Splendor(84)

He ran a hand down his face, as if unable to believe what he was hearing. “How did you manage? I mean - ”

“The school term was still going on so I was able to use the showers in the gym during the week. Weekends I had to – er, improvise some. I did laundry at a laundromat. I qualified for free school lunches and made that my main meal, and just ate what I could afford the rest of the time. I made sure I moved my car around a lot when I parked for the night so I wouldn’t look suspicious always staying in the same neighborhood. And I always parked in good areas that were well lit. The weather in Tucson is pretty warm all year round so being cold at night was never an issue.”

“God.” He surged to his feet and began to pace around the library. His entire body was tense and almost shaking, and he kept clenching and unclenching his fists, as though he longed to hit something.

“If it’s any consolation,” she told him meekly, “I only lived that way for about four months.”

He spun around to face her, his handsome face livid with rage. “Four hours would have been too long for you to live like that. I feel – sick, Tessa. Bloody sick at the thought of you all alone and helpless. Jesus, anything could have happened to you out there. You could have been raped, robbed, murdered.”

“I know,” she admitted reluctantly. “I never slept especially well those months, was always cautious to make sure no one bothered me.”

“What changed after those hellish months?” he rasped. “Please, for God’s sake, tell me things got better after that.”

“They did. And what happened after that was Peter. My hus – my ex-husband. He – well, there’s really no other way to say this. He saved me, Ian. In more ways than you can possibly imagine.”

Ian refilled his brandy snifter and drank half the contents in one gulp. ”Continue, Tessa. I’m sorry if I seem upset but – Christ, to think of you all alone that way.” His voice trailed off as he shuddered.

“It’s okay, honestly.” Tessa found it a bit odd that she was the one offering him comfort under the circumstances. But then, she already knew how the story ended.

“I’d known Peter for a little over a year,” she related. “He and I both worked at Old Navy after school. Well, saying I knew him might have been a stretch. I knew his name, said hello in passing, and spoke to him on occasion when I had a question about something in his department. He was quiet, like me, and very introverted. A real loner.” She was relieved to notice that Ian had stopped his frantic pacing and seemed calmer.

“Because our shifts at the store didn’t end until late, we usually walked out to our cars together. It wasn’t something he ever offered to do, it just sort of evolved into that. Anyway, one night we got out to our cars and mine had been broken into. Fortunately, anything of value I had was in my purse which I had taken with me so nothing was stolen. But, well, it was all just too much for me to take and I started crying. And of course, it happened to be another Wednesday.”

“So Peter – he helped you?”

“He did.” She nodded in assent. “We stopped somewhere for coffee and I told him everything that had happened in the last few months – the fire, living at Michelle’s, sleeping in my car. He didn’t say much, but told me to follow him when we left. We wound up at his house. The house itself was in pretty bad shape, but it was on a big corner lot and there was some space in the back that was sheltered where he told me I could park every night. He figured it would be safer there and he could keep an eye on me.”

Ian was still frowning. “Why didn’t he just invite you inside?”

“Because if my life had been difficult, Peter’s had been one of constant torment. His mother was a chronic drunk, a really horrible woman, and he refused to even let me meet her, told me I didn’t need any other negative experiences in my life. He’d sneak me inside when she left the house or was passed out drunk so I could use the shower or bathroom, would bring me food and just sort of look out for me. It wasn’t perfect but at least I felt a little safer and not quite so alone.”

He leaned back against a low table that held a marble chess set, his feet crossed at the ankles as he sipped his brandy. “And how long did this new arrangement last?”

“Just a few months. Until Peter graduated from high school and turned eighteen.”

Ian raised a brow. “What happened then?”

“He married me.”

***

Ian was damned glad he hadn’t chosen that particular moment to take a sip of brandy because he most certainly would have choked on it. When Tessa had told him rather uncertainly at the restaurant that she wanted to tell him about her past, nothing in the world could have prepared him for all of the terrible things that had befallen her in her relatively short life thus far. But this latest revelation – while certainly not terrible – might have been the biggest shock of them all.