“Drew, before you go, you should know one thing. Lori called me two days ago. It must have been the morning after the two of you had dinner.” Drew was genuinely shocked by this revelation but said nothing. Tess could see from his eyes he didn’t give Lori her number. That was a small relief.
“She spent about five minutes telling me how she had fucked you three different ways to Sunday the night before.” Drew began to object, but Tess held her hand up. “Let me finish please.”
“She was very vivid about your romp, or several romps over the course of the night. She told me she had stolen you from me and you weren’t coming back. She was beyond convincing, and I exploded calling her every name in the book and vowing to find her and destroy her. I knew you were vulnerable, and I hated her for taking advantage of you.”
“But then she stopped and told me none of it was true. She wished it was. She was impressed with you, but she explained she made it all up just so I could understand in a small way the pain I caused you.”
Drew sat back, with his mouth open wondering how on earth a woman he had only known for a few hours could take up for him like that. In a flash, he thought he may have to make another trip to Texas.
“It worked,” Tess concluded. “I knew in that moment how devastating my actions had been. That is why I’m not begging you to stay and give us a chance. That is why I’m not disrespecting you by saying it was just sex or it didn’t mean anything. That is why I won’t fight the divorce. Nobody should ever experience what you went through. And for that, I am sorrier than I can ever find words to share.”
They sat there for another moment knowing the conversation was over. The dye was cast, and divorce was inevitable. Drew stood to leave but before he did, he said, “Thank you for sharing that with me, Tess. You didn’t have to, and I appreciate it. For the record, maybe I’m a chump, but I do believe you are sorry.”
He turned to leave but before he did Tess asked, “Drew, do you think you could hug me one last time?”
He stopped, turned around and smiled sadly, “No Tess, I don’t believe I can.” With that he walked out the door.
Epilogue:
Jim Cornell did manage the divorce which was finalized within a couple of months since it was not contested.
Tess moved back to Georgia with Michael and her parents. It took her two years to return to work. She landed a job as a waitress at the local Cheesecake Factory. She gets lots of requests for dates but turns them all down. “Maybe someday, she thinks. Tess never taught again.
Drew did open a second shop in North Nashville and six months after the divorce took a vacation to Austin. (Another story someday… maybe)
Word of Eddie’s behavior filtered back to Knoxville, and he lost his scholarship. He played a couple of years of JUCO ball. He works for a small insurance firm in Atlanta and sees Michael two weekends a month and two weeks in the summer. He and Tess only speak when making plans for Michael.
Mitch still says at least once a day, “I donno boss.”