No one spoke for a solid minute. No tension. No stress. Just good friends enjoying one another’s company enough that there was no need to fill every moment of silence with chatter.
Tessa scooted her chair away from the table, breaking the moment. “Duty calls.”
“What’s got a burr under your saddle, Tess?” Benjamin asked from the far end of the table. “You’re doing great. And you can’t do anything about the news coverage. It is what it is. Let it go.”
Zane watched the exchange with interest. He didn’t know Benjamin well, but he did know Tessa respected him as an agent and liked him as a person.
“Thank you.” She inclined her head in his direction. “I appreciate it. But I didn’t intend to be at the Carmichael estate all afternoon. I have about two hours of work to do that can’t wait, because there’s a good chance tomorrow will be as random as today was.”
“True enough.” Benjamin settled his arm around the back of the chair where his wife, Dr. Sharon Oliver, sat. “But this week is going to be a marathon. You’ll need to prioritize rest whenever you can.”
“I’m going back to the office with her.” Zane stood. “I’ll make sure she goes home.”
Tessa’s eyes flashed with something that was not good-natured teasing. “You’ll... make sure?”
He held his hands up in surrender. “I’ll strongly encourage you to make that decision for yourself.”
“Better.” She shared a look with Faith and Ivy that he couldn’t quite make sense of. She was exasperated, but not angry, but maybe a little hurt, and he had no idea where that was coming from.
This was not like her. Tessa was all over the emotional map tonight. One minute she was teasing him and conversation was easy. Then she was taking everything he said the wrong way and biting his head off over nothing. He wasn’t looking forward to working for several more hours, but if it gave him an opportunity to get to the bottom of her mood, he’d take it.
They said their goodbyes, and he climbed into the car beside her. He closed the door, snapped his seat belt, and turned to face her.
“I’m not your apprentice.” Tessa was calm. Her tone measured. “I’m not a child. I do not need to be managed. Not by anyone, but especially not by you. That”—she flung a hand toward the house—“was embarrassing.”
Zane sat back in his seat. “Tess, that’s not—”
“And that nonsense about Luke and Gil not telling you about Hank Littlefield? Please. You really are checking up on me, aren’t you? What’s the deal? Don’t think I can hack it without you here? Or is it that you don’t trust me to stay sober if there’s a hint of adversity in my life, so you’re trying to manage me from afar?”
She put the car in reverse with enough force that Zane wouldn’t have been surprised if the gearshift had bent.
“Tess—”
“Is that what the past six months have been to you? All the texts and phone calls? Was that a way to check up on me to be sure I hadn’t strayed from the path or gotten into a situation where I was in danger of taking a drink?”
There was the hurt.
“Tess. Pull over. Please.”
“No.”
“Tess. You can’t dump all this on me and not give me an opportunity to say something.”
She didn’t speak, but she pulled into the clubhouse parking lot of Luke and Faith’s subdivision and slammed the car into park. “Fine. I’m all ears.”
Zane got out of the car, walked around to the driver’s side, and opened Tessa’s door. “Walk with me?”
Her eyes widened, but she climbed from the car and joined him on the small walking path.
“Tess?” Zane paused to see if she would interrupt again. But she remained quiet. “Where is this coming from? We’re friends. I’m not your keeper. I’m not your sponsor. And I’m not trying to manage you. Why do you think I am? You sound hurt and angry, and frankly, I don’t think I deserve either of those things. If I’ve done something to earn your anger, please tell me what it is, because I can assure you it hasn’t been intentional.”
She kept her face tilted away from him, and she didn’t respond immediately. He gave her time. She was here. She was walking beside him. She would talk when she was ready.
It was five minutes before she spoke. “I overreacted.”
“Okay.”
“I apologize.”
