Angela spins on us, striding over to the couch and standing over us.
“Explain,” she says, her voice clipped and filled with tension. “From the beginning. When did this start? How far back does this go?”
“The day I returned,” I say.
“What?” Angela cries, the same way Caitlin did… the same way most people likely will when we explain the fate-fueled clashing that brought us together.
“I know,” I say, sighing heavily. “It sounds ridiculous. But it’s the truth. Let me explain.”
Angela sits and listens as patiently as she can while I put all this amazing madness into words, as I tell her how I wanted Tessa the moment I saw her before I even recognized that she was Angela’s best friend.
I tell her about the date and the feelings that have captivated me, and all through it, Angela stares, shaking her head slowly, as though she’s expecting some punchline to be nestled within the words.
“Is this real?” Angela says, looking at Tessa.
“Yes,” Tessa murmurs. “It’s the most real thing I’ve ever felt. I know it makes no sense, Angie. I know that, logically, it sounds absolutely insane. But I felt the same as Trent—I feel the same as Trent.”
“I know you’ve always had a crush on him,” Angela says quietly.
Tessa stiffens next to me, as though she’s just been slapped by an invisible hand. “You knew?”
Angela smiles shakily, caught between disbelief and empathy for her oldest friend. “Of course I knew. We’ve been best friends for years. I was waiting for you to tell me one day, and when you never did I thought, well, that’s her business. I never resented it or judged you or anything like that. I just thought it was a…”
She trails off, biting down on whatever she was about to say.
“A silly girl’s crush?” Tess says.
“Yeah.” Angela nods. “No offense.”
“I felt the same.” Tess giggles through an interfering sob. “I can’t believe you knew all this time, but yeah, of course, I thought it was just a silly crush. But when Trent told me he wanted me as badly as I want him, it became so much more. I know it makes no sense, Angie. But this isn’t some fling.”
“Isn’t it?” she says firmly, glaring at me now. “Because we all know how this cliché goes. An older man meets a younger woman and takes advantage of her, playing on her naivety, on her inexperience. He uses her up and then tosses her aside when he’s done with her.”
“Angela,” I growl, anger flaring at the absurd thought. “You know me. Do you really think I’d do something like that?”
“No,” she flares, leaping to her feet again as if she can’t stay seated with all the tension surging through her. “But what the heck am I supposed to think? I’ve never seen you with a woman, Dad, not since Mom. I guess I always assumed you kept that side of your life private.”
“No,” I say. “I haven’t been with a woman since your mother. I’ve been on a couple of dates here and there, but never…”
I trail off, biting down.
“Never this,” I snarl. “Never what I feel now. Tessa is my soulmate. We’re going to have a family together. We’re going to be together for the rest of our lives. There isn’t anything seedy or underhanded in this, Angela. This is…”
Love, love, love.
The words sing in my mind, true, undeniable.
And yet I can’t have the first time I tell my woman I love her to be under these circumstances.
“What, Dad?” Angela prompts.
“Everything I ever wanted in a relationship,” I go on huskily. “But I convinced myself it was impossible. I’d accepted that I’d spend the rest of my life focusing on my business and my daughter, focusing on you. But Tessa has opened up so many doors inside of me. I feel like a new man.”
“You seem like a new man,” Angela sighs, returning to her chair. “And you seem different too, Tess.”
“How so?” Tess asks, her voice quivering with emotion.
I can’t fight it anymore. I reach over and take her hand.
Angela flinches, but she doesn’t explode into rage.
She doesn’t storm out.
Complicated emotion play across her face and then she nods, subtly, a movement so small I doubt she even did it on purpose. It’s like she’s silently saying, look how happy they are. How can I fight against that?
Or maybe that’s what I hope she’s thinking.
“More confident,” she says after a pause. “I’ve always wanted you to hold yourself like I knew you deserved. You’re so pretty and funny and smart and talented. But you let those high school douches beat you down. No, not let. It isn’t your fault.”
“I know what you mean,” Tess says, squeezing my hand as emotion surges through her. “It’s Trent. He’s helped me realize I don’t have to be self-conscious all the time. He’s helped me believe maybe I do have something to offer the world.”