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Ted had wokenwith Mandy in his arms, feeling calmer and more rested than he had in weeks.
Last night he’d seen her in that dress, looking like an angel, and his first thought had beenmine. She’d been talking to the bank manager, smiling, and Ted had wanted to grab Andrew and beat the shit out of him. Jealousy, he’d soon realized, was an extremely uncomfortable emotion. He’d followed her when he realized she’d left the party, needing to see her.
She’d opened the door to him with her hair curling around her cheeks. Her feet had been bare, as had her legs, and she wore a soft pink bathrobe that came to her knees.
Hunger had rocked him back on his heels, and he’d known then why he was there. Quite simply, he couldn’t keep his distance any longer from Mandy.
He’d drunk tea and talked to her about Emily, and it had felt right to do so. He’d then slept, waking in the early hours of the morning on her sofa. He should have left her to sleep; instead, he’d woken her up and worshipped every inch of her lovely body, and she’d been with him every step of the way.
He could still feel the warmth of her pressed into him. He’d woken early like he always did and spent some time watching Mandy sleep, just because he could. As he lay there, he realized he felt calmer inside being near her. Almost like she balanced him out. The craziness that was sometimes his life didn’t touch him while he lay there.
He couldn’t deny it any longer. Mandy Robbins was important to him. He’d even say vital.
He’d left, washed and dressed for work, and tried to focus. The task had been almost impossible. So he sat at his desk and thought about Emily, allowed her inside his head, something he rarely did, and that hadn’t hurt as much as it usually did either. Talking about her had helped him. He knew that because the pain inside him was still there, but it had eased, and that was because of Mandy too. Because of her he’d started changing for the better.
At 11:00 a.m. he headed downstairs to say goodbye to his family.
“Don’t be a stranger, son.” His father hugged him.
“I won’t be this time, Dad. Promise.”
He hugged all his family and said he’d enjoyed their stay, even to his mother and Anthony.
“I’ll bring Rita next month,” Toby told him.
“I’d like that.”
As he watched his family roll out the gates Ted had a feeling he’d turned the corner of acceptance with them too. He’d stop blaming them for something they’d had no control over.
Maybe you need to understand nothing could have been done to save her, Ted. And stop punishing yourself and your family.Mandy had said that last night, and she was right.
The need to see her, to tell her what he now knew was inside him, had him getting in his car and heading for Tea Total.
“Hey, Luke, Mandy about?” he said, entering the shop.
“Hey, Ted. It’s weird, she was here, then went for a soda thirty minutes ago, and hasn’t returned yet.
“Maybe she’s taking a phone call?”
“I went up to her apartment to find out where she was, she didn’t answer my knock, yet I never saw her leave and her car’s still there.”
“Did you call her aunts?”
“Tried that, but they’re not answering.”
“But she could have slipped down the side of the shop?”
“It’s possible, but knowing Mandy, she would have told me if she wasn’t coming back, especially as she promised me a soda.”
That was true. Mandy would never promise and not deliver.
“You think she’s sick? Could it be her diabetes?” The thought made Ted’s stomach clench. Was she upstairs in some kind of pain?
“She didn’t look sick or say that she was, and I watched her eat earlier.”
“Okay, thanks, Luke. You going to lock up?’
“Sure. I’ll just finish this coat, then head home. You call me if she’s got a problem.”
