Woven Wishes (Whispered Wishes Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

you.”
    “Thanks.” She looked like she was going to say more, but the knock at the door interrupted her. “That must be Tessa.”
     

Chapter 6 - Tessa
     
     
    “What a night!” Tessa and Nicholas burst through the door, laughing hysterically, looking as if they had come from some fancy movie premiere in Hollywood. “Ava, you wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”
    Ryan moaned from the commotion, and while his eyes lightly fluttered, he did not wake up.
    “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see him there,” Tessa said, taking her tone down several notches. “Hey, Hol. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
    Holly smiled politely and pulled the quilt off the back of the couch, carefully wrapping it around Ryan as she picked him up. “I’m going to put him to bed, Av. In case you were wondering, Tessa, you daughter is upstairs. She fell asleep waiting up for you. Again .”
    “What’s with her?” Tessa asked after Holly walked upstairs.
    “Oh, she’s just having a rough day. Anyway, Sophie’s just fine,” Ava lied. “So your meeting went well?”
    “No, it was awful. Nicholas arranged for Stella Russo to take over as my lead, but it turns out she’s an uptight pompous bitch. She left before we ate … because I fired her. I hope I never see that horrid woman again. Of course, that means I still have no actress for my play.”
    “Stella … Russo ? I don’t understand. Why all of the smiles and giggles, then?”
    “Your sister’s performance was stage-worthy,” Nicholas explained. “I mean, it’s not every day you see someone put a Hollywood A-lister in their place. It was priceless. Maybe you want to consider taking the lead yourself, Tessa?” he asked, turning to his wife. “You’ve got some hidden talent there.”
    “Oh, no,” she replied, still laughing. “As much as I actually enjoyed my role tonight, I prefer to be on the sidelines. But that was fun. You should have been there to see the look on her face, Av.”
    “I’m sure she would have loved to have been there,” Holly declared as she came back down the stairs, “but she was too busy having fun wiping your daughter’s tears away. Isn’t that right, Av?”
    “I thought you said Sophie was okay?” Tessa asked with a concerned tone. “What’s going on?”
     “I’ll go check on her,” offered Nicholas, obviously wanting to get out of the line of fire.
    “What’s going on is that the poor child misses her mother. She had a bad day at school today. She wanted to talk to you about it, only you weren’t around. You’re never around. She went from her afternoon babysitter, right to her evening caretaker. If I had a child, you’d be damn sure he or she would be my priority.”
    Tessa just stood there and stared at her sister. Holly’s hostility toward her seemed to be getting worse. It wasn’t her fault Holly couldn’t get pregnant. Of course Sophie was her priority. She may not have been planned, but she loved her more than life itself. Didn’t Holly understand the pressure she was under to get this production together—especially without a lead actress? Her daughter knew how much she loved her, didn’t she? Didn’t she understand her time constraints? Still, a good mother would make time for her daughter. Tessa sank into the living room chair, hanging her head as tears overflowed past her eyes and down her cheeks.
    “I’m so sorry, Tessa.” Holly rushed over to her to rub her back gently. “I didn’t mean it like that. I had a really crappy day.”
     “I’m sure Tessa understands. It’s been a tough day for all of us,” Ava said, smiling.
    Tessa looked up at her oldest sister. Ava always was the glue. It was rare that she ever made reference to having a bad day herself. Tessa knew her life wasn’t easy. She and Max had married so quickly. It was a whirlwind romance straight out of college. They’d only known each other a few weeks before Max proposed. Then Jenna came along before they knew it, and all plans were off