Page 57 of Until You Found Me

“About what?”

“Anything. Everything. Tell me about the boat, or a story about the dog, or all about your favorite band. I don’t care.”

“Favorite band, huh? Don’t have one.” He pauses, inhaling the scent of her hair that tickles his face and trying to land on a suitable story. “How about the time I saw a mermaid?”

“You didn’t,” she replies, with the first hint of amusement he’s heard since this started.

“Sure did.”

She nuzzles her face against him, shoving her leg between both of his. “Tell me.”

“So this is what happened….”

* * *

They sit with a sketch artist for two hours while she describes the girl she saw in vivid detail. By the end of the session, he can see all of Tessa’s traits drawn across the page and then uploaded to a screen twice the size.

He’s worried about her the entire time. This is too much all at once, but maybe that’s not giving her enough credit because if she’s struggling she doesn’t show it. Tessa’s allbusiness. She’s certain about every strand of hair, the width between the child’s eyes, and the placement of freckles. The result is a girl who looks as tortured and sad as her mother when he found her. It’s difficult to look at and impossible to look away.

If he had a lead he’d be out there right now trying to track her down, but all they have is this skillfully drawn sketch that the police cross-reference with a dozen databases, hoping for a match.

“It might take a while, but I’ll let you know if we find anything,” Carl tells her.

She only nods, clutching a styrofoam cup of cold coffee with a death grip as they head for the door.

“How about a real one of those? Something that doesn’t taste like sewer water,” Logan suggests.

“Hmm?” She follows his gaze toward the half-mangled cup, the only sign so far that she’s been stressed. “Oh, okay. Sure.”

“Home?”

“Can we go to the Winter Fest? I just wanna think about something else right now. I’d like to see people laughing and eating junk food. Look at Christmas decorations and forget we came here.”

“Alright. Might get a chance to see people falling on their asses, too.”

She raises a brow. “Why?”

“There’s an ice rink downtown. Little one. One thing this place loves is Christmas. Looks like Donner and Blitzen threw up all over town.”

“Excessive holiday decor and people falling over like tipped cows? I’m in.”

* **

Logan never comes to this thing. It’s a mess, as far as he’s concerned. Too busy, too loud, everyone smiling and singing. The holidays aren’t for him but for her, he can be someone who enjoys Christmas cheer without saying bah humbug even once.

He thought she might be tired, but she seems to gather more energy as they wander through Main Street, stopping at booths with various knick-knacks, her arm casually linked with his. She doesn’t ask him to buy her a single item, but he wishes that he could give her every shiny trinket that catches her eye. That purple scarf she wraps around her neck with a laugh and that little woven bracelet she runs a finger over. She’s content to window shop though, and he’s glad for that, considering his next round of insulin is coming up fast. All his money has to go there, no matter how badly he wants to spend it on her.

“Cocoa or coffee?” She points to the stand by the rink. “My treat.”

“Your treat?”

She grins. “Mhmm. There were a few food tickets in the envelope my grocery money came in. It was in the mailbox this morning. I wanted to surprise you.”

He suspects Carl snuck those in and right about now that’s put him on Logan’s favorites list for how easily it got Tessa smiling. “Cocoa. We can make bets on who’s gonna fall by the rink.”

She orders them two hot chocolates and they take up a small bench overlooking the ice, her shoulder leaning intohis and their feet nudging. He’s sure he blushes every time she caresses his ankle with the tip of her boot. He dips his head and tries not to think about how she tasted the other day or how she felt wrapped around his cock. If he keeps going down that path, he’ll be hard in front of a group of children and he isn’t trying to get arrested tonight.

“That one’s going down soon.” He points to a kid dressed like a marshmallow, wobbling on the ice.

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