Page 190 of Tessa and Nash

I lean against the railing outside Town Hall, feeling the weight lift slightly from my chest, but not enough to clear the storm brewing inside me.

The snow falls gently, drifting across Main Street, but my mind’s still reeling.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Boone asks with frustration. “You can’t just drop a bomb like that on the whole town and expect it to be fine.”

Dallas doesn’t ask. Instead, he studies me with an intensity that makes me feel even more exposed than I already am. After a long pause, he speaks, the words coming out of nowhere, and they hit me like a freight train.

“You’re in love with her.”

I blink, the world momentarily freezing around me. “What?”

Dallas just shrugs like it’s the simplest thing in the world. “You just destroyed your own reputation and project, to try and protect hers… even if the way you did it was completely foolish.”

Boone nods slowly, his expression unreadable. “Yeah. You really went for broke.”

I look away toward the street. Dallas's words settle in, heavier than anything else that’s been said tonight. I’m not sure how to answer, how to make sense of any of it anymore.

“I think I might leave,” I say, the thought escaping my mouth before I can stop it.

Both of them go still. They weren’t expecting that. Neither of them speaks for a moment, letting the words sink in.

“Leave?” Boone repeats, thick with surprise. “What are you talking about?”

I take a deep breath, turning to face both of them, letting the cold air cut through me, clear my head. “Yeah. Like Clay. It might be time to spread my wings, to see if I can progress somewhere else. This place doesn’t want what I’m trying to build. I need to find somewhere I can grow.”

Dallas and Boone exchange a long look, and I know exactly what they’re thinking. But I’m not waiting for their approval.

This decision’s mine, even if I’m not sure if it’s the right one yet.

I turn away before they can say anything, because this time, I’m the one who needs to take control.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Tessa

February 14th

“I’m not going.”

Maeve stands in the doorway of my office at Town Hall with her arms crossed and the stubborn expression she reserves for situations in which she has already decided the outcome and merely intends to shepherd me toward it.

“You are,” she replies calmly.

“I am not.”

“You absolutely are.”

I close the file in front of me with more force than necessary and look up at her. “Maeve, I would rather reorganize the entire municipal records archive than attend a Valentine’s Day charity auction tonight.”

Her mouth twitches. “That’s a dramatic statement coming from someone who voluntarily reorganized the municipal records archive last fall.”

“That was productive.”

“And tonight is social.”

“Which is precisely the problem.”

Maeve steps fully into the office and leans against the edge of my desk. “You cannot hide in here forever, Tessa.”