. I trust him completely. He makes me feel so safe and relaxed… I guess I worried that I was letting my guard down too much. And then I found out he was keeping this from me, and then I thought maybe he could be keepin’ other things from me… and next thing I knew there were puddles of sweat under my arms.”
Teja laughed. “Oh no, girl! You’re caught in some kind of worry loop! Borrowin’ trouble over things that haven’t happened yet and aren’t likely to. Relax a little. Sometimes in life you gotta let things flow naturally and see where they take you.”
Back in her own house, Jessica sat on the couch eating marshmallows dipped in chocolate for dinner. She didn’t have anything else in the house and wasn’t about to go to Kroger at eight o’clock at night. She’d stayed far too long at Teja’s. They’d talked for hours, and now she was in front of the TV, watching a detective show with a blanket over her legs and a kitten cozied up beside her.
But she couldn’t focus on the show. She kept thinking about Tyler. After a while, she grabbed up her phone and called him. He answered after two rings.
“Hey,” he said. “Happy New Year.”
“You too. Did you have a nice Christmas?”
“I did. I had brunch here with Mom and Sophie, then the whole extended family came over for a late lunch. We basically just ate food and talked all day long. Oh, and we had snow. Did anyone tell you that?”
“Snow? Wow. No, no one has said a thing. Of course, the only people I’ve seen were the Uber driver and Teja.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t much. Didn’t stick, but it was pretty nice. My cousins’ kids were all excited.”
“My parents were over the moon to have me back. They made sure I gained about five pounds. My mom kept shoving delicious food in my direction. She’s convinced I’m not eating enough, but I told her that the food in Georgia is delicious, and I’m not missing out on anything.”
“I’m glad you had a nice time.” He paused. “It’s good to hear from you…”
“But you’re wondering why I’m calling?”
“Kind of.” She could hear the smile in his words. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“I wanted to know how you are. I haven’t heard from you in a while.”
“You know why. Right?”
“Of course, I get it. I broke up with you. But that doesn’t mean I don’t miss you.”
He laughed. “Okay, fine. Well, you should probably know my news, then.”
“You have news?”
“I got the job with the sheriff’s office. I’m starting training next week.”
Jessica felt a rush of joy at his news. She was so happy for him. “That’s great! You’ll do so well in that role, I just know it.”
