by Vella, Wendy
Ted got to his feet, still glaring at Mandy.
“The problem here is that Mandy’s a diabetic and fainted because she hasn’t eaten enough food today. Added to that, she never told me, and I have to say I’m pretty pissed about it.”
“Not sure why she would have told you when she never told me,” Joe said, frowning down at Mandy. “What’s the deal with that?”
“I didn’t tell anyone,” Mandy defended herself. “I don’t often share details about myself with others.”
“And that’s meant to be an excuse?” Ted demanded.
“Because you’re an open book,” Mandy muttered.
“Are you feeling okay now? Can I get you anything?” Joe interrupted her and Ted.
“I’m good now that I have food, thanks, Joe.”
“How have you hidden that from everyone?” Joe asked her. “I doubt Rory knows or she’d have told Jack, who would have told me.”
“Knows what? Does someone know something I don’t?” Rory arrived, and Mandy had a feeling of impending doom.
“Nothing,” Mandy said quickly.
“Mandy fainted because she’s a type 2 diabetic,” Ted said in a flat, emotionless voice.
“What!” Rory shrieked. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“She’s also working out in my gym,” Ted gritted out. “Like I’ve already explained, anything could have happened, and I wouldn’t have been clued in as to why she’d fainted.”
“I don’t just randomly faint.” Mandy fought the frustration rising inside her. Now that she had food, she was starting to feel better. “It doesn’t make me abnormal. I manage it, and usually that’s all it needs. Today I forgot to eat.”
“Good on you, Mandy, for going to the gym,” Joe said. “That’s got to help if you’re a diabetic. But I’m still ticked off you didn’t tell me.”
“The point is, Joe—”
“We got that point when you explained it twice, Ted,” Aunt Sarah interrupted.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.” Rory looked gutted now. “I thought we were close friends.”
“We are, Rory,” Mandy said, trying to understand what was going on here. This was her problem, not theirs.
“Friends share things with friends, and it sucks you didn’t trust me with this. Didn’t you think I’d care?”
“Rory—”
“Actually, what doubly sucks is that none of you told me.” Rory glared at all three Robbins women.
“In our defense, she didn’t want anyone to know,” Aunt Sarah said, throwing Mandy under the bus. “We told her she should, didn’t we, Marla?”
Aunt Marla nodded. “Many times.”
“You,” Ted pointed down at her rudely, “are a damn adult, you should start acting like one.”
“Amen,” Rory added.
“Okay, I think that’s enough. She’s pale and shaky and just fainted,” Luke said. He’d been quiet until now.
“Yes, back off, you’re upsetting my dog,” Joe added.
Mandy was the recipient of a double glare from Rory and Ted.
“We need to get her home. She’ll need a rest now to recover,” Aunt Sarah said.
“I’m all right.”
“I’ll tell you what I need,” Rory said, still glaring at Mandy. “A drink.”
“Me too,” Ted agreed. “First I need to get her home.”
“I can get myself home,” Mandy protested
“Our car is here, Ted,” Aunt Marla added.
Mandy ignored everyone and tried to get up. She yelped as two arms slipped around her and lifted her off the ground.
“I can walk!”
“Shut up.” Ted followed her aunts, who had started walking to their car.
“Rory?” Mandy looked for her friend.
“I’m too angry to talk to you now… and I’ll add to that, a little bit hurt. Especially considering I told you about that thing I have.”
“An ingrown hair is not the same, even if it is in an uncomfortable place,” Mandy said.
“But the point is, I told you. What happens if you had fainted or whatever else could’ve happened? Ted’s right, you need to grow up,” Rory snarled, walking away.
“Please put me down, Ted.”
He ignored her.
“I’m sorry.”
He didn’t answer, just put her in the car and walked away with Rory and Joe, leaving Mandy to wonder what the hell had just happened and why she had a feeling she’d let a whole lot of people down.
“It’ll be all right.” Luke leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Rest now,” he added before leaving.
“Well now, that was heartening.” Mr. Goldhirsh got into the back seat of her aunts’ car beside Mandy.
“I’m not sure how you came to that conclusion,” Mandy said, resting her head on his shoulder.
Aunt Sarah tooted the horn, and everyone but Mandy waved.
“Until recently you just stood on the edges of life, Mandy. Now you’re part of it. That reaction you just got is because of that. People now think of you as theirs and reacted accordingly when they found out you’d kept your diabetes from them.”
“They were really annoyed.”
“Part of that will be fear. You’ve just told them about your condition, they are uneducated as to how it affects you, and so reacted as they did.”
Mandy turned her head to look at Mr. Goldhirsh.
“How come you’re so wise?”
“Age, my dear. Now, what I want to know is how you will proceed from here?”
“Ted is disappointed in me.” Mandy wasn’t sure why she’d said that. Possibly because his anger had upset her most. He’d done so much for her, and she felt like she’d let him down in some way. Putting their intimate relationship to one side, she had to acknowledge he’d been someone who cared enough in her life to make her change. And I’ve let him down. That thought did not sit well with Mandy. Then there was Rory and the others. Would they forgive her?
“I like that man,” Aunt Sarah said.
“Because he’s disappointed in me?”
“Because he doesn’t take any crap. You need someone like that in your life. We’ve tended to tiptoe around you, dear. Your start in life wasn’t a good one, and because of that we’ve—”
“Let you be pathetic from time to time,” Aunt Marla finished her sister’s sentence.
Mandy thought about that and a whole lot more on the drive home, which was slow due to road closures and people still mingling in the streets after the parade.
Tonight was one big party on the main street of Ryker. Stalls, Joe’s bar, and food were all set up outside. She’d been looking forward to it… now, not so much.
“You’re going to have a rest, and then we’re going out.”
“I’m not sure I want to, Aunt Marla.”
“No more hiding. We’re not letting you retreat again. You’re going out.”
“It’s for the best, Mandy. You have to face them all at some stage; it may as well be together, tonight,” Mr. Goldhirsh said, taking her hand in his.
She knew he was right and knew that it would be the coward’s way out to hide in her apartment, but that was what she wanted to do. Stay there, locking the doors and eating her chocolate stash while binge watching her favorite shows.
The problem was, she was no longer that Mandy and she owed it to her friends to be the best person she could be, because they’d always been there for her.
“Okay, I’ll go tonight.” Mr. Goldhirsh squeezed her hand, and the remainder of the journey was spent with Mandy wondering what she was going to say and whether Ted would forgive her.
Chapter 28
Ted went back to the lodge and worked for a few hours after changing out of Fin’s ranger
uniform, which his body thanked him for, then went back to his rooms.
Mandy was a diabetic.
When she’d fainted, his heart had just about stopped. Fear had brought on panic, and that wasn’t his MO. Ted didn’t panic. He asse
ssed and then acted. But he’d panicked twice today. Firstly, during the parade with all those people pressing in on him. He’d then lost the ability to think as he looked down at the limp woman in his arms, and had roared out the word help multiple times.
She’d been breathing, he knew that, but it hadn’t helped. People didn’t faint like that for no reason. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. Luke told him that fainting was a lot more common than he’d realized. It hadn’t helped. Ted was still angry.
“She should have told me, Branch.” His cat was in the middle of the bed, sleeping like he did most days.
But then, she hadn’t told anyone, and the shock on her face when he’d gone at her told him she was surprised by his reaction. She really believed she’d done the right thing by keeping her condition to herself.
He’d got straight on the internet and looked up type 2 diabetes. It often occurred in people over thirty, or if a blood relative had it. So that must be the case with Mandy. It could be managed by diet and exercise. Ted guessed her aunts must have been watching both those things with Mandy, but he didn’t think exercise had factored into her life until recently.
“She should have told me,” he said again. His cat stretched, kneaded the bedcovers, circled, and then settled in to nap again.
“Hell of a life you got there, buddy.”
Seeing her pale like that had really disturbed Ted. And if he’d been in doubt before that his feelings for Mandy Robbins were undergoing a transformation, that absolute fear he’d felt today confirmed it.
“Distance, Branch. It’s time to take a big step back, buddy.” He scratched behind one ear. “Just you and me against the world, boy, no time for anyone else.”
Feeling better after that pep talk, he dressed and decided to walk back into town. Ted had thought about just staying here, but he’d promised Joe he’d return, and he always kept his promises. Well, mostly. When he could.
“Thanks for the fun today, Ted.”
“Sure, no worries, Carl,” he said to the groundsman as he walked out the gates.
Today he’d learned another lesson about being a boss. People needed to let off steam from time to time, and the happy vibe his staff had going on after the parade was good for morale and business. The staff barbecue planned for the end of the month should add to that.
He didn’t think Mandy would show her face tonight; she wasn’t brave enough for that. He nodded and greeted people as he wandered down Main Street, checking out stalls.
“You’d look good in this for winter, Ted.” Mrs. L held up a multicolored wool sweater with the twin mountains on it.
“I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.”
Tonight she wore pink glittery eyelashes.
The walk was good, and the glow of twilight always sat well on the town of Ryker. In fact Ted thought it was the best time of day. He felt the last of his anger ease as he arrived at A.S. to find his friends eating and drinking. Looking around the tables, he saw no sign of Mandy, which confirmed what he’d thought.
Greetings were exchanged, and he took a seat next to Maggs.
“I can’t believe she kept it hidden from us.”
“Really, Maggs? You can’t believe that Mandy, who barely speaks unless you make her, kept the fact she was diabetic from us?” Rory said.
Clearly she was still pissed about Mandy’s revelation.
“There is that.”
“It explains things,” Jack said. “I mean, she and I used to spend some time together. Neither of us were talkers, we just used to sit and eat her lunch.”
“I didn’t realize you spent time with her in school,” Ted said.
“I don’t know if you would call it time, but we used to find ourselves in the same space occasionally. She was shy and friendless, I was angry and pissed off at pretty much everything, so we had a connection. Kind of. Plus, when she was near me she didn’t get hassled.” Jack shrugged.
“I was one of those people hassling her.” Rory leaned into her man. “Thank God you were there for Mandy to protect her from me.”
Jack laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “Hard to believe someone your size could be such a hardass.”
“What did you mean by ‘explains things’?” Maggs asked Jack.
“Natives.” Fin arrived and wedged himself between Ted and Maggs. “What’s the gossip?”
“Mandy is a diabetic,” Rory said. “And never told anyone about it.”
“But now everyone knows because you’re telling them?”
“She fainted today, Ted caught her, and it came out that she’d hadn’t eaten,” Rory added, not at all offended by Fin’s accusation.
“Teddy Bear, my hero,” Fin said, with a look in his eyes that Ted didn’t like. “I just saw her and she looked okay.”
“What? Where?” Ted got to his feet and looked around. “She should still be in bed.”
“Relax, big boy, she’s fine and with her aunts and Mr. Goldhirsh,” Fin said, taking Jack’s beer and gulping down a large swallow.
“If I get sick tomorrow, honey, you know why,” Jack said.
“Jack was about to explain something.” Maggs waved them all to silence.
“You know that track we used to take home, the one that cut round behind the house?” The locals among them nodded. “Well, twice I found Mandy there, hiding in the long grass. I heard her singing softly, so went to investigate.”
“She’s got a great voice,” Rory added.
Her father was a singer. Ted remembered what Mandy had told him.
“She was sitting there eating, and I asked her why. She said she needed to. I asked why she didn’t eat at school, and she said she didn’t like to eat in the bathrooms.”
“Why was she in the bathrooms at lunchtime?” Maggs looked confused.
“Because she felt safe there.” Rory sighed. “She had no friends.”
“Surely not every lunchtime?” Ted didn’t want to contemplate that. He’d been one of the cool kids at his school. Mainly because of his father. He’d never been bullied.
“No. I saw her in the schoolyard all the time,” Luke added. “Maybe just sometimes she hid.”
“Anyone else feel sick about now?” Dylan said. He was rocking the stroller with Blake inside.
They all nodded.
“We had no right to be angry that she hadn’t told us she was a diabetic.” Rory looked upset. “Knowing how shy she is, she probably didn’t tell us because she saw it as a weakness.”
“Which it’s not,” Ted added.
“I need to find her and say sorry,” Rory said.
“You’re a good friend to her now, sweetheart.” Jack kissed her. “Don’t beat yourself up. Your reaction was because you were worried about Mandy. She’ll understand that.”
“Hi.”
Mandy was standing behind them. She looked nervous, but so goddamn cute in that mint green sundress that he had to take a mouthful of beer.
Unlike the fairy dress, it didn’t show off flesh. The neckline crossed between her breasts and tied at the waist, and the skirt stopped at her knees. Nothing at all suggestive, but it caressed her body, flattering her curves and making him want to howl in outrage over the way he instantly forgot his good intentions to put distance between himself and this woman.
He wanted to grab her hand and pull her onto his lap and mark her as his, so no other man would get close to her. Instead, he took another mouthful of beer.
“Hey, you.” Jack got to his feet and hugged her. “I hear you’ve had a rough day.”
“I’m okay now, but thanks.” She kissed his cheek. “I have to go back and get my aunts, but before I do, I need to say something.”
She was nervous. Ted knew the signs now. That line down her forehead from frowning, the hands gripped together.
“I’m not good at this kind of thing, so here goes.”
Jack stood at her side with an arm around her shoulders. Ted was not jealous; they were friends and had a bond. He was supporting her.
“Okay, I forgive you.” Rory got to her feet and hugged Mandy.
Ted watched the two women hold each other for a while.
“Just go up there and talk to her.” Piper, who’d just arrived, moved to sit beside him.
“What?”
“Go and talk to her, I can see you want to.”
“Who?”
“I’m not dignifying that with an answer. Just do it, you want to.”
“No, I don’t,” Ted denied.
“God, you’re worse than Gracie to train.” She looked disgusted.
“Is there a reason I’m being trained?” Ted asked her.
“The reason is because you care about her and I’ve intercepted a few looks from her that suggests she feels the same way about you. Don’t be a coward, Ted.”
“It’s complicated.” Ted went for honesty. “And I think it’s best we leave it at that.”
“Joe said you were pretty pissed at her today. She doesn’t deserve that, Ted. Mandy’s always flown solo, so learning to change that along with the rest of the stuff she’s working on can’t be easy.”
“I was, but I’ve moved on.”
“That’s big of you, but now you’ve missed your opportunity. She’s walked away.”
He searched for Mandy and couldn’t find her. This was probably a good thing, especially as on the walk here he’d decided to stay angry with her, which would ensure he kept a distance between them.
His phone rang. “Excuse me for a minute.” Getting to his feet, he walked away, pulling it out of his pocket.
He listened to Niki as she outlined an issue she was having. The call took ten minutes before he could end it.
“Hello, Ted.”
“Miss Sarah. Miss Marla. How’s the leg?”
He relaxed when he didn’t see Mandy with her aunts. Maybe she was back at A.S.?
