Love Is for the Birds

7. Teddy

BACK TO REALITY AFTER THE brEAKFAST TACOS, TEDDY remembered she promised to call Daniel. She couldn’t put off the call any longer. Punching in Daniel’s phone number, she said, “Please don’t answer. Please don’t answer.”

He answered.

“How’s the cleanup coming?” she asked, her voice all perky. She motioned for Pickles to follow her to the kitchen.

“It’s bad, Teddy. Neighborhoods that never flooded before were underwater. Those houses we bought . . .”

She cringed. “What?”

Pickles cocked her head.

“Two-three feet of water.”

“All three of them?”

Silence.

“I’m afraid so,” Daniel said.

She pictured her bank account. They wouldn’t be flipping those houses anytime soon.

“What’re we going to do?” She plopped onto a bucket outside the house.

“I’ve evaluated all our options and appraised the value of our real estate here in Houston and the properties in Bird Isle. We need cash. You’ll have your insurance. We could use the money to fix these houses. You could sell that property, too. It’s worth something.”

Was Daniel asking her to give up? After all they’d been through. “That property is my mother’s candy store.”

“You have to take your emotions out of it. Be realistic. Think about your future. It’s over.” Daniel’s voice lowered.

“What’re you talking about? The storm is over. I’m going to get the insurance money and fix the store. Nothing’s changed.” How could he give up so easy?

At some level, she knew he made sense, even though just listening to his platitudes turned her stomach. She considered her future in the way one thinks about their future when their options include an empty slab, no savings, and no paycheck. Even so, selling the property was not an option. He may as well ask her to sell her right arm. Daniel just didn’t have a clue about family. Sure, he hung in there with her after her mother’s death, but did he stay with her out of pity, obligation, or love? Or, maybe all this time their relationship meant no more to him than a business arrangement.

“I’m sorry.” All the energy drained out of his normally gung-ho voice. “You can come live with me.”

“Puh-leeze.” Teddy held the phone out in front of her and stared.

“You there?”

“Yes, I’m here asking myself if you’re really that callous. You could sell your townhouse and move here.”

“I only said—”

“I heard what you said.”

At one point, the Before-Teddy version of herself, before her mother died, living in Houston made her happy. She planned on moving back to Houston after she found someone trustworthy to manage the store. But now, faced with all she lost, she couldn’t leave Bird Isle.

She ended the call without hanging up on Daniel. Instead, in the midst of his stammering, she simply said, “Talk later . . .” and dropped off. She wanted to talk to her grandfather. Pops would want to help her—no, he would insist. But she didn’t want her tragedy to give him a heart attack or something. She would get through this, with or without Daniel’s help.