Page 7 of True Blue

“Yes. I think we all lash out sometimes, and we say things we don’t mean because we’re hurt and hurt people hurt people. What’s important is the apology. Doesn’t matter if you didn’t mean to hurt your person, you apologize, and you make it right.”

She grins slyly and gestures for me to lean in.

“While I was giving birth to our second daughter, I yelled at my Theodore that I was going to chop it off and keep it in a jar so I would never have to go through childbirth again.”

“Oh my God,” I half-gasp, half-laugh. “No, you didn’t.”

“Oh, I did,” Ellie cackles. “Then after, when I was holding my baby, I apologized. He told me I didn’t have to, and that he understood how much pain I was in, but it doesn’t matter. I hurt my Teddy, and I apologized. And he did the same to me through our forty-five years.”

Ellie’s eyes go a little misty at that, her smile distant, lost in a lifetime of love.

“Thank you for telling me,” I say quietly.

Ellie snaps out of her daze, turning to me with a smile. “Anytime. I love talking about my Theodore. My kids have heard the stories enough; the only one around to tell is my grandson—oh! And speak of my little bear, and he shall appear!”

“Hey, Nana, sorry I got—” I hear a deep, very attractive voice suddenly behind me.

I turn.

And look up... up... up.

Oh.

This is not exactly a ‘little bear’.

He’s tall—giant all over, really—in a navy blue t-shirt with Williams Electric on the front, stretched across his very broad chest. He’s wearing a black baseball cap on backwards, pushing back the dark, wavy hair that matches his thick, trimmed beard.

His eyes are the prettiest shade of green that I’ve ever seen and he’s staring right back at me. He finishes his cut-off sentence with a low, rumbling voice.

“...lost.”

I realize then I’m sitting in the only available chair.

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

“Don’t get up!” he shouts. His deep voice is a little too loud in this room, and it makes me jump. He blushes, “I’m sorry—I mean, you don’t need to get up. Please, sit.”

“No, it’s okay, I have some other patients to check on.”

Ellie is grinning widely, eyes jumping back and forth between us.

“Teddy, this is my Indie—oh, I’m sorry,” she says, before clearing her throat and adopting a professional voice. “Dr. Indie Miller. My wonderful doctor.”

Teddy looks at me once more, a grin on his face and a look of recognition in his eyes.

"Indie," Teddy breathes. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All good things, I hope,” I knot my fingers together behind my back, nervous now.

God, why am I acting like a teenager with her first crush?

“Great things,” his smile only widens, and I feel my face heat.

I nod. “That’s good.”

Ellie chimes in then. “Ain’t she beautiful—I told you she was beautiful—I told him you were a looker, Indie sweetheart.”

“Yes, Nana, you were right,” Teddy’s eyes soften and his tone is honey thick when he speaks. “She’s beautiful.”