Make You Feel My Love

A week later, Sarah and Tessa were at their favorite boutique to find new dresses to wear to the New Year's Eve party later that night that the Sharks were having. Despite everything being as strained as they had been between her and Paul for the last couple of months, she could at least say that over the last week, he had been making more of an effort to fix things between them. He had complimented her new hair, said all the right things about how good she was looking, and was coming straight home from games and practices. They had even had a date night together, something they hadn't done since Pittsburgh, enjoying dinner and conversation for several hours while the Pavelski's watched Ava.

She knew James had called him and read him the riot act. After talking to Delilah the week before and hearing James in the background, she knew him well enough to know that he would call Paul and lay into him. She was sure part of his attention was because of that but in the end, she didn't care how Paul got there so long as he got there. She missed him. She missed talking to him and laughing with him. She just wanted everything to be normal, especially today being their wedding anniversary. Her faith in them though was still unsettled.

“Hello, ladies!” Juliet, their favorite girl in the boutique greeted them when they entered. “How was your Christmas?”

“Fabulous,” Sarah smiled. “How was yours?”

“Can’t complain.”

“I suppose I have you to thank for the new jewelry I received,” Tessa smiled. “Thank you for pointing Paul towards the ring. It looks great with the cuff you recommended to him.”

“It was my pleasure. How do the earrings look?”

“Earrings?”

“He bought the ring and matching earrings; I told him they’d be great pieces to go with the necklaces and cuff.” Tessa’s face fell. “Oh no,” Juliet said quietly. “Tessa, I didn’t mean to upset you. Maybe he's saving those for your birthday?”

“Maybe,” she said, managing a small smile. Sarah squeezed her hand. She had been confiding in both Sarah and Delilah about everything that had been going on and the way she had been feeling. Both had assured her over and over that Paul loved her, and that he’d never do anything to hurt her. She tried to be brave and believe in their words but she was finding it harder and harder to do that.

“Let’s find dresses, show off that incredible ass you’ve got going on,” Sarah said brightly.

“Where do you work out, Tessa? Your butt is amazing,” Juliet added.

“I've been taking some dance classes at a place nearby called Sweat. My friend in Nashville is a dance instructor and she knows the girl out here and set me up with her. It’s actually a really incredible workout. I feel so happy after.”

“If I can get my ass to look that good, sign me up,” she smiled. “Come on; let me show you some new dresses that just came in. You’re gonna love them.”



Sarah and Tessa checked into the hotel and headed upstairs to their respective rooms that neighbored each other on the tenth floor. They left their new dresses and shoes in the rooms and headed back downstairs to the ballroom to check it out. They had both been a part of the committee that helped plan the party and they wanted to take a quick peek to make sure everything was coming together.

They circled the room to check on the details and Tessa stopped to smell the flowers that were being brought in. “These look great, right?” she said to Sarah.

“Perfect. Good call on the florist.”

“Thank you.”

“Tessa, Sarah, hey,” they heard Katelyn behind them. “I'm so glad to see you both. How do you like the flowers?” she asked, giving them both quick hugs.

“They’re wonderful, Katelyn; thank you so much for taking the job,” Tessa told her.

“It was no problem. I was really excited to be honest,” she said, pushing her hair behind her ears. “I reconnected with an old friend recently and he plays for the Sharks. It was so weird, seeing him after so long but it’s been really, really nice getting to know him again.”

“That’s so sweet,” Sarah said.

“I kissed him, right before Christmas and it was just....indescribable. But he stood me up for our weekly lunch this week so I don’t know what to think now.”

“Boys are so fickle, right, Tessa?”

Tessa peered intently at Katelyn’s earrings. “Those are very pretty,” she commented. “Christmas present?”

“Oh,” she said, touching the earrings. “Yes, they were. Thank you.”

Sarah saw what Tessa saw; a one of kind pair of earrings that perfectly matched the one of a kind ring Tessa wore. “We should go start getting ready,” Sarah said, touching Tessa’s arm.

“Katelyn, are you coming tonight?” Tessa asked instead.

“Me? No. I was planning to watch the ball drop on TV.”

“Oh no, you should come. I’ll put you on the list. We can surprise this guy you’ve been reconnecting with. Who is it anyway?”

“Paul Martin? We went to college together.”

“College sweethearts?”

Katelyn blushed. “Yeah. I came here after he broke up with me. I never thought I’d run into him again, not here.”

“It’s a small world, right?”

“Exactly!” she laughed.

“So what do you say? The party starts at eight but I wouldn't come any earlier than nine; that’s when the boys will have started getting tipsy enough to start dancing.”

“Are you sure I should?”

“Of course. It’ll be fun.”

“Okay, sure. I’ll be here.”

“Fantastic,” Tessa smiled. “We’ll see you later then.” She waved a goodbye and started from the room, Sarah following quickly.

“What did you just do?” Sarah asked as the elevator doors closed behind them.

“Who does he think he is, stepping out on me? Where is my phone?” She dug around in her purse until she found it, dialing quickly when she did. “Juliet, it’s Tessa. You know the red dress you told me I should buy but I didn’t? I need you to charge my card and bring it to this hotel. I will put you on the list and introduce you to Logan. Yeah? Thank you. See you in an hour.” She hung up and looked to Sarah. “Paul Martin will regret the day he thought he could do this to me.”