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“When I was young, something happened. But I’m okay now.” She told him the truth.
“That’s good to know.”
“I’m thinking of moving out, Dylan.” Mandy wasn’t sure why’d chosen him to tell, and yet the words came out.
“Where are you thinking of moving to?”
“The apartment above Timms’s Bookstore.”
“I’d say that’s a great idea. What do your aunts think?”
“They’ll like the idea simply because they want the best for me and believe that’s doing things like this.”
“They’re pretty cool, it has to be said. My mom is way too uptight.”
“She means well.”
He laughed. “You’d be the only person in Ryker Falls who has something nice to say about her. Nice work on making her pay for the catering, by the way. You should have done that years ago.”
“She told you that?”
“Yup, and I told her she should be ashamed of herself.”
“She loves Grace, and for that you can forgive most things.”
“There is that.” He got to his feet. “If you need anything or just want to talk, you know where to find me, Mandy.”
“I do, and thanks, Dylan.”
“And now I need to go and see the patient.”
“And I need to close up Tea Total.”
“Take care of you, Mandy.”
“I will.”
She sat there watching him walk down the stairs. Heard him talk to her aunts, and only when the front door had shut behind him did she get to her feet.
Take care of you, Mandy.
She was going to try that. Just like she was going to try and be more open and stronger. The Mandy rebuild would be slow and steady. She’d try not to let that asshole who’d scared her dictate what she did in her life any longer.
Chapter 12
Ted liked his life to run smoothly, just like the lodge, which usually was the case. Lately, not so much. Needing an outlet for the frustration and time to work through his thoughts, he decided to work out.
With sweat running down his body, he felt good pounding on the punching bag. It was only when he stopped and moved to the rowing machine that the tension inside him climbed again, because Mandy arrived.
“Hi.”
He grunted a hello back, and continued rowing.
He’d said she could come anytime, so chances were they’d meet up at some stage. Today, however, he wanted solitude.
He’d ignore her. It couldn’t be that hard to do.
She started stretching like he’d told her to, just inside his peripheral vision. Ted was fairly sure those deep blue tights were new ones. The small white dots stretched as she moved.
