8. Indie #2
But to hear him swear it to me here, in his childhood bedroom after we’ve just made love, makes it feel real.
“Promise?” I whisper.
“Promise,” he says, holding out his pinky. I laugh and hook mine around it, and he bends to seal it with a kiss.
As soon as his lips touch mine—
“Theodore!” Dawn calls, sounding close, and then her footsteps creak against the hardwood. “Are you up here?”
Our eyes widen, and we spring off the bed, tossing each other our clothes from the floor and pulling them on.
The door handle spins, but it holds—thankfully.
“Mom, I’m getting dressed!” Teddy yells, grabbing my sweater and rushing over to me. “Give me a minute!”
“Theodore James, why is the door locked?”
“Because I’m getting dressed! Jesus,” he repeats, helping me pull my sweater over my head and settling it.
As I tuck it back into my jeans, Teddy smooths his hands over my hair before giving me a once-over when I’m done. He nods and pecks my forehead before rushing to the door and unlocking it.
Dawn’s eyes are narrowed in suspicion when she sees me, and I glance down to make sure that my sweater is straight and my jeans are zipped up.
“I was just showing Indie my room.”
Dawn harrumphs skeptically. Her nose wrinkles in distaste as she looks at the rumpled covers on the bed, walking over and straightening them dutifully.
“Theodore, look what I found in the attic,” Dawn says then, showing him a couple of action figures on the dresser. She picks them up and wiggles them, “You used to love these things.”
Teddy grins. “I did, but you should have donated them—”
“And give away your things!” Dawn gasps, looking horrified by the suggestion. “Absolutely not!”
“Mom, I’m not going to play with them. Some other kid could.”
“I just can’t, Theodore. It would make me too sad,” Dawn pouts. “You’re my last baby.”
“You donated Stephanie and Danielle’s things.”
“They told me to.”
“I’m telling you to donate these things—”
“Theodore James, don’t take that tone with me—”
I frown because Teddy didn’t raise his voice, didn’t even change his inflection. Teddy looks chagrined and nods immediately.
“Sorry, Mom.”
She pats her cheek, and he sighs, pecking it while she holds eye contact with me.
My stomach twists unpleasantly, it feels like I’m being purposefully left out, the way Dawn drags Teddy over to his closet to show him his old clothes.
I pull my phone out of my pocket, mostly for something to look at.
A couple of former patients have texted me Happy Thanksgiving. The work group chat shows that the ones who worked today were spoiled with donuts and coffee—much deserved.
Phoebe, who’s been informed about the Dawn situation over the last year, sends me a picture of her and her wife watching the movie Monster-In-Law.
Phoebe
Thought of you for some reason.
Don’t let her grind you down, kiddo.
Easier said than done.
Then I check my emails and freeze.
The top message, sent only hours ago.
Bluewater Cancer Center - Official Employment Offer - Dr. Indiana Miller.
With a shaky thumb, I open the email.
Dear Dr. Miller,
Following the conclusion of your interviews with Bluewater Cancer Center, we are pleased to formally offer you the role of Attending Physician...
“Holy shit…” I whisper.
Teddy and Dawn’s conversation stops and I can feel their eyes on me.
Dawn sighs, “Indie, we don’t use that kind of language in this house—”
I don’t hear her.
Not with my eyes snagging on the offer.
“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! Teddy!”
Teddy rushes over to me, expression concerned.
“Honey?”
“Teddy,” I whisper, looking up to him. “I got it.”
He blinks a few times before murmuring, “Bluewater?”
I nod eagerly.
“Yes, I got it!”
“You got it?”
“I got it!” I say, showing him the email.
Teddy’s whole face changes. His eyes go wide, his mouth drops open, and then he’s laughing, hauling me into his arms like he can’t contain it.
“You got it!” Teddy repeats over and over again, twirling me around. “You got it! You got it! Oh my God, honey! You did it!”
“What is going on?” Dawn demands.
“Indie got the offer!” Teddy says excitedly, placing me back on my feet but not letting me go. “From Bluewater Cancer Center.”
Dawn’s face lights instantly.
“Bluewater? That’s the one all the way in New Jersey, isn’t it?”
I nod eagerly, Teddy leaning down to press a kiss to my cheek. “I’m so fucking proud of you.”
“Oh, Indie, that’s wonderful!” Dawn says, clapping her hands.
I freeze in Teddy’s arms.
What?
“Oh, congratulations,” Dawn says, rushing over to me and pulling me from Teddy’s arms into her own. She squeezes me a little too tightly, and I awkwardly pat her back, not used to this at all. “When do you start? When do you leave?”
“Uh,” I glance at Teddy for help. “It starts in October.”
“Oh,” Dawn’s eyes turn to Teddy. There’s sympathy in her expression. “Isn’t the distance going to be too much for you two?”
“Not at all,” Teddy grins, his arm curling around my waist. “I’ll be going with her.”
Silence.
Dawn blinks rapidly, her expression faltering for the first time.
“What?”
“I’ll be moving with Indie,” Teddy tells her, his voice proud. “We’ve already talked about it.”
Dawn sputters. “You didn’t talk about it with me!”
“I wasn’t aware I needed to,” Teddy says, frowning.
“This affects the whole family, Theodore!”
Dawn takes a step closer to him, her expression turning wounded and incredulous in equal measure.
“Your father has built that business with the understanding that one day you would step into it. How the hell are you going to do that in New Jersey?”
“He can hire someone else,” Teddy shrugs. “Or sell the business.”
“Sell it?” she repeats, her voice shrill. “That company has been in your father’s family for three generations. Passed from father to son, and you want him to just sell it?”
Her eyes flick to me for the briefest second before returning to Teddy.
“Theodore James, what on earth are you thinking?”
“That my girlfriend got her dream job,” Teddy replies, squeezing my waist. “And that I want to be where she is, forever.”
“But what about your dreams?”
“Being an electrician is not my dream, Mom.”
“But Cape May is almost nine hundred miles away,” she says. “You’d just... leave? Leave your father’s business? Leave your family? Leave me?! For what?”
“For Indie,” Teddy smiles, looking right at me. “I’d be going for Indie.”
I return his smile and cuddle into his chest, but glance at Dawn. Her jaw is clenched hard enough to look painful, and her bloodshot eyes are burning green. I shiver. Teddy must feel it because his arm tightens around me.
The smile on Dawn’s face looks like she’s just declared war.