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Ted watched the two women hold each other for a while.
“Just go up there and talk to her.” Piper, who’d just arrived, moved to sit beside him.
“What?”
“Go and talk to her, I can see you want to.”
“Who?”
“I’m not dignifying that with an answer. Just do it, you want to.”
“No, I don’t,” Ted denied.
“God, you’re worse than Gracie to train.” She looked disgusted.
“Is there a reason I’m being trained?” Ted asked her.
“The reason is because you care about her and I’ve intercepted a few looks from her that suggests she feels the same way about you. Don’t be a coward, Ted.”
“It’s complicated.” Ted went for honesty. “And I think it’s best we leave it at that.”
“Joe said you were pretty pissed at her today. She doesn’t deserve that, Ted. Mandy’s always flown solo, so learning to change that along with the rest of the stuff she’s working on can’t be easy.”
“I was, but I’ve moved on.”
“That’s big of you, but now you’ve missed your opportunity. She’s walked away.”
He searched for Mandy and couldn’t find her. This was probably a good thing, especially as on the walk here he’d decided to stay angry with her, which would ensure he kept a distance between them.
His phone rang. “Excuse me for a minute.” Getting to his feet, he walked away, pulling it out of his pocket.
He listened to Niki as she outlined an issue she was having. The call took ten minutes before he could end it.
“Hello, Ted.”
“Miss Sarah. Miss Marla. How’s the leg?”
He relaxed when he didn’t see Mandy with her aunts. Maybe she was back at A.S.?
“How’s Mandy?” It would have been weird if he hadn’t asked, and he wasn’t about to tell them he’d just seen her.
“Didn’t you see her at A. S.?”
“Sure, but we didn’t talk.”
“Well then, go ask her yourself. She’s in there looking at a book of tattoos. Apparently it’s all part of her transformation, and she tells us she’s always wanted one,” Miss Marla added.
“On her shoulder,” Miss Sarah added. “See you at the bar, dear. We’re going to have a sherry.”
A tattoo? Surely not?
“Can you tell Mandy where we are going, please, Ted.”
“Ah….” His words fell away as the Robbins ladies headed off down the street.
Glancing in the shop window, he found Mandy looking at magazines. Was she really thinking about getting a tattoo?
Ted entered the shop and moved behind her. The page she was looking at was decorated with cupcakes.
