Page 80 of True Blue

Mom brags about Danielle and Stephanie’s careers because saying they have lucrative careers in Ireland and Arizona is better than telling people your daughters moved as far away from you as possible.

Mom always told me it was bitterness and jealousy because I was her favorite. She said it in that tone where you think she’s joking, but there’s an underscore of truth. Mom’s always cared about appearance first and foremost, and every little accomplishment of mine, she made sure to highlight and broadcast to the world.

Honestly, when I brought Indie home to meet my family, I thought Mom would love her.

Hell, I even joked to myself that Mom would finally have something new to brag about to her friends.

My Theodore brought home a doctor.

But instead, when I saw Mom the next day and excitedly asked what she thought of Indie, she paused for a long time before speaking.

“She’s a little… cold,” she said, sounding hesitant.

“Cold?” The word gutted me. Indie was warmth, pure wildfire.

“I’m not sure, Theodore. She just seemed a little detached. She barely talked to anyone besides Mother. She didn’t try to get to know any of us. And she looked… well… she could have stopped home and changed out of her scrubs first.”

“Mom, she worked all day, and she still came to dinner⁠—”

“—and it’s not exactly a hardship to come to a free dinner and look a little more put together,” she huffed.

“Mom,” I said, adding some firmness to my voice, feeling defensive. “I love her. She’s always beautiful to me.”

Her mouth pursed before she put on a bright grin.

“You’re my baby, Theodore. I just want what’s best for you.”

“I know,” I nodded. “And what’s best is Indie.”

“If you’re sure,” she sighed.

“I’m positive.”

I wanted them to love Indie, because I’m pretty sure I fell in love with her the moment we met.

And she’s… everything.

Kind, brilliant, and devastatingly beautiful. Wonderfully awkward, so sexy it makes me feel stupid. When she laughs, the world changes to Technicolor.

I thought my mom would come around and grow to love Indie the way I do, the way Nana did, the way Stephanie and Danielle do. My dad and my uncles didn’t pay much attention to her, but they weren’t exactly men overflowing with emotional warmth.

Pop was.

I’ll always remember that. Nana would say something from across the room, and Pop would quiet everything around her so she didn’t have to raise her voice. Her word was gospel to him.

I had that kind of love.

And I let it slip right through my hands because I’m not Pop, and Nana isn’t here anymore. I feel lost except when I’m with Indie, and now she’s gone because I didn’t fight for her.

“So, what are you gonna do about it, Teddy? Are you gonna sit there and mope all day, or are you going to get your little bird legs up and move?”

Nana’s voice strikes my mind like a thunderclap.

Get up.

Find her.

Apologize.