Chapter 5: Truth
The morning sun was just beginning to bake the sand of the dunes, but inside the beach house, the air was cool and smelled of the fresh lavender-honey lattes Mark had actually managed to find. Caleb and Mark had disappeared down to the shoreline to “scout for the best fishing spot,” which Tessa suspected was code for Caleb wanting to brag about his recent honeymoon adventures in private.
Tessa sat at the weathered oak kitchen island, watching Athena meticulously arrange a bowl of local peaches. The late July heat was already shimmering off the driveway outside, but Athena looked as fresh as a sea breeze.
“You’re glowing, ‘Thena,” Tessa said, leaning her chin on her hand. “Being Mrs. Stewart clearly agrees with you.”
Athena stopped, a soft, dreamy smile playing on her lips. She looked down at the gold band on her finger, twisting it slightly. “I love it. I love saying it. I love writing it. It still feels like a dream that I actually get to keep him this time.”
Tessa’s expression softened, but her practical brain was already clicking through the logistics. “It’s beautiful, truly. But I have to ask… how are you guys affording this? A month-long honeymoon in Paris and then a week at a luxury beach house in the late July? I know Caleb’s been working hard, but this is a lot, even for a Stewart.”
Athena pulled up a stool next to her sister. “Caleb had a ‘reclaiming my life’ fund. He’d been saving for our future since we began to first date, Tessa. Even through those four years when we weren’t together, he never touched it. He said he always had this tiny, impossible hope that he’d get to spend it on me one day.”
Tessa felt a pang in her chest. The four years they had lost felt like a lifetime. “Four years of thinking the other person wanted nothing to do with you. I still can’t believe Iago did that. His own brother. His best friend.”
“It’s why Caleb wanted Mark here so badly,” Athena said quietly. “After what Iago did—systematically breaking us apart, faking that letter making me think Caleb had moved on and making Caleb think I’d cheated on and left him for another guy—it did something to Caleb’s trust and it was already broken way before we met."
"How?"
"His first girlfriend cheated on him."
Tessa blinked in disbelief.
"He’s so happy to be with me, but he’s also… he’s wary. He wanted a friend around who he knew wouldn't stab him in the back. Mark was the only person who stayed steady through the chaos of the wedding planning. Caleb needs that ‘brother’ energy, but from someone who actually has a heart.”
Tessa nodded, her mind drifting to Mark’s steady hand on hers the night before. “And the vacation? Why so soon after the honeymoon?”
Athena reached across the counter, squeezing Tessa’s hand. “Honestly? I didn't want to be alone with him just yet.”
Tessa’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait, what? You just spent a month in Paris. I thought you guys were in total bliss.”
“We are! Total, absolute bliss,” Athena insisted. “But that’s the scary part. For four years, we existed in this vacuum of misunderstanding. Now that the truth is out, and we’re married, the silence is… heavy. When it’s just the two of us in a room, I start thinking about all the time we lost. I start wondering if I’m going to wake up and find out it’s another trick. I needed the noise of family. I needed to see him being a guy with a friend, and I needed to bond with my sister.”
She looked at Tessa with a knowing glint. “Plus, I wasn't just being selfish. I saw the way you looked at Mark at the wedding. And I saw the way he looked at you when you weren't looking. You’ve spent your whole life being the shield for the rest of me, Tessa. I wanted to give you a week where you didn't have to be the protector. I wanted you to have a little of the magic Caleb and I found.”
Tessa looked away, her heart doing that strange, fluttering dance again. “He brought me a lavender-honey latte, ‘Thena. He actually remembered.”
“He’s been asking about your favorite things for weeks,” Athena whispered. “Caleb told me Mark was nervous about this trip. He didn't want to overstep because he knows how much you value your space.”
Tessa sighed, a small smile finally breaking through her "Sensible Sister" mask. “He’s doing a very bad job of staying in his space. He keeps wandering into mine.”
“Good,” Athena said, standing up to give Tessa a quick side-hug. “Let him stay there. Mrs. Stewart’s orders.”