Tess smiled as she pulled up a chair beside her father’s bed, reaching for his hand gently. “How are you feeling, Dad?”
Mr. Wells gave her a tired but genuine smile. “Better now that I know my hip isn’t broken. Just stiff, but nothing I can’t handle.”
She let out a soft ugh, shaking her head. “You’re not handling anything. You need to rest.”
He hummed, watching her with warm but curious eyes. “I have to ask, though… How in the world did you afford such a high-end doctor? Dr. Langford isn’t someone a small-town café owner can just call in.”
She stiffened for a moment, quickly hiding it behind a casual shrug. She looked away, pretending to smooth out the bnket over his legs. “I was saving up to open another café, but it’s being put to better use now—helping you.”
Her father frowned, guilt flickering in his eyes. “Tess, I—”
“Don’t,” she cut in, giving him a reassuring squeeze. “It’s nothing, really. I’d do it a hundred times over if it meant you’d be okay.”
Before he could argue, her phone buzzed in her purse. Tess pulled it out, expecting another call from the café, but the name on the screen made her breath hitch.
Adeline.
Her heart thudded against her ribs.
She bit her lip, gncing at her father, and then stood up, tiptoeing toward the door with an embarrassed smile. “I, um… I need to take this.”
Her father gave her a knowing look but said nothing, simply waving her off with a chuckle.
Tess hurried out into the hallway, exhaling deeply before answering.
“Hello?” Her voice was softer than she intended, nerves curling in her stomach.
Adeline sighed into the phone, a small smile tugging at her lips. “How are you feeling now?”
Tess leaned against the cool hospital wall, warmth spreading in her chest at the sound of Adeline’s voice. “Relieved. Thank you so much. The dies at the café helped a lot, and I don’t even have to pay them.”
Adeline chuckled. “I’d hardly send you a bill after everything.”
Tess shook her head, smiling. “You’re really something, you know that?”
She hummed. “I like to think so. But go on, ftter me some more.”
Tess rolled her eyes. “You just swoop in and fix things like it’s nothing. I should’ve known it was you.”
“I wasn’t going to sit back and do nothing while you ran yourself into the ground,” Adeline said smoothly. “Besides, I take it now that you’re not drowning in work, you’ll have more time to miss me?”
Tess’s breath hitched slightly, but she kept her voice light. “I never stopped thinking about you.” She sighed, shaking her head. “But I need to stay professional. Imagine me staring out the window all day, sighing dramatically. Who’s going to run the café then?”
Adeline hummed, amusement clear in her tone. “Sounds like a very tragic romance novel. ‘The Café Owner Who Longed for the President.’”
Tess scoffed. “You are a distraction.”
“I prefer a welcome distraction,” she teased.
Tess smirked. “That depends. Are you pnning to keep distracting me, or do you actually have something to say?”
Adeline hummed in thought. “Well, I was considering a grand romantic gesture. Maybe flying across the country, standing outside your café with a boombox—”
“—Please don’t,” Tess cut in, ughing.
“Fine, fine,” she said, her voice warm. “But since I can’t be there, I’m just going to have to keep calling you. Annoying you with my presence from afar.”
Tess felt her heart squeeze in the best way. “I wouldn’t mind that,” she admitted softly.
Adeline’s voice softened. “Good. Because I miss you too.”
A beat of silence stretched between them, heavy with things neither of them were quite ready to say.
Tess took a breath. “I guess we’ll have to settle for phone calls for now.”
“For now,” Adeline echoed. “But you should know—I don’t pn on staying away forever.”
Tess smiled. “I’ll hold you to that, Madam President.”
Adeline’s voice was smooth, with a hint of pyfulness. “Make sure you’re home by nine tonight.”
Tess furrowed her brows, shifting the phone against her ear. “Why? Pnning to send more unexpected guests to my door?”
Adeline chuckled. “No, this time it’s just you and me. I have a surprise for you.”
Tess blinked. “A surprise?”
“Mhm.” she didn’t eborate, and Tess could practically hear the smirk in her voice. “Just trust me. And dress up nice.”
Tess’s confusion deepened. “For what, exactly?”
Adeline only hummed in response. “You’ll see. Just be ready.”
She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “You’re so cryptic. Fine, but if this is some eborate prank—”
“Have I ever pyed a prank on you?” Adeline interrupted smoothly.
Tess paused. “…Not yet.”
Adeline ughed softly. “Then have a little faith in me. I’ll see you at nine.”
The call ended before Tess could ask anything else. She stared at her phone for a moment, shaking her head in disbelief before tucking it away and heading back to her father’s hospital room.
As soon as she stepped inside, her father was watching her with suspicion, arms crossed over his chest.
“What?” Tess asked, raising a brow.
Mr. Wells narrowed his eyes. “Who was that?”
“No one,” she said quickly, too quickly.
His lips pressed into a thin line. “That smile on your face says otherwise.”
Tess scoffed, schooling her expression into something neutral. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Mhm.” He didn’t sound convinced. “And what exactly are you dressing up for tonight?”
She froze. “…You heard that?”
Mr. Wells smirked. “Loud and clear.”
Tess groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “It’s nothing, Dad.”
He hummed knowingly. “Nothing, huh? That nothing has you blushing.”
She turned away, ignoring the heat rising to her cheeks. “Just focus on resting, old man.”
Her father chuckled, but didn’t push further. Tess, however, couldn’t stop thinking about Adeline’s words.
What exactly was the president up to?
*
Tess locked the front door of the café with a relieved sigh, pressing her forehead against the cool gss for a brief moment. It had been a long day, but with the extra hands helping out, the weight on her shoulders felt a little lighter.
She turned, adjusting the strap of her purse, and made her way toward her car. The streetlights cast a warm glow on the pavement, the town quieting down for the night. She reached into her pocket for her keys, but then—
She stopped.
Someone was leaning against her car.
A familiar figure.
Nick.
Tess’s breath hitched for a moment, not out of shock, but at the unexpectedness of it. It had been a while since she’d st seen him. Their retionship hadn’t ended in fmes—just life pulling them in opposite directions. He had moved away for work, and she had stayed behind, unwilling to do the long-distance thing.
She frowned slightly. And yet, here she was… possibly in one.
Her fingers curled around her keys as she gnced up at the sky. The stars twinkled above, scattered across the vast darkness, indifferent to her sudden moment of realisation.
‘But she’s five states away.’
The thought weighed on her, stirring something deep inside her.
She had never wanted to try before. Never thought it was worth the struggle.
So why, when it came to Adeline, did she suddenly want to fight against the distance?
Nick watched from a short distance, arms crossed, as Tess stood still, lost in thought, staring at the night sky. She hadn’t even noticed him yet. With a smirk, he pushed off the car and walked over.
Before she could react, his hands found her waist, pulling her into a firm embrace. Tess blinked, momentarily startled, but before she could step back, Nick tilted his head down and pressed his lips against hers.
She froze.
Her mind reeled, not because of the kiss itself, but because the moment their lips touched, it wasn’t Nick she thought about.
It was Adeline.
Adeline’s kiss. Adeline’s touch. Adeline’s voice whispering her name.
And yet… she didn’t pull away.
When Nick finally ended the kiss, he looked down at her, his expression softer. He pulled her into another hug, holding her tighter this time, burying his face in her hair.
Sighing against her, he murmured, “I missed you.”
Tess didn’t respond.
Because in that silence, she realised something unsettling.
Nick thought she stayed in his arms because she had missed him, too.
But that wasn’t it.
