by Vella, Wendy
She nodded.
“Jack and Rory helped me pick a table and chairs.”
“You’re obviously a community project.”
“Very funny.” Mandy looked at a small cabinet.
He walked her through the room, and when they reached the front again she’d picked everything she wanted.
“You’re good.”
“I had to have the final say in the lodge furnishings, right down to the napkins. I got good at it. Bas!”
“Don’t yell at him like that. Go and see him.” Mandy hurried into the garage to find Bas.
“That’s how men communicate.” Ted followed her.
“Is that how you communicate to your staff?” she shot over her shoulder.
“No.” His reply was defensive. “Sometimes they deserve it,” he added. Mandy ignored him.
“Bas, can I pay you for the furniture and the bed base I’ve selected? I’ll get the rest of the things next pay day.”
Bas wiped his hand on the oily rag he usually had handy.
“Sure thing.”
She showed him what she wanted, and he said he’d deliver them after she’d made a date to move in.
“I have my car,” she said to Ted. “So I’ll meet you after I’ve signed the contract.” Was she actually going out with him on a lunch date, or a friend date?
“Yours isn’t ready yet, Ted. Can I have more time?” Bas added. “I found a few more issues.”
“Okay, I’ll come by later,” Ted said.
They headed out into the sunshine.
“I’ll drive you,” Mandy said, opening her driver door.
“What? No way am I getting into that tuna can.” Ted look at her car in horror. “I won’t fit.”
“The interior is bigger than it looks.”
He looked doubtful.
“Any chance I can drive?”
“None at all,” Mandy said, getting in.
It was a squeeze, but he managed it.
“My knees are resting on my chin.”
“I’ve never had a man in this car.” Mandy backed out.
“Great. Pleased to be your first then,” he muttered.
A reckless little thought slipped into her head that maybe he’d be her first in another area, but she shut it away.
What had come over her?
Chapter 14
Ted made Mandy take him upstairs to look at the apartment after she’d signed the contract and organized to move in at the end of the week.
“You think maybe two days is a bit soon?” Ted said.
“Why?” Buzz appeared, and she bent to scratch behind one ear.
“That dog has a better social life than me.”
“He does, and to answer your question, I don’t have that much to move.”
Mandy let Buzz into her apartment, then dropped to her knees to hug him. The dog’s tail wagged, telling them he was happy with the process.
“I want a dog like him one day.”
“I doubt there is a dog like him,” Ted added, looking around the small space.
“I’ve never known an animal who understands people like him. The other day he was at Mrs. Taft’s visiting because she had a cold,” Mandy said, getting back to her feet.
Ted made the appropriate noise as he wandered through the apartment.
It was small, in fact a quarter of the size of his rooms. But it had fresh paint and the sun streamed in. She’d be safe here, he thought, looking around. One door in and out, and no one could climb up to the windows.
He tested the locks.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” Ted looked down on Main Street.
“I think I’ll put the sofa there and the chair there. Sorry, this is of no interest to you.” Mandy headed to the door.
“You have a really unflattering opinion of my character,” Ted said, standing his ground. “I’m not sure why?”
She turned at the door and looked at him. Today’s outfit was another one of her floral dresses that stopped two inches above her ankles. On her feet were flat sandals, equally as unflattering.
He’d watched her looking at that secondhand furniture; she’d been excited. Signing the rental agreement, her hands were shaking.
Ted couldn’t remember a time when he’d been excited like that. He was jaded these days, but not her. Mandy was like a chick just leaving the nest. He knew she’d still have the fear in there, and doubted it would take much to send her back to where she’d been, but she was trying.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you, Ted. That wasn’t my intention. In fact, I admire a great deal about you.”
One thing he’d always found with Mandy was, she was honest to a fault.
“I admire your courage and strength to do what you did, build the lodge. I admire what you do there, and that you are respected.”
“Stop,” he drawled. “My head will swell.”
“But do you know what I admire the most?”
He shook his head.
“That you believe in yourself. If you want to do something you do it. You’re not afraid.”
He moved closer, because he needed to.
“I feel scared sometimes, I just don’t show it.”
“I doubt that, but thank you for saying so.”
“There was that time Jack put me on a horse and I thought I’d die,” Ted said.
“Not quite what I meant.” She smiled. “But thanks for trying.”
“How many points did I get?”
“Four.”
It was a foolish conversation, but he didn’t want it to stop. He wanted this woman, but what he really wanted was for her to trust him, and yes, be his friend. Ted tried to think if he had any close female friends.
Piper and he were getting there; the same with Rory and Bailey. If he was honest, none of them were so close that he’d go to them with a problem. Mind you, now he thought about it, he probably wouldn’t do that with his guy friends. Ted didn’t really like to share his problems.
“And now I’m buying you lunch, because this is my celebration.”
“You’re not buying me lunch, Mandy.”
“I am.” She walked out the door with him and the dog on her heels.
Buzz shot off down the street in front of them as they crossed the road and headed to Phil’s. This, Ted thought, was what it would be like to have a partner.
They’d walk about the place together and do things like lunch. That wasn’t for him, but he guessed it suited some people. He had the urge to grab her hand and fold her fingers inside his, which was weird. He closed it into a fist instead.
He’d decided long ago that relationships weren’t for him… not close ones that had the power to hurt him, anyway.
“You’re not buying me lunch, Mandy.”
“I am.”
“No, you’re not.”
She stopped suddenly. Ted backed up a step and faced her. He knew the look she wore because he’d seen it a few times lately. Frustration.
“Are you one of those men that can’t let a woman pay for his food?”
“Yup.” Ted rocked back on his heels. “I don’t see that changing anytime soon either.”
“Fine. You can pay for yours if you want to be stubborn, but you’re not paying for mine, because I’m celebrating.” Her mouth firmed into a line.
“You’re really getting the hang of this tough girl gig.” Ted loved messing with Mandy Robbins. She got this look on her face that told him she was building up to getting angry.
“There are names for men like you.”
“What names?”
“Hello, where are you two going?”
Ted looked over his shoulder and found Mandy’s aunts. Both were dressed in bright colors in the latest fashions, unlike their niece. He wondered why they hadn’t tried to change that. Miss Marla looked a bit pale and was on crutches.
“Should you be up and about so soon?” Ted asked her.
“Yes, Aunt Marla, you should be at home resting.”
“Don’t fuss. Sarah will take me home soon, I just needed to get some air.”
“They don’t have any at your place?”
“Such a smart mouth you have, Ted Hosking,” Miss Marla poked him in the stomach with a crutch. “Now where are you taking my Mandy?”
“Lunch. We’re going to Phil’s but having an argument over who’s paying. Your niece thinks she should as it’s her celebration. I say no, and I don’t let a woman pay.” Too late he realized how that sounded.
“Is it a date?” Miss Marla cried, loud enough so that the hikers on Phil and Roxy could hear.
“No!” both he and Mandy said together.
“I let her use my gym, so she’s buying me lunch as repayment,” Ted improvised.
“Yes.” Mandy sounded relieved, which annoyed him, which in turn pissed him off because he shouldn’t be annoyed that she was relieved.
You’re an idiot.
“I didn’t tell you about the gym as I only started it this morning.”
Now that’s a lie.
“Oh,” Miss Sarah said, looking devastated that they weren’t dating. “Well then, that’s very nice of you, Ted.”
“I can be nice sometimes.”
“Oh no, dear, you can be nice more than just sometimes.” Miss Sarah leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You’re a very nice man, Ted, you just don’t want people aware of that fact.”
“Now please take her home, Aunt Sarah,” Mandy said.
“Oh very well I’ll go,” Miss Marla grumped.
The two women then headed back down the street… slowly.
“Who’s running your tea shop?”
“Sydney and Tracey.”
“So are we done with the lecture? Because I’m hungry.”
“I wasn’t lecturing you,” Mandy said in a prim voice.
“Sure you were. Let’s go.” He took her hand and towed her across the road, up the steps to the cafe, then opened the door and nudged her through.
Phil’s was busy, but he saw a table and headed for it.
“Is this an actual date?” Pip waddled up to their table.
“No!” Mandy said before he had to. Ted wasn’t sure why it pissed him off again that she said no instead of yes. He was clearly more fickle than he’d realized. “I just showed Ted my new apartment, and he was coming here, so I tagged along.”
Lie number two.
“Wait, what?” Pip pulled out a chair and sat.
“Hi, Teddy Bear.” Gracie arrived to lean on her mom. She wore lavender today, a jumpsuit with a strange, big-headed doll on the front with long legs and bug eyes.
“Hey there, Miss Gracie.”
“Can I sit with you?”
“Sure.” He pulled her onto his lap. He’d got over his initial reluctance to be near this little girl because she reminded him of Emily. After all, it wasn’t her fault, and he liked interacting with her.
“Any chance of a coffee, Piper?”
She shushed him and fired another question at Mandy about her apartment.
Getting to his feet again with Gracie in his arms, Ted walked to the counter.
“Two BLTs and two coffees, thanks,” he said to the waitress. “You want anything?”
“A chocolate milkshake,” Grace informed him.
“And you can eat my fries.”
She beamed at him.
When he returned, Mandy’s eyes were on him instead of Piper.
“I’m so excited for you.” Piper got to her feet and smothered Mandy with a hug. “What do you want to eat?”
“I’ve ordered. You seemed busy, and Jack told me it’s not good to annoy you at the moment,” Ted said.
“He’s a good cousin.”
“Take a load off, Piper,” Ted added.
“And what a load,” she moaned. “But I’m up now, so I just need to do a few things, then we can go home, sweetheart.”
“I’m having a chocolate milkshake and fries with Teddy Bear.” This was followed by a smug little smile.
“Are you now? And what did I just say to you when you asked me for exactly that?”
“I don’t remember.” Grace smiled again, but her mother wasn’t buying.
“You’re doing extra chores tonight for that,” Piper said. “And that doesn’t mean getting the ice cream out of the freezer for your father.”
Piper walked away with a hand pressed into her back.
“You just played me, Gracie, and I’m now in trouble with your mom.”
“Oh look, there’s Buzz!”
Ted watched as she climbed off his lap and ran to the doorway where the fur ball stood.
“It’s amazing how early a female can learn evasive tactics.”
“She’s a sweet little girl who, like Buzz, knows exactly how to get what she wants,” Mandy said. “Shall we order?”
“I ordered for us.”
“How did you know what I wanted?” She looked curious rather than angry.
“Deduction. BLT and coffee,” Ted said. “Seeing as you were talking to Piper, I thought it may be a while, and I was hungry.”
“Good choice.”
“I’m sorry, I should have asked.”
“I said it was okay, Ted.”
“The truth is, you’re right. I’m used to getting my own way, and like things run my way.” Why was it always her that seemed to get him talking? It wasn’t like she really pried, and yet he found himself saying things he rarely told anyone.
“Were you always like that?”
He nodded. “What about you, were you always a nervous mouse?”
That forced a laugh from her, but then the smile fell from her lips.
“No. Not always.”
“Did you lie a lot as a child too?” Ted wanted a smile back on her face. He hated Mandy’s current sad look.
“I don’t lie.”
“Excuse me, but in the last twenty minutes you’ve lied twice. Once to your aunts and then to Piper.”
She blushed. It added to her appeal, which he didn’t need.
“Oh, that. I just thought it was best in both cases.”
“Here we go.” Piper arrived and stopped the conversation. She lowered their meals to the table, then went and got their coffee. She’d just put them on the table when she let out a low moan.
Ted leapt to his feet.
“Sit.” He urged her into a chair. “That moan sounded like pain to me.”
“I’m okay… ouch!” She grabbed one of his hands and one of Mandy’s. “Damn me, that’s sore.”
“Mummy?” Grace appeared, looking worried.
“Hey there, baby girl,” Piper managed to get out with a smile that would have had any small child running for cover.
Ted eased his hand out of the death grip she had on his fingers and picked up Grace.
“Shit!” Piper started panting. “I think it’s starting.”
“Let’s call Daddy, sweetheart.” Ted pulled out his cell phone and called Dylan. “Phil’s, now, bud. I think your baby is coming.”
Dylan swore loudly, then cut the call. Next, he called Joe.
“Hey there, Uncle Joe, can you come down to the cafe? I think the stork may be delivering.”
Once the calls were done, he took Gracie up to the bar and collected her milkshake and fries.
“I want Mummy.”
“She’s right there, see.” He pointed to where Pip was now standing with Mandy. She waved, and Gracie waved back. Mandy, he noticed, was talking slowly and had an arm around Piper’s waist now.
She didn’t look worried. In fact, she looked in complete control, unlike Ted, who felt sick at the thought that any minute now a baby could be born in Phil’s.
“So, Gracie, you want a brother or a sister?”
“Sister. Macy Leigh has a brother and he breaks her dolls.”
The little girl was shooting looks at her mother, but seemed happy enough to be munching on her fries. He watched Mandy mouth something to him, then make a wiping motion.
Ted
noticed the floor was wet then and was sure he’d lost all the color in his face.
“Be back in a second, Grace, don’t eat all my fries,” Ted said, moving behind the counter to where Rona, one of the staff members, stood.
“Piper’s waters have broken.”
“Really?” The woman turned, excitement written all over her face. Unlike Ted, she seemed happy about what was going down.
“Thankfully it’s quiet today.” She hurried to the door and flipped the sign to Closed. She then hugged Piper before disappearing out the back of the cafe. Returning with some towels, she thrust them at Ted.
“Me? I thought you’d take them over there.”
“I need to call around and get someone in to cover Piper for the next few days. Then I’ll gently urge the few customers left in here, to hurry up and leave. Mind you, none of them seem to have noticed they’re in danger of witnessing a birth.”
“What?”
“You just went white, Ted. I’m just messing with you. What she’s got is not catching, and first births usually take forever, so go on and hand them the towels.” Rona laughed as she hurried to speak with the diners.
“Okay,” he said, taking them. “I can do this.”
He approached Piper as if she was a boa constrictor.
“Thanks, Ted.” Mandy gave him a smile that didn’t show any strain at all. He was sweating; how come she was so cool? What if the baby arrived now, while he was here?
“You okay, Piper? Anything I can do?”
“Have this baby?” she gritted out. Both her hands were in Mandy’s now, gripping them hard enough that the ends of her fingers were white.
“Anything but that.”
The door burst open, and in ran Dylan with Joe on his heels.
“Piper, Jesus.” Dylan made it to his wife’s side in seconds. “Are you okay?”
“Of course I’m not okay, I’m having a—” She shot a look at Gracie, who was watching, and whispered something to Dylan that Ted thought started with f and ended with king. “—baby!”
“Hey there, my favorite niece.” Joe picked up Grace and twirled her around. “You want to come home and play with Nana and Aunty Bailey? You can probably feed Benjamin too if you want, and then he’ll spit up all over you.”
The little girl giggled.
“Give Mom and Dad a kiss.” Ted watched Joe carry Grace to her parents for kisses and cuddles. Mandy got a cuddle too.
