Always Been Yours

Chapter 66

Edward glanced over at the neighbor and answered readily, “We’re here to see Miss Tessa Reinhart.”

“Oh, you’re here to see Tessie!” The neighbor’s eyes widened in understanding and she asked affably, “Well, why don’t you knock on the door? I’m sure I saw her coming home not too long ago.”

“We did knock,” Edward said. “No one’s home, though.”

The next-door lady nodded, and suddenly, she let out a sentimental sigh. “She must have gone back to work again. Tessie has it tough; she needs to take care of her brother while balancing her job, but she’s always been so kind to her neighbors. She’s such a compassionate young lady, and it breaks my heart to see her shouldering all that burden.

There was a time when I accidentally fell and hurt my leg, and I couldn’t get home on my own. It was Tessie who helped carry my heavy load of groceries up the stairs, and it was no easy feat! However, that young lady said not a word of complaint, and she even helps me to buy groceries every now and then. If she sees any discounts in the supermarket, she’ll get my share, too.

She’s a darling girl, and Timothy is an absolute angel as well. He helps his sister with the chores because he knows how busy she is, and he would even pop into my place every so often just to learn a cooking skill or two, hoping that he could whip up a feast for his hard-working sister. Oh, these two siblings just break my heart, I’m telling you…”

The neighbor was an elderly woman, and perhaps it was her old age that prompted all her sentiments. She didn’t sound like she would stop talking about Tessa and Timothy any time soon, and one story only led to another.

she was finally done, she flashed the gentlemen an embarrassed smile and said, “I’m sorry for droning on like this. Age is catching up with me, and I can’t help being long-winded sometimes. If the three of you don’t mind, you can always come in and have a cup of tea while

and enthusiastic while

for the invitation, ma’am, but we don’t want to impose. We’ll just wait here; maybe she’ll

but not before taking out a piece of candy and giving it to Gregory, crooning, “Well, aren’t you just an adorable little fella?

you, ma’am!” Gregory took the candy

into her own apartment, leading to the

leaned closer to Nicholas and asked, “Do

the time again and his dark orbs were clear and devoid of emotion as he

“Very well,

through the bedsheets and tied the pieces together to form a long

Hoisting herself up onto the ledge, she took a deep breath and

by some twist of fate, the doorknob turned just as Tessa was about to jump into what would have been a glorious escape, and in strolled a

hard lesson and Sophia didn’t want to miss out on sweet revenge, so

could hardly believe that she was seeing the moment that Tessa