Her Side of Town

The booth was too narrow, the coffee was burned, and a child at the next table had been kicking the seat for eleven minutes.

Damian sat with his hands around the cup and did not move.

Behind the counter, Tessa balanced three plates along one forearm. Her hair was pinned up badly. A loose strand kept falling into her eyes.

She had seen him arrive. She had nodded once.

Then she had gone back to work.

At three twenty, an older waitress named Jo came to his table.

"You going to order something, or just stare holes in my staff?"

"What do you recommend?"

"For you? Patience. The pie's good, too."

He ordered the pie.

It arrived with a cracked crust and a generous scoop of ice cream. Tessa set it down herself.

"Jo likes you," she said.

"I'd hate to meet someone she dislikes."

A smile touched her mouth before she stopped it.

"I finish at four."

"I know."

She glanced at the clock.

"We're short today. It might be later."

"I'll be here."

At four twenty-three, she came out of the back room in jeans and a dark green coat. She had taken her hair down. Damian stood so quickly his knee struck the underside of the table.

The child in the next booth stopped kicking long enough to stare.

Tessa pressed her lips together.

"Don't," he warned softly.

"I didn't say anything."

She sat opposite him.

The waitress brought a pot of fresh coffee without being asked. Tessa wrapped both hands around her mug. He remembered those hands on his shirt and looked away from them.

"Thank you for coming," she said.

"Thank you for letting me."

She watched him for a moment.

"I spoke to someone about the documents. A lawyer Jo's sister used."

"Good."

"I paid for the appointment."

He inclined his head.

"She said the release is clear. I don't owe you or Hale."

"That's correct."

"You don't get to do anything else with my accounts."

"I won't."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You said that very fast."

"I've had time to think about it."

A man at the counter laughed loudly. A spoon clattered to the floor. Damian could feel Paul waiting outside in the car, every instinct in him aware of the glass behind his shoulder and the door he could not fully see.

He kept his attention on Tessa.

"What were you thinking when you paid him?" she asked.

He could have given her the best version of the answer. He had spent the drive refusing to prepare one.

"I saw the recording from the parking area. He stood too close to you. You looked frightened after he left. I wanted him gone."

"I wanted him gone, too."

"I know."

"Did it feel good? Making him afraid instead?"

Damian met her eyes.

"Yes."

She looked down at her coffee.

"I thought so."

He waited, though every silent second felt like losing ground.

"Part of me was relieved," she admitted. "When I found out he couldn't call anymore. I hated you a little for making me relieved."

"You don't have to hate yourself for that."

Her gaze rose sharply.

He shook his head. "I'm not telling you how to feel. I'm saying I don't expect you to stay frightened to prove a point to me."

She breathed out slowly.

"I wanted to come here and be very calm."

"You don't owe me calm."

"Good, because I missed you, and I'm still angry, and it's exhausting."

His hand moved toward hers before he stopped it on the table.

She looked at it.

Then she put her own hand over his.

For a moment he could not speak.

"I missed you," he said finally. "The house is quiet."

Her fingers stiffened.

He turned his hand beneath hers.

"Not because you aren't working there. Because I can't tell you what happened in my day. Because I buy the coffee you said was decent and then remember you're not coming to the kitchen."

Her eyes shone.

"And your mother?"

"She asks for you sometimes. Sometimes she doesn't. Leah and I read the book. I think I've lost track of who killed the first man."

Tessa gave a wet, startled laugh.

"There were two killers."

"That explains some of it."

He watched her smile fade into something more vulnerable.

"I care about her," she said.

"I know. You don't need to come back to prove it."

She nodded, looking out through the window.

"I can't work for you again."

He had known she might say it. Hearing it still hurt.

"All right."

"I picked up more shifts here. It isn't a grand plan. It just gives me time to work things out."

"You don't need a grand plan."

She gave him a skeptical look. "Since when?"

"Since mine failed so spectacularly."

She laughed for real then, and he felt the sound all the way through his chest.

When she took her hand back, he let her.

"Would you go out with me?" he asked.

She lifted an eyebrow.

"Is this not a date?"

"I thought this was a hearing."

"The pie was your character witness."

"Did it help?"

"Somewhat."

He smiled. It felt unfamiliar after the past week.

"Tomorrow," she said. "There's a place by the old ferry terminal. Fish and chips. We can walk if it isn't raining."

"What time?"

"One. And don't buy it before we get there."

"The fish?"

"The restaurant."

He laughed, and Jo looked over from the counter as though checking whether Tessa had broken something expensive.

Outside, the air smelled of wet pavement and frying oil. Tessa stopped beside the car and lifted a hand to Paul, who returned the gesture through the windshield.

Damian faced her.

He wanted to kiss her badly enough to feel it in his teeth.

She studied him, then stepped closer and caught his lapel.

"You can ask," she said.

"May I kiss you?"

"Yes."

It was brief, because they were outside the diner and Jo was absolutely watching. It was also enough to make his hand shake when he touched Tessa's cheek.

She noticed. Her expression softened.

"Tomorrow," she said.

"One o'clock."

He watched her walk toward the bus stop. At the corner, she looked back, as though making sure he had not vanished while she wasn't looking.

He was still there.