Page 65 of When It Burns

“We’re totally gonna be sisters-in-law, huh?” Margaret asks and Hannah squeaks with amusement.

“I don’t know. But I do know that I am completely in love with your brother. He makes me happy, and he’s one of the strongest people I know. He’s everything I want, and we are going to figure out the rest as we go,” I say as Margaret’s eyes fill with tears.

“Yep. Welcome to the family, sis.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

THEO

Iknock on the door of my foster parent’s home Monday evening and try to act like my heart isn’t about to beat out of my chest. I hear rustling on the other side of the door as Heather opens the door wide. Her smile is gentle, and there is no doubt in my mind that she’s been waiting all day for me to arrive. I’d texted both her and Bobby this weekend to ask if it would be all right for me to stop by so it wasn’t an unexpected visit.

“Theo, honey, come on in,” she says, moving out of the way of the door.

“Hey, Heather. How are y’all tonight?” I ask as I take a seat on the sofa closest to the front door. “Where’s Bobby?”

“He’s coming. He had to help with something at the school this afternoon, but he should be back any moment. Do you want some cookies while you wait? Margaret sent me her secret recipe because I’ve become obsessed,” Heather says with a laugh.

“Sure. Those things are addictive,” I say as she walks into the kitchen and comes back with a tray of cookies and a bottle of water. She sits it on the sofa between us as Bobby comes in the door. “Hey, Bobby. We were just talking about you”

“Theo, bud, I am so glad to see you,” he says, walking over, hugging me quickly before leaning over, grabbing a handful of the cookies sitting beside me, and collapsing into his favorite recliner on the other side of the room. “What brings you here this evening?”

“Well, I just wanted to talk. A lot has happened since I moved to Springside, and I want to let y’all know before anything else happens,” I say before taking a breath and launching into an abridged version of the last two months. Bobby glares at me as I detail the rough start I had in Springside, and Heather interrupts to chastise me for cursing in the halls of the school.

I tell them about Caroline, and the incredible way she has made me believe in good again. I tell them about being ‘voluntold’ into coaching the Saints, and I see the hurt in their eyes that I had robbed them of the opportunity to be on the sidelines for the beginning half of the season. I tell them about Zach and his sister along with the accident from Friday as they just sit and listen.

Finally, after I feel like they have a big enough idea of my current situation, I stop and look at each of them. Heather leans over and takes my hand as she wipes the tears that have accumulated from her eyes while Bobby gets up from his chair and comes to sit with his wife.

“Well, Theo. You’ve had quite a few weeks it sounds like. I am so sorry you’ve been through all of that even though you might have deserved a bit of it. I can’t believe you were so ugly to that woman in front of her students,” Heather says, shaking her head at me. “As for the rest, I am so proud of you for working on getting some support. I think moving to Springside might have been one of the biggest blessings you could have received.”

“I agree. That’s actually why I’m here. I know you haven’t met her, but I just wanted to come tell you both that I am going to propose next week. I snuck away tonight while she was with Margaret and Hannah at Maracas because as much as I wish things were different, Margaret and I wouldn’t be here without you. Y’all took us in and never looked back. I know you would have loved to adopt us, but I wasn’t ready to have new parents after I had just lost mine. But even then, you two have never given up on us, and I love you both so much for that.”

I look up at Heather and Bobby, who are both failing at hiding their tear-filled eyes. I have never expressed any type of legitimate feelings towards them, and I have to admit I feel bad for waiting so long.

“Oh, Theo, of course. We love you too!” Heather says. “I have to go grab something okay? Promise not to run on me?”

“Yep,” I reply simply as I pop another cookie into my mouth.

Heather stays gone for less than five minutes before she comes back with a large envelope. “I have something you need to see.” As soon as she says it, I notice that the envelope is in my mother’s handwriting. My heart stops.

“One night, your Mom and Dad went on a date, and as they came back home, they saw the worst car accident either of them had ever seen. They’d left you and your siblings at your grandparents and gone out to dinner on the beach, but as they came back from Crestview, they saw a car wrapped around a tree. They called 911 and sat there until the first responders could get there. Your Dad went and tried to help them, but they were both already gone. There was a car seat in the back, but the child wasn’t with them. It really shook your Momma up. She kept asking what that baby was gonna do because in less than a minute, she had lost both her parents,” Heather explains.

I swallow down a gulp because that situation is incredibly similar to mine. Fire, car accident, or terminal illness—I’d come to learn it didn’t matter because the outcome was the same.

“Anyway, she decided to write letters for each of her children for the moment that they knew they had met ‘the one’, and had them placed with their will. The instructions were for your guardian to keep them safe until the time came. And, it sounds to me like the time is here,” Heather concludes before handing me the large envelope. “Here you go.”

I feel like I am going to pass out if my heart beats any faster, but as my fingers tremble, I do my best to open the letter. I pull out a page that is once again full of my mother's loopy cursive and swallow the lump in my throat the best I can. Taking a deep breath, I begin to read.

Dear Theo,

My sweet, fearless, protective boy.

I pray this letter never finds its way into your hands. I pray that when you find the woman who turns your world upside down, your father and I are there to dote on her. I pray I am there to dance with you when you decide to say “I do,” and that your father and I get to fight over which one of us gets to hold our grandchildren first. I pray there is a lifetime of family vacations, laughs, and memories between us all before your father and I are forced to leave this world. But I have learned that life can be full of moments that are out of our control. So, I decided, just in case, I wanted to make sure you and your siblings know just how much your father and I adore you.

Theo Johnson, you are worthy of that once in a lifetime kind of love. Your father and I have watched you grow into a young man who loves harder than anyone I know. There is nothing in this world that you won’t do for your family, and watching you thrive has been one of the deepest joys of my life. I will never forget the morning your sixth grade teacher called because you had duct taped Johnny Stewart to the flagpole for calling your sister ugly. I knew then that anyone lucky enough to have your love would never wonder if you would protect them.

I have no doubt that the woman you have chosen to spend your life with will never know another day without your fierce devotion. The babies that will one day fill your home have no idea that they will never find someone as loyal as their daddy. But in protecting everyone else, remember that you will need a shelter too.

I hope you find the kind of love that makes you brave. The kind of love that makes you confident that you can face whatever life throws at you. The kind of love that makes you slow dance around the kitchen at two in the morning to the glow of the refrigerator lights because you can’t imagine your life without them. And once you find it, fight like hell to keep it.

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