40. Theo
THEO
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Kerry Winsor: Wow, I can’t believe not much happened!
Comments:
Tammy Jane: I’m really sure Theo and Piper are dating.
Marjorie Brown: They are. I’ve gotten permission to confirm.
Jackie Anne: WHAT!!!
Kerry Winsor: It’s such a shame THAT NOTHING IS HAPPENING!
Tammy Jane: She’s lost it. I knew this day would come.
Piper M: She’s just having a hard time.
Tammy Jane: Do she know something???
Kerry Winsor: NO. She knows NOTHING!
Summer continued, and with it came a peace I didn’t know was possible. Piper was a staple in my life, blending into it seamlessly.
I found a new balance with work now that we’d hired a third person that left me enough time off to live.
Even though the town watched us with raised eyebrows, I’d heard that they were happy for us both.
Some nights, I wondered when it would all end, but those thoughts started to fade as I enjoyed life.
Piper seemed as happy as I was, or at least I hoped she was.
I knew things weren’t resolved between her and Joey, but she was putting on a brave face while she tried to figure out how to move forward with him.
I gave her time, content to simply exist with her, but I knew she would bring it up eventually.
And one July morning, she did exactly that.
“I think I need to talk to him.”
I didn’t have to ask who it was. “Yeah?”
“He’s given me space, which I asked for. The anger has faded a little bit and I feel . . . I don’t know, like I want to try to move on? Is it a stupid idea?”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “He doesn’t like me, which is fine, but he was a big part of your life, so if you want to try with him, then so do I.”
“Joey wasn’t always like this,” she said. “Seriously, things were decent before I moved here.”
“He feels like he failed, which isn’t a fun feeling.”
Piper let out a long breath and then looked at her phone. “He hasn’t seen how different things are here. Maybe it’s time for him to. We should do something with him.”
“We’re out of blueberries,” I offered. “We could get more.”
“Joey isn’t gonna like an offer of taking him to the farmers market, and you always work that day.”
“I wasn’t suggesting that. We’ve been meaning to go to Bennie Grove.”
“Oh.” Her eyes went wide. “That could be fun. And it’s a bit more relaxed. I’m gonna offer to meet up there. Thank you, Theo.”
“Before you go—” I pulled out a box. “This is for you.”
“From Freya?”
“She made scones.”
“Yes,” she said. “Thank you.”
With a sweet smile, she was gone.
“Look at you,” Kelsey said from behind me. “I knew you would be a great boyfriend.”
“Yeah, yeah. How many I told you so’s are you gonna give me?”
“A million.” She laughed. “Still, I’m happy for you. So is everyone else.”
“I hear.”
“And you’re not complaining. You know what I call that? Growth.”
I rolled my eyes and focused on the next customer.
“Hey, Atticus. Want your hazelnut latte today?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Make it a double espresso, please. Traveling out to see Gabe always takes it out of me.”
I nodded and put it in, but as I went to hit the button, I paused. I’d always cared about what happened in town, but I never asked. If I got too involved, I knew I’d regret it.
Yet I cared anyway.
“How are things with him?” I found myself asking.
Atticus blinked and I could feel a similar sense of shock from Kelsey, who had started his order. I wondered if he wouldn’t answer, and I’d know that I wasn’t truly a part of things.
I wanted to be, though.
“Not his best. This trip wasn’t planned, but he asked me to come out.”
“Gabe asked for something?” Kelsey said. “Wow. Must be rare.”
“It is,” Atticus said. “But I went and helped out where I could. He’s on his own out there, and sometimes I wonder if that’s what’s best for him.”
I’d never met Gabriel. He’d left right before I moved into town, but from what I’d heard, it didn’t sound like he needed anyone.
“You could try to convince him to come back,” Kelsey said. “It took Mom a while, but it worked on me.”
Atticus laughed. “He wouldn’t listen if I tried. I’m his stepdad, not his real one. Though, I wonder if he would’ve listened to him. Kid’s got a hard head.”
“I know someone like that.” Kelsey looked at me.
“This town is filled with stubborn people.” Atticus shook his head. “You two do me a favor and keep this between us, okay? If the kid knew I said anything, he’d kill me. He doesn’t want anyone in town to know about him.”
“You trusted the right people,” Kelsey said.
“I figured. Thanks for asking, Theo. I needed to vent a little.” He handed over his card with a smile, and I ran it, still marveling over the fact that he’d talked to me.
I’d stayed one foot out with the town.
Now I didn’t want to.
“Looks like a lot of stuff is changing,” Kelsey said. “You, included.”
Joey agreed to meet the next day. Piper was worried about things going wrong, so she wanted to meet up only at Bennie Grove Farm so Mollie could keep an eye on things as well.
I knew she was nervous, judging by the way her leg wouldn’t stop bouncing. I was too, but I was ready for this to go wrong. Him not liking me sometimes felt more comfortable than everyone else’s unyielding acceptance.
“That’s them in the silver car,” Piper said. I nodded and pulled in next to them. She went to open the door, but paused before she touched the handle. “Just so you know, there’s nothing they can say that would ever change my mind about you.”
“I know.”
“I need some of your calmness.”
“You are doing perfectly fine,” I reminded her. “Take a breath, and then we’ll go out.”
She nodded and sucked in air before opening the door.
I’d met Joey and Mitch before, before I’d even decided what to do. It had been nerve-racking then, but something had changed ever since.
Joey frowned when he saw me. His ire was obvious. I only nodded pleasantly.
His partner didn’t seem to have the same reservations.
“Hi,” Mitch said with a smile. “It’s really nice to meet you. Again, I guess. Do you shake hands?”
I held my own out. “I do. And the first time was more of a passing glance.”
I saw Joey bite down on his words. Piper’s smile dimmed.
Mitch elbowed Joey, which pulled the other man out of his thoughts.
“Uh, nice to see you both too.” He gave a smile before looking at the farm. “This is a nice place. They do blueberries too?”
“They do,” Piper said. “I haven’t gotten a chance to come by yet, but I get a lot from Mollie when she’s at the farmers market.”
“You went?”
“Yes, I told you before that I’ve gone. Theo goes with me.”
Joey’s gaze bounced between the two of us. “You two go together.”
“When the shop’s not busy, yes. I ask him to take a break when I want to go down.”
Joey opened his mouth to ask something else, but we were interrupted by the sound of small footsteps on grass.
“Jasmine!” Mollie yelled. “Get back here.”
It was an automatic response. I gently put my hand on Piper’s elbow and moved her out of the way. Jasmine kept running, stopping right in front of me instead.
“Didn’t your mom tell you to wait?” I asked.
“That’s boring.” She pouted.
It was just enough time for Mollie to catch up.
“Thanks!” she said. “Sorry, Piper.”
“It’s fine. I know how kids can be.” She looked down at Jasmine and waved. “Hi.”
Jasmine waved back with more energy than I had in a day. “Do you wanna pick some blueberries?”
“I think we do,” Piper said with a smile. “Where can we pick?”
“Between the flags.” The little girl recited it like she’d memorized it.
Mollie watched it all before she turned to Mitch and Joey. “Are you guys picking too?”
“I sure am,” Mitch said as he grabbed the basket. “This place is incredible.”
“Thank you. It’s passed down from my grandfather, and I’ve tried to make it as awesome as it was when I was a kid.”
“You’re definitely doing that,” Piper said. “I wish I’d made it in time for strawberry picking.”
“We try to keep it going all through the growing season, so I do have some everbearing strawberries you could check out.”
“Yes, please.”
“They’re in the other field. I’d go with you, but Jasmine is demanding to see one of the cows.”
“Moosely!” Jasmine added.
“That’s her name,” Mollie explained. “Will you call me when you’re done?”
“Yep,” Piper said. “Thank you!”
“So, do you know her?” Joey asked when Mollie was halfway to the animal fields.
“Yeah, she’s one of my friends. I’ve gone to a few events with her and three other women in town.”
“All at the same time?” he asked slowly.
“They’re all really understanding about the no-touching thing. Most people here are.”
Joey’s gaze cut to me, and I knew he was aware that I was an exception to Piper’s rule.
I wasn’t sure he liked that fact.
“That was a smooth move,” Mitch said to me. “You moved her out of the way just in time.”
“Thanks. Most people respect personal space. Kids don’t.”
“There was this one time I dumped my coffee on myself when she ran at me like that.” Piper sighed. “I’ve come a long way since then.”
“You have,” I agreed.
“You were okay with him touching you to move you?” Joey asked.
“We agreed on it beforehand,” Piper said. “I’m fine.”
Joey slowly nodded, thankfully keeping his thoughts to himself. Piper narrowed her eyes at him, but walked toward the bushes that Jasmine had pointed out.
Out of habit, I grabbed Piper’s hand. She turned to me with a smile, but I could feel Joey’s stare.
We got into the bushes, and I had to let go so we could get blueberries. Mollie’s bushes were massive and spanned into the distance. There were bundles of deep blue berries waiting for us.
“Careful, Joey,” Piper said. “I’ve heard there’re spiders.”
“There’re what?” He froze.
“We’re outside,” Mitch added. “There are gonna be spiders.”
“But, like, where I can touch them?”
Piper laughed. “Yep, but it’s normal and sometimes you have to face your fears.” She gestured to the bushes. “Just follow my lead.”
Joey blinked in shock, but she led me to a bush with lots of berries.
“That was pretty smart.”
“Thanks,” she said. “How am I doing?”
“As amazing as always.”
Her cheeks were red as she turned to the bush. Eventually, Joey and Mitch joined us, and we got to work getting all the berries we could find.
Whatever thoughts Joey had, he kept them to himself, and I was grateful. I liked Mitch, and we talked about how I got into coffee. Joey was quiet for most of the time, watching me closely.
I let him. I wasn’t doing anything wrong.
And it was time I accepted that.
“I see you didn’t take my advice.” Joey said it as I was paying. I looked up, seeing that Jasmine was talking to Piper about something, and Mitch had joined. I hadn’t even realized Joey and I were alone.
“I didn’t,” I said slowly. “And I’m glad I didn’t.”
He crossed his arms and looked at Piper, who was smiling and laughing as she listened to the little girl’s story. It was becoming normal to see her practically radiate happiness these days, and I loved it.
It was hard to take my eyes off of her, but I didn’t trust Joey.
He stared at Piper with arms crossed. “I think she’s glad too,” he said quietly. “It’s funny. I thought I knew what was best for her. Guess I was wrong.”
“You don’t have to be the one who knows what’s best for her. She knows.”
He blinked and finally focused on me. “You sound like you’ve got it all figured out.”
“I don’t.”
“Well, you’re better for her than I am.” He sighed. “She’s happy here.”
I took a breath, trying to see it from his perspective. “You care about her a lot. That’s why you do all this, right?”
“She’s family to me. More so than anyone I’m actually related to. I want her to be happy, but she seemed so miserable that I wanted it all gone.”
“But it’ll never be gone. It’s always there.”
Joey nodded, but his brow was pinched. “You sound like you speak from experience.”
“I do.”
“What kind of experience?”
My shoulders tensed. We’d been talking normally, but now it felt like he was zeroed in on me again, trying to figure out every one of my secrets.
There were quite a few I didn’t trust him with.
“I’m not going to hurt her,” I answered. “Is that not enough?”
His eyes narrowed, but a hand landed on my arm. I tore my eyes from him and looked down at Piper.
“Everything okay?” she asked, eyes darting between the two of us.
“Yeah, everything is fine.” Joey nodded, all tension gone from his face. “I was just getting to know Theo a little bit. I can see why you like him.”
Piper blinked, but a smile made its way onto her face. I had to pause. Was that what he was doing? Just getting to know me?
I was so sure that he was suspicious of me.
Piper had warned me I had a bad habit of thinking the worst, and I shook off my worries. Joey was here. Joey was trying.
All of those experiences were in the past, and I needed to trust that not everyone was out to judge me for who I used to be.
It was something I learned from Piper, and I needed to put it into practice.
“Really?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “We’re all good, love.”
“Good. What would you all say to going to the diner then? I bet you’d love the burgers, Joey.”