Come Back To Me by Melissa Foster Read Free Book Online Page B

fuller in the face, the drawn, gaunt look she’d held was gone. “Fine.”
    “I can’t wait to get back to work,” Tess said. She flung herself into her chair and thanked Alice for the cappuccino. She moved the cup to the side of the desk and picked up the coaster, turning the warmed ceramic in her hands, running her fingers over the taupe, green, and peach flowers.
     “This is gorgeous! Where did you find it?” she gushed.
    “You know that little women’s market, on Wisconsin Avenue?”
    Tess nodded. “By that handmade rug store.”
    “Yup. I found it last week and knew you’d love it.” Alice smiled. She was relieved to hear the happiness in Tess’s voice.
    “It’s beautiful. Thank you.” Tess put the coaster in her top right desk drawer and sipped her drink.
    Alice watched with disbelief. “Aren’t you going to use it?” she asked.
    Tess scrunched her face and shrugged her left shoulder, “Nah, but I do love it.”
    Alice was uncertain if she should be concerned about Tess’s newfound freedom from coasters or if she should be happy about it.
    “What’s happening around here?” Tess skimmed through the stack of messages on her desk.
    “Beau’s parents called.” Alice watched Tess’s face tense and knew it was not the time to bring that up. “They, uh, were just making sure we didn’t need anything here in the office.”
    Tess’s shoulders relaxed, “What else?”
    “I hadn’t wanted to worry you, but we’re getting close to having issues with payroll. Everyone understands, but payroll is payroll.”
    Tess’s face grew serious again. “Right. Payroll.” She dropped her gaze, thinking, then popped up from her chair. “Well, we’ll have to push some new clients through. What’s happening with Mr. Mason?”
    “He’s ready. He was waiting for you to come back.” She sifted through the folders until she found the one marked Mason Press . “Mid-level manager, fifty-five, maybe sixty-K.”
    “Did he agree to the twenty percent?” Tess asked.
    “Yup. He’s all set. Just needs you to go down and finalize.”
    “Great, set it up. How about that Tole guy? The one that was referred but didn’t return my calls? Any word from him?” Tess asked.
    Alice shook her head.
    The corner of Tess’s lips turned up, and in a conniving voice, she said, “Oh, he’s ours. Don’t you worry.”
    Alice laughed. “Oh, I’m not. I figured you’d pull him in.” She left Tess’s office and came back with a stack of five blue folders. “I’ve been going through our mid-level management résumés. I think these are good matches.” She handed them to Tess.
    “I’ll look through them now. Can you get me Tole’s number? And set up a meeting with Mason for Wednesday, three o’clock.”
    Alice felt a surge of adrenaline. Tess was back!
     
    On her way back from sealing the deal with Mr. Mason, Tess was on fire, enthused to be accomplishing her goals instead of pining away at her computer. She could do this—the pregnancy, waiting for Beau to return. Yes , she thought, I can do this . No longer would she try to convince Alice and Kevin of Beau’s being alive. It was a futile effort. She’d noticed how Alice had watched her every move the last few days, and how she’d scoffed when Tess had made reference to Beau’s return. They were too closed-minded to understand that had Beau been dead, Tess would have known—and the one thing she knew for certain was that he was not dead. He couldn’t be. He was just…detained, and that thought gave her the strength to get up each day and reclaim her life.
    Tess turned onto Wisconsin Avenue and headed toward Bethesda. She was on top of her game, and if Mr. Tole wouldn’t return her calls, she’d knock on his door.
     
    The fine leather furnishings and expensive hardwood that adorned the accounting office of Tole and Whitcomb would be intimidating to most, but to Tess, a woman who had built a company from the ground up with nothing more than sheer will