Page 35 of Never Alone
Tessa was at the counter with a couple ahead of me. She glanced up when the bell went, her eyes stopping on mine for a half-second longer than they needed to. Then she went back to bagging what she was bagging.
I didn't know why I'd come. I'd just felt like I had to see her.
Why I needed to see her, I didn't have an answer for.
The bakery was warm. I'd come in from the cold, and the warmth surrounded me already.
I grabbed a loaf of bread from the basket closest to me because I needed an excuse for being there.
The loaf was heavier than I'd expected. I held it in one hand and wasn't sure what to do with the other one.
"Thank you, Tessa!"
"Happy Thanksgiving!"
The bell went on the way out. The couple was gone. It was her and me in the shop.
She looked up.
"Hi."
"Hey."
I walked over. The walk took longer than it should have. By the time I was at the counter, I had no idea what I was going to do with my face.
I set the loaf down. Pushed it across.
"How are you?"
"Better. Thank you."
She smiled at me. The smile did something to me I wasn't going to think about right then. She turned and started wrapping the bread.
"Any plans for Thanksgiving?"
I didn't know why I was asking.
"Oh—Mrs. Thompson's planning the spread. Benjie's out picking up what we'll need this week. Noah went with him."
"That's nice."
I'd saidthat's nice. I wasn't athat's niceman. I cleared my throat.
I handed her my card. She took it. Our fingers almost touched.
She turned to the reader. I had a long second to not look at her, and didn't manage it. Her face in profile was—different. Something was different about it. I couldn't put my finger on what. The light was the same. Her hair was the same. Something else.
She handed the card back. Slid the loaf in a paper bag across the counter. Smiled at me again, and that was when it hit me.
"I'm sorry. Weren't your eyes a different color?"
She blinked. The color came up in her cheeks.
"They were. They are. I—I wear colored contacts. They dried out yesterday, and I haven't put new ones in yet. I wear the colored ones because they're easier to put on than clear—you can see them when you're putting them in. And I don't love my natural color anyway."
I looked at her. Took in the explanation. Then my eyes landed on the glasses.
"But you wear glasses."
