Love Is for the Birds

9. Teddy

TEDDY SETTLED ON THE SECOND ROW NEXT TO BARB FOR the Town Hall meeting. Few seats remained in the Bird Isle library. Mayor Hank Martinez and his wife Estrella sat up front wearing the requisite beach uniform—shorts, flip-flops, cotton short-sleeved shirts. Teddy loved that about the beach. No need to worry about what to wear.

“My turn,” Barb said, standing and walking up to the podium. In her white linen shirt and rolled-up jeans, she portrayed a gentler, softer self as compared to when dressed in her usual crisp wildlife refuge uniform. “The Annual Audubon Bird Count will go on as planned. We need all the volunteers we can get, so ask your friends from other cities. Those without experience can serve as recorders. Please be sure to check the Community Support Board before you leave for more information about the needs of community . . .”

Teddy missed the rest of the announcements because, all of a sudden, warm breath and damp lips skimmed her cheek as Daniel slid into Barb’s seat. She stiffened and pulled back. The aroma of Versace reached her nose. Just like smelling salts, his cologne brought her back to reality. She’d given him the Versace for Valentine’s Day. Geez, what was he wearing? Seersucker pants with white bucks belonged in Atlanta, not Bird Isle. Plus, never wear white shoes, or seersucker for that matter, after Labor Day.

Walt rotated sideways in the chair in front of her and winked. She scowled at him. He grinned with a half laugh and turned back around.

Her mind whirled through a list of emotions: one, shock; two, anger; three, suspicion; and four, embarrassment. The wheel in her mind never reached the two most obvious ones—love and happiness.

“What’re you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you.” Daniel put his hand on her leg just below the hem of her board shorts.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“It’s a surprise.”

Someone behind her shushed them. Teddy stared straight ahead. Daniel wasn’t big on surprises, so why now? Daniel squeezed her thigh, then stroked her leg ever so gently with a thumb. “I’ve missed you.”

Another shush uttered from behind them.

She inhaled the Versace cologne—and its “modern and sensual Mediterranean freshness”—annoyed that he would wear the $140.00 special-occasion bottle of cologne to the beach. The more she thought about it, the more her irritation grew, like the experience of a flat tire on I-10, or a pan of burnt toffee, or a moth hole in a Neiman Marcus cashmere sweater.

The fact her heart didn’t go pitter-pat when she saw Daniel, and that she didn’t throw her arms around him, and that she had absolutely no desire to be alone with him, didn’t mean she didn’t love him. Did it? Her coolness just meant she was tired and rightfully so.

Mayor Hank stopped speaking and his eyes cut to the back of the room. Teddy followed the mayor’s gaze. Jack. He shook one hand, and then another, as if running for office, and made his way to the front of the room. A thrill coursed through her. She brushed the silly, schoolgirl emotion away. After all, hello, her boyfriend sat right next to her. The weight of Daniel’s arm pushed against hers. Reality quickly replaced the excitement of seeing Jack. Daniel wanted to talk.

The mayor pounded his gavel. With a raised voice, he said, “How many of you got to enjoy some of the barbecue feed the other day?”

A chorus of affirmative responses sounded in the crowd.

Now Jack stood in front next to the mayor. Teddy didn’t know Jack had returned already. Not that she expected him to call her about his whereabouts, but Hank and Estrella knew.

“I’m glad you enjoyed Angie’s Place barbecue.”

Teddy cringed. Maybe he bought the restaurants from someone named Angie, and they kept the name? Somehow, she didn’t think so. And, again, why did she care? She guessed Jack kept women waiting in every town from Fort Worth to Corpus. He dripped with charm and good looks. And, the guy was a philanthropist. Goals, for sure.

“Everyone has made me feel right at home here.” Jack paused. His eyes landed on her. She squirmed. Her heart raced. Flames of heat burned on her face, like standing in front of a bonfire.

“That’s the barbecue guy?” Daniel straightened in his chair. “I thought you said he was an old rancher dude.”

This time she did the shushing. She focused on the back of Walt’s head. Her lying eyes would give her away in a split second.

Jack announced that an anonymous philanthropist donated beef for a fundraiser. Islanders applauded. Daniel sat there glaring straight ahead.

Daniel whispered just loud enough for her to catch an occasional negative remark. “He’ll never be able to pull off a barbecue fundraiser. That’s a terrible idea. They should just do a GoFundMe campaign.”

She wanted to gag him with her bandanna.

When the meeting ended, she escaped to the Community Support Board, leaving Daniel muttering to himself. She should be glad to see Daniel. After all, she hadn’t seen him since the hurricane. But she didn’t want to deal with him right now, and she certainly didn’t want to talk about selling Sweet Somethings.

She studied the Community Support Board. Push pins cluttered the board with various notices, from help wanted to condominiums for sale.

In the Pet Section, she flipped through a stack of notes without seeing one mention of a dog that met Pickles description. She said a little prayer of thanks.

She shifted to the Neighbors in Need section and picked up a note about an old friend of her mother. Pete Stephens needed someone to exchange his oxygen tanks once a week. Teddy could do that. She heard Pete returned to Bird Isle but hadn’t seen him. Then, the hurricane blew in. She removed the note from the board and stuffed the paper in her pocket.

“You find something?” Walt stepped up beside her.

She showed him the message about Pete.

“I wondered what happened to him. I’ll go with you. That is, unless you’re going with Bachelor Number One or Bachelor Number Two.”

She swatted him.

“I mean really, Tedster, wassup? A stranger comes to town. We’ll call him Bachelor Number Two. Then, all of a sudden Daniel decides on visiting. It’s all very—”

“Nothing. Don’t make up stories.” She noticed Daniel and Jack deep in conversation. Rather Daniel talked, and Jack nodded his head.

She grabbed Walt’s arm. “We’ve got to get Daniel away from Jack.”

“I’ve got your back, Tedster.”

“You take Jack, I’ll handle Daniel. I’ll call you about visiting Mr. Stephens tomorrow.”

Walt saluted her.

She edged between Jack and Daniel and caught the words, “Sell the place,” before they stopped their conversation.

Daniel put an arm around Teddy’s waist, the male version of claiming his territory, like Pickles marking a spot with her pee. She unwrapped Daniel’s arm from her waist and stepped to the side.

“Good to see you again, Jack.” She offered Jack a broad smile, and then narrowed her lips to a tight line when she faced Daniel. Whose place was Daniel talking about selling? As if she didn’t know.

“How’s Pickles?” Jack grinned. “I brought her some bones.”

Daniel furrowed his brow and glanced at each of them.

“She’s missed you.” She leaned against Jack and laughed. “You’ll have to come visit.”

Daniel’s hands tightened into fists.

Walt pulled Jack aside and started talking about surfing. She scowled at Daniel.

“What did I do? You’re the one cozying up to the barbecue king.” He raised his voice. “Who’s Pickles?”

“You know, the dog.” She ushered him out of the library into the balmy fall evening. “What were you talking about selling?”

“He’s a businessman. I asked if he knew anyone who would want to buy your property.”

Blood roared in her ears “You what?” She thrust her chin forward.

“Networking, remember? Fifty contacts a day.”

“I’ll make my own contacts, thank you very much.” She slapped her hands on her hips.

“You have 365 days to file a claim for your property. Working our way through the insurance maze, and the hurricane relief packages, not to mention the properties in Houston, will take years. And we don’t have years. The mortgage on those houses, and on your properties here, will be impossible to manage without any income. Well, actually—”

“You mean, where do mansplainers get their water?” She rolled her eyes upward.

“Huh?”

“Where do mansplainers get their water?” She paused.

He wrinkled his brow.

“From a well, actually. Ba-dum-da.” She used her fingers like drumsticks.

Daniel gave her a blank stare.

“Why are you here?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re a team. At least I thought we were.” He pulled her to him.

Teddy wormed out of the embrace. “I guess you’ll want to see the store.”

She headed toward the door. Daniel grabbed her hand and squeezed.

“Ow.” She freed her fingers and rubbed them.

She could feel Jack’s eyes following her. Teddy turned.

“You searching for someone?”

She shook her head.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”

“What changed your mind? I thought you were too busy.”

“Not too busy for my girl.” He squeezed her waist again.

She stiffened.

“It’s almost like you don’t want me here.”

He said it. She felt it. “It’s just—”

“You seem different.”

“Of course, I’m different.” They stopped in front of the shop. She lifted her arms. “Here we are.”

She searched for a hint of surprise or shock or devastation, but he stood mute.

“You’ve already seen the shop, haven’t you?”

“I drove by. I’m sorry.” He hugged her.

She pulled away pretending to examine a piece lumber on the sidewalk.

“You’ll be starting from the ground up.”

She braced herself. He came to town to not-so-gently nudge her toward ditching everything and moving back to Houston. A stab of pain shot through her like a knife twisting in her stomach. “Yes, I will.” In the fading light, he probably couldn’t see the daggers in her eyes.

“You don’t have to rebuild. They can settle and give you a lump sum, isn’t that right?”

“No, I don’t have to. I don’t have to breathe, or eat, or work, or think, or anything. I can just cash the check and move to Houston. Is that what you’re getting at?” She stomped away. He came down here for one reason. He wanted to see what kind of deal he could make with her. Always the wheeler-dealer.

“Teddy, stop. It’s not like that.”

“You better go.”

“What happened to you? You were so gung-ho to live in Houston. You said Bird Isle was temporary.” He touched her face, and his eyes settled on hers. “Maybe this was like an omen. Maybe it’s time.”

“I can’t . . .”

“I know you feel guilty about your mom and all.”

A tear rolled down her cheek.

“But it’s not your fault.” Daniel wiped the tear off her cheek. “None of this is your fault. And you were not responsible for your mother’s death. You have to forgive yourself.”

Geez, was he really going to mansplain her feelings now? “You don’t know anything about my guilt, and don’t pretend you do.” The pressure in her chest rose. She let out a big breath.

“Sorry. Sorry.” Daniel put his hands together and made a Namaste bow. “I thought you were coming back—I mean, eventually. I love you.”

Daniel waited for her to say, “I love you, too,” but the words stuck in her throat. He’d gone through bad times in Houston as well. She stared at him for several long seconds, her lips trembling.

“Did you hear what I said? I said, I love you,” Daniel said, his voice raised.

Daniel stared at her, waiting for an answer—waiting for an “I love you.” She didn’t know if Daniel was right for her, not anymore, not because of the failed investment, that could happen to anyone. She didn’t trust herself, let alone Daniel. She knew better than to describe her feelings to Daniel, especially when she couldn’t find the words to explain her own emotions.

With Sweet Somethings gone, nothing of her mother remained. Teddy never apologized to her for being such a know-it-all brat. She’d hoped to say the words through the shop. Now, that was gone, too. She destroyed everything she touched, even this relationship with Daniel.

“Give me some time to figure this out.”

He threw up his hands. “It’s all about you. Everything is always about you. I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve been giving you some time to figure things out. I’m sorry about your mother, I really truly am. I’m sorry about the store. I came here tonight to surprise you. What do I get? I see you making eyes at the barbecue man.”

“I was not making eyes at him!”

“No? You sure weren’t making eyes at me.”

Even in the dusky light she saw that the gleam had disappeared from his eyes.

“I’m not making eyes at anyone. Just trying to get through each day cleaning up one piece of trash at a time.”

“And I’ve become, what? An old dog-haired covered sofa?” Daniel pulled his key fob out of his pocket.

“What’re you doing?”

“Going home. Just like you wanted.” Daniel headed down the deserted street to his car.