27. Lottie
Lottie
“ I want to make a quick stop,” Teddy says as he drives through town. I smile at him when he parks in front of Blooming Beautiful.
I follow him inside, taking a deep breath of the fresh blooms that fill the space. I always loved coming here as a kid. It felt like an enchanted fairy palace could be hiding in one of the plants, and I believed if I was patient, I’d see the sparkle of wings fluttering into a leaf.
I’m pretty sure Aunt Hope sprinkled a couple of the pots with glitter to solidify my belief.
She was always the best at building our imaginations.
Ryan and I would ask her if she believed in whatever mythical creature we were interested in at the time, and she’d respond with, ‘Well, of course, I do.’ Then, she’d build a story around the creature while Ryan and I stared at her in awe.
It would inevitably inspire Ryan and me to go on a hunt to find said creature.
“Hey, guys.” Ryan smiles at us from behind the counter. He has several centerpieces laid out in front of him. “What are you up to? ”
“Dinner with Mom and Dad. Teddy wanted to pick something up before we go over there.”
Ryan’s eyes light up. “Oh, I just got these gorgeous tulips that Aunt Quinn will love. Hang on.” He disappears into the back of the store before returning with a bunch of delicate pink flowers.
“Those are beautiful, Ryan,” I say in a hushed whisper.
“Right? I hadn’t brought them out yet because I knew they’d be gone in about an hour, and I wasn’t ready for them to go yet.
” His laugh is self-deprecating. He puts together a quick bouquet, filling in a bit of greenery around the pink blooms. When he’s done, he hands it over to Teddy.
“There you go. That should score you a couple of brownie points with both of Lottie’s parents. ”
“Cooper likes flowers, too? Should I get something for him?”
The small display of nerves makes me melt. I run my palm down Teddy’s spine.
“Nice of you to think of him, but no. I meant that these will make Aunt Quinn smile, and I think Uncle Cooper’s mission in life is to always see her happy.”
Teddy’s shoulders drop when he looks over at me. “I can get behind that mission.”
I blush, locking my knees to keep from swooning right there in the store. Teddy pays, and we say a quick goodbye to Ryan before heading to Mom and Dad’s.
“Okay, remind me again. Ryan is biologically your cousin, right?”
Our family is a bit convoluted, given half the people in our life aren’t actually related to us.
“Yes. Our dads are brothers. Uncle Levi owns the construction company. The rest of our family is made up of my parents’ best friends.
Some of them have been friends since they were in elementary school. ”
“Wow. I can’t imagine being friends with someone that long.” Teddy pulls into my parents’ driveway and parks the car.
“You don’t have any close friends from school?” If I hadn’t been looking at Teddy, I’d have missed the small wince.
“I wasn’t the most popular kid. I was bullied until we got to high school and I could fight back. I kept my head down and left the second I was old enough.”
“I’m sorry you had that experience. Kids can be such assholes sometimes.”
“I got close with a couple of guys in boot camp. One of them lives in Charlotte, although I haven’t visited him since I moved here.”
“Maybe once you’re feeling settled, you could take your bike down there.”
Teddy gives me a soft smile. “That’s a great idea, but only if you go with me. I think he’s married now.”
My eyes widen. “You’d want me to go, too?”
“Yeah, someone has to distract his woman so we can have a boys’ night.”
I gasp, my hand flicking out to smack Teddy in the chest as he laughs. “You’re a jerk.”
He reaches over to grab me behind the neck and pulls me in close. His nose bumps into mine as he presses a deep kiss to my mouth. I moan into it, immediately swept up in the intoxicating way he swipes his tongue against mine.
A knock on the window breaks us apart. “Can you two stop making out for a sec so I can hug my sister?”
“Caro!” I squeal, flinging myself out of the car toward my grinning sister. She laughs as I wrap my arms around her shoulders. “Oh, my god! I can’t believe you’re here!”
“Of course, I’m here. My big sister is finally bringing home a man. I wasn’t going to miss Dad’s posturing. Plus, I need to make sure he’s good enough for you. ”
I point at her. “Do not stir the pot. Dad’s going to be bad enough on his own.”
Her grin is evil. “I’ll be good. I swear.”
“Show me your hands and then swear.”
“What are we, twelve? Come on, introduce me.” She nods to where Teddy is smirking at the two of us at the front of the car.
I don’t miss that she didn’t swear again. I figure Dad probably deserves a little needling after the stunt he pulled at my house.
“Caro, this is Teddy. Teddy, this is my little sister, Caroline.”
They shake hands while sizing each other up.
“Oh, yeah. You’ll do.”
I frown at Caroline. “What does that mean?”
She gives me a sly smile while wiggling her eyebrows. “I’ve always said you needed an alpha to take care of you. He looks like he can do that in multiple ways.”
“Caroline!” I admonish while Teddy barks out a surprised laugh.
“Come on, you two.” Teddy holds out both his elbows for Caroline and me to hold on to. He’s holding Mom’s flowers in his hand as well, looking like the perfect gentleman. He’ll absolutely be scoring points with my family.
I’ll have to come up with some form of reward for him later.
“Oh, come on, Dad.” Caro groans. “You did not just happen to be cleaning your hunting rifle the same night Lottie and I went to prom.”
“Total coincidence. I don’t know why you would accuse me of such a thing. ”
I snort. “Vinnie was scared shitless while standing in our living room.”
“Almost literally. I thought he was going to need a change of pants,” Mom adds.
We all laugh while Caroline grimaces. “I was a little afraid I’d have to go alone because he couldn’t hold his bowels.”
“If he was too chickenshit to hold himself together, then he wasn’t good enough,” Dad says.
“Aha!” Caro points her finger at him. “You did it on purpose.”
He rolls his eyes. “Of course, I did. They weren’t even loaded. I just got out a polishing rag and pretended like I was doing something very serious.” He mimics a stern expression as if he’s focusing on something of consequence.
“As much as it drove me crazy, I am glad you weeded out the idiots. I learned how to spot them a mile away in college,” I tell him.
“And now look at you. You’ve found a solid man who wouldn’t flinch if I was posturing at him.”
I turn to Teddy. His cheeks have a slight blush blooming, and I’m pretty sure I saw a flash of pride in his eyes. I grab his hand that’s resting on his knee. Tonight has been even better than I ever imagined.
Mom made her famous lasagna with cheesy garlic bread. Teddy and Dad had a silent competition of who could eat more of it, with Teddy winning by one piece of bread. They were laughing at each other by the end of it. It made me all gooey inside.
“Who’s ready for dessert?” Mom asks, grabbing our plates from the table.
Caroline’s and my childhood art still hangs on the walls of the dining room, Caro’s being leaps and bounds better than mine. She always had an eye for it, and now she sells her art around the world for mind-boggling amounts .
Teddy stands to help clear the table, the rest of us following his lead. When Mom pulls out an ice cream cake, Caroline loses it. She makes grabby hands at the dessert while snapping her jaw as if she’s taking large bites out of the air.
“How did you know I’ve been craaaaaving this?”
Mom laughs at her outlandish behavior. “I didn’t even know you were coming home, lovie. I made this for Teddy.”
Caroline grabs the dish and pulls it to her chest. Her glare could stop a grown man in his tracks, and it does. Teddy freezes in place as if he’s not sure what to do. “Mine.”
“You will share,” I tell her, pointing my finger.
“Mooooom. Lottie’s being mean.”
“You won’t get any, Caroline Amelia, if you continue acting like a brat.” Dad frowns at her.
I put my hands on my hips and smirk at her. She sticks her tongue out at me in return.
Mom shoos Caro away from the dessert while I look for Teddy. He’s standing by the dining room table, watching my family as if we’re a zoo exhibit.
I slide next to him, my arm wrapping around his waist. He gazes down at me with a sort of puzzled look on his face.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just… I’ve never seen a family like yours before.”
I grimace. “We’re a little much. And a lot crazy. I hope we didn’t overwhelm you or anything.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “No, not at all. I like it.” My eyes close when he kisses my forehead. Happiness bubbles in my stomach. I never let myself hope for this. As much as I dreamed of finding a man to bring home, I didn’t think it would happen any time soon.
“Awwww. Aren’t they so cute?” Caroline squeals. She has her hands clasped under her chin as she bats her eyelashes.
“Do you need some love, too?” I ask her with my arms stretched out .
She straightens. “No, I’m good.”
I step toward her. “Are you sure?”
“Stay away!” She holds her hands out in a stop gesture. I ignore it and chase after her into the living room, tackling her onto the couch and squeezing the life out of her. We both fall into a fit of giggles while we share a cuddle.
Mom laughs in the background, telling Teddy to ignore our antics.
“I’m really happy for you, Lottie.” Caro’s tone turns serious. “You deserve to find the kind of love Mom and Dad have.”
“So do you,” I remind her.
She shrugs. “I’m not sure it’s in the cards for me.”
“If you don’t want it, then I accept that. If you don’t think you deserve it, well, you have another think coming.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s thing.”
“Mmm. Pretty sure it’s not. Besides, the way I said it makes more sense.”
Caro starts laughing. “I love you, Lottie.”
“Love you back.”