Page 10 of Single Teddy (Mayberry Protectors #6)

NINE

TEDDY

W e walked into The Outpost and were immediately surrounded by background music that was barely audible amid the buzz of all the people having a good time.

I nabbed the first table I spotted and helped Bear to his seat, then sat down myself.

Bear picked up his menu and held it in front of his face as I perused the dinner options.

Ash and Donovan, two of my old teammates, weaved around the tables, delivering people’s orders, and the decadent smells from all the meals surrounding us made me hungrier by the second.

“Well, if it isn’t my two favorite people in Mayberry Holm,” someone said behind us, and I turned to greet Autumn, who looked warm and inviting as usual.

“Hi,” I said and looked at Bear, but he only threw a fleeting glance at Autumn before he dipped his head even lower, hiding more of himself behind the menu.

“You’ve finally decided to come and try Joey’s burgers?” she asked, completely undefeated.

“Joey?” I frowned.

“Fowler. You must know him. He won’t shut up about you, but he’s been too busy here to come and see you. Summer season,” Autumn offered, making me even more confused.

The last I heard, Joey Fowler had been dishonorably discharged and was under investigation for his stepfather’s murder. He’d been the talk of the base for months. There wasn’t a SEAL I knew who hadn’t spat his name.

“He’s the chef here? I had no idea,” I said, and there must have been something on my face because Autumn put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

“He’s a fantastic chef, and in case you missed the memo, he’s innocent.”

I wanted to question her because I was sure I’d have found out if that was the case, but I didn’t want one of my only allies on this island to turn on me. I’d have to wait until I was back at the lodge to Google it.

“I’ll have the triple stacked burger with the loaded fries and Bear…”

I turned to him, and he unearthed himself from behind the menu only to say, “Nuggets.”

I sighed and looked at Autumn.

“I don’t suppose you have any? It’s all he eats at the moment,” I said.

Autumn’s smile deepened, and she put her hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

“‘Course we do. And they’re the best nuggets you’ve ever tried,” she said and winked at Bear.

I added drinks to our order, and she walked away. Next to stop at our table was Asher, who was all too eager to meet Bear, but as soon as he extended his hand, Bear came running into my arms.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said.

I shook my head to tell him it wasn’t anything he did, and he pressed his lips together.

“How are you? How are things at Hwan’s?” he asked with half the spirit he’d started with.

“It’s going great. Hwan is a great boss. And Parker’s…changed.”

Asher laughed before I did and leaned against the empty chair opposite me.

“There must be something in the air because a lot of us change as soon as we get here.” He glanced at the bar, and I followed his gaze to Maddox, Asher’s best friend and now boyfriend.

“Ah, right. I forgot about you two.” Probably the only piece of gossip I was aware of and that was because Ash wouldn’t shut up about snatching Maddox for two months straight before he retired to be with him. “Congratulations, again. How is Mad doing?”

Maddox Shepherd had retired from the Silver Legends after a mission had gone wrong and he’d developed PTSD as a result.

“He’s doing well. Truly. Leaving the Navy was the best decision for him. And for me. I don’t regret it for a second,” he said.

“You don’t?”

He shook his head.

“I would have never started writing if it weren’t for him and this island. I wouldn’t change it for anything. We had our turn saving the world. I’m happy just…being me right now.”

“That’s amazing. I’m glad, Ash. Really,” I said and hugged Bear a little tighter.

Seeing how happy and loved up everyone was around here, even with all the crime and danger that surrounded them, gave me hope that Bear and I would also find happiness here, sooner or later.

I just had to persevere. And I would. There was no other way.

I wasn’t fighting just for myself and my country anymore.

I was fighting for something even more important. Bear.

“Right, let me see if I can get you those drinks. It’s a bit busy today, so it’s all hands on deck, which usually means chaos. Especially with Autumn and Donovan working the same shift.”

“They hate each other?” I asked.

Ash rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. Sure. Hate. Let’s go with that. And don’t you dare say otherwise.” He wagged his finger as a warning but his smirk was impossible to miss.

I chuckled, and Ash walked away from us. I turned my attention to Bear, who looked up at me with wide, innocent eyes, and I smiled at him.

“Are you okay, bud?” He nodded. “Was Ash scary?” He nodded again.

“He’s an old friend of mine. We used to work together, you know.

In fact, I used to work with a lot of the guys who work here.

They’re good people. I swear,” I told him, but he didn’t say anything.

He just returned to his chair, which I took as a win.

When Ash returned with our drinks and Bear only cowered in his seat, I breathed a sigh of relief and took a sip of my soda.

Despite the liveliness around us, we sat there quietly, nursing our drinks, and while I struggled to find something to talk about with Bear, I couldn’t shake the idea that someone was watching me.

The hairs that stood to attention on the back of my neck were never wrong.

I scanned the bar, looking for the culprit, and found him pretty quickly. He was hard to miss. I was surprised I hadn’t caught him earlier.

Mr. Crawford.

Wesley.

He stared right back at me, and even though there were several feet between us, I could feel his eyes piercing right through me as if we were only inches apart.

Before I could do anything, he waved at me and then turned toward the women at his table, leaving me feeling a little emptier than before.

A little hollower. A little weaker. Which was bizarre in and of itself because I’d been in far worse, far more dangerous situations than this, yet as soon as he stopped looking at me, it felt like I was truly drowning.

No one had ever made me feel like that before, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it terrified the hell out of me.

“Here we go. One triple stack and one portion of some earth-shattering chicken nuggets.” I shook my head and looked at Autumn and the wonderful food in front of us.

My burger was juicy and inviting, and the loaded fries with bacon, cheese, and chili looked crispy, golden, and heavenly.

But even Bear’s food looked amazing. His chicken nuggets were shaped like dinosaurs standing upright on the plate as if they were grazing, and his fries were all lined vertically in a tin container in the middle of the plate.

But the best part was how taken Bear was by his plate.

“Now, Bear, what sauce would you like? We have ketchup, pink sauce, ranch, and a very special dinosauce that the little dino nuggets love. Which one would you like? I can bring them all if you want.”

Bear pinched a dinosaur off his plate and took a bite before he said, “Dinosauce!”

Maybe that was the trick to getting him to widen his eating horizons.

Cookie molds and playful names. I needed to research ideas because he couldn’t live on nuggets and fries for the rest of his life, and the best time to start experimenting with flavors and textures was now, before he ruined his health.

“Dinosauce coming right up!”

As it turned out, Dinosauce was a mix of barbecue, mayo, and something sweet, like honey, but Bear gobbled it up.

I was halfway through my burger, casting glances every so often in Wesley’s way, when Slade appeared with his boyfriend and daughter in tow.

As before, Bear abandoned his food and jumped into my arms, and even though his fingers and mouth were dirty and sticky with sauce, I held him close.

“This is my boyfriend, King,” Slade said, pointing to a tall but lanky blond man with brown eyes and an almost smoldering expression. “And this is Mackenzie. Mac for short,” he said.

Mac was taller than Bear and a little more mature, so I assumed she was in her early tweens. She waved at me and Bear, and her dads tried to find a table, but they were all taken.

“You can sit with us. We’re almost done anyway,” I said, knowing I’d have to spend the rest of the evening with Bear in my arms.

“Are you sure? We don’t want to impose,” King said, and after I reassured them a couple more times, they sat down.

Mac dragged a chair from another table and sat next to me, placing a stuffed animal she’d been carrying on the table, a cute pink dragon with big eyes and glittery wings.

“This is Bubblegum and he’s a dragon,” she said to me, although the show she put on, flapping the toy’s wings and making it fly, was for Bear’s benefit.

Half an hour later, Bear was sitting on my lap, refusing to eat the rest of his food but facing Mac and watching over her dragon while she ate her pizza.

“Bubblegum loves pizza. Do you love pizza, Bear?” she asked.

Bear shrugged.

“You don’t know? How could you not know? Have you never tried pizza before?”

Bear shook his head. Mac gasped.

“Oh my god! Pizza is literally the best. Here. You want to try some? It would make Bubblegum so happy if someone else shared his love of pizza.” Mac took the smaller slice from her plate and offered it to Bear.

I was about to thank her before Bear could turn her down when, to my surprise, Bear extended both arms and took the pizza slice from her. He took a bite, and we all watched with bated breath for his verdict.

“I like it,” he said, smiling so brightly it lifted a weight off my shoulders.

“You want more? I’m quite full,” Mac said and dragged her plate closer to him.

When she excused herself to the restroom later, she entrusted Bubblegum’s safety to Bear, and he hugged the dragon tight.

As Slade and King tried to talk to Bear about Bubblegum, I looked around, searching for Wesley, wondering if he’d been watching Bear’s progress. If he’d been watching me. But when I found the table he’d been sitting at, there was no one there.

I sighed and focused on my current company, feeling slightly defeated despite Bear’s leaps and bounds in a single evening. I didn’t know why, but I wanted to share this achievement with him, which made no sense. But then again, he was Bear’s teacher, so…maybe that was why.

Yeah, that must be why.

“We should get going,” King said and pushed his chair back when Mac returned, and I looked at Bear.

“Mac is going now, Bear. I think she wants her Bubblegum back,” I said.

“No!” Bear turned away from Mac with Bubblegum, and I felt deflated. One step forward, two steps back.

“But, Bear, sweetie, Bubblegum isn’t yours. He’s Mac’s, and she’d like him back,” I said.

“Oh, it’s okay. Bubblegum told me he’d like to stay with Bear,” Mac said, and I looked at the mature little kid in front of me and felt so much worse for denying her the toy.

“Oh no, it’s okay, Mac. Bear is just saying goodbye, that’s all,” I said before Bear shouted another few nos, making it clear he wasn’t parting with the dragon without a fight.

“Don’t worry, Bear,” Mac said. “You can hold on to Bubblegum for as long as you need. He’s such an awesome dragon. It’s no wonder you don’t want to part with him. Just promise me something.”

Bear hesitated but glanced at Mac.

“Will you take good care of him? He’s one of a kind, and he needs someone who will look after him.”

She put her hand out, and Bear not only took it, but he shook it, smiling at her.

“I will take the best care of him,” he said.

My chest warmed at what I was witnessing, and even though stealing toys from other kids wasn’t on the ideal list, at least Mac didn’t seem to mind, and Bear had made a friend.

I’d take my wins where I got them.

“Don’t worry. He’s got hundreds more. She. I meant she . She’s got hundreds more. She won’t miss him,” King whispered before they left and threw a sneaky glance at his boyfriend, making me wonder what the hell that was about.

“Thank you,” I mouthed at him, and he winked at me, and then it was just the two of us once more.

Like we’d have to be from now on.

But maybe…just maybe, we wouldn’t be all alone. We had friends here. Friends who cared. A family made up of old and new friends we could count on.

And what was more precious than that?

Maybe love, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t in the cards for me. And that was okay.

It would have to be.