Page 20 of The Fix-Up

“Howdy, Ellie,” Teddy Cane said when I opened the door. He smiled at me with a gap-toothed grin and rheumy blue eyes. As always, he carried with him the faint smell of alcohol. He was too thin for his height and lately, he seemed to be losing weight.

Teddy was about twelve hundred years old. That is if you went by the creases and wrinkles in his face. His gray hair was too long and stringy at the ends, but he was always careful to come with it freshly washed and combed.

He tried. But he lived in a little ramshackle house not too far off the main street. His whole life was a cautionary tale about the evils of alcohol. He’d tried to quit more times than he could count. Most recently, a couple of months ago, but his body hadn’t had any idea how to function without it.

Ollie had been his best friend, or so Teddy said the first time he showed up at the café after Ollie passed, knocking on the back door one day after we closed. I’d never seen him before and wasn’t sure I believed him. But I felt a little sorry for him; he seemed lonely. After asking Ali and Mae if they knew him (turns out, everyone did), I invited him in for a meal. In return, he told me stories of growing up with Ollie and the trouble they got into. I found myself laughing at their antics and liking Teddy.

The more he kept coming around, the more I saw his threadbare clothes or scruffy, unkempt beard and the more he sort of wormed his way into my heart. I understood the power alcohol could have over a person if you let it. So, every Tuesday and Saturday, Teddy showed up and I fed him, and I fussed over him while he pretended not to like it.

I ushered him inside. “Where did you get that cut on your cheek?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” He put a hand to his face. “Just took a little spill the other day.”

I frowned. “Have you been taking care of it?”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” After waving off my concern, he rooted around in the box. He held up a container, grinning widely. “Ah, you made lemon bars. They’re my favorite.”

“Come sit down and I’ll find you a band-aid.”

He scoffed. “I don’t need a band-aid.”

“I need you to have a band-aid. How’s that?”

“Bossy, aren’t you?” With a chuckle, he settled at the counter and began nursing a glass of iced tea I set before him. “You remind me of my sister. Have I told you that?”

“A time or two.” Or a million. He liked to talk about the past, Teddy did. His sister was a favorite topic.

“She was always trying to boss me around even though she was younger than me.” I returned as he was laying a paper napkin across his lap. “Liked to gripe I needed someone to take care of me.”

“Sounds like a smart woman.” I set a plate of food in front of him.

There was a touch of sadness in his eyes. “I miss her griping at me.”

“How long since you’ve seen her?”

“Oh, she’s been gone a long, long time now.” He shook his head like he was trying to physically shake the memories awayand grinned. “Don’t worry none about the ramblings of an old man.”

“I like your ramblings. Now eat. I’m going to find that first-aid kit.”

“See? Bossy.” But he dug into his meal with relish. He raised his voice so I could hear him while I rummaged around in the back. “Hey now, what’s this I hear about Ollie’s grandson showing up?”

“It hasn’t even been a week yet. Does the whole town receive text alerts when new gossip hits?”

“And emails, too.”

“Well, then you already know the answer.” I returned, setting the first-aid kit on the counter. “Why don’t you look surprised about it?”

Teddy shrugged. “I was Ollie’s best friend.”

“But no one knew…”

“I can keep a secret and that’s how Ollie wanted it.” He pointed at me with his fork. “You don’t seem so happy about him showing up.”

“It’s complicated.” I inspected the cut on his cheek. The edges were a little red and angry. “You need to take care of yourself.”

“I’ve been doing it for years actually.”

I snorted and applied some antibacterial gel to the wound. “And look how well that’s going.”

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