“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Scott led the way. “You can take some food for later.”
Tessa laughed at her friend’s insistence on pushing off his extra food and followed. Inside, she was greeted by several other business owners in the neighborhood as well as a few of the residential neighbors as music blasted from a speaker in the corner where someone had set up an iPod and food was set out everywhere.
Never one to miss a business opportunity, Lydia was also offering Blackout Special henna tats until the lights came back on.
“I have an opening. How about you let me paint you?” Lydia said to Tessa, catching Tessa staring at the sale sign on one of the food tables.
“No, thank you,” she said.
“Jonas, don’t you think Tessa should get a tat? I could do something very personal, and very tasteful … something only special people could see,” Lydia said mischievously, and Tessa felt her cheeks heat.
“Lydia—” she warned.
“I think it could be fun,” he said, surprising both women. “You game?” he asked Tessa.
“It’s only henna,” Lydia cajoled.
Tessa took good care of her skin. It was an important part of her business to show how well her products worked, but also to care for her health. She didn’t sit in the sun for long periods of time and with no disrespect to her friend, had no interest in permanent ink. Still, she was feeling daring, and a temporary henna tat would be fun.
“Okay, why not?” she said. “I’ll pick out yours, and you can tell Lydia what you want for me. We don’t get to see until it’s done.”
Jonas looked slightly apprehensive. “No fair. I’m blind. I could end up walking around with who knows what on my forehead.”
Tessa leaned in, feeling mischievous and whispered in his ear, “It wasn’t your forehead I was thinking about,” she teased, and then added, “I guess you’ll have to trust me.”
“Okay. I can do that,” he said, and she knew they were talking to each other about far more than a tattoo.
“Actually, I think I have the perfect idea for both of you,” Lydia said, and led them to the corner where she proceeded to sit them both down before her in comfortable chairs, and then grabbed a scarf from the shelf.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Tessa objected at first, as Lydia started to tie it around her eyes.
“It’s supposed to be a surprise, right?”
“Lydia …”
“Trust me, Tessa.”
Tessa sighed. It seemed to be the theme of her life at the moment, and she did trust Lydia, who winked at her as she tied the scarf around her face.
“This won’t take long. It’s a simple scroll, but it will work very well.”
They listened to the music and conversations behind them then as Lydia worked, and Tessa laughed a few times, her palm tickling as Lydia painted there, and then turned her hand over, continuing.
“Um. I thought this would be small.”
“It comes off in four to six weeks, Tessa. But you’re going to like it, I promise.”
Then she left Tessa to work on Jonas who was so quiet she thought maybe he had fallen asleep.
“There. Done!” Lydia pronounced, and Tessa wasn’t sure she wanted to open her eyes, but when she did, she caught her breath in pleasure at the delicate scarlet-and-black scrolling that weaved its way around her hand and fingers, to the center of her palm, where it ended in a starburst.
She looked over to see Jonas grimacing. “Tell me she didn’t paint flowers or kittens on my arms, please,” he said.
Lydia snickered.
Tessa took his arm, and knew immediately what Lydia had done, and she glanced up, meeting her friend’s eyes.
Lydia shrugged. “It seemed right. You two fit,” she said, echoing what Tessa had told Jonas earlier.
His was similar, but heavier, more manly, and also worked around his fingers, wrist and palm.
“You, uh, need to hold hands to really see how it comes together. It’s a concept I developed while I was designing. You are the first ones I’ve tried it on. I call this one Completion.”
Jonas shrugged and held out his hand, obviously disappointed that he couldn’t see his. Tessa took it, and caught her breath. As their fingers wove together, their palms merging, so did the design. The scrolls connected into an intricate weave that created an entirely new design.
“Lydia, that’s amazing …” Tessa breathed, and tried to explain it to Jonas, though she felt as if she couldn’t do it justice. She wished so much he could see it, and said as much.
“Well, like I said, they last several weeks. And you said you had some signs your vision was coming back?” she asked Jonas.
“Yes.”
“And you figure you’ll be around in a few weeks?” Lydia asked baldly, to Tessa’s horror.
He smiled. “Yeah, I hope so.”
That made Tessa’s heart stop.
“So there you go then.” Lydia cleared her throat as they stood there, holding hands. “Okay, I’m going to go check on the party, and you guys can show off your tats, if you would, so it could drum up some business for me. You know, before you head upstairs to—”
“Lydia!” Tessa cut her friend off, laughing, and Lydia laughed, as well.
Gone, Tessa didn’t let go of Jonas’s hand as she went into his arms.
“I think you’ll like it. It’s very badass. Promise.”
“Yeah, sounds like it,” he said doubtfully, but found her lips and didn’t seem overly concerned about the tattoo.
“I probably have soap that would remove it sooner than normal, if you like.”
He squeezed her hand, and kissed her lightly. “I’m good with it. You want to mingle for a few minutes and then go upstairs?”
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
Tessa wasn’t sure she’d ever been this happy. Jonas seemed to have accepted that she wasn’t his enemy, and more than that, he’d said he planned to be around. His sight was coming back, and he wanted to be with her.
Her father had tried to separate them, but fate had a different idea. Tessa was supposed to be with Jonas, she thought, looking down at how the designs on their hands merged into a perfect image that they showed off to guests who were suitably impressed.
They were together now, and she wouldn’t let anything hurt them, least of all her father, she thought
