scheme of things, he strode over to where she had parked herself and, as had been his habit for two dozen years, ruffled her hair.
Bad mistake, he realized, as he invariably did upon completing the action. And not just because she turned a mutinous, murderous gaze on him for doing it, either. But because Tess’s hair was like the finest silk, all soft and shimmery beneath his hand. He wondered how it would feel to, instead of rubbing her head like a good-luck charm, skim his palm lightly over those long tresses, or knife his fingers gently through the soft mass, or wrap a strand around his thumb and pull her closer, close enough to cover her mouth with his and—
Nothing, he told himself brutally. He would never do anything to—or with— Tess Monahan. She was a kid, even if she didn’t look the part. And she was his best friend’s sister.
And there was another reason, too, one Will didn’t like to dwell upon, one that unfolded in his head, anyway, as he wiped his hands on his soiled coveralls. It was no secret to anybody in Marigold that Tess Monahan had always had a crush on him. Hell, Will had known it himself since she was ten years old. And as much as he thought about—all right, fantasized about— Tess, he would never take advantage of that crush. Because crushes had a way of turning into infatuation. And infatuation never led anywhere at all.
Yeah, Will knew Tess had a thing for him. And maybe, just maybe, he had a little bit of a thing for her, too. But that thing, for her, at least, was little more than a habit by now. If she had feelings for him, it was only because she’d had them for so long, they had become second nature to her. They weren’t the result of an adult emotion that was destined for greatness. For Will to take advantage of her crush on him would be reprehensible, immoral. And it would only lead to trouble and a whole heap of hurt.
So Will kept his distance, because he knew it would be foolish to act on the attraction. Whatever might heat up between him and Tess would no doubt burn to a crisp in no time flat. Then the tenuous friendship they had would begin to feel awkward and uncomfortable. And in messing up things with Tess, Will might very well lose Finn, too. And Finn was the best pal he’d ever had.
“Hi, Will,” Tess greeted him as she pushed her—soft, silky, shimmery—bangs back into place. And, as she always did when she saw him, she took a couple of steps backward.
He hated it that he intimidated her the way he clearly did. But hell, he had twelve inches and about eighty pounds on her—not to mention ten years—so there wasn’t much he could do about it. And he knew she still felt embarrassed about that incident in her mother’s kitchen four years ago, when she’d gone so far as to blurt out the reality of what a big crush she’d had on him all her life.
Truth be told, Will wasn’t all that comfortable with the recollection of that, either. Even though there had always been a certain unspoken knowledge of her crush on him, neither of them had ever overstepped the bounds of propriety by actually talking about it. Not until the day Tess had just up and put voice to it the way she had.
But Will had moved on and forgotten all about the incident. He would put it right out of his mind. Totally and completely. Well, pretty much. Sort of. Hey, just because he couldn’t quite bring himself to look Tess in the eye anymore, that wasn’t any big deal, was it?
Nah.
“School was great today,” she told her brother. But there was something in her voice that didn’t quite ring true, something that sounded a little strained.
“They give you the big award?” Finn asked.
He’d risen from the chair long enough to give his sister a quick peck on the cheek, and now he folded himself back into it. The physical resemblance between the two siblings was amazing, Will noted, not for the first time. Except that Finn’s hair was black instead of blond. Then again, all of the Monahan kids resembled each other—all had those piercing blue Monahan eyes, all were extraordinarily good-looking, and all of the boys, at least, were tall and fit and slim. Tess, too, was fit and slim, but at five foot two, she didn’t exactly qualify for tall.
Upon closer inspection, though—but not too close— Will noted that she didn’t exactly qualify for fit today, either. Even standing in a slash of evening sunlight that spilled through the open bay door, she seemed a little pale, a little fatigued. A little…sick? But that was impossible. Tess Monahan never got sick.
“It wasn’t that big an award,” she told her brother, scattering Will’s thoughts. “But, yes, they gave it to me.”
“Congrats again, Tess,” Will said. And avoided her gaze.
“Thanks, Will,” she replied softly. And avoided his, too.
A strange and uncomfortable silence followed, and for some reason Will got the impression that Tess wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure how to go about it. Finn seemed to sense the odd mood, too, along with his sister’s lack of color, because he tipped his head to the side to observe her.
“Everything okay, Tessie?” he asked in clear concern.
She nodded quickly. A little too quickly, Will thought. “Fine,” she said, the word coming out clipped and fast. “Everything’s fine. Perfectly fine. Why wouldn’t it be fine? Do you know something I don’t know that would cause it to be not fine?”
Will exchanged a hasty glance with Finn, then both men gazed curiously at Tess.
“Uh, no,” Finn said. “I don’t think so. You know more than me—you’re the teacher, after all.”
Tess seemed to relax a little but was still obviously guarded as she said, “So you haven’t…you know… heard any…news?”
Will and Finn traded another one of those curious glances, then, “What kind of news?” Will asked.
Tess shrugged, but there wasn’t anything casual about the gesture at all—it was as quick and anxious as the words that followed it. “I don’t know,” she said. “Just…news. Newsy…news. Something, you know… out of the ordinary. Something you wouldn’t normally expect. Something that might shock or surprise you.”
Will and Finn both shook their heads. “No,” Will said. “It’s been pretty quiet around here today.”
Tess expelled a long, slow breath and swallowed with what Will could only liken to relief. Then, “Oh,” she said quietly. “Okay.”
“Is there something we should know, Tessie?” Finn asked, his voice laced with suspicion. “Something you want to tell us?”
“No!” she said, even more quickly than before. Immediately she blushed and dropped her gaze to the ground.
Oh, there was definitely something going on here, Will thought. Tess was acting very strangely. She was usually the most cool, calm, composed person he knew. This wasn’t like her at all.
“I mean,” she began again, “uh…no. There’s, um, there’s nothing. And if you do hear any news,” she added, glancing up, only to blush more furiously and drop her gaze again, “it’s not true.”
This time when Finn looked over at Will, it was with obvious apprehension. But all he said was, “Okay, Tessie. But if you want to talk about something…”
“Nothing,” she stated emphatically. “I don’t want to talk about anything. There is nothing to talk about.”
“Okay,
