Page 9 of Single Teddy
Lavender bushes lined the walkway onto the porch, which was decorated with several potted flowers and a purple rocking chair.
Of all the places I’d passed, this house looked the most glorious and gorgeous, like a little slice of heaven in the middle of paradise island. I couldn’t imagine anything going wrong in a house that looked so tucked away from the rest of the world. That stood so serene and secretive.
“One day,” I told the house, “one day, we’ll live in a place like this.”
I felt silly saying it, but one of the things that had helped me all my life was visualizing my goals when I set them. I’d drawna sketch of myself in camo and hung it over my bed, keeping it there until I got into BUD/S.
When I stressed about Evals, I’d pin a printed image of the next rank to help me fight for it harder.
And when faced with difficult situations out in the field, I’d close my eyes and picture the victims, the survivors, the people we were there to save. It didn’t have to be all of them. Just one. I’d conjure the image of one person, and then there was nothing I wouldn’t do to succeed in rescuing them.
And when my parents wanted to take custody of Bear, I only had to imagine my nephew turning into a Bible-thumping whack job before the decision to retire to look after him became as easy as breathing.
So it only made sense to do the same now. I took a mental, and digital, picture of the beautiful dream home and resumed my run with renewed enthusiasm.
“Oh, Teddy, you’re here!” Autumn exclaimed as soon as I walked through the front door of Luna’s Lodge. She was coming in from the breakfast room with a plate full of cinnamon buns.
“Hey,” I said and looked down at her plate. “Are you feeding an army?”
She followed my gaze and chuckled.
“Oh. No. Just got a sweet tooth, although thesesodon’t hit the spot.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Really? They look delicious.” I reached for one and took a bite, then rocked my head from side to side. “It’s…inoffensive.”
“That’s one way to put it. More sugar than cinnamon, but poor Mr. Rogers can only handle so much at his age. So frozen buns it is.”
Frozen or not, after the run I’d just had, I wolfed it down while Autumn returned the plate to the room.
I started to go upstairs, but she reappeared and stopped me in my tracks.
“And where do you think you’re going?”
“Um…my room?” I turned around slowly and looked at this stranger who treated me as if we’d already been friends for years, and smiled.
I would take all the friends I could get in this new town and life, and Autumn wasn’t a bad person to have on my side.
“You’re coming with me,” she said.
“Where?” I asked.
“You need a job, don’t you?”
“Y…yes?” I answered.
“Are you not sure? Do you need to ask the audience?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No, I’m just…not sure what you’re talking about.”
She put her hands on her hips and stared me down as if she were about to scold a child. I shrank a few inches despite her being smaller than me.
“Didn’t Wyatt tell you he’d take care of you and Bear?”
I nodded.
“So…do you need a job or not?”
