Promises (TP 6)

38 - Trustworthy

Double update today.

Patrick turned to Kristi and frowned. Why was he angry with her again? Erica's scholarship meant a lot to Kristi. She had spearheaded it from the very beginning. After reading Hannah's essay, she felt embarrassed for setting the wrong criteria. Maybe she didn't know her friend as well as she thought. Erica was a private person. It was one thing she and Tessa had in common.

"Kristi, you promised me you would accept the committee's decision."

Patrick was right, but Kristi knew Hannah deserved to win. She suddenly no longer cared, because his eyes followed Tessa when she walked away.

She turned and glared at him. "You like her. Admit it."

He looked around. Kristi watched Megan walk away. Alex went in the frigid water to rinse the sand off.

"I'm not talking to you in front of all our neighbors. Come walk."

She had to run to keep up with his long strides. "Why are you mad at me?"

"Why are you always making Tessa feel uncomfortable? She thinks you hate her."

"I don't hate her. Wait a minute, when has she talked to you about me? When you danced?"

"Yes, but since then too."

"Since then? When?"

He let out a long breath. Why was he so aggravated?

"You claim you're my best friend. You need to prove it."

She had a lot of best friends, but he was one of them. "How do I prove it?"

"By being trustworthy."

"I am. You know I keep secrets." She stopped short of saying she was keeping Tessa's secrets.

"I haven't told my kids yet, but you're right, I do like her. I've been seeing her."

Kristi stopped in her tracks. "Shut the front door! Really?"

Patrick turned to face her. He slid his sunglasses on top of his head to look her in the eye. "Yes. Really."

"Seeing her? Have you kissed her?" He didn't respond, but his eyes sparkled. "You have and she's not a cold fish? I was convinced she was."

"Why would you think that?" He held up a hand. "Forget it. I don't want to hear your answer."

"Sorry. Okay?"

"I want the kids to meet her tomorrow. So you only have to stay quiet for one day."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She knew about his other dates.

"Because you haven't liked her. Will you please just give her a chance?"

Kristi frowned. "She hasn't been friendly to me."

"Because you started it and it took awhile to convince her you and I are just friends."

"She was jealous of me." Kristi laughed.

Patrick was no different than a string of men in her life. They were out of her league or in the friend zone, as the kids would say. Not that she was looking for anyone because she had her perfect husband.

Kristy said, "I can't believe this, but I suppose with all she went through, you would understand."

"What do you mean? How do you know what she went through?"

"Easy. I googled it. I've known for a while. See, that proves you can trust me. I never told a soul. I even told Jen to keep what she knew private."

Patrick shook his head. "I'm lost. What does Jen have to do with Tessa?"

Kristi sighed. "After I learned about her life in New York, I asked Jen if she knew the Simons. She did, but she hadn't realized Tessa was living here. I told her she was private. I saw them talking today."

"I thought you didn't like her, because she kept her past a secret?"

"And she went against me about the school hours." That was important.

Patrick rolled his eyes. "But then you found out her secrets and made sure they stayed secret?"

"Well, yeah. I am trustworthy."

"Good. Trust me, I know what I'm doing and from now on you're on team Tessa. Whether or not you like it, that's the team I've chosen for myself."

"You know if you marry her, you'll become a stepfather to her little kids."

He paused before he smiled. "I know. It would beat living alone in four years. Come on, let's go back to the others."

As they walked towards their friends, they didn't talk. She wasn't completely surprised. When she saw the picture of them dancing, she worried they could become a couple. Was it a bad thing? She enjoyed having Patrick to herself. All the things she did for him, Tessa could do instead. Kristi liked to be needed and didn't want to be replaced.

Patrick had told her he wouldn't bring a woman into his children's lives unless he was serious about her. They were just on the edge of the party crowd. She stopped walking. He turned to her. She whispered, "You've slept with her!"

"Do you think I would introduce her to my kids if I didn't know her?"

Kristi didn't respond. It was a lot to process. She saw Dan talking to Peter and walked over and put her arm around him. He gave her a squeeze and looked down at her.

"You okay, Kris?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay, just making sure things are good between you and your boyfriend."

"Yup. All good." She made a promise and she would keep it. She made promises to Erica too. If Tessa made Patrick happy, she would be on team Tessa. She could fill a book with the things that she knew that she never shared with Dan. The big difference between husband and wife was he didn't want to know anyone's secrets, and Kristi thrived on them.

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