Chapter 171

Tessa’s POV

“Oh, God, Tessa. Tell me what happened,” Ruby said gently as she wrapped her arms around me and held me close.

We were both curled up on the couch and I couldn’t seem to stop crying. It was the gross kind of crying too; I was snotting all over the place and I felt bad for getting some on the clothes Ruby was wearing, which were still my clothes.

But still, she was wearing them.

By the time I got home, it was already dark. I went for a long walk after I spoke to Joseph and the next thing I knew; the sun was completely down. When I got home, Carter was on his way out. He left even quicker when he saw that I was crying.

Telling from the plates and empty cups on the table, I could tell that Ruby made dinner for the two of them to share. I was glad for them both, but my heart was too heavy, and I felt like it shattered into a million pieces to really take notice of how Ruby was glowing and smiling when she was around Carter.

But that smile faded when she saw me sobbing and unable to walk any further. She instantly grabbed me and pulled me to the couch, wrapping her arms around me.

I managed to sputter Joseph’s name between sobs, which made her hold me tighter.

“What did he do?” She asked, trying to sound as compassionate as she could. “Did he say something to you when you went to the school? Did you go see me?”

I nodded as I continued to sob. Ruby didn’t ask me any more questions while I was in this state of mind. She allowed me to take the time I needed; so I remained on the couch for a long while.

She was quiet as she held me, which I appreciated.

After what felt like an eternity, the tears finally stopped surfacing in my eyes. I might have cried them all. Or maybe I cried so much I became dehydrated.

“I went to see Joseph…” I managed to say weakly. “I wanted to know why he was giving me this hot and cold treatment. One minute we are having sex in his office and the next he can hardly even look at me.”

Ruby looked like she wanted to cry as well.

“Awe, Tessa…” she breathed sadly.

“He didn’t really have much to say, so I told him I couldn’t do this anymore…” I told her, staring down at my hands.

“What did he say to that?”

“Not much…” I told her, tugging my fingers. “I ended things with him, and he let me go….”

Tears finally surfaced in my eyes again and my voice cracked when I spoke that painful last sentence. That was my reality; Joseph didn’t care about me enough to fight for me.

He let me go.

“That jerk,” Ruby murmured, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. “I’m so sorry, Tess…”

“I loved him, Ruby…” I cried. “I let myself fall in love with him…”

“As he ever told you that he loved you?” She asked, raising her brows.

I shook my head.

“I should have known he didn’t…” I breathed. “How could he?”

“What do you mean? You’re Tessa fucking Campbell. The most amazing woman I know. He’s stupid if he never felt love for you,” she said, wrapping me in her arms again as I let out another sob.

“It just really hurts…”

“I know…’ she breathed.

I sniffled and wiped my eyes with the back of my sleeve before looking at her. I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. I needed to get my mind off things.

“How was your night?” I asked, trying to give her a small smile. “Did you have fun with my cousin?”

Her face turned bright red as she broke her gaze from me and stared down at her hands.

“Oh… uh… yeah, he was great,” she said, biting her bottom lip like she was trying to keep herself from spilling some spicy tea.

This was the perfect distraction.

I grabbed a pillow and hugged it to my chest.

“Go ahead, Ruby. Spill,” I said staring at her curiously.

She released her bottom lip from between her teeth and turned to face me.

“Okay, so, you remember that strange recurring dream I’ve been having?” She said with wide eyes; I nodded in response but said nothing so she could continue. “Well… I think Carter might him.”

My eyes grew large and round as I stared at my bestie's very red face. Of course, I knew Carter and Ruby had a deep connection before they had to wipe her memory of the mountains. But I didn’t anticipate that she would start having dreams about Carter and I certainly didn’t think she’d start putting pieces together this easily.

But I couldn’t tell Ruby that I already knew that her dreams were about Carter.

“You think your dreams were about Carter?” I asked, raising my brows at her. “But you just met.”

“I know it sounds weird. But he just seems so familiar and oddly enough, I feel safe with him…” she breathed. But then she shook her head and gave me a forced smile. “I don’t know… I know it sounds stupid.”

“No, it doesn’t,” I said, shaking my head as well. “I think it sounds sweet. If it makes you feel any better, I think he might like you.”

Her eyes grew large.

“What? How do you know?”

I smiled at her.

“Because I know my cousin,” I said with a shrug.

She furrowed her brows together after a minute.

“Where is he from?”

That was a question I really wasn’t prepared to answer. I wasn’t sure how to answer. I opened my mouth to say something… anything. But thankfully I was saved by my cellphone ringing.

I jumped to my feet quickly, hoping she didn’t notice how awkward I was acting.

“I have to take this,” I said, giving her a breathy laugh.

She frowned deeply at me but said nothing. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and answered it without even looking at the screen. I had no idea who was on the other end, and I just hoped that it wasn’t Joseph.

I wasn’t ready to talk to him right now; I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready to talk to him again. How was I going to be able to handle class on Monday when I couldn’t even be in the same room as him?

My stomach clenched at the very thought of it.

“Hello?” I said into the phone, closing my eyes and anticipating Joseph on the other end.

“Tessa?”

My eyes flew open as the familiar voice sounded in my ear.

“Dad?” I nearly choked out.

Ruby gasped from the couch.

I hadn’t spoken to my father in months. It’s not that we didn’t have a good relationship; we were fairly close when I lived on the farm. But since he married Penny a few years ago, we hadn’t really talked a lot.

Every year, since the death of my mother when I was 3 years old, my father and I would go to her grave site on her birthday. I don’t really remember my mother, besides a couple of details, but I heard plenty of stories and saw many pictures. The three of us looked so happy as a little family and I had never seen my father that happy before.

My father told me how much she loved the fun little stories he would write for her. So, after she died, he made it a point to continue writing those stories for her. He would take me to her grave site and read his newest stories out loud for her.

We both liked to believe that she could still hear us.

That was what made me want to be a writer.

But since he married Penny 5 years ago, that tradition stopped. I think my father stopped writing altogether.

I moved from the farm to start a new life and returning wasn’t really on my agenda. I tried to speak to my father occasionally on the phone, but the conversations just felt forced. Plus, Penny always tries to hijack our phone conversations, and I don’t really have an interest in speaking with her.

It’s not that I hated Penny, she was just very loud and too young. Way too young for my father. She was closer to my age than she was his and I have a sneaking suspicion that she’s after him for his money. She’d rather spend his money than help him earn it. I also think my father stopped writing because Penny thought his stories were lame.

My father, being a farm owner, is very well off. In high school, when I was applying to colleges, he offered to pay for my tuition when the time came. But I wanted to do this on my own; I earned my own scholarship and worked part-time jobs outside the farm to make my own money.

“Long time no talk, kiddo,” my dad said, speaking his nickname for me.

“I’m sorry; I’ve just been so busy with school and stuff,” I told him, which wasn’t a lie.

I was supposed to see him during the break, but I ended up going with Joseph instead. I felt bad about it, but my father understood.

“I just wanted to check in,” my father said gently. “You are still my daughter after all.”

“I know, Dad,” I breathed.

I looked down at Ruby who was staring at me with wide eyes. I only told her a little about my father and my life on the farm. But she knows we don’t talk often and that I have an estranged relationship with his wife.

“Do you know what Saturday is?” My father asked, surprising me.

I furrowed my brows together; I wasn’t sure what Saturday was. Had I missed something? I didn’t have anything on my calendar for that day.

“No,” I admitted, hoping it wasn’t too important.

“It’s your mother’s birthday.”

My stomach clenched.

“Oh,” was all I managed to sputter.

“I know you’ve been busy, but I thought it’d be nice if we went to her grave together. Like old times,” my father suggested. “You don’t have to… but I was planning on going and I feel a little weird going without you…”

My father’s farm was a few hours away. The thought of returning left me a little unsettled. When I didn’t say anything, my father added, “Ivy misses you too by the way.”

Hearing Ivy’s name made my heart swell.

I missed her terribly and it would be nice to see her again. Not to mention get away and clear my head for the weekend.

“Would I be able to bring a friend?” I asked.

“Yes, of course,” my father answered, sounding pleased.

“Okay… then we will be there tomorrow and stay until Sunday if that’s okay,” I said, only a little hesitantly.

“Okay. We’ll set up the guest room for your friend.”

“Sounds good,” I said, clutching the phone even tighter in my grip.

There was a long stretch of silence between us and for a moment, I thought he might have hung up.

“Tessa?”

“Yeah?” I answered.

“It’s really good to hear your voice,” he surprised me by saying.

“Yeah… you too,” I said. “I’ll see you soon, Dad.”

“See you soon, Kiddo.”

Then, the line went dead.

“What was that about?” Ruby asked, eyeing me carefully as I slowly removed the phone from my ear.

“Looks like we are going to my father’s farm in the morning.”