How?
“Teddy!” Finn exclaimed through a mouthful of pastry, having been trying to steal a second one from Rose.
“What are you doing here?” Teddy asked, more accusingly than intended.
“Blaise is my brother-in-law.” Finn gestured to the man behind the counter. “Perks of nepotism means I get to taste the new creations. Want a wild berry and cream cheese pocket?” He held out Rose’s pastry, but she reclaimed it with a smack to his arm.
“Who’s this?” Erina asked, casting a smile between them like she’d stumbled upon some great secret—which she had.
“Oh, sorry! I’m Finn,” Finn said, looking effortless and adorable at any hour, which was horrific enough when Teddy was wearing glasses and whatever else he’d thrown on that morning without Erina getting involved, “and this is my sister, Rose, and her husband, Blaise.”
“You’re Teddy? I heard all about you—”
“Blaise,” Finn said hurriedly.
“I mean… uhh….”
“This is my sister, Erina,” Teddy saved them.
“Pleasure,” she said, extending a hand to shake Finn’s, then Rose’s, then flicking a little wave at Blaise. “I got in last night.”
“Are you staying long?” Rose asked.
“Only as long as I’m able. I have a ballet to get back to in the city.”
“You’re a dancer too?” Finn chirped.
“Prima ballerina. You know a lot about Teddy. How do you two—?”
Teddy quickly rose above the derailing conversation. “We’re holding up the line. May I have whatever smells like bacon?” He turned to Blaise.
“Egg, cheese, and bacon croissant,” the man recited cheerily. “With or without spinach?”
“With, please. And some coffee.”
“And a mocha for me,” Erina added, “large on both. And….” She eyed the bakery goods again.
“Why don’t I sneak you into the back for one of those pastries?” Rose waved her over. “If Blaise doesn’t mind?”
“Go on! I need varied opinions. Rose and Finn like everything I make.”
There was still a line forming behind Teddy, so he used the opportunity of their sisters disappearing to move out of the way after Blaise handed him his croissant, and a young woman at the coffee machine started making their drinks.
“Went to bed early last night, huh?” Finn whispered once they stood off to the side.
“Wish I could have. Rose seems lovely and meddling. Erina is just meddling. Coming over last night wouldn’t have been optimal.” Teddy took a bite of his croissant to distract himself—heaven.
“And you’re not interested, so….”
Then he nearly choked, enough to make him cough for several seconds afterward. “Are you?” he sputtered.
“You think I scare that easy? I’ve been nearly punched, cursed at, hexed once actually. People in pain”—Finn hushed his voice, leaning into Teddy’s body—“in real agony and denial, trying to pull themselves up from something they can’t change, it’s tough, and sometimes they lash out. That’s okay. I get it. It’s part of the job.”
He really had the most tempting bow to his lips.
Teddy swallowed, still feeling a bit of flakey crust in his throat. “I don’t get why anyone would want that job.”
“No, you got to be the asshole to everybody else and they had to listen to you,” Finn said, smiling guilelessly. “Me, I have to be patient because being an ass back to an ass just makes a bigger mess. Somewhere along the line, everyone needs to save themselves, but we can do better by lending a hand or an ear even when it’s not asked for.”
Crap, he was incredible. Surreal, really.
He probably had bodies in his basement.
“Are you sure you’re not secretly a baby-faced fortysomething with that kind of wisdom?” Teddy asked.
“Nope, just twenty-eight. But I can see the appeal of a wise fortysomething.” He flicked his eyes down Teddy’s body and up again. “Love the glasses, by the way.”
Crap again. Though it was enticing, realizing he might not have ruined everything after all.
“This is amazing!”
Erina and Rose came back from the kitchen, effectively ruining the moment, and Erina paid for their breakfast and coffees at the register. They grabbed a table together, and Teddy couldn’t say he minded all that terribly.
“What are you two up to today?” Erina asked.
“Yearly tradition,” Rose said. “This weekend is all about brother-sister bonding.”
“That’s a nice tradition—planning it, I mean, instead of an impromptu ambush,” Teddy said pointedly to his sister, who rolled her eyes. Turning back to Rose, Teddy sipped at his coffee, which was also heaven. “Any reason it’s this weekend?”
“Oh, um….” Rose flashed her eyes guiltily at Finn like she’d said too much, and Finn dropped his gaze to the table.
“No particular reason,” he said—a lie, something personal that he wasn’t ready to share with Teddy yet, which Teddy couldn’t fault him for, but it did leave him wondering. “In fact, we should get going, but it was nice running into you. I’m sure you have a lot of catching up to do yourselves for brother-sister time. See you Monday?” He locked eyes with Teddy warmly.
“Right,” Teddy said. “Monday.”
It was only later, after Teddy and Erina were back in the car, that he realized he still hadn’t apologized to Finn for the other day.
Then his sister asked, “So what’s Monday?”
TEDDY was excited Erina would be heading back to the city, only for her to announce that since she’d been close to peaking early anyway with her performances and dress rehearsals weren’t until midweek, she wasn’t leaving until Tuesday.
Finn’s “See you Monday?” had led to questions, which meant Erina now knew he was Teddy’s physical therapist and would not leave it alone. Luckily, he’d avoided having her discover that Finn was also his neighbor.
So far.
That didn’t prevent her from offering to bring him to physical therapy, something he agreed to only because she’d be driving again and could get him coffee. The request for caffeine ensured she’d drop him off and leave, meeting him there again afterward. He did not need her coming inside.
After hurrying into the health center before she could change her mind, Teddy checked in with Betsy to make sure Finn was ready for him, then headed directly for the workout room without waiting to be called.
“About last time,” he began without so much as a hello.
“It’s fine,” Finn said, startled initially but then motioning for Teddy to lie on the mat.
“It’s not fine.” Teddy held fast. “I was an asshole, like you said. I did warn you.”
“You did. But I don’t think you’re an asshole. I think you’re frustrated and a little bit of a perfectionist about yourself. Which is probably why you were always hard on your students. Because they were a reflection of you, and if they weren’t performing at their best, why bother?”
“Something like that.” Teddy continued to be amazed by Finn’s insight, even if he wasn’t quite up for adding that a childhood full of not being good enough for his father may have also contributed to his perfectionist outlook. “Still, I’m sorry I snapped.”
“Thank you. Now, have you been keeping up with your exercises with Erina around? Hopefully not pushing too much?”
“With her nagging added to yours, I promise, I’ve been a model patient.” Teddy really had been, following every alert on his phone to tend to his routine.
“Then prove it,” Finn said in good humor.
He looked tired, Teddy thought, maybe from whatever brother-sister bonding he and Rose had gotten up to, but while Teddy was still curious about that, he wasn’t about to push.
Teddy was sore, but nothing like a few days ago. He was able to perform most of his exercises without trouble, though he did have to end a few intervals early on some.
When they were nearing the
end of their session, another therapist, the redhead Teddy had seen before, brought a patient into the room who waved at Finn with an irritated sort of flap. She was young, preteen maybe, on crutches with a magenta-colored prosthetic attached to her left leg. Judging by the way she hobbled, it must have been new.
“We went overtime a little,” Finn said. “Is it okay to skip the exam room again? You’re doing great. She’s my next patient.”
“Sure. No problem.”
The therapist left the girl at the walking station. She let her crutches fall to the side and hung on to the bars, but walking without them was an obvious chore for her.
“Really tragic. Car accident, no one’s fault, just one of those things. Her parents are fine, but her leg got trapped, too mangled, got infected later, and had to be removed below the knee. Kids are remarkably resilient, but even they take time to get to the point of being able to cope, be brave, move forward. She isn’t there yet.”
The somber tone Finn had taken on dug deep right to Teddy’s core, and he had to wonder when he looked at Finn and found dampness in his eyes if it was more than just empathy speaking.
To cut the tension, Teddy had to comment, “Did you just violate HIPAA?”
That snapped Finn’s attention back to him with a crack of a smile. “Oops.” He shrugged.
Teddy would have believed that, but then Finn gave him a swift “See you next session,” and walked over to the girl, only to say he needed to grab something from the other room and leave them alone.
Maybe Finn needed a moment to collect himself, maybe he’d left them alone on purpose, maybe both, but regardless, Finn’s words from before flitted through Teddy’s mind.
Somewhere along the line, everyone needs to save themselves, but we can do better by lending a hand or an ear even when it’s not asked for.
Stretching in the aftermath of his exercises, Teddy moved across the workout room, nearing the walking station and catching the eye of the girl, who seemed to take notice of his mild limp.
“State of the art, looks like.” He nodded to her magenta leg.
“I hate it,” she said, pausing midway along the bars.
“Chafe?”
“No.”
“That’s good. They’re making them better and better these days. Hurt you some other way?”
“No.”
“Prefer to go without?”
“No.”
Teddy smirked at her short responses. “So, complaining for complaining’s sake?”
“I want my leg back,” she growled, “not some piece of me I take off at night.”
There was bitterness in her words that Teddy knew well, though he understood she had more to be angry about than he did. “Too bad,” he said anyway. “Doesn’t work like that. I should know. I can wish all I want that I hadn’t had the surgery that means I’ll never dance the same way again, but nothing changes the truth.” He tapped his hip lightly.
“You danced?” she asked with interest.
“Most my life.”
“Like The Nutcracker?”
Always either Swan Lake or The Nutcracker. “Yes, actually. I played the Mouse King once, before I started teaching. I was always a good dancer, but better at creating dances for others.”
“The Mouse King’s the bad guy.” The girl’s eyes lit up, and she leaned closer across the bars.
“I made a good bad guy.” Teddy leaned right back. “You’d make a good Nutcracker, you know.”
“Isn’t he a boy?”
“I prefer hero, and that has never been gender specific. He’s not all flesh and blood either, but that doesn’t stop him. Heroes are made of more than their parts. If you’re going to keep complaining and giving Finn a hard time, maybe I’ll steal that leg from under you and save him the trouble. He already has to put up with me, and I’m no picnic. He really can’t handle another tough patient.”
“You won’t steal my leg.” She pulled away from him.
“Well, I don’t move as fast as I used to, but I am still quite the conniving rat.” Teddy lunged at her, and she laughed, moving so naturally to get away from him that she forgot to think of her new leg as a foreign extension. It was only halfway down the walking station that she stopped and realized with a wobble how far she’d gone without trouble.
“Better,” Teddy said. “Maybe you’ll go easy on Finn today.”
The girl stared, amazed at herself and at Teddy, just as Finn reentered the room.
“Look at you!” he called. “Not so hard, right? You’ll get it.”
She grabbed on to the bars as if embarrassed, but Teddy felt a flutter of pride like he hadn’t experienced since he taught his last student.
“Till next time.” He nodded at Finn in farewell, then turned back to the girl with a salute. “Miss Nutcracker,” he said and walked away without addressing Finn’s confused look.
ALL would have been well if that had been the end of it, but when Teddy exited into the waiting room with a small smile on his lips, he lost it upon seeing his sister not in the car but at the front desk chatting up one of the physical therapists.
This one was more on the petite side with beautiful long dark hair and an endearing smile. He kept tucking his locks behind his ear in an obvious nervous tic at having such a beautiful woman flirt with him. Erina never stopped to consider how her actions might hurt someone when she wasn’t actually interested.
Then she licked her lips.
She liked him. Wonderful.
“Your brother lives there?” His eyes snapped to Teddy as he walked up to them. “Oh whoa, you… you’re the one Finn Florence Nightingaled last week. I mean—carried inside.”
“He what?” Erina stared wide-eyed.
This was Finn’s friend—that friend, who’d teased him over text when they disappeared inside Teddy’s beach house together.
“Teddy!” The man snapped his fingers in remembrance. “Right? Finn’s neighbor. And patient.” His face scrunched in thought. “Uh, I think there may be a few too many weird violations going on here.”
Betsy, beside him behind the desk, continued flipping through a magazine. “I didn’t hear anything.”
“Neighbors too, huh? Well, if you’re friends with Finn,” Erina said to the young man, “why don’t you join us for dinner tonight? We can make it a double date.”
“Erina,” Teddy warned.
“Just a get-to-know-your-neighbors sort of thing,” she said without looking at Teddy. “We’ll cook. You convince Finn to come along. Say 7:00 p.m.?”
“Uh, sure?”
Peachy.
It wasn’t that Teddy didn’t like the idea of finally giving in to Finn’s advances; he just hadn’t expected to do so with his sister present.
As they left the wellness center, Teddy wasn’t sure if he was pissed at her or grateful. “You mean I’ll cook,” he said when they reached the car.
“Obviously.”
IT wasn’t a date, Teddy told himself. Or a double date, despite Erina’s insistence. It was just Finn coming over with a friend.
Teddy spending hours working on dinner was beside the point.
After confirming that no one was allergic to shellfish, he’d decided on shrimp, Spanish rice, avocado coleslaw, and a bottle of chardonnay. One glass of wine with his medication should be fine, and if he was mistaken, he had two physical therapists to correct him.
Finn looked effervescent when he arrived, even with his fidgety friend beside him, who was cute, just more Erina’s type than Teddy’s with the long locks and nerdy-chic vibe.
Finn also looked good despite carrying his dog.
“Is it okay that I brought Nora along? I think she’s been missing Smudge,” he said, hanging on to the squirming bundle of fluff until Teddy nodded and Finn was free to release her into the house.
“She’s basically Finn’s child,” his friend said, holding a box that hinted at dessert. “I’m Carlos, by the way. We didn’t officially meet before. And while this is the best tres lec
hes cake you will ever eat”—he hefted the box—“it’s from Blaise’s bakery. I didn’t make it.”
“You brought dessert? What wonderful guests.” Erina appeared as Teddy let Finn and Carlos inside. She was a knockout as usual. Cocktail dresses were not necessary when hosting in one’s home, but she wore one anyway.
Teddy was dressed more casually, along the same lines as Finn and Carlos—untucked button-down, slacks. Though Carlos had tied his hair back in a half-ponytail, mouth agape as he looked at Erina, which nearly caused him to let the box of cake slide out of his hands.
Finn snatched it up just in time to bring it into the kitchen. “Whatever you made smells amazing, Teddy. Thanks for inviting us over.”
“Erina did the inviting,” Teddy said as he walked with him, “but I’m glad you’re here. And that you seem more cheered up.”
“Cheered up?” Finn stuttered in his step, nearly losing the dessert box himself before he got it onto the counter.
“I just thought you seemed like you needed it when we saw you with Rose, and earlier today too. Anything I can do to help?” It wasn’t an offer Teddy made lightly—or often, even with people he knew well—but Finn brought out the best in him by sheer example.
An echo of the sadness he’d caught earlier appeared on Finn’s face again, but then he smiled. “This does,” he said softly.
His hand rested on the kitchen island, and Teddy felt a powerful urge to reach for it.
“Shall we open the wine?” Erina spoiled the moment by breezing into the kitchen with Carlos in tow. At least, despite the way Teddy and Finn parted now that they had company, Teddy didn’t feel like it was a mistake to have them here.
Dinner did not end in disaster and even came with entertainment. Nora had missed Smudge, and the feeling was mutual. Once she found Smudge sleeping in one of his many hiding spots around the house, the two embarked on a constant game of tag.
They’d chase each other across the living room, hide, peek out, dash over furniture. If Nora caught Smudge, he’d roll over, playing submissive, and they’d tussle for a spell. If Smudge caught Nora, she’d yelp and cry until Smudge let her up.
Interpretive Hearts Page 5
