Chapter Thirty-Four

Lizzy woke at five a.m., reliable as an alarm clock. Jessie wheeled down the hall and retrieved her along with a bottle from the small fridge in the nursery, and a dry diaper. Teddy changed the baby in bed while she ran hot water over the formula to take the chill off. The three of them snuggled until seven.

Dressing and moving downstairs toward the aroma of coffee and the scent of cinnamon, they entered the kitchen, Jessie with the baby in a sling sound asleep. Brinsley had set out a plate of sliced bagels with tubs of smears and a pan of hot cinnamon rolls from a pop-open can, T-Rex’s favorite do-it-yourself snack. Where the butler spent the night, they did not know, whether at his own home or in a spare bedroom. Teddy was willing to bet he hadn’t left the premises in his care, but would not offend his dignity by asking.

“If you would care for porridge or something else hot, I shall do my best to provide it, keeping in mind I rarely cook.”

“No, this is great, Brinsley. Hand me those cinnamon rolls, Jess.”

“Your plans for the day, sir?”

“Maybe take a swim, then watch the Sinners play in Atlanta. I hope you’ll join us for the game, but we can scrounge our own lunch and put something together for dinner. You can try Jessie’s cooking. She’s pretty good.”

“I am sure that would be delightful.”

“Sit down and eat with us.” Teddy knew the butler wouldn’t, but wanted him to know he could.

“I’ve eaten, thank you, sir. I believe if you need nothing else, I shall take the dogs outside and enjoy my second cup of coffee on this beautiful autumn morning.” He and the eager dogs departed.

Jessie sighed. “Every day should be this good.”

“We might as well enjoy it. If you think we were in deep shit yesterday, it’s nothing compared to facing my parents tonight. We’re going to be in trouble for not calling them again.”

“We handled it.”

“They won’t see it that way.”

Taking advantage of the free day, they splashed in the pool, chilly after an autumn night and flecked with curled, brown leaves from the wild pecans and an occasional colorful contribution from the chicken trees. The time approached to spread the tarp and close it down until March. Lizzy watched from her seat in the shade.

Teddy assembled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole wheat with a garnish of apple slices for lunch, while Jessie poured the milk and fed Lizzy a bottle. She rubbed a little peanut butter on the baby’s lips and watched her tongue dart out to taste it. “You’re supposed to do that now to make sure they don’t develop peanut allergies. I’ve been reading up.”

“And Miss Simms doubts you can be a mother.”

“We both know that isn’t true. You’ll make a wonderful dad too. Just look at you assemble that PB&J.”

After the mutual admiration, they saddled old Rascal for a ride around the paddock, taking turns and watching Lizzy react to the soft snuffling of the horse. “This is such a great place to grow up,” Jessie said without considering. She caught Teddy’s grimace.

“Is that what you want? To move in here with my parents and let them handle everything?”

“No, I didn’t say that. I never want you to think I’m like Ella, always trying to get something out of you. We’ll find a house. It will just take a while.”

Three p.m., kickoff time. To their amazement, Brinsley showed up wearing a black and red Sinners jersey with Joe’s old number seven on it, and bearing chips and dip. Chilled beer, always in the fridge, a must, though he preferred his warm from a case in the pantry. The Sinners took a tight game, winning by a field goal off of Tom’s toe in the last seconds. Sloppy chili-cheese Fritos for dinner with raw vegetables in a nod to Nell, not exactly the best of Jessie’s dishes but fine after a game.

Night fell. Lizzy went to bed fed and bathed to sleep soundly after all her new adventures on the ranch. The Sunday night game came on. Teddy checked his watch over and over again. His phone rang at ten p.m., exactly the time he figured his parents would stop by the apartment to pick up Lizzy on their way home. His mom didn’t even bother with hello.

“Why is their crime scene tape across your apartment door again? Where are the three of you?”

“At the ranch, safe and sound. All is well, no one hurt. Well, Wyatt Coffey is. Jessie shot him again. He tried to take Lizzy from us, and we defended her. The cops have him now.”

A laconic voice near the speaker phone in the van said, “Where did she shoot him this time?”

“In the groin. He nearly bled out.”

“Jessie girl, you got to aim higher…for the heart,” Knox prompted.

“Who says I didn’t hit what I targeted?” Jessie retorted, her ear close to Teddy’s phone.

A snort and a chuckle followed—Knox Polk laughing, as rare as white alligators.

“Teddy kept him from bleeding out.”

“Because Teddy is a noble kind of guy,” Knox replied, implying he wouldn’t have bothered. “But a good one.”

A deeper voice broke in. “Team meeting as soon as we get home.”

“Dad, can’t it wait until morning? I know you’re tired from the travel.”

“Tired? Don’t you bet on it, you. We need to talk.”

From Nurse Shammy and Corazon, “How is Lizzy doing?”

Jessie took over. “She’s sleeping. Had some diarrhea yesterday.” Jess rolled her eyes at Teddy as “some” was putting it mildly. “We found the Pedialyte in the diaper bag. She’s doing fine this morning, back to normal.”

“I meant to warn you she’d been a little loose. That’s why I packed it. Glad you knew what to do,” Nell said.

“Sure did. No worries.”

“The way Knox is driving, we’ll be home in about fifteen minutes. Put some coffee on. We have a lot to discuss. Love to all of you.”

They waited a moment to be sure the phones were disconnected. Jessie looked at Teddy for guidance. “You’ve been to plenty of these team meetings. Should we prepare our case in advance?”

“Might as well make the coffee and see how it goes. By the time things get team-meeting serious, you rarely get to appeal. It’s more like crime and punishment.”

“How can they punish us? We live on our own. We’re independent.”

“By not letting us adopt Lizzy.”

****

The team meeting began at eleven p.m. in the den after everyone fortified themselves with coffee and Cokes for the kids. Teddy couldn’t remember any such meeting being held so late or having so few members of the family present. Their roles were filled by Knox and Corazon, Brinsley, and Nurse Shammy. This was as serious as it got with Jessie and Teddy in their chairs facing the rest on the sofa and loungers.

Daddy Joe rose up. “Son, we respect that you want to live independently. You’ve already proved you can. Jessie is new to self-help but learning fast. You only have to win the Super Bowl once to prove how good you are, and you’ve done that the way you defended Lizzy, both of you. All we asked of you was to keep us in the loop, and you didn’t, no.”

Joe put his big hands on the rims of Teddy’s wheelchair and got right in his face. “There is no football game more important than family. I had to learn that and so do you. Something this big happens, you call us immediately. No waiting for halftime or until the game is over not to ruin our fun. How would we remember that game if any of the three of you had been injured or killed, and we didn’t learn until it was over?” Joe stood up again, towering over the wheelchair, and stepped back.

“Hey, Mom gave birth to the triplets without calling you because you were in the middle of a game.”

“Playing a game, not watching one—and she was wrong, but this isn’t about your mother.”

“We took care of things, Dad, called the police and the ambulance, answered the questions, saw to Lizzy. What could you do to help?”

“Be there. Simply be there if you needed us,” Nell answered. “Yes, you did well, but if you ever want to be parents you have to learn to put the child first. Where will she be safe and happy? Your pride doesn’t matter.”

Nurse Shammy chimed in showing some of her old starch. “The baby takes precedence over all. Nowhere is better for her than the ranch, which is secure and has knowledgeable medical assistance.” She spoke of herself of course.

“This place is as safe as I can make it. Got eyes everywhere and good people all around.” Knox added a rare comment.

“I know, I know! You’re pressuring us to move back here. We’ve been looking for a small house with a fenced yard and can’t seem to find one that doesn’t need lots of retrofitting.”

Jessie had remained silent until now, holding his hand. “Yes, my father gave us a generous check, all the money he saved on the wedding, for a down payment. It’s just finding the right place where we can manage things.”

Nell’s soft voice answered. “This is the right place. You can stay in the house or choose any one of the camp cottages. They are all accessible, have two bedrooms, and about as much space as your apartment.”

“And if we don’t, you keep Lizzy. Right?”

“It won’t be up to us, though if you aren’t approved we will surely provide a home for her.”

Jessie squeezed Teddy’s hand. “Take the cottage. Someday, we can build a place of our own from scratch after the adoption.”

“About that.” Joe stepped in again. “You’ll need a bigger place eventually built to your needs. Choose any place on the ranch to do that. It won’t be charity. I’ll finance it. You pay me back, and I won’t require a huge down payment. Save some money for furnishings. No bank will give you a better deal. You can use the same architect as we did for Camp Love Letter. He understands special needs. Don’t go too small either. You might want your own gym and extra bedrooms for more children. Hell, I didn’t build this place big enough the first time around and had to add on.”

Teddy dug in again, trying to keep control of the situation. Daddy Joe could be overpowering on and off the field. “We don’t want to build more than we can afford on our salaries.”

Joe took a seat as if he realized he dominated the couple by standing over them. “Let me tell you something else. Connor Riley let on CBS is looking at you for their pre-game and halftime show as a replacement for old Al Harney who is retiring after the end of this season. Connor thinks they can use some diversity and youth on their broadcasting team. You know the game inside and out.”

“Did you put him up to it?”

“Nope. I wasn’t going to say a word until they approached you, but I want you to know a great job might come your way. It requires some sacrifice, being away every weekend during the season and lots of travel, pretty much like the Sinners do—more actually, and big bucks.”

“That would place all the burden on Jessie when I was away.”

“Look around you, son. I see a room full of helpers.”

Corazon added an emotional plea. “So good to have a baby around the place again. Lots of arms to hold her if Jessie needs us.” All the female heads bobbed.

“Indeed,” added Brinsley.

“Fine, we accept. No other choice I guess.” He hated the grudging note in his voice, knowing all these people had done for him and would do for Lizzy.

“No shame in doing what is best for your family, Teddy.” Joe clapped his hands, the usual ending to a team meeting. “Rex, Edie, to bed. School tomorrow. We’ll move your things as soon as the cops let us. Meanwhile, stay here.”

The baby monitor Jessie kept in her pouch sounded. Lizzy wanted a midnight feeding. Nurse Shammy stood, then stopped. “No, you should take care of her. Call if you need me. I’ll be home with Brinsley. We both miss our own bed.”

Edie covered a huge yawn with her small hand. “Nice to have you home, Teddy. I can use some help on my English projects. But could you go feed that kid? Her room is right next to mine. Meeting adjourned, okay?”