“What an asshole. Who is he?” His expression was dangerous now.
“Richard Barlow. A multimillionaire who attends a lot of sporting events.”
“I’ve met him. He’s a pretentious prick. We’ve run into each other a few times. Since we’re both in the sports-equipment business, we cross paths, even though my company specializes in extreme sports.”
Moving closer, Tessa put a hand on his forearm. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I made a lucky escape. If I had married him, I doubt I’d be the same person I am right now.”
“Yes, you would. But you’d also be his puppet on the outside, and that would have made you miserable. You shouldn’t have to change for anybody. You’re fucking perfect just the way you are.” He looked angry.
She decided to finish the story she’d started. “I came back home and started helping Mom and Dad run the restaurant. Liam was gone then, so it was just us. My brother came home for good when Dad died. He’s been here ever since. He gave up his job as a special-effects expert in movies and TV to be here for me.”
“Which is why you have a hard time telling him to mind his own business,” Micah concluded.
“Yes. I know he means well, but I don’t need his help anymore. I’m grateful that he was there when I needed him, but he doesn’t have to keep sacrificing now. The only thing I need is his love. But I don’t think he’s realized that yet. I want him to move on with his life because I’m moving on with mine. But he still blames himself for my hearing loss.”
“What happened?” Micah asked, his expression less irate.
Tessa sighed and lay back on the soft grass. “Nothing that was in any way his fault. We were both busy, but we wanted to get together. Meeting here in Amesport was the easiest for both of us, because Liam and I both loved to be outside. One of our favorite things to do together was hiking. I got here before he did, and he had to bail on our hiking trip. He got tied up on a job and couldn’t make it back to Maine. I decided to go to one of our favorite areas and do the hike by myself. It was only one day, and it wasn’t like I hadn’t done it before.” She rolled and propped her head on her hand, facing Micah.
“You got hurt while you were out hiking?”
She shook her head. “Not hurt. Sick. I wasn’t feeling that great when I started out in the morning, but I thought it was stress. I’d been out of the country for competitions, and my travel schedule was crazy. I’d just gotten back in the States, and I flew here to Maine directly from a competition. I was tired, but as I got farther and farther along on the hike, I guess I spiked a fever. I got turned around, and eventually I was way off the hiking trail. Honestly, I don’t remember much of the whole hiking ordeal.”
“Then what?”
Tessa could tell from the look on Micah’s face that he was listening intently, his body tensed. Her world might be silent, but she’d become a master at reading expressions and body language.
She shrugged. “All I remember is being tired and cold. I sat down to rest, and that’s about the only memory I have of getting sick. I don’t recall being alone that night. They didn’t find me until the next afternoon. My parents got worried and called Liam. Then my brother notified the authorities. Everything is a blank until I woke up in the hospital, terrified because I couldn’t hear a thing that anybody was saying. I had bacterial meningitis. Liam filled in some of the blanks, but it’s like I lost that whole week of my life before I woke up. Then when I finally opened my eyes, I was deaf.”
Micah flopped down on his stomach next to her, his eyes softening as he reached for her hand. “You must have been scared.”
Tessa savored the feel of their palms meeting, Micah’s larger hand engulfing hers. “I was terrified,” she admitted. “When I was well enough, I communicated in writing, but it was frustrating.”
“So Liam blames himself because he wasn’t there with you,” Micah guessed.
“He does. He said if he had been there, I could have gotten help a lot faster, and I might not have lost my hearing.”
“Is that true?”
“Who knows? But I’m the one who decided to go alone, and all my parents knew was that I was going hiking. They didn’t really worry until the next morning. Nobody knew I was going to get sick while I was out in the woods, or that it would be that serious. You don’t think about those kinds of things, especially at that age. It happened so fast.”
Tessa saw his reproving look before he spoke. “You could have died out there.”
“But I didn’t. I’m grateful that I didn’t. But Liam thinks he’s entirely responsible for ruining my life and my career. It’s ridiculous. He had nothing to do with my decision. I was an adult. Sometimes I think I was born all grown up.” She’d never had time to play as a child and teen. Her life back then had been filled with nothing but practice routines and competitions.
He grinned at her, a wolfish smile that made her heart clench. “Maybe you need to play.”
Tessa rolled her eyes. “I’m a little too old for that.”
“You’re never too old to play.”
“Says the perpetual boy who does nothing but crazy things that most adults wouldn’t even consider doing.”
Micah’s expression grew troubled as he answered, “Not as much as I’d like to anymore. I have a company to run and a family to watch out for now. The only sport I focus on now is my skydiving team, for the most part.”