Page 106 of Fake It 'til You Make It

50

TED

I lay on the guest bed all night fully clothed. I heard the DJ play music, I heard Abbey’s parents, then Dee and Shernette, come to bed.

Now, as the dawn breaks, I quietly grab my things to leave.

I head downstairs in yesterday’s clothes and make for the kitchen to call a cab to the airport, hoping I’ll pick up a flight to San Francisco today.

Only when I reach the kitchen, Anna is sitting at the table, her hands wrapped around a china cup and next to it is a teapot.

‘Sorry, I didn’t think anyone would be up.’

‘I’m an early riser. I have been since my children were small. I’d get up and have a cup of tea in the quiet before the madness of the day. And it appears that I’ll have a grandchild here before long, waking me up to play at five a.m.’

She gets up from the table to retrieve another cup from a display cupboard, then brings it back to the seat opposite her.

‘Is it appropriate to say congratulations?’ I ask tentatively.

‘Despite the circumstances of my coming to know I’m going to be a grandmother again, I’ll never be sad to welcome anotherlittle person into the family.’ She fills the teacup from the teapot then gives me a look that I assume means I’m expected to sit.

‘I don’t know what you think of me, Mike—’ She stops herself and corrects. ‘Theodore.’

‘It’s just Ted, Mrs Mitchell.’

She nods. ‘Ted, then. I’m not sure what my daughter must have told you about me that made her want to lie to us all, but you ought to know how fiercely I love my family.’

‘I can already see that,’ I say, reluctantly lowering myself onto a chair.

‘If I had any inkling that Andrew had cheated on my daughter, there’s no way I would have encouraged them to get back together. I’m not the big bad wolf my daughters seem to think I am. All that I’ve ever wanted for both of them is a good life, strong morals and the right kind of people around them.’

‘I’m sure you and Abbey have things to talk about today but I can tell you that this wasn’t about you. With the benefit of hindsight, Abbey and I got caught up in something that spiraled and grew but at the heart of it, I was running from things I need to deal with and Abbey was trying to save face.’

I sip my tea under her watchful eye. ‘You might not believe this but I’m truly sorry for deceiving her, everyone. I want all of the things you want for Abbey, Mrs Mitchell. You have a beautiful family and I hope that Abbey eventually has a marriage that’s as long and happy as your own. Just not with Andrew. She deserves someone who’ll treasure her and remind her every day how amazing she is. Someone who knows what they’ve found in her and who’ll shift heaven and earth to never lose it. That’s not him.’

‘Is it you, Ted? Are you in love with my daughter?’

Finally, words I don’t need to think about before answering. ‘Yes. Whether I’m the right man for her, we might never get tofind out after everything that’s happened. But am I in love with her? Absolutely. Completely. Insanely.’

Anna sips from her teacup, watching me the entire time across the rim. I’m not sure if I’d actually like to know what she’s thinking or not but I am intrigued.

‘Despite my initial, perhaps ill-judged, reluctance, I like you, Ted. Ironically, I respect your honesty. I like who my daughter is around you – her deception aside, which perhaps I’ll come to understand, as you seem to think I will.

‘You make her happier than I’ve seen her, even despite the circumstances she’s been suffering recently. Her sister and Shernette tell me you’re a good man, and you’re right, Abbey does deserve to have someone who’ll adore her.’

She sets her cup down on her saucer with a clink. ‘Give me a minute to get dressed into something other than my pajamas and I’ll take you to the airport. Presumably that’s where you’re headed.’

‘It is.’ Last night, Abbey stood her ground, defended herself, and showed me what kind of person I want to be. She showed me that I need to stop running, too. ‘But you don’t have to take me. I can call a cab.’

She’s already out of her seat and walking for the door. ‘You’ve made sure you’re up early enough to escape before anyone sees you and you’re in the middle of nowhere. How do you think you’re going to get a cab at this hour?’

She has a very good point and I really don’t want to have to say goodbye to Abbey again. I can’t. So I concede, and whilst Anna gets dressed, I manage to book onto a flight home, to confront my idea of hell the way Abbey did yesterday.

51

ABBEY

I’ve been awake for a while when my mom brings a cup of steaming coffee and two slices of peanut butter toast into my bedroom. I’ve changed out of yesterday’s dress, which I was too exhausted to change out of last night, and into an old dressing gown. But I’m still wearing yesterday’s make-up and I can only imagine how red and puffy my eyes look because they feel horrendously sore.

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