Second First Impressions(87)

Rose is turning red. I can’t tell if she’s angry or upset.

“This is quite a sacrifice, Teddy,” Jerry says. “What about your studio?”

“I’ll sell my share. If it’s what it takes to let this place survive, then it’ll be worth it. Look at them.” He encourages his father and sister to look around the room. “How can I let these people be uprooted from the last home they ever planned to have? All Ruthie has ever asked me to do is care about this place. Well, here I am, doing it.”

The Parlonis have completed their arduous trek across the room to us.

“What did we miss? Holy shit,” Renata splutters when she looks up at Teddy. “Vogue Italia, eat your heart out. Was he always that good-looking?”

I laugh. “Yes.”

Renata has her arm hooked into Aggie’s. “I’ve never been into men, so I’ll take your word for it. Where’s your hair, Theodore?”

“I donated it to someone who needs a wig more than you do.” He smiles at her patent disappointment. “I’m here to do the right thing for once. I’m making a deal.”

“Is this in regard to the future of Providence?” Aggie asks Jerry.

“Yes, ma’am. Nothing has been finalized, however,” he adds with a glance at Rose. “Please, just enjoy your lovely evening.”

Aggie won’t be treated like an old dear. “I hope you’ve conducted environmental impact assessments?”

Rose fields that. “Of course, that’s part of my evaluation.”

“And you know that this site is home to an endangered species of tortoise, and there’s been a care and rehabilitation program happening on-site for the last six years?” Aggie speaks calmly and deliberately and I see a glimpse of her as an attorney.

“What, the turtles around the place?” Rose scrunches her face in distaste, even as her mind pivots to a new position. “We’ll make sure that whatever work happens here, no animals will be impacted.”

“We need to go through the impact that any works will have on the golden bonnet tortoises. They’re listed as critically endangered and there’s more here than anywhere else on the planet. If you’d visited the site earlier and taken my tour, you’d know that,” I tell Rose quietly.

Rose is flustered. She looks at her brother like she’s having a bad dream. “This place means this much to you? You look like a goddamn lawyer or something, Teddy.”

“Not quite,” he replies, gesturing to the tattoos on his hands. “And yes. This place means this much to me, and Ruthie means the most.”

I put a hand on his sleeve. “I don’t want you to give up your studio for us.”

“If it’s what it takes. Well? You can start me at the bottom, as long as I can work out of this office.” He says this to Rose. “I’ve got a lot of experience with menial tasks and humiliating requests.”

“It’s true,” Renata says. “He barely complained.”

Rose’s face shows her struggle with various emotions, but then, with a look of resolve, she makes a decision. “All right, I’ll recommend that Providence remain as … is. On the other side of that hillside is a vacant field. Maybe it doesn’t have an endangered species. I think we should build affordable retirement housing, linking both sites. It’ll be the best of both worlds; something changing, something staying the same. It was my second recommendation in my report,” she adds. “The first one was to redevelop. But now that I’ve come here, I can see that it wouldn’t be right.”

Teddy nods. “I think that’s a good idea. This is a nice place to live, and it shouldn’t be exclusively for the insanely wealthy. I think you should also make sure that there’s a plan in place to get a bit of diversity. This place is a little …” He trails off, aware of the Parlonis’ stare.

“You can say it. This is where rich old white people come to die.” Renata cackles at her own joke, then sobers. “I think that’s a very good, mature suggestion to move us forward into the … what century is it? I don’t know. But I’m impressed with you. There is a brain in that handsome head.”

“And a big heart.” Aggie pats his chest.

“Great, so everything’s settled,” Teddy says, but his smile doesn’t reach his eyes. He’s lost his life’s dream, to secure mine. I bet he feels how I did when my college fund was emptied. Like me, he’s planning on making the best of it. “Thank you, Rose. I promise I won’t let you down.”

“Ah, shit, Theodore,” Rose groans. “Why’d you have to do this?” When he doesn’t know what she means, she says, “You had to make a grand gesture. I’ve always thought you were the most self-centered person.”

“He absolutely is not,” Aggie defends. “We have employed in excess of one hundred young men. None of them are a patch on Theodore. I can assure you, no one cares more than he does.”

“I’m sorry,” Rose says to him unexpectedly. “I was horrible to you when we were kids.”

“And adults, by the sounds of it,” Renata adds.

Rose ignores that and says to Teddy, “It wasn’t your fault.”

“It was my fault,” Jerry says. “It was my fault, and I left you all to sort it out yourselves. I was just too busy.”