Page 4 of Single Teddy (Mayberry Protectors #6)

“I know. I’m sorry. I…I didn’t mean to be insensitive. You’ve been through hell. I just thought talking crap would take your mind off that can of worms.” It was the most serious she’d been all morning, and I hated the fact that I’d made her feel bad for being flamboyant and vivacious.

I sighed and unfolded my arms so I could hold hers.

“Don’t worry. You weren’t being insensitive.”

She took a deep breath and smiled in relief.

“Oh good. I’m glad you think so. Now come. Let’s get you a sweet tea of sunshine with a whole lot of boba.”

I wasn’t sure what that meant as I’d never heard that expression, but I followed her inside through a narrow hallway and a door that led to the back bar of the bubble tea shop, where a young Asian man with bright-pink hair and a bright-pink uniform was standing with a huge smile.

“Hi! You must be Teddy!” he said. He approached with open hands, and just before he hugged me, asked if it was okay. “I’m Hwan. It’s so nice to meet you. Parker has told me all about you since we found out about…your situation. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

He let go of me, and I smiled.

“Come on, grab a seat. Do you like bubble tea? If you don’t yet, don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll find the right fit for you. Would you like a coffee? A panini? Some chapssaltteok? If you’ve tried mochi it’s very similar.”

“And breathe!” Autumn said behind me, pointing at Hwan.

Hwan chuckled and apologized, although I wasn’t exactly sure why.

“Please, take a seat anywhere,” he said.

Autumn came out from the bar and grabbed a table by the window, which had a direct view of the bright-blue Atlantic Ocean. I followed and sat next to her while Hwan served a customer and then joined us, bringing glasses of water and a plate of chapssaltteok with him.

“So, Teddy,” he asked, and I braced myself for the hard questions, like what’s your experience and what was your last job. “How are you adjusting to Mayberry Holm? We wanted to drop by yesterday, but it got a bit late, and we didn’t want to disturb you and Bear’s bedtime.”

“Oh. I…yeah, so far so good. The island’s beautiful,” I said.

“How’s Bear? I can’t wait to meet him. Parker and I decided to have kids of our own, although I don’t see that happening while all this bullcrap is going on here, but we’re looking for any excuse to be around them.”

“Bullcrap?” I asked, my eyes narrowing in confusion. “What bullcrap?”

“Oh. Didn’t Wyatt tell you?” Hwan bit his lip and grimaced.

“Tell me what?”

Autumn leaned forward on the table and gave an uncomfortable chuckle.

“Anyway. That’s not important right now. When can Teddy start?”

“Is there something I should know?” I asked Hwan.

“I think it’s better if you talk with Parker. It’s not Wyatt’s fault if he didn’t tell you. He didn’t want to get you involved in his mess, but then again, he also didn’t want to leave you to fend for yourself and Bear.”

“What mess?” I sat up in my chair, anxiety crawling up my chest and neck all the way to my head.

Hwan leaned in and whispered, “We’re kind of in the middle of a war.

A crime syndicate has set up shop on the island for the last few years, and Wyatt wants to clean house.

Which has gotten us into some very messy waters with the man behind it all.

A guy named Salieri. We don’t know who he is or what he looks like, but he seems to have his fingers in all the pies on this island.

There was a protection racketeering scheme last year that Parker and I put an end to, and most recently, they discovered and stopped a money-laundering effort of his. ”

“Oh,” I said, the anxiety wrapping around me like a tight blanket. A blanket that threatened to choke me any moment now.

I knew a lot of my old teammates had settled in Mayberry Holm, but I hadn’t known they came here to be Goodman’s little army.

“So…Goodman-erm-Wyatt brought me here knowing full well it’s dangerous for Bear?”

Autumn put her hands up.

“In all fairness, like Hwan said, he didn’t want to invite you here.

He was worried about bringing a child into this.

But Azrael has a baby, and Slade has a kid too, and there’s a whole lot of us, an entire community, who can help and look after them and keep them safe.

We didn’t want to leave you on your own. ”

Azrael was here? And he had a kid? Slade too? That was all news to me.

“I…I don’t know how to feel about all of this.”

“Understandable,” Hwan said. “But if it helps, we’ve all decided we’re not going to get you mixed up in any of this. But you still need a job.”

He didn’t let me say anything. He got up and retreated to the counter, disappearing into the storeroom for a bit before returning holding something pink.

“Here’s your apron. I’ll get you a name badge by tomorrow.” He handed me the pink thing, and I unfolded it.

It matched the one he was wearing, and I bit my lip.

I’d never worn anything pink in my life.

Then again, I hadn’t worn a lot of colors in my life, so pink wasn’t anything special.

I just… I didn’t know how to feel about it.

I didn’t know how to feel about a lot of things.

About Goodman, about this situation, about what I’d just found out. About any of it.

“Wait, so…you’re giving me the job?”

“Well, yeah, what did you think?” Hwan asked with a confused grimace.

“But you haven’t asked me anything about my experience?—”

“Um…Teddy, you’re a friend. A new one, but a friend. You don’t need experience. You need a job.”

I thanked him, but before I could breathe a sigh of relief, I looked back at him and said, “I can’t work long hours. I need to drop off and pick up Bear from school, and I don’t have childcare.”

Hwan stood next to me, put his hand on my head, and ruffled my hair, the same way I did with Bear all the time.

“You really are a teddy bear, aren’t you?” he said.

I didn’t know how to feel about this intrusion or the touch that could be interpreted as condescending, yet didn’t feel like that at all. Especially coming from a genuine guy like Hwan.

“What part of you’re a friend and we’re here for you don’t you understand?

” he asked. “I know you have a kid to take care of. That’s why your schedule will be as flexible as you need it.

And if you need childcare, I’m sure we can figure something out too.

There are a lot of us you can rely on. You’re not on your own anymore. ”

I looked up at my new boss, and despite everything I’d found out, despite the stress threatening to poke holes in my entire ecosystem, that last sentence was full of words I’d never heard before, and even though I shouldn’t, I felt truly at home.