Chapter 191

Tessa’s POV

As my father’s name flashed across my phone screen, my entire body stilled. Joseph was watching me with a frown on his face.

“Are you going to answer it?” He asked, furrowing his brows together as he studied me.

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and swiped the green “talk” button.

“Hello,” I said, trying to keep my tone calm.

“Tessa?” My father’s voice was gruff like he had just woken up. “Hey.”

“What do you want, Dad?” I found myself asking; my voice came out more bitter than I wanted.

But I was hurt, and he had to have known that. He hung up on me when I asked a very important question. He was too much of a coward to answer me, so he ran away.

“I deserved that,” he murmured, and I wasn’t sure if he meant for me to hear it. “I wanted to talk to you. Do you think we can meet somewhere for dinner tonight? We can meet midway between here and there. I think there are some things we need to talk about.”

My heart felt like it weighed a thousand pounds in my chest. Did I really want to meet with my father tonight and speak with him? I did want to know the answers that I sought, and this might be my only way.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I thought about it.

“Will we be talking about Mom?” I asked; my voice was nothing more than a whisper at this point.

“I want to tell you the truth…” he said after a short pause.

I nodded but then felt stupid because he couldn’t see me, so I cleared my throat.

“Okay,” I told him. “I’ll meet you for dinner tonight.”

“Great,” he said, sounding a bit more relieved. “I’ll text you the restaurant later.”

I didn’t say anything more before hanging up the phone.

“Everything okay?” Joseph asked, studying my face.

I nodded, forcing a smile on my lips.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I’m meeting him for dinner tonight. He wants to tell me the truth.”

Joseph’s hand went up my arm, leaving goosebumps in its trail and then his fingers gently caressed the nape of my neck, making me relax into his touch.

“That’s good; isn’t it?” He asked, eyeing me carefully. “You’ll finally learn about your mother.”

I nodded, but I couldn’t help the uncertainty that lingered in my chest.

“I hope he will tell me the truth,” I sighed. “Whatever he’s hiding I don’t think he ever wanted me to find out.”

Joseph leaned closer to me, brushing his lips across the area where my neck meets my shoulders, and I sighed in satisfaction as he kissed my sweet spot gently.

“Can I take your mind off things?” He asked, his voice going husky.

I wanted more than anything to say yes and to give in to him. My entire heart was pounding at a rapid speed inside my chest, and I wanted some kind of relief. The kind of relief I knew that only Joseph could provide.

But my brain was so clouded; between finals and my dad….

I put my hand on his chest, making him pause.

“Maybe a rain check?” I asked, peering up at him. “I have too much on my mind.”

His eyes softened and he gave me a gentle smile as he leaned in and kissed the bridge of my nose.

“Of course,” he said softly. “Will you come over tonight after your dinner?”

I nodded.

“I’d like that,” I said, smiling at him.

His lips brushed across mine and I felt truly at peace with the love of my life.

…..

“Is he going to explain to you why he doesn’t like Joseph?” Ruby asked on the phone as I drove to meet my father.

Ruby was kind enough to let me use her car and I had my phone attached to the blue tooth. Her loud and perky voice came through very clearly on the car’s speakers.

“I hope so,” I told her. “I’m not sure how much more of this fighting I can take.”

I truly did hate fighting with my father; we never fought like this before. Our biggest fight was when he brought Penny home. That was the last time we truly fought and now everything just felt weird.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I parked next to what looked like my father’s car, but I couldn’t be too sure in the dark of the night. It was a quaint pub-type restaurant, and I could already smell the greasy foods cooking inside. My stomach was growling angrily and my mouth was practically watering.

I hadn’t had the chance to eat lunch today, so I was pretty hungry.

“Ruby, I just got to the restaurant. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way back,” I told her.

“Okay. Enjoy your dinner,” she said just before the line went dead.

I took a deep breath as I stared at the restaurant. This could be the moment that everything changes. My father was going to tell me things about my mother that would forever change my views of her.

That nervous feeling bubbled in the pit of my stomach, but I shook it off, took another deep breath, and got out of the car.

When I entered the restaurant, the hostess was seating a couple in a far-off booth, so I waited patiently for her to return. I scanned the area with a frown; I didn’t see my father anywhere. I was a few minutes late, so it was strange that he wasn’t here yet.

I grabbed my phone out of my purse to see if maybe he called or texted while I was on the phone with Ruby. But there wasn’t anything.

“Table for one?”

I heard the hostess saying from her podium; I hadn’t even realized she returned yet.

“Actually, it’s for two,” I told her, running my fingers through my hair and allowing it to cascade delicately over my shoulders. “I’m meeting someone.”

She nodded and grabbed a couple of menus before motioning me to follow her. She took me to a booth in the farthest part of the restaurant, which I was secretly grateful for. As I slid into the booth, she handed me a menu and placed the other on the table. She told me the waitress would be right over and I thanked her before she took off to help some others who just walked into the restaurant.

After a few minutes of staring at the menu, the waitress came over to the table. She had long blonde hair and a curvy waist. She looked as if she was in her 50s; she was lovely and she had kind blue eyes that smiled along with her lips.

“Hey, there,” she said in a thick southern accent. “I’m Luanne. I’ll be your waitress this evening. Can I get you something to drink?”

“Hi, Luanne,” I said to her, trying not to sound as nervous as I felt. “I’m actually waiting for someone. But can I have a twisted tea?”

“Of course,” she said, writing that down on her notepad. “I’ll come back with your drink and then wait to take your orders until the other party arrives.”

“Thanks,” I said, giving her a gentle and very forced smile.

She returned a few minutes later with my twisted tea and I thanked her before she took off. My father was about 30 minutes late. I sent him a text, but he didn’t respond to it. I decided to call him and to my surprise, it went straight to voice mail.

Was my father standing me up?

The thought surfaced in my head, and I suddenly felt very sick.

Just when the waitress brought me my second twisted tea and I thought for sure he wasn’t going to show up, I heard my name, and my entire body froze.

“Tessa,” my father breathed as he sat in the booth across from me. “I’m so sorry I’m late. I hope you weren’t here long.”

“45 minutes,” I said, leaning back in my seat and folding my arms across my chest.

He ran his fingers through his hair, and he kept his eyes on the table before him.

“I ran into some traffic…” he said, but I could tell from the way his eyes wouldn’t meet mine that he was lying. I wasn’t going to press him though; he was here to give me information and that’s all this was.

Luanne returned and took my father’s drink order; he ordered a beer.

“Are you ready to order?” She asked as she placed his beer in front of him.

“Yeah, I’ll just have a cheeseburger, cooked medium rare, with an extra tomato and a side of fries,” my father said, closing his menu and handing it to Luanne.

She smiled as she wrote that down and took his menu. Then, she looked at me.

“And for you, sugar?”

“I’ll do the same,” I said, closing my menu and handing it to her.

She nodded before she turned away to fill the orders.

My father and I sat across from one another, silent. I stared down at my hands, and my father stared everywhere beside me. I wasn’t sure how much more of this I was going to be able to take.

“So, why are we here?” I finally asked.

His body visibly stilled and then he sighed.

“I’ve been keeping something from you, and I think it’s time you knew the truth,” my father said slowly.

“Is it about mom?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. “Is she a witch?”

He flinched at my words, but from the way his shoulders sagged, I knew I hit the nail on the head.

After a brief silence, he finally nodded his head once.

“That’s not all though…” he murmured, and this time, he lifted his gaze and met my eyes. “Tessa…. You are also a witch…”