Page 32 of The Summer We Made Promises (The Destin Diaries #3)

Chuckling, she crouched down and opened the crate, holding one hand out so he didn’t run. He stared up at her, his bulgy eyes looking a little sad and scared.

“Oh, honey, I feel you. Come here.” She guided him out of the crate, but he squirmed.

“See? It’s not easy.” Roman reached for the dog. “Might work better if I hold him.”

“Yes, that will.”

Roman wrapped his large hands around the dog’s waist, cooing gently to calm him while Tessa managed to get the tie around his little neck.

“There we go,” she said, frowning as she tried to remember the steps from this direction. “You’re right, it is different on a dog than a man standing and facing you. Even if that man is a nervous groom.”

Smiling, she looked up, catching him studying her face. Staring hard—intently. So much so, that she fumbled the tie and had to start all over again.

“Do I have cupcake on my face?” she asked as she re-wrapped the black satin. “I didn’t have any but I was very close to dancing teenagers who were on a sugar high.”

“No,” he said, his voice…odd.

Was it the nervous groom comment? She looked up at the gruffness in his voice, suddenly forgetting which loop she was on. “Did I miss a step?”

He just swallowed, silent.

“Roman?”

“Oh, oh, that’s my phone.” He managed to hold Pickles with one hand and reach into his pocket to pull out the phone and read the screen. “Lacey said Jennifer is ready now. They’re calling Naomi to the stage after this song.”

She held his gaze for a few heartbeats, still trying to figure out his expression, then looked back at the mess of a bow tie.

“Then I better concentrate,” she murmured as she made the first knot.

“No, no. You have to slide the left one through that way,” he said, using his free hand to help her. “It loops, then slides, see?”

Another unexpected wave of emotion hit her, the words kicking her in the gut. “Oh…” She couldn’t breathe for a moment.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I just…you just…” She smiled. “I got the worst déjà vu right then. You sounded exactly like my father teaching me to thread a fishing rod. Same tone of voice, same inflection. You frequently remind me of him.”

He gave a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes and he looked more wistful than surprised. “I…I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet him.”

She drew back at the admission. “Oh, that’s…sweet. He was a great guy. You’ll meet Seamus and hear all about him, I promise.”

“Yeah, but it’s not the same.”

“That’s for sure.” She made the final loop and tugged. “There we go. Now pull the sides and…voila! A bow tie on this little rat.”

“Perfect.” He closed the crate door and tucked the dog away. “You want me to carry it in for you?”

“Yes, please. To the side of the stage.”

As they walked with the crate between them, she stole one more look at the tall, handsome, athletic man. He didn’t just sound like Artie in that exchange, she mused. He kind of looked like him, too.

Was that why she liked the kid so much? He reminded her of?—

“Here we go,” he said as he pulled the door open. “Game time.”

Instantly, Lacey was there, smiling from one to the other. “She’s on stage. Roman, let’s go to the side and open the crate at the right moment.”

“I’ll stay here and watch from this angle,” Tessa said, gesturing for them to take the long way so Naomi didn’t spot the crate.

Still feeling inexplicably uneasy, Tessa positioned herself in the middle of the room as the DJ cut the music.

“Naomi Kaplan, report to the stage,” he announced.

Naomi trotted up in her sparkly heels, confused but curious. The kids gathered, chattering. Parents pressed in and the whole room sort of held its collective breath. Jennifer and her husband were on the opposite side of the stage from Lacey and Roman, who were well out of sight.

“Now,” the DJ said, “we know Naomi has a passion for animals. So much so, she wants to be a vet one day, right, Naomi?”

She nodded. “That’s Dr. Kaplan to you,” she joked.

“Well,” the DJ continued, “someone very special wanted to make sure your Bat Mitzvah included a little extra something wild. ”

He gestured toward her parents, who both beamed at their daughter. Yes, Jennifer wanted to impress her friends, but maybe Tessa had been too harsh. Clearly, she was motivated by a deep love for her daughter and nothing else.

Once again, the old baby regret climbed out of the box Tessa kept locked in her heart and crawled up to her throat. Oh, to love like that…

“And we’ve got one last surprise!” the DJ said, adding a drumroll sound that cracked up the whole room. “Three…two…one…”

Roman and Lacey walked onto the stage, holding the crate, grinning. Lacey dropped down and unlatched the door and little Pickles tiptoed out, suddenly shy in front of the crowd.

The kids gasped. The parents cheered. Naomi shrieked in utter disbelief.

“He’s mine?” She looked straight at her mother. “Mommy, really?”

Tears trickled down Jennifer’s cheeks. “It’s Pickles, honey. The one you loved on the field trip to the animal refuge.”

She dropped to her knees, scooped up the tiny dog, and burst into tears.

Tessa’s own eyes welled as she watched the scene unfold. The entire room erupted into applause. Naomi sobbed into the dog’s neck, stroking his ears, laughing and crying at the same time. Jennifer had a hand over her mouth, overwhelmed.

“Thank you,” Naomi whispered as she turned to her mother. Instantly, the two of them were wrapped in a hug and cry-laughing, the dog between them, and Dad joined in.

Yep. This was the instant of event planning perfection, she thought. The family stuff. The emotion. The climax of feelings that made all the work worthwhile.

The room was filled with cheers, laughter, and when the DJ started Who Let the Dogs Out? —then there was chaos, barking, and madness.

In the midst of it, she slid her gaze to the side of the stage, expecting to see Roman and Lacey enjoying it all, but they’d disappeared.

Wondering where they’d gone, she walked around the large potted plant, turning the corner to see them face to face, deep in a conversation. Not heated, but not…in the spirit of the happy moment.

She couldn’t hear what they were saying but the conversation was serious, with much nodding, a few stabs into the hair, and a couple of heavy sighs. Finally, Lacey stepped away and walked off in the other direction.

What was going on?

Just as she was about to step away, Roman looked up, straight into Tessa’s eyes. There was that expression again—wistful, longing, and…secretive. Was he hiding something from her?

His true feelings?

There was definitely an air of something not right, not genuine, and not real arcing like electricity from him.

Without giving it much thought, beyond the bone-deep need to protect Lacey, she took a few steps closer.

“I just want to say one thing,” she whispered, but knew he could hear her. “If you hurt that girl, if you lie to her or lead her on or break her heart or betray her? You’ll have me to answer to, and it will not be pretty.”

He swallowed. “I won’t,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

She let out a sigh, instantly appeased by the genuine note in his voice.

“Can I say one thing to you?” he countered. When she nodded, he came one inch closer. “You, Tessa Wylie, would have been an amazing mother. Nothing short of a mama bear in the protection department.”

She nearly melted into the ground. What would make him say the words she’d heard so many times and always hated? She didn’t know, but for some reason, this time? She didn’t hate them at all.

“Yeah,” she said. “I would have been, but the universe had other plans.”

His brow flicked and he thumbed over his shoulder. “I’m going to get Lacey.”

He turned and walked away, leaving her utterly bewildered.