Only Just Begun

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Only Just Begun Page 24

by Vella, Wendy


  “The Ted and you deal?”

  What!

  “No deal.” She focused on her notebook and pretended his words hadn’t surprised her.

  “We’ve all just stood back and watched you two walk around each other, acting like you don’t have this thing when we know you do. I’m done watching now.”

  “We don’t have anything.” Mandy scribbled something unintelligible in her book. “Seriously, Joe. I have no idea what you are talking about.” She was proud of how calm she sounded.

  “I’m not buying that. He was beside himself when you fainted in his arms after the parade, and he’s always watching you. Then there’s him letting you work out in his private gym, which he lets no one use.”

  “Joe—”

  “He’s been a bear the last few days. Snapping and snarling. Fin punched him last night.”

  “He didn’t! Is Ted all right?”

  Joe smiled. “And that reaction tells me everything I already knew. They’re both fine. They were boxing, actually.”

  Mandy carefully put her notebook and pen back in her bag.

  “You tricked me.”

  His smile was totally unrepentant.

  “I’m not someone who talks about things like this, Joe,” she said, hoping that would shut him up.

  “Time to change, then. Here’s the thing, Mandy, you two are pretty near perfect for each other, you just need to realize that.”

  “He doesn’t want that!” The words came out fast and loud. Horrified, she snapped her teeth shut. “Sorry. What I mean is, we’re not suited.”

  Joe pushed off the wall to come and stand before her.

  “He told you that?”

  “Joe,” Mandy sighed. “Just leave it, please. It’s complicated. Plus, after today, I’m not sure I want to go anywhere near Ted Hosking for a while.”

  “What did he do?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does if it put that angry look on your face, so let’s hear it.”

  What the hell, why not.

  “He said he’d guarantee my loan when I told him I wanted to do this alone.”

  Joe whistled slowly.

  “He really cares for you, Mandy. No way would he have put himself out like that if he didn’t. He’s better than he was, but still has issues dealing with emotion.”

  “I can’t believe you just said that.”

  “Bailey told me I needed to express myself more. I’m giving it a shot.”

  That forced a laugh out of Mandy.

  “He had no right to do it, Joe. I told him I didn’t want his money or his help and that I needed to do this alone. But still he went behind my back to the bank.”

  “Ted offered to loan you the money?”

  She nodded.

  “Okay, so that seals it. Man’s a savvy investor and he wouldn’t—”

  “The tea shop is a savvy investment,” Mandy protested.

  “It’s an emotional investment, and Ted is never emotional when it comes to money. The point I’m trying to make here, Mandy, is that he cares deeply for you.”

  She went for, “It’s complicated, Joe.”

  “Most things to do with the heart are.” He leaned in and hugged her. “Okay, I’ll leave it alone… for now. If ever you want to talk, I’m here. In fact, your big brother Trainers are all here.”

  That made her want to cry. “Thank you, Joe.”

  “So.” He released her. “Your aunts are excited about the extension to Tea Total. I talked to them yesterday.”

  “They really are, but happy for me to take the lead in what is going to happen,” Mandy said, relieved they were done discussing her and Ted. All that emotion was exhausting.

  “They’re enjoying see you change. As are we all.”

  “I’m a slow learner, Joe.”

  “No. I’d say you learned to be a certain way through circumstance. Change is always hard to achieve. I know, as it took me a while.”

  Joe wandered to the window and looked out.

  “Why the hell is there a news van rolling down the main street of Ryker?” he added, looking out the window.

  Mandy joined him. Behind the news van were two identical black Cadillacs. She watched a photographer snap pictures from the sidewalk.

  “I saw that man the other day. He was taking pictures of Ted and the lodge.”

  “Are we expecting anyone important? Or is it a bored politician needing a holiday, complete with entourage?”

  “That sounds likely.” Mandy wasn’t sure why she suddenly felt tense. No one was looking her way, so why did unease skitter up her spine? “I can’t make out the writing on the side of those cars. Can you?”

  “No.” Joe leaned closer to the window. “Okay now, relax, sweet cheeks, because here comes your bear.”

  Chapter 32

  Mandy tried not to stiffen as Ted, who was walking down Main Street, stopped in front of the bookshop window. He saw her and Joe, his eyes held hers briefly, and then he turned to take in the news van, Cadillacs, and photographer.

  As Mandy was watching him, she saw his reaction. He took a step back, which had him colliding with the window. The look on his face could only be termed panic.

  “Okay, that reaction tells me he may know what’s going on with that news crew and who is in those cars.”

  “What?”

  Before Joe could speak again, Ted was inside the shop. He’d moved so fast she hadn’t even realized what he was doing until he stood before her.

  “What’s happening?” Joe said, looking out the window and then back to Ted.

  Shooting Mandy another look, Ted took a step backward.

  “What’s going on, Ted?” Mandy asked him.

  “Nothing.” He retreated deeper into the shop.

  “That news van has stopped outside Mildens Pharmacy, and the two Cadillacs,” Joe said in a conversational tone. “The closer those cars get, the more those signs look like campaign slogans to me. Anything you want to share with us, Teddy Bear?”

  “That’s the same photographer you told me was taking photos of the lodge the other day,” Mandy added.

  She’d seen him in throes of passion, angry, and happy, but never nervous before. That was definitely the look he wore now.

  “Ted?” She dragged his eyes from the window and focused on him. “What aren’t you telling us?”

  “Nothing.” His eyes went to the window. Really Nervous, she thought.

  “Come on, Ted. We’re friends, remember,” Joe said.

  Mandy bit back the words she wanted to throw at him. The anger over his high-handed behavior with the bank. She’d say something, but now wasn’t that time.

  “That news crew is getting closer.” Joe moved to stand at Mandy’s side.

  “This place has a rear entrance, right?” Ted took another step back.

  “You’re running, and that’s not the man I know,” Joe said. “Tell us what’s going on, bud, it’ll make you feel better.”

  “No, it won’t.”

  Mandy felt suddenly uneasy. And not just because Ted was standing before her.

  “You make a move for the door, I’ll tackle you,” Joe said.

  “Christ.” The word hissed out of Ted’s mouth. “Okay, you’re going to find out anyway, so I guess it’s better coming from me. But I need you to know that this is part of my life I wanted to keep separate.”

  “From your life here?”

  Ted nodded at Joe’s words, but he was focused on Mandy.

  “So, you remember how you wanted to know about my past?”

  Her throat was suddenly dry, but she managed to rasp out a “Yes, like you wanted to know about mine. I thought we’d mutually decided not to share details.”

  “Well not all of them anyway.” He shot another quick look out the window. “I need you to know that I didn’t deliberately mislead you. You have to understand that.”

  “Say the words, Ted,” Joe urged him.

  Ted exhaled.

  “My father is
Senator Hosking.”

  Joe whistled.

  “My brother has just arrived in town because he is now running for the senate. He’s bought a film crew into Ryker Falls, even though I asked him not to. In fact, I think they’ve all come.”

  “All?” Joe asked.

  “Two brothers, a mother, and a father. I just hope my grandparents didn’t join the party.”

  “What state?”

  “Mandy—”

  “What state, Ted?”

  “Colorado.”

  “You told me you were born and raised in Wisconsin!”

  “My mother’s grandparents live there, and I stayed there—”

  “But you didn’t grow up there? Go to school there?” Mandy said. She had no right to the anger she was feeling, after all she’d been lying about her past since she came to Ryker Falls, but it was there just the same. She was suddenly furious.

  “Look, I just—”

  “You were furious with me when I didn’t tell you about my diabetes. Yet you didn’t tell me this! You’ve lied to me.”

  “Which time?” He was looking out the window again.

  “How many times have there been?”

  “Not many… maybe only one, perhaps two,” he conceded.

  “That photographer was not there to take pictures of the lodge, was he?” Mandy said.

  “No.”

  Joe whistled again. “There was always something dodgy about you. Didn’t your father run to be the candidate in a presidential election?”

  “How the hell would you remember that?” Ted glared at Joe.

  “Memory like a safe, bud. Nothing escapes.”

  “Yet you can’t remember your wife’s birthday.”

  “I forgot once, give me a break—”

  “Why?” was the only word Mandy could come up with.

  “I didn’t want to be part of that life anymore.” He knew what she was asking.

  “But your family—”

  “Are still my family. They just aren’t part of my life here,” he interrupted her.

  His eyes were on her again.

  “You know what, it doesn’t matter.” She took a step back. “Your life is none of my concern.

  Ted followed her as she took another step and grabbed her shoulders, halting her progress.

  “You’ve never told me the truth either, Mandy.”

  She hadn’t, but then her past could destroy her.

  “That’s different.”

  He gave her a small shake.

  “No, it’s not. We’re both hiding.”

  “Okay, I like to see you guys communicating, but I’m thinking now is not the time unless you’re planning to hide in here all day,” Joe said. “So let’s shelve this until you’re alone, because now we have to go and meet Ted’s family.”

  “I’m killing my brother,” Ted gritted out.

  Mandy drew in a deep breath as he looked away from her.

  “All along, I just thought it was you and your sister who passed away,” Joe said.

  “I suppose you’re angry with me now too?”

  “Me?” Joe touched his chest. “Nah. I knew you came from money. There’s those shoes with the Velcro you wear, and your shorts have creases in them.” He moved back to the window.

  “I didn’t tell anyone about my past, Mandy.”

  She needed to stay calm. Not making a scene had always been her mantra. Stay in the shadows. Why then did she suddenly want to yell at him? Take a breath. Inhale, exhale.

  “And that makes it right, does it!” She lost the battle, the words exploding out of her mouth in an angry hiss. “I told you things, and you told me nothing. I even asked if your family had a lot of money, and you said—”

  “I don’t like talking about my family or my past,” he interrupted her again.

  “Me either. Maybe in future you’ll respect that,” she snapped back. “I don’t like liars, Ted.”

  And yet even your name is a lie. Mandy pushed the thought aside.

  “I didn’t lie, I just didn’t tell you the exact truth. That photo shoot was good for the lodge, and I thought it was all Anthony wanted from me. Turns out I was wrong. The fucker,” he snarled.

  “They’re your family, right. I mean, how bad can they be?” Joe said. “Go meet them, bud.”

  “They want the entire reunion caught on film,” Ted growled. “I’ll catch up with them, but not like this.”

  Mandy did not want to feel sorry for him. He looked so different from the confident man she knew right now. She absolutely did not feel any pity. The rat.

  Fin, who was wandering by, eyes on the people and newsman, saw Joe in the window. Raising his aviators, he strolled into the store.

  “If my memory serves me well, which it usually does,” the ranger said, “that’s Senator Hosking out there with his family and a news crew. Family of yours, Teddy?”

  “Yes.” The reply was clipped.

  “You look a bit pale there, bud. Need me to create a diversion so you can make a run for it?”

  Ted grunted something no one understood.

  Mandy made a decision, and not because she wanted to help Ted. She was doing this so she didn’t end up in front of the camera.

  “Joe, you and Fin stand in the window and make sure no one sees us, and I’ll take Ted out the back way.”

  “What?” Ted looked at her. “Why are you helping me?”

  “I don’t like cameras.”

  Mandy led him outside and along to Tea Total. Once there, she let herself in using her key.

  “That you, Mandy?”

  “Yes, Aunt Sarah, I’m just going to do some baking!”

  “All right. Marla and I are going outside to see what’s happening! There’s a news crew.”

  “Okay, I’ll watch the shop.”

  Mandy pointed to a chair. “You can stay in here until they’ve gone, then leave by the back door,” she added before going out into the shop. She made him coffee, and when she came back he was in the same position. She handed him the mug and he took a mouthful, then lowered it to the bench.

  “You have a right to be angry with me, Mandy. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t tell anyone about my life before coming here. About the photographer too.”

  “I’m not just angry about the lying, I’m angry about what you did at the bank.”

  “What did I do at the bank?” His face showed no guilt. Rat!

  “You know what you did, and I told you I wanted to do this myself.”

  “You found out I guaranteed the loan?”

  “Of course I found out!”

  “I should have made it clear that I didn’t want you to know.”

  Mandy thought about grabbing her hair and pulling. Even better his.

  “You shouldn’t have done anything.”

  “Why? You want that loan, and I just made sure you got it.”

  It was that simple to him.

  “You didn’t tell me I couldn’t be your guarantor. You just said you wouldn’t take a loan from me.”

  “You’re not that dumb, Ted. You knew I wouldn’t want you to do that.”

  He grabbed her hand as she began to walk away.

  “I just wanted to help you, Mandy.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I care about you.”

  “As a friend. I get it. Have you done this for other friends?”

  He didn’t answer. Mandy pulled free and left the kitchen. They had no customers, so she kept walking out the front door.

  The news crew were filming locals, who by now would all know that Ted was Senator Hosking’s son. Mandy kept behind a row of people so the camera couldn’t get a shot of her if it panned the crowd.

  “Trust that Mary Howard to get front and center,” she heard Mrs. L say as she passed behind her.

  “Yes, we’re all proud of Ted. He and I have been friends for some time. I like to think I’ve helped him a great deal with the lodge,” Mary Howard was saying.

  Moving in behin
d Bas, she listened for a while as one after the other, locals told the reporter that Ted was a popular figure in town and they were grateful to him for the lodge.

  The locals always backed another local, no matter if in private they didn’t feel that way. Mandy had seen it time and time again. Ted was considered one of them even though he hadn’t been born here.

  She looked between Bas’s shoulder and the man next to him and saw two people. She thought they were Ted’s family. The father looked like him, even though his hair was gray. Beside them was the man she’d seen in Tea Total that day weeks ago. Ted had gone outside to speak to him.

  This must be Anthony Hosking.

  “Hello.”

  Mandy looked at the man who had moved to stand beside her.

  “Hello.”

  “Sorry about the invasion.” His smile was genuine. “My brother dragged me away from the hospital to come on this little junket. I told him they could have three days and no longer.”

  “You’re a Hosking?” He did have the look of Ted about him, but he was smaller.

  “I’m the youngest one.”

  “You’re a doctor?”

  “Nurse, actually. Do you know Ted too?”

  “Yes.”

  “How is he?”

  “Ahhh, he’s well. When did you last see him?”

  “Five years ago, but we talk. I miss seeing his face though.”

  Mandy may be angry with Ted for a lot of different reasons, but she wasn’t going to stop him reuniting with his brother… well, this one anyway. She made the decision to act, and hoped it was the right one.

  “Come with me.”

  Chapter 33

  Ted sipped the coffee and wondered why he was hiding in Mandy’s kitchen. He’d been raised to this kind of life. Media, interviews, and smiling on cue. So why was it a struggle to contemplate now?

  Because everything changed with Emily’s death.

  He ran a successful business, had enough money to last him two lifetimes, and rarely turned away from a challenge. Yet the thought of facing his family had him cowering in this kitchen.

  He was pathetic.

  Mandy had every right to be angry with him, as did his friends. Ted hoped he hadn’t blown it with everyone, because this town was his home now and he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. The thought of not seeing Mandy again was something he never wanted to contemplate, even though because he was a gutless coward he’d put her in the friend zone.

 

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