The next morning, Bailey woke at the sound of her phone's alarm. She gathered everything she needed to take a shower before realizing that although she had brought enough toiletries to last a few days, she'd neglected to pack a towel. Going to the storage facility and trying to locate whatever box she'd packed her towels in was one option, but she wasn't sure she had time for that before work. Bailey supposed it wouldn't hurt to ask Ted to borrow one. Then she remembered what had happened the night before.
Goodnight, Sweetheart, love ya. The words had sounded like a song when he'd said them in his southern twang. It was a song Bailey imagined she'd never get tired of hearing. She hoped that maybe someday he'd say the words to her and actually mean them. Leaving her suitcase open on the bed, she knew she couldn't hide in her room much longer. Bailey stepped out of the room and headed towards the kitchen where it smelled like Ted was cooking himself a nice breakfast.
"Hey, there she is!" Ted greeted her with a smile that was too wide for how early in the morning it was. He was standing over the stove scrambling some eggs. "Say, I didn't know what you liked for breakfast, so I took it upon myself to make us up a little bit of everything. There's waffles, pancakes, bacon, bagels, some fresh fruit…"
"You didn't have to do all this for me!" She told him.
"Oh, I know. I know." He nodded. He'd finished cooking his eggs and began transferring them from the pan to a plate on the counter island between them. "But I like to be a good host. What can I put together for ya?"
Seeing as all the food was already cooked and there was no sense in letting it go to waste, Bailey politely declined once more before allowing him to make her a plate of food from the various breakfast options available. While Ted complied his own breakfast, she got to work making him a coffee just the way he liked it. Bailey simultaneously made herself some tea.
"Look at you, blending in like a local!" Ted commented proudly.
"It's not bad with a little bit of milk." She told him, placing the coffee in front of him. "But I prefer the herbal teas. They usually have a better flavor. Apple cinnamon is my favorite."
"Apple cinnamon, huh? Must taste like drinkin' an apple pie." He thought aloud.
"I guess it kind of does." She laughed. Bailey had never really thought about it before, but he was right. "My mom used to drink apple cinnamon tea when I was little. Whenever she went away for work my older sister, Anna, would brew use each a cup so we could pretend she was home with us. I didn't actually try drinking it until this one time in college when I had a cold, and I was real homesick." She reached for your teacup and sipped slowly from it. The "Hot brown water," as Ted called it, wasn't nearly as good as apple cinnamon but it would do in a pinch.
"Now is that your mama who's the Lawyer or the one who's the nurse?" Ted asked. It was the second time in twelve hours that he'd caught her off guard. Bailey never mentioned to anyone at work that she had two moms and they hadn't come to visit the school since she was a freshman. It wasn't that she was trying to keep them a secret. She loved both of her moms and was proud of them, but she had been the only woman in a college athletics department at a school in Kansas. She was already pretty much an outcast. Avoiding the topic over the past seven years had just been easier. Sensing her discomfort, Ted began to backpedal.
"Bailey, I am so sorry if I offended you. It's just that you don't talk about them much and I thought it might be a good idea for us to get to know each other better that's all. We don't have to talk about them." He said.
"No, it's alright. I just didn't realize you knew." She told him. "I usually just call them my parents around people."
"I suppose I didn't know for sure. Just little things you've said here and there." He confessed. "When the Tennis club was hosting a bake sale, you told me that your mom couldn't cook to save her life. That same winter, Beard caught a cold and you brought us both what you told me was your mother's famous stew recipe and it was the best dang soup I ever had. You mentioned once that your mom was a nurse and then again that she was a lawyer. I guess one person could be both. Then of course there was your graduation photo on Instagram with two women sandwiching you tightly between them."
"Well, it sounds so obvious when you say it all together like that." Bailey laughed. She sipped from her tea again, remembering that was what had sparked the conversation. "It's the nurse by the way. My mom Audra, she's the nurse and the one who likes tea. When we were all a lot younger, she didn't have seniority at the hospital she worked at, and it seemed like she practically lived there."
"I'd love to hear more about her, and your Lawyer mama too. That is if your comfortable sharing with me." Ted asked.
"Bethany. Lawyer Mama's name is Bethany." She replied with a smile. "She's a coffee drinker like you." Through the remainder of breakfast, Bailey answered questions about her two moms. She tried to politely sprinkle in questions about Henry and Michelle, although she was worried it may remind him of the call she'd overhead the night before. Though, if Coach lasso was reminded of his talk with his ex-wife or his mistaken profession of love, he made no mention of it. He just continued to prattle on about this or that.
"Well, I think it's about time to get ready to go. Coach'll be waiting for us. What do you say?" He asked as the two of them worked together to clear the plates and put the surplus food in the fridge.
"Yeah, that's fine, I just wanted to take a quick shower first. Which reminds me, could I trouble you for a towel?" She questioned.
"Like that adorable dog from that fabric softener commercial always says, me towel es su towel, Bailey. Let's see what we can find." Ted's boxes in the living room were each perfectly labeled in his neat all caps handwriting. He was able to quickly find one labeled "bathroom" and offer her two towels from inside. "They're clean I promise."
"Thanks, I'll be quick as possible." Despite Ted telling her not to rush, Bailey still felt the need to speed up her morning routine. She showered as quickly as possible, getting in and out in only ten minutes. She dressed for the day and joined Ted in the kitchen after only twenty minutes.
"Ready to go?" She asked him, reaching for her laptop bag. She noticed he didn't move from the counter island. His left hand was absently drumming on the countertop next to two small pastry boxes. She made a point of looking at the boxes and waited for an answer.
"Ow, these ol' thangs?" Ted said, picking up one of the boxes. His smile faded away and when he spoke again his tone was very serious. "Yeah, I've been trying to find a way to bring it up all morning. I couldn't sleep last night, I just felt so awful about what happened."
"Ted it's okay. Like I said it's not a big deal." Bailey assured him, trying to put him at ease.
"I appreciate you saying as much." He nodded. "But just the same, it's very important that you know I respect you. I wouldn't want you to think that I lured ya all the way here from Kansas to have some sorta torrid affair or anything like that. I like to think that we've become good friends over the past two years, and I hope we can continue to work together in a professional capacity despite my little slip up. And-and I want you to promise me that if I ever do anything that makes you uncomfortable that you'll let me know or Beard or maybe HR or somethin', okay?"
"Absolutely, Ted." She agreed. "I appreciate you check in, and you know that I'll never say no to some fresh baked goods, but I feel like I should confess to you that I'd actually forgotten all about it until just now. So, I don't think there's any reason for us to bring it up again. And I promise to say something if you ever make me feel uncomfortable." She opened the box he'd handed her to find three shortbread cookies inside. She removed one and took a bite. "These are great, by the way." She told him as the two of you walked out the door. "When did you have time to pop out and buy them?"
"Oh, I didn't." He confessed. "Couldn't sleep last night after the…well you know. Thought about making some of those double chocolate chip cookies for ya, but I couldn't find any chocolate. I did have the ingredients to make shortbread biscuits though. That's what they call cookies over here. Biscuits."
"Who's the second box for, Beard?" Bailey asked.
"Nah, I've got a big plan for these." He told her. As they continued down the street, the duo met up with Beard. The three of them began walking towards Nelson Road while Ted informed Bailey and Beard of "Biscuits with the Boss." A strategy he wanted to adopt in order to get to know more about the club's owner, Rebecca.