Page 35 of Her Athlete's Wedding Secret

“Surprisingly, no. She took it much better than I thought she would.”

“Does she know everything about the wedding, or does she think you’re madly in love with Benson?”

“She doesn’t know,” Tessa said. “She thinks I’m in love.”

“Why didn’t you tell her?” Lauren asked.

“I didn’t want her to be upset, thinking that I’m going into a situation I can’t handle. She has enough on her plate.”

“How did you explain that you’re all of a sudden getting married to this guy you’ve never mentioned dating?” Chase asked.

“I told her I’ve been dating Benson for a while, that we’ve been keeping it quiet so it wouldn’t get out to the media.”

“Did she seem to believe that?” Lauren asked.

“She didn’t seem to care. She’s pretty wrapped up in her own world,” Tessa said. “My mom’s life is always a disaster. She never leaves survival mode. That’s why I tried to keep the news as simple as possible. I think she’s used to me handling her with kid gloves, so it wouldn’t be that out of character for me to keep it a secret from her that I was dating Benson.”

“I can see that,” Lauren said. “At least that conversation didn’t blow up in your face.”

“I’m surprised it didn’t. My mom doesn’t take change well. I don’t think she realizes how much I help her out and how much she’ll miss that help when I’m gone.”

“Maybe not,” Chase said. “But you can always still come back for visits.”

“That’s what I’m planning to do, and I told my mom that. I’m sure that’s a big part of why she took the news so well.”

“That’s good to hear,” Chase said.

“Also,” Tessa said. “We found out on the way over that Aubrey had a cancellation at the Whitmore House for the second week in July, so we officially have a place to get married.”

“Wow,” Lauren said. “That will be here before you know it.”

“I know. It’s in just a couple of weeks.”

“I’ll have to make sure I put you in my schedule so I can get your hair done,” Lauren said.

“That would be great,” Tessa said.

Benson was glad to see her so excited about the wedding. At least there was something he could do to make Tessa happy. He wanted to give her a good life. She deserved it. He couldn’t give her his heart, but he could give her his friendship and his companionship.

He just hoped it would be enough.

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