by Natalie Dean
But as he walked to the door, about to show himself out, he couldn’t help the question that arose in his mind then barreled its way right out of his mouth.
“Teddy?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you gonna be alright?”
That time her smile was wan as she answered, speaking of so many other losses and scares. “I’ll manage. I always have.”
“You know you’re not alone in this, right?” Silas said.
There, that made her smile ease a little, some of the darkness at the edges flee. “Yeah. I ain’t been alone ever since Andre took me in, and I try hard never to forget that.”
“Good. That’s good.” He wanted to tell her that it wasn’t just Andre or her family. That she had him too. But it wasn’t the time. It probably wouldn’t ever be the time.
So with one last nod, he shut the door and guided himself down the stairs. But as he headed around the front to get to his car, he realized that he wasn’t satisfied.
He wanted to do more.
Goodness knew that she deserved it.
But what was he supposed to do for the woman who insisted on taking care of everyone around her and never really taking the time for herself? That was a challenge, alright. But one he was up for. He was going to make a difference. Even if it was for just one person, no one would be able to say that he hadn’t brought some light into the world.
Because even a singular light could chase away so much of the darkness.
17
Silas
He showed up the next day, bright and early. He knew Roman was going to be home, and he wanted to catch the man before he left to do anything the family might have needed to get done.
It took several rounds of knocking, however, to get Roman to answer, and when he did, he instantly looked suspicious.
Silas didn’t entirely blame him for that. They’d only met once, the day Silas and Teddy had struck their whole arrangement, and the rancher got the feeling he had no idea about any of the financial details of that transaction.
“Can I help you?” he said cautiously. His voice was a low rumble, much lower than Teddy’s, but Silas could pick out the same kind of cadence to their way of talking. He’d put money down that they must have both picked it up from their father. “We’re closed, so we’re not doing any work right now.”
“Oh, I know,” Silas answered quickly. “That’s why I’m here.”
“I don’t follow.”
“I heard about what happened with your family, and I kind of wanted to do something nice for your sister. Frenchie—that’s my brother’s girlfriend—just adores her. And Teddy has been a huge help back at the ranch, so I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of something I could do that would really take a load off her. Something important.”
The man’s dark eyes narrowed as he regarded him, as if he really was trying to puzzle out if Silas was genuine or not, before slowly nodding. “I think she mentioned you once or twice. Apparently, you guys aren’t as bad as we thought.”
Huh, that was good to know. “Well, you know, we try not to be monsters. Except on the full moon.”
He didn’t laugh. “Well come in. She told me that the kids cleaned the place yesterday, but I’m sure there’s something we can find.” He stepped back to allow Silas in. “I’m sure you’ve noticed, but my sister can be kinda…”
“Independent?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s right. She doesn’t like relying on anybody or feeling like a burden, so it might be hard to find much.”
That made Silas’ stomach sink. If her own brother couldn’t think of something great to surprise her with, to help her with, then what chance did he have?
“Maybe something down in the shop? I know I’m no mechanic, but I can clean well enough. Organize maybe? Polish a hood?”
“Oh no, never touch how she has her tools organized. She’ll flip. Made that mistake once when she was first learning, and she chewed me out for what felt like two weeks. Apparently…” he smirked ever so slightly before continuing, “we keep the ones she likes too high to reach.”
It was so easy to picture that exact scene. While Teddy was not anything near short, her brother was over six foot and a couple inches taller than Silas himself—and that wasn’t counting his impressive hair. He was sure that hopping up and down or having to find a footstool to grab what she wanted had been the most adorable sight.
“Alright. So, the apartment’s been taken care of. The shop is out for the most part. Surely there’s gotta be something?”
Roman looked around, rubbing his chin. “Yeah, I know there’s something, but I kinda just woke up, so it’s like I’m trying to think of all the things she does on her own. Like… you know, maybe you can do something nice to her bike she does deliveries with. That’s it!” Suddenly his face broke into a huge grin and he clapped his large hands. “Her garden!”
Silas blinked at him. “Her what?” He’d been around the place plenty and hadn’t seen anything even remotely resembling a garden.
“Come on, let me show you.”
The big man moved surprisingly fast, turning on his heel and heading toward a door that Silas had never noticed before. It wasn’t in the garage part of the building, but rather the reception area, and there wasn’t an exit sign on it. He supposed his mind had dismissed it as a potential storage closet. Or unmarked bathroom.
But it wasn’t either of those things, and soon they were stepping outside into such a dense gathering of green that he almost wondered if he had been somehow teleported back to his mom’s garden.
“Wow!”
Looking around, he realized he had spotted it once before, the fence that is. A tall, brown privacy fence was erected around it, hiding all the beauty inside. Everything was meticulously organized, with grow beds arranged so everything got the proper sun it needed and all of the plants moving around each other almost like water. Vines were wrapped around tomato trellises, offering tethering support when the red fruit grew heavy and caused them to lean. Pepper plants provided shade for other gourds and melons as they crept along the ground. He could smell several different fresh herbs in the air, a distinct aroma that always made him think about summers at home.
“So she needs things watered here, and pruned and picked. Probably fertilized too? I used to try to help her with this when I was younger, but apparently, I have a black thumb ’cause I killed a whole bunch of stuff. This was kinda her and Dad’s thing, so I’d hate to see it suffer on top of everything else. If this died… well, it would probably crush her.
“And there are people in town who rely on it for fresh food. We’re not exactly in a food desert, but you know how it is when people get old. They get forgotten, get fed boring, bland stuff that’s easy on their teeth. Teddy told me that sometimes she’s the only person they see for days on end—because they’ve outlived everyone else they know, or their insurance messed up their home aid situation, or just because their families are working or sick.”
Roman nodded, his expression turning resolute. “Yeah, you wanna help my sister? Take care of this garden for her. Hell, even I’ll owe you one if you do that. I just… I really love her, but sometimes it’s so hard to get into that head of hers, and I feel like I’ve been making her take care of my messes far too much lately.”
Wow. He was obviously trying to downplay the situation, but Silas could hear the emotion in the man’s voice. Teddy’s family really loved each other. With that warm, welcoming, accepting kind of love that sometimes Silas wondered if his family had at all.
“She loves you, you know.” Maybe that was a weird thing to say, but it felt right. Because Silas knew for a fact, as sure as he knew about breathing, that Teddy loved her brother. And her father. And her community.
Roman let out a small laugh. “Oh, don’t I know it. She’d go to the ends of the earth for Andre or me.” Silas didn’t miss how Roman’s eyes lingered on him meaningfully. “I just wish there were more people willing to do the s
ame for her.”
Silas nodded, knowing exactly what the brother meant. Rolling up his sleeves, he looked over the space, recalling all the lessons his own mother had been giving him lately about the work a generous garden needed.
“Looks like I have my work cut out for me right now. But later, we’re going to head to the nearest home improvement store. I’m starting to get some ideas.”
18
Theodora
Teddy felt relief flow through her as Roman walked into Andre’s hospital room, looking refreshed despite the fact that she had given his room to the kids and he had to sleep on the living room couch. She did feel a wee bit guilty about that, but she was sure her older brother understood. The whole Andre situation had her feeling all worried and protective. Like she wanted to hug all three of them and not let them go until Mrs. Merialda or maybe Ms. Beniot was free to watch them.
Of course, she couldn’t really do that, so giving them a place to stay the night would have to be enough.
Andre had been mildly worried that the kids would end up doing something they shouldn’t, especially considering all the heavy equipment and potentially dangerous tools they had lying around, so Roman had offered to stay the whole day there until they left. He’d stopped by the hospital to bring dinner, but then he went back home again for a good sleep and to do the laundry. Of course, since he was doing three people’s worth of clothes, that pretty much took all of that day too, and Teddy had told him to stay at home. Sure, she missed her brother, but she could survive two and a half days away from him. Especially considering that he wasn’t in jail this time.
But still, when he was supposed to arrive by lunch and ended up not strolling in until three, she would be lying if she denied that she was worried.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. “I got caught up in some stuff.”
“Oh?” She surprised herself by wanting to know what was going on in the outside world. The first few days after she found her father unconscious on the floor, her whole world had revolved around him and his recovery. She’d been so scared that she was going to lose him, that she would have to watch another one of her parents die, that it seemed like there wasn’t room for anything else in her brain. “Like what?”
“Just stuff. Finishing up the chores and all that you wanted me to do. How you feeling, Dad?”
Andre set his newspaper down, affixing them both with an irritated look. “I’m just fine, so you know. Just like I was just fine yesterday. And the day before that. I’ve been in the hospital for over a week. I am ready to go home.”
It was a speech that they had heard many times in the past few days. Roman nodded along. “Good to hear, Dad.”
He looked back at Teddy, and she couldn’t help but feel like her brother looked… excited? That was weird. Maybe she was misreading his energy after a good night’s sleep. Goodness knew they both had been short on sleep ever since that night. The hospital recliner and love seat weren’t exactly the pinnacle of comfort.
“You should head home,” Roman said.
“Why?” she asked suspiciously. “I took a shower this morning, so I know I don’t smell that bad.”
He chuckled lightly. “Nah, you smell fine. But I know you only washed and ate when you went back home. I bet you could pass out for a whole day if you tried.”
Teddy looked uncertainly between her brother and father, but Andre nodded in agreement. “You two have wasted enough time around here. Go get some rest. I don’t want you letting yourself get run-down on my account.”
With both of them telling her to go, it was hard to resist the idea of her wonderfully warm bed back at home. “Fine, y’all win. I’ll be back tomorrow morning. And I won’t be late.”
“Ouch, was that a dig at me?” Roman asked.
“Maybe,” she said, sticking her tongue out. With a kiss to both of their cheeks and directions on where he parked the car, she left the hospital and headed back home. Despite her and her brother starting to take shifts, it’d still been five days since she’d slept in her own bed. She was more than ready for it.
When she pulled up to the shop, she was surprised to see how amazingly clean it was outside. Not that Andre ever let it get run down—it was his pride and joy, after all—but still, the business had its fair share of wear and tear. A couple of weeds growing around the edges, some of the paint at the top of their sign yellowed by the intense sun, some grit on the windows of their garage doors. But all of that was gone. And was that a completely new sign!?
Wow. Roman had really gone above and beyond. No wonder he was gone for practically three days straight.
Heading inside and up the stairs, she saw they had a new door at the top as well. Something that felt sturdier and was painted a solid-looking silver. When she slid her key into the lock, she was surprised that it slid in smoothly, allowing the door to swing open gently despite its weight.
Yet, despite that dramatic sort of entrance, it still didn’t prepare her for what was waiting on the other side of the door.
Their old, worn furniture was all gone, replaced with newer and much less threadbare versions. She hadn’t even realized the age of most of their furniture items until she saw newer ones in their place.
The couch was lush and soft to the touch, a deep sort of burgundy that fit in so well with the walls. There was a matching love seat as well, along with a low-coffee table and two side tables with fancy-looking lamps. A simple touch showed that they were really fancy lamps, the kind that had three levels of brightness that could be accessed with simply a tap.
“What is going on here?” she asked herself, heading over to the kitchen.
That was different too. She was facing all new appliances, shiny and chrome, and very impressive looking. It was like a home makeover from on TV, except she was on her own, staring at what seemed like an entirely new house instead of the apartment she had lived in since she was ten.
There was no way that Roman could have afforded all of it on his own so… she didn’t know what that meant. But all of it seemed to be impossible.
Her phone buzzed, making her jump, and she pulled it out with shaking hands. Naturally, it was a text from Roman, and she could feel the cheekiness in the words there.
So, do you like it?
She couldn’t believe it. Shaking her head, she quickly replied.
Of course! What’s going on? How did you afford all of this?
I didn’t. You know I’m broke.
Yeah, because you keep spending all your money on collectible Jays.
Whatever. Go enjoy your present.
This is crazy. It’s not even Christmas.
Yeah, well I guess Santa felt like being real early. Or late I guess, depending on how ya look at it. Anyway, go enjoy.
You’re crazy, you know that?
Stop lingering. Go enjoy the rest of the house. I know you ain’t seen it all yet.
Rolling her eyes, she slid her phone back into her pocket. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Was she actually trapped in some sort of hyper-realistic dream? She was beginning to wonder. Feeling like she was on another planet, she headed to the back part of their apartment. There was only one door open, so she found herself heading right toward the bathroom.
“Oh, my goodness,” she said when it all came into view. And even that exclamation didn’t do it justice.
The entire bathroom had been completely redone. Top to bottom. There was a deep tub now with a standing shower right next to it—where their simple shower had been—complete with a regular shower head and a detachable shower head on the opposite side.
The sink was also redone, taking up less room but with a fancier cabinet under it. And the mirror? That was new too, twice as big and split into three sections. A simple press to the corner of each section revealed the built-in medicine cabinet behind each one, and an LED strip around the edges made it perfect for doing makeup in.
Wow.
Wow.
Everything fro
m the window curtains, to the shower curtains, to the rug on the floor was new and meticulously thought of, making the whole space look bigger and feel warmer.
“This… this is amazing,” she said. She pinched herself to make sure that it was real, and sure enough, the room stayed the same.
No wonder Roman had asked to switch with her and kept her in the hospital for two and a half days. But still, she was amazed that he had been able to do so much in only forty-eight hours.
Except…
There was no way Roman would have been able to afford even a quarter of the stuff on his own, and while he was incredibly good with engines, that didn’t extend to plumbing or painting or any of the other things necessary for what had changed.
But if he hadn’t done it on his own, she only really knew a single person who had the kind of liquid capital to afford everything that she had seen.
Well, a single family.
She stood there, shocked by the idea. Could Silas have really helped fund the total makeover for her living space? Why would he do that? She already owed him so much money. And yet, that was the only answer that made sense.
She would have to text later. Whether it was to ask him if he was on some sort of drug or to thank him was yet to be determined. But first, she wanted to take that luxurious looking tub for a spin.
She actually did an excited Frenchie-clap and squeal before quickly filling the bathtub up. When she grabbed for her toiletries bag under the new, fancy sink, she was surprised to see that that was restocked too. There was no way her brother paid attention to what kind of bath bombs she liked, so that definitely meant he had help.
But was that something Silas would notice? That seemed to make sense, but also made her stomach flutter in a way she wasn’t used to.
