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“Be happy, Ted. I know I plan to be.”
He watched her drive away from him and wondered why he felt a deep, searing pain inside his chest, almost like she’d taken something with her that he needed to exist.
Chapter 31
Mandy had kept busy since the day she’d driven away from Ted. The day she’d told him how she felt, and he’d looked like he was coming down with something fatal.
She was done feeling sad and crying over a man who would only ever be her friend. Well, that was the plan, and yet she wasn’t entirely sure she could carry that off.
For years she’d stayed away from emotional involvement. Wanted to keep herself safe and distant from people. It was ironic that the man who had helped her morph into a functioning, participating human was the one who didn’t want a relationship with her.
I’ll laugh about it one day, but not now.
She’d opened herself up to this. Taken a chance, and it had backfired. But she wouldn’t regret it. Ted had taught her to feel.
Mandy knew it wasn’t love she felt, because surely that didn’t happen so fast. But maybe it was first love, the puppy kind that she’d missed out on in her teenage years.
A man had paid her attention, and she’d thought it wonderful, amazing, but now it was time to move on.
Dressing in her new sage-green dress, she stepped into the wedge sandals Rory insisted she buy and decided today was the day she would go to the bank. Today she needed to be brave, because if her last encounter with Ted had taught her anything, it was that she could be that.
Collecting her folder, she left the apartment. Today she was doing what she should have days ago—visiting the bank manager.
She headed down Main Street and walked in through the doors, fighting back the nerves.
“Can I see Mr. Gleeson please, Beth?”
“I’ll see if he has time, Mandy. You may have to make an appointment,” the woman manning reception said.
Her nerves climbed as she watched Beth speak with the manager on her phone.
“You’re in luck, his 10:30 a.m. has canceled. He’ll see you now.”
Mr. Gleeson had taken over from the last bank manager, Mr. Harvey, a man who had been with the bank for as long as Mandy had lived here. He’d been a man they trusted, and he’d broken that trust every way possible.
“Miss Robbins.” Mandy had seen him around Ryker Falls and thought he was about her age. His smile was nice as he waved her to a seat.
“Mr. Gleeson.”
“Call me Andrew.”
“And I’m Mandy.”
“I don’t believe we’ve talked before, which in a town like Ryker Falls is quite something.”
“Yes, the locals do tend to make themselves known,” Mandy conceded.
“They do, and in a good way. They’ve made me feel at home since I arrived.”
“I’m glad.”
“So how can I help you today, Mandy?” He moved to sit behind his desk.
She started like Ted had told her, outlining what she wanted, and then showed him her figures and worked through her proposal. Mandy had answers to all his questions, thankfully.
“You’ve been thorough.”
“I had help,” Mandy conceded.
