Her arms fell to her lap. “What happened?”
“I left before the drinks could even come out?” I admitted, wincing, while twisting my glass around. “Stormed out’s more like it.”
Her mouth popped open, a combination of shock and amusement. “Youstormedout?” She leaned in closer. “I can’t even imagine you doing something like that.” Her eyes darted all over me. “You’re so…sonice. My mind can’t comprehend what that would even look like,” she said with a chuckle.
My mouth flattened to a thin line, averting her gaze again. I wanted her to keep that positive image of me. “Well, it happened.”
“But you were at the rodeo Saturday. Why didn’t you say anything?” She looked almost hurt that I hadn’t told her. It made me want a time machine.
I shrugged a shoulder, quirking the corner of my mouth. “I didn’t want to dump all my personal stuff on you. The last thing you need right now is to worry about what I’m doing.” She looked even more hurt.
“But I want you to dump things on me,” she said quietly, as if I should’ve known somehow already. “We’re friends, Levi. Friends tell each other things. Or at least I thought we were.”
Idetestedthe word friends. I didn’t want that word anywhere near Tess and me.
“Well, now you both look pathetic,” Louise scolded as she set Tess’s drink down and refilled my water.
“Thanks, Miss Louise,” Tess said. Her voice was just above a whisper, not meeting either one of our gazes. I hated seeing her like this.
“They accused me of helping Savannah.” Her eyes darted to mine. “I slipped her information in the middle of the hearing. The information that won her the case. I didn’t deny it, and then it all just kind of went downhill from there.”
She stretched her hand across the table, slipping her hand over mine. “I’m sorry. That must be hard.”
All I could do was stare. It was the first time she had initiated contact between us since she hugged me in my office the first day we met. Her thumb ran over the backs of my fingers in a swipe that reverberated through every cell in my body.
I shrugged, taking a sip of water with my other hand, trying to act as casually as possible. “Not anything new. You know my family, what kind of people they are.”
Her head tilted, her expression going from sympathetic to assessing. “And yet, you’re nothing like them.”
“Sometimes I worry I am.” The admission left me involuntarily, raw and painful in a way I hadn’t expected. “That one day, I’ll wake up and be just as heartless as them.”
Her fingers tightened around mine. “You could never be like them. You’re kind and compassionate”—her eyes roamed all over me—“and good. You’resogood, Levi. One of the best people I’ve ever come across.”
My chest ached under the weight of her opinion. I ran my thumb over her knuckles, unable to stop myself or really care about the consequences, for that matter. “Thanks,” I rasped, scrunching my nose to get rid of the burning sensation.
I had to tell her what they said. I’d be going against everything she said if I kept it in any longer, but I didn’t want it to change the way she saw me. “They also told me some things.” I cleared my throat. “About the merger.”
Her hand slid out of mine slowly, and it felt like the sun had disappeared from the sky. “What about it? Are they planning more stuff?”
“No. The original one that was supposed to happen in the seventies.”
Tess’s body went rigid, staying silent as Louise placed her plate in front of her, and thank God Louise could read a room, because she didn’t say anything, and just left.
“What about it?” she asked again. This time, her voice was wary. I could even see it in her eyes how on edge she was.
My heart pounded, my mouth suddenly too dry. I downed half my drink and spat the words out before I said something else. I told her everything Grandfather and Preston had told me, from their accusation to my storming out.
Tess’s face paled as I spoke, her lips parting, horrified.
And when I was done, I was practically shaking while she just sat there, blinking at me. I hated not being able to tell what she was thinking. “Say something.”
“Were you going to tell us?” she whispered.
My back met the back of the booth roughly, her words knocking the strength out of me. “Of course, I was.” But she didn’t look all that convinced. I ran a hand through my hair. “I was going to Saturday before the rodeo started, but I didn’t realize how big of a deal it was until I got there. I didn’t want to ruin everyone’s night. I was going to call Beau when I got back to the office about it.”
The muscles in her jaw tensed, her eyes narrowing slightly. I’d never seen her look at me like that. Like she wasn’t sure whether she could believe me or not.
“You believe me, don’t you?” My voice came out pained in a way I’d never heard it. I hadn’t realized just how valuable her opinion of me was until it was at stake.
