Second First Impressions(13)
“He doesn’t want any special treatment,” I tell her with barely concealed relish. “Just do the usual interview.”
“I’m going to do the White Shirt Challenge. Haven’t done that one in a while. Send him up. What am I going to wear?” She hangs up.
To the dial tone, I reply, “No problem. See you soon.” I hang up. “Let’s go.”
“Can I come?” Melanie grabs her notepad.
“You need to stay here and answer the phone.” She wheels her chair back to her desk and slumps into it. “You really didn’t need to take notes, by the way.”
“I was just copying you and all your lists. Anyway, I hope you get the job,” Melanie says to Teddy. “It’d be nice to have someone young around here to talk to.”
His gaze flicks to me. “I think I’m older than Ruthie.”
She realizes how that sounded, covering it up with huffs and blustering. “There’ll be three young people here, of course that’s what I meant. So have you ever heard of the Sasaki Method? Of course you haven’t, because I invented it.”
“Based on the name alone, it sounds very legit.” He’s interested and grinning, leaning over to poke around in the junk on her desk. “I hope it’s not a pyramid scheme. I’m broke and gullible. Ah, what the hell? Sign me up.”
“You will not tell him about the Sasaki Method,” I counter-instruct.
Teddy picks up her notepad. “ ‘Baby bear’? Oh my God, kill me now.” He picks up a pen and scribbles that out. He reads out more of her notes. “ ‘Haircut. Crowning glory. Golf course facials.’ This is a useful record, good job. Wait, what does this mean? ‘Warn Ruthie off this one again.’ ”
Mel shrugs. “Just making sure my boss doesn’t get blinded by the hair.”
Teddy’s eyes cut to me and he strokes his head with his fingertips. His gaze holds mine. Stay bland, Ruthie. Hold steady. With zero shame, he smiles at me and crosses out that “Warn Ruthie” line in Melanie’s notes.
Melanie doesn’t notice all this somehow. She continues in her previous train of thought. “We have a maintenance dilemma here at Providence. Deciding whether Ruthie is high— or low— maintenance, for her dating profile. What do you think?”
“Dating profile?” He stumbles over this, but recovers and pretends to inspect me. “Hmm, let me think.”
Great, two giggling employees. The thing about being the butt of a joke? It’s funny at first. But after an entire child-olescence being Truthful Ruth the Reverend’s Daughter, it’s worn thinner than a contact lens.
Melanie says, “With the Sasaki Method, I will ensure that Ruthie—”
“That’s enough, Melanie,” I say in a voice that would make a golden retriever piddle. “Please get back to work.”
“Roger,” she replies, uninjured. To Teddy she says, “I hope you weren’t the one who hurt Ruthie’s feelings.”
He turns to me, surprise in his eyes, but I walk out. “I sometimes do that,” I hear him tell her with what sounds like genuine regret. “I’ve been told I can be a careless little asshole.”
“Just don’t do it again,” Melanie replies with steel in her tone. “Or I’ll kill ya.”
“Come on, you’ve got an interview,” I call out with dark glee in my heart. I hope Renata Parloni absolutely breaks this one.
Teddy keeps pace easily with me as I almost run up the path. “What’s with the wildlife situation?”
We come across two golden bonnet tortoises. They are mating. I mean, I’m happy for the species, but, sheesh. In my effort to give them some privacy, I knock into Teddy and pinball into a hedge. He puts his hand on my arm to steady me. We stop and face each other.
“Careful,” he chides, like I’m the clueless visitor. Like I haven’t been here, working my ass off preserving his family’s investment. Now I’m steaming mad. Providence was under the radar. We were forgotten. Now Jerry Prescott is on the other side of the lake right there, taking photographs, delegating, and making new plans.
“Maybe they’re playing a game,” Teddy says, gesturing down at the path where the tortoises are rocking each other’s worlds. “Maybe it’s not what we think.” He wants me to be playful with him.
“The ones with yellow on the shell are endangered golden bonnet tortoises. Please don’t step on any, or I’ll have to scrape them up and fill out a form.”
You wouldn’t even know where to locate that particular clipboard, buddy.
Teddy blows out a breath, looking back down at the office. “That was probably the most humiliating thing I’ve ever sat through. ‘Little baby bear,’ ” he groans, remembering afresh. “Hey, is that the faintest ghost of a smile at my expense?” He’s still holding my arm and squeezes me gently.
I’m sort of … gently panicking? Is that what this flutter-sensation inside is?
He notices my reaction and folds his arms slowly across his chest like I’m a spooked critter. The knuckles peek out— his right hand has GIVE across the knuckles. GIVE and TAKE, oh gosh, why is that making it hard for me to find actual normal words to say out loud?
“I know you’ve been put in a real difficult spot by my dad. Sorry about that. I promise I’ll be out of here as soon as I’ve saved enough. Just a couple of months. This place is kind of something, huh?”