Chapter 10 Theo
Theo
Saturday afternoon was too bright.
Not in a bad way but it just felt rude, considering the restless night he’d had.
Theo drove with the windows down, music low, the air still cool enough to trick him into thinking he’d slept. He hadn’t. Not really. He’d gotten out of bed early enough to record two more Paul chapters.
His phone buzzed over the Bluetooth.
Mom.
He smiled and answered. “Hey, Ma.”
“Hey, honey,” came her voice, warm and relaxed. There was a breeze in the background and the distant sound of splashing. “How’s my Teddy Bear?”
“I’m fine. You sound like you’re living the soft life.”
“Joan is at the breakfast buffet, and I’m drinking my coffee poolside,” she sighed. “I might never come home.”
“You earned it.”
“I suppose… Thank you for treating us to this resort. It wasn’t too expensive, was it?”
Theo rolled his eyes. She’d asked the same thing at least three times. “I found a discount,” he lied.
“You sure it wasn’t too much? Because you’re not working at Intel anymore, you know.”
He hadn’t worked there in five years, but Beth still acted like he was one missed paycheck away from a bridge underpass. He’d tried explaining how the podcast brought in money, but to her, stability meant a 9-to-5 with a paystub you could hold in your hand.
“I’m fine, Ma. I just want you and Aunt Joan to stay out of trouble and keep away from those sun-damaged retirees…”
She scoffed. “We’re going on a boat today, so no promises. Where are you headed?”
“I’m about to arrive at the Brooks’ house now. Figured I’d check in before the anniversary party. Bring Nadine some of those peach scones she likes from Ray’s Bakery.”
“Oh, she loves those…”
He slowed his speed on Forest Avenue, searching for the Brooks’ house, and spotted a very familiar gray Hyundai Elantra in the driveway. The same one that had parked on his street last night.
He slowed down. “Shit.”
“What?”
“Maya’s already here,” he said, voice flat.
That earned a chuckle. “I know Nadine’s excited to see her. Maya is usually radio-silent before a release.”
“Yeah… last night, she told me she forgot all about the anniversary party.”
“Last night?” Beth murmured. “You were able to get a hold of her?”
“It was work-related,” Theo said, parking behind Maya’s car.
“Hmm."
He could almost hear the smile in that one syllable.
Theo shifted in his seat, suddenly too warm. “I’m just helping her with an audiobook. We’re on a tight deadline. So, if you could keep that to yourself, that would be great.”
“Why would I need to keep it a secret?” she asked.
She had him there.
“It was her call. Please don’t say anything when you’re gossiping with Nadine.”
His mother laughed loudly. “Fair enough, Teddy Bear... Tell everyone I said hello.”
“Will do. I love you, Ma.”
When his mother hung up, he stared between the three-story house and Maya’s car, wondering how he’d possibly face her in front of her parents.
There was only one way to find out.
Theo grabbed the box of scones, tucked the little daffodil bouquet under his arm, and climbed the porch steps.
The door creaked open a few seconds after he knocked—
And there she was.
Barefoot. A soft sweatshirt hanging off one shoulder. Sleep-warmed skin and wild curls gathered into a loose bun.
Theo barely had time to register the shock on Maya’s face before a voice called out behind her:
“Is that Teddy?!”
Nadine Brooks swept into view, apron on, slippers shuffling, and joy written across every inch of her face. Her skin flushed copper, and her dark-brown eyes crinkled at the corners when she looked up at him. She was still in a black satin bonnet, gray strands of hair peeking from the band.
Before he could answer, she was already wrapping him in a warm, lavender-scented hug that knocked the wind right out of him.
“Oh, look at you!” she said, pulling back to cup his face. “Still handsome, still tall… still single?”
Maya made a strangled sound behind him.
Theo laughed, caught off guard and completely smitten by the attention. “Hey, Miss Nadine.”
“You brought flowers?” she asked, eyes softening. “And scones? My God, someone raised this boy right.”
“She says hello, by the way,” he murmured.
“I’m going to call Beth today and tell her you came!” she promised. “Is she having fun in California?”
“She is. Aunt Joan was glad to finally see her.”
Maya had backed up to let them have their moment. Her arms were crossed now, posture calm but her eyes were sharp.
Nadine turned toward her daughter. “Did you know he was coming by?”
“She might’ve had an idea,” Theo said before Maya could answer, keeping it light.
Maya narrowed her eyes at him.
Nadine clapped her hands once, cheerful and commanding. “Well, come in, come in. I just made a fresh pot, and George is still fiddling with the damn speaker like it’s a moon landing. We could use a real tech man around here.”
She bustled away down the hallway.
Theo stepped inside, his shoulder brushing lightly against Maya’s as he passed her.
She didn’t move, but in a low voice she muttered: “You’ll behave?”
He frowned. “Were you expecting me to make out with you in your parents’ kitchen or something?”
Maya scoffed and rolled her eyes, but didn’t reply.
Instead, she turned and followed her mother toward the kitchen.
Theo exhaled, shut the door behind him, and tried very hard not to imagine making out with her in her parents’ kitchen.
When he joined the family, he found George was hunched over a sleek but slightly smudged Bluetooth speaker on the counter, glasses low on his nose, muttering under his breath.
“And you brought peach scones?” Nadine asked, opening the box like it was treasure. “Yes, please.”
“I remembered you liked the ones from Rays,” Theo said.
“Now, tell us,” Nadine said, pouring him a mug and handing it over. “How’s your radio show going? I saw your name on something Nate posted. Remind me again… you’re telling scary stories?”
Theo smiled. “That’s the short version.”
“And people pay to listen?”
“Some do,” he said, trying to keep it modest. “We’ve got a Patreon and ad sponsors. The merch is doing pretty well. Someone made a scented candle based on a haunted house from episode 13.”
George didn’t even look up. “What’s it smell like? Dead people and mildew?”
“Kinda…”
Nadine raised a skeptical eyebrow, just like her daughter. “But does it have to be scary?”
“People like being scared every now and then.”
“Hmph,” she said. “Only time I’ve ever been scared was when the rent was due. Maybe I should listen.”
“I’ll send you the link,” he said, grinning.
“You’d better.”
George let out a grunt of pure frustration. “Damn thing won’t pick up a connection.”
Theo leaned in casually. “Mind if I take a look?”
“Be my guest,” George muttered, stepping aside.
Theo bent slightly, tapped the reset button at the base of the speaker, held it until it blinked, then opened the Brooks’ Wi-Fi menu on his phone and re-paired it manually to the speaker’s ID.
Two more taps, and Coltrane’s saxophone purred into the kitchen like nothing had ever gone wrong.
George blinked. “What the hell did you do?”
Theo took a sip of coffee. “Just hit the right button.”
Nadine looked at her husband, then at Theo, and let out a long, admiring sigh.
“This boy’s a treasure,” she said. “How are you still single?”
He took care not to look at Maya when he answered. “The women I want are usually out of my league.”
George scoffed. “Well, hell,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “If I had moves like you, Nadine would’ve married me a lot sooner.”
Theo laughed politely.
Nadine flashed her husband a coy grin. “Please. You had your charms.”
George kept going. “I’m serious. Deep voice, good manners, tech-savvy, brings his own scones? You sure you’re not trying to make moves on my woman?”
His wife rolled her eyes. “Oh, hush. Teddy’s not trying to mess around with an old lady,” she said sarcastically.
Maya stood so quickly her chair wobbled behind her.
“I’m gonna step outside,” she said, setting her mug down like it betrayed her. “Get some air.”
Oh boy…
Nadine reached up into the cabinet for a container of sugar and stirred it into her mug with purposeful grace.
“She’s burning the candle at both ends again,” she said in a hushed voice. “Staying up too late. Not eating real meals. You know how she gets when she’s writing.”
Theo nodded slowly. “Locked in.”
“More like locked up,” George murmured from his seat, adjusting his glasses. “That girl can disappear into a book like she owes it money.”
“She’s always had that tunnel vision,” Nadine said, taking a sip. “When she was in school, she used to run on two hours of sleep and caffeine, like it was normal. Thought if she slowed down, she’d fall behind.”
Theo’s chest twinged. Yeah, that tracked.
“Simone says she’s barely making time for a full meal,” Nadine continued. “And now she says Maya has to record this book on top of everything else. Who knows when she sleeps.”
Theo hesitated. “She’ll get through it. She always does.”
“That’s the problem,” Nadine said, setting her mug down. “She always gets through it, because nobody steps in.”
George snorted. “That’s because she won’t let anyone step in.”
“It’s just going to turn into a vicious cycle,” her mother continued.
Theo stayed quiet.
He had an idea of what that cycle looked like.
When the deadlines at Intel kept stacking up, he’d also push through.
He’d skipped meals and slept at his desk, brushing off help with a tight smile and a “just need to finish this one thing.” But one thing turned into twenty.
The praise kept coming, the pressure too, until he couldn’t tell the difference.
By the time he quit, he wasn’t sleeping at all. Just pacing the apartment, wired and empty.
“But she’s always been independent like that,” Nadine said, crossing her arms.
“Barely let me teach her how to ride a bike,” her father recalled. “Just pulled the handlebars away and said, ‘I’ll do it myself.’ I don’t think Nate was ever that hardheaded.”
“Well, to be fair, the age-gap practically makes Nate an only-child,” Nadine added. “He was a clingy little thing. Always underfoot, while Maya already had one foot out the door.”
He pressed his lips together to keep from laughing at her parents’ back and forth.
“And after that awful Julian,” Nadine added, her voice dropping just enough to signal that she had some hot gossip.
“I don’t know if she’ll ever deal with another man.
He made her so defensive with all his nit-picking.
He didn’t like what she wrote, didn’t like that she quit her program. Always had something slick to say.”
“Don’t forget, he skipped her book signings,” George added, matter-of-fact. “I mean, if your woman writes a book, you show up and clap for her. That’s just what you do.”
“Just raggedy…” Nadine intoned.
Theo said nothing, but his jaw ticked.
“Now, I don’t need her married,” Nadine clarified quickly. “That’s not what I mean. But she deserves someone steady to lean on if she needs it. Someone kind.”
Theo looked down into his coffee.
When Nadine glanced at him again, she smiled before switching gears. “Well, anyway, I’m just carrying on now… Are you ready for our party?”
Theo blinked, caught off guard by the sudden pivot. It was classic Nadine—gossiping about her own children before violently changing subjects.
“Uh, yeah,” he said. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“Of course we invited you,” George chimed in, tapping his fingers to a chaotic Coltrane rhythm on the kitchen table. “You know the rule: if you can fix my tech, you get a bed and a plate.”
Theo smiled at George’s modesty. In truth, the man had always given him far more than a bed and a plate. But he played along and chuckled. “Perfect trade.”