“Amesport, Maine. It’s a small coastal town. My parents still live there.”
Xander shrugged his wide shoulders. “Sounds like as good a place as any to find a good guy.”
She smiled at him. “I need to find myself first.” Impulsively, she leaned over and hugged him.
The friendly embrace wasn’t awkward. In fact, Xander squeezed her tightly before he finally let her go, and Tessa savored the moment of human connection.
“Thank you,” she murmured as the door of the limo opened, the driver standing outside waiting for her to get out.
Xander put a detaining hand on her forearm. “Don’t take any shit from anybody, Tessa. Not ever. You’re a beautiful woman. Any guy would be lucky to have you. Remember that. Find out who you are before you choose your next guy. Let him love the real you.”
She nodded, getting teary-eyed as she got her last glimpse of his earnest face, touched that a complete stranger, a rock star, had listened to her woes and helped her, even though he didn’t even know her.
It was enough to almost restore her faith in the goodness of people.
“Good luck with the concert. Keep rocking the houses,” she told him with a sniffle.
“You know it,” he answered with a cocky smirk. “We always do.”
Her heart was just a little bit lighter as she watched the limo leave. It had been a strange encounter, but he’d made an impact on her life when she’d really needed a friendly acquaintance. It had been a positive experience, one of the first she’d had in quite some time, and she knew she’d never forget it.
Her packing didn’t take long. The messaging to her parents wasn’t easy, but when she left the next morning, Tessa found herself looking forward to going home.
She left the key to the mansion and her enormous diamond on Rick’s bedside table.
He had never come home, so she hadn’t needed to see him again.
The cabbie helped her stow her bags, and Tessa never looked back as they headed down the driveway.
She cried all the way to the airport, her fear of an unknown future and her disappointed hopes still tearing her apart. By the time she got to her terminal, she couldn’t weep anymore. Rick had broken her, but after a sleepless night, she realized that she’d get over being thrown aside because she was damaged.
He isn’t worth crying about anymore.
Tessa left Boston behind her and buried her pain, determined to find contentment in the small, quirky coastal town she’d always loved.
CHAPTER 1
The Present . . .
One thing she really hated about being deaf was that the only sounds she could ever hear when she was alone were her own thoughts.
Tessa Sullivan let out a contented sigh as the hot water from the shower pulsated over her naked body. Having just finished her morning run, there was no better sensation than feeling her taut muscles relaxing as the single jet above her head released a steady spray of warmth. Even though she’d gotten overheated during her jog, the cleansing heat still felt glorious.
“I’m out of shape,” she mumbled to herself, remembering how badly she had been panting after her three-mile jaunt. Skipping some of her exercise routine over the busy summer had really cost her. Tessa sighed as she realized it was going to take her a while to get back to her pre-summer distance running.
Strangely, she still talked to herself, even though she couldn’t hear. Old habits died hard, and she’d always chattered away, even as a child, whether anyone was listening or not.
Maybe she spoke out loud because it made her feel less isolated. Being deaf was lonely sometimes, and even if she couldn’t hear herself speak, her ramblings kept her company.
She soaped her body in silence, letting herself absorb a sense of peace that flowed over her soul, an experience that was occurring more and more often lately. For years, she’d lamented the loss of her hearing. Now, she was finally beginning to accept the fact that voices and noise weren’t part of her life. Tessa knew she’d always miss the sense of sound, but she’d finally realized that being deaf hadn’t changed who she was.
I’m still . . . me. I’ve just learned how to interpret the world around me differently.
Every person had a voice, whether or not she could remember how that individual had sounded before, or even if she’d never met them before she’d lost her hearing. As she watched a person speak or sign, she could hear that unique voice, a sound in her head and a feeling she identified with a certain individual.
She rinsed her hair leisurely, glad that summer was finally over. The restaurant that she owned with her brother, Liam, would be slower, but she looked forward to the less frantic pace of the fall in Amesport. Labor Day had just passed, and the atmosphere of the Maine coastal town would change from one of tourist madness back to the small, friendly town she adored. Summer was fun, crazy, and frantic from all the visitors; fall was a season that most of the locals loved because many of the tourists had gone home.
The house still hasn’t sold.
Selfishly, she was glad that Randi’s old home hadn’t sold over the summer, though she felt guilty for having those thoughts. Her friend needed to eventually sell her house, even though she’d married a billionaire. In the meantime, Tessa was enjoying the solitude of playing caretaker for the small, single-family ranch home on a few acres of property outside of town. It gave her some much-needed space from Liam, her protective sibling and business partner.
I’m going to need to talk to Liam . . . again.
She’d gone deaf over six years ago, but her brother still treated her like she was delicate, fragile. He blamed himself for her lack of hearing, even though it had been far from his fault. He seemed determined to keep her safe, but his machinations went way too far. Tessa felt suffocated. She was twenty-seven, far too old to need a babysitter. She knew Liam meant well, but he was going to have to let her go eventually. He’d given up enough to take care of her, stay supportively by her side for so many years. It was time for him to live his own life again, and way past time for her to take control of her own.
The water turned off soundlessly as she pushed the handle and stood in the enclosure for a moment to wring out her hair. As she stepped out, Tessa reached for the clean towel she’d tossed on the hamper next to the shower, only to find that it wasn’t there.
A shriek of startled fear left her mouth as she turned and saw a very large, very male hand holding out the missing sky-blue towel. Her eyes flew to his face as she screamed, recognizing the intruder.
“Oh, my God. What in the hell are you doing here?” she asked Micah Sinclair as he slowly released his grip on the towel when she reached for it shakily, not bothering to hide the heat in his dark-brown eyes as he stared shamelessly at her nude body. Finally, she jerked on the material hard, freeing the towel from his reluctantly loose grip.
A fiery blush flooded her face and body as she quickly wrapped it around her, wishing she’d grabbed one of the larger, fluffier ones in the closet for her shower, but she didn’t want to use Randi’s nicer stuff. As it was, the threadbare cotton piece of linen she’d chosen barely covered her ass and other private areas she didn’t want exposed. She had no choice but to look at Micah—even though she was mortified—if she wanted to know his response.