Aaron

by Dale Mayer

  Funny, he didn’t know much about Dani’s father when they were younger. Although he remembered something about him being hurt and Dani struggling. He thought she’d planned to go to college but couldn’t remember for what. You’d think he would remember, as everything else about her was stuck in his head. Then again school hadn’t been important to him back then. In any way, shape or form. All he wanted to do was get through it the best he could and as fast as possible.

  When he’d been accepted into the military, his life had started. Of course the military had also brought his life to a grinding halt a decade later. He stared down at his hands. Maybe trauma was like that—he’d hit a wall, and everything stopped. Once he realized he was being blamed and that nobody believed him, all his defenses went up, and he had locked himself inside.

  “Hey, what are you doing? Sleeping here?” Shane asked, standing beside him. “Shower time. Then it’s off to lunch and I promised you a massage.”

  “Both sound great.” Using the railing he hopped up on one foot, then he turned and looked around, but his wheelchair was pulled back a few feet, out of the way of people walking around the pool. He had no crutches, not to mention the tiles were now wet from where he’d been sitting, all the way to where Shane now stood. Aaron motioned at the crutches and asked, “Shane, can you pass me those?”

  Instead, with a big grin on his face, Shane said, “Here, use my arm and step.” He reached out a thick forearm for Aaron to use as balance as he took two hops to the wheelchair before moving smoothly into the showers.

  By the time he was done and dressed and heading back out the door, he could feel the fatigue setting in. Not that it mattered because his appetite was even bigger, raging to be fed now. So food first, then a massage in bed. He’d be asleep in no time. With a sense of satisfaction at his morning, he headed off to do just that.

  Chapter 9

  By the time the dinner buffet was setting up, Dani felt good about her day. She’d made great inroads into her paperwork. She’d contacted several benefactors and had already received enough to cover the three men at the top of her list.

  Tossing down her pen, she decided that was enough for the day. She got up and exited her office, closing and locking the door behind her. In the hallway, she stood and studied the activity around her. There’d been no major upsets for a couple of weeks now, and a general air of peace and contentment filled the center. It was all good.

  “Dani, got time for dinner with your old man?” Her father ambled toward her, with a big lazy grin on his face.

  She beamed. “Best offer I’ve had all day.”

  He hooked his arm through hers and gently led her toward the dining hall. She didn’t always eat here. Many times she preferred to go home, but she knew her dad wanted to be here. Dinner was likely to be a catch-up session on shoptalk, but that was their relationship these days, and she hadn’t had a good discussion with him for a long time.

  The dining area was busy, but the two of them could always find a place in the far corner if they wanted it. She sometimes felt guilty about keeping a table just for them when she only used it maybe half the time, but it was important for her to know she and her father always had a spot to meet and eat. He seemed to be perfectly content to live most of his life down here. He was well-known to the staff and had lots of friends among the patients. Those he didn’t know he made friends with very quickly.

  But instead of serving themselves right away, he wanted to sit and talk over coffee first. While she was happy to visit with her dad, she wondered if something else was going on.

  “So how are the newest arrivals doing?” he asked with a smile.

  She narrowed her gaze at him. “As far as I know, everyone’s settling in nicely,” she said smoothly. “Anyone in particular you’re asking about?” But she knew. Of course she knew.

  “I understand that Aaron, Levi’s younger brother, is doing better.”

  She felt his aging blue gaze pierce her. “Yes, he is.” She laughed quietly. “I’m surprised you didn’t bring it up earlier.”

  “I was waiting for you to say something about it,” he said, leaning back with a twinkle in his eye. “So how is he? You had quite the thing for him way back when.”

  “I did not,” she protested. “I might have had a little thing for him back then, but it wasn’t that bad. He was just so … larger than life.”

  He snickered. “This is somebody who watched you go through years of that sideways look, flushes and giggles, and moody staring into the middle of nowhere,” he said. “Allow me to now hold a different opinion on that.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Your memory is obviously a little bit lacking.”

  He chuckled. “I thought I saw Levi come through this place this morning, but I can’t be sure because, boy, that man is a far cry from the kid who used to hang around the house all the time.”

  “It was Levi. You didn’t see much of him toward the end, when he headed into the military, but he’s definitely the same person. He came to visit his brother.”

  “Good. Family should stick together.”

  After that, things returned to more mundane business about finances, and she told him about Morgan donating money to help a couple more people get the treatment they needed.

  He beamed. “We need more people like him,” he said. “Many people are in need.”

  “Even if we had all the money in the world, we wouldn’t be able to help them all,” she said. “We have to be realistic. We’ll help those who we can.”

  “Who’s coming next then?” he asked. He picked up his cup of coffee and sipped it, staring at her over the rim. “You know how I like to know who’s coming in.”

  She shook her head. “You’re just seeing how many more friends you can make out of the new patients. Soon, but no idea how soon will be Brock Gorman, Cole Muster and Denton Hamilton and hopefully Elliot Carver. The first three need financial assistance.”

  He frowned. “What’s happened to the insurance companies these days?”

  “The military is handling Denton, but he’s not quite ready to travel, and Brock has a lot of medical insurance but not quite enough to cover our place,” she admitted. “But with Morgan covering the balance for Brock and all of Cole’s fees, we should have all three men in soon. They were in the same arm of the military, and they know each other. I was hoping that being here with friends would help them push each other into better circumstances.”

  “I agree, in theory, but we don’t have three empty beds, do we?”

  She shook her head. “No. I have one. I’m working on getting Brock’s travel arrangements completed first, since he can essentially move in at any time. We also have someone releasing next week, so in theory, we could take Cole too. But as far as Denton is concerned, we could be looking sometime weeks away.”

  “Have you considered bringing in more staff?”

  “I don’t have much choice, seeing as Susie and Dennis handed in their notices.” She propped her chin on her palm and rested her elbow on the table. “Susie’s returning to school.”

  “Why is Dennis leaving?” her dad grumbled. “I really like that man.”

  She chuckled at her father’s indignation. “Because he and Susie are an item, and she’s attending school in California. They aren’t willing to be apart.”

  “Damn.” He stared off in the distance. “Is she picking up skills we can use later?”

  “Absolutely. Physiotherapy.”

  “Before they leave, make sure they know they are welcome back.”

  “Yes, Dad,” she replied drily. He meant well, but he said the same damned thing every time they had a similar situation. “I doubt it will happen, knowing Susie’s family is back west, so …” She glanced at the buffet line and noticed it had shortened. “Are we planning on talking the whole night or getting something to eat too?” she asked, teasing.

  He bounced to his feet. For somebody who’d been through all the health issues he had, he moved very quickly.
They were soon standing at the buffet and serving themselves some delicious-looking grilled salmon. By the time Dani had filled a plate and headed to their table, the smell reminded her just how absolutely empty her stomach was. As she sat down, she said, “I don’t think I’ve eaten all day.”

  Her father raised his gaze. “What? You have to start looking after yourself.” He lifted his fork and shook it at her. “Don’t make me sic the staff on you and have them remind you all the time that you can’t neglect your own health.”

  She shuddered. “Please don’t.”

  As they sat there, talking and enjoying dinner together, she glanced around the dining room, feeling a sense of pride in all they’d accomplished. Sure, there’d been a lot of hiccups along the way, and more hiccups could certainly appear in the future, but for the moment, things were doing rather well.

  “You have a look of satisfaction on your face.” Her dad’s voice interrupted her musings. “What’s up?”

  She put down her fork, and reaching across the table, laid her hand on his. “Just thinking about this special project you started way back when and how fantastic it’s all turned out,” she said warmly.

  He laced his fingers through hers and squeezed them. “I couldn’t have done it without you, girl.”

  “Well, it’s been a team effort getting it this far.”

  At that they both quieted and ate their meals. It wasn’t long before she stood up to head home and turned to her father. “You coming home tonight?”

  “Of course I am. Just as I do every night, but in the meantime, I’ll go downstairs and take a look at our four-legged patients.”

  She stopped gathering their dishes. “I’m out of touch today. Did we get somebody new in?”

  “Well, a rosy boa who’s got a way-too-long slice on its back,” he said. “And we have a Maine Coon cat that looks like he’s been through more than his fair share of troubles. The team’ll have to work on taming him in order to change his ways, although that crippled back leg will halt his hunting days. Treatment will be difficult because he can’t be touched easily.” Then he gave her another bit of news. “We got a little filly in today. Less than a year old.”

  She raised her eyebrows at that. “Normally I know when horses are coming in. Why wasn’t I told about this one?” she asked in surprise. Then shook her head. “Listen to me. Like everyone isn’t run off their feet already.”

  “I think everybody considers this one theirs,” he said with a laugh. “She’s small, beautiful and loves people.”

  “Where is she?”

  “In the back stall all by herself, but old Maggie is in the stall next door to keep her company.”

  “Can’t she be in the same stall as Maggie?”

  “She likes people, but she’s not sure about other horses,” her father said. “It looks like the owners kept her in the house, and so all she knows is people.”

  “Well, come on. Let’s go see her.” She hated to think of a horse being kept as a pet. They were meant to run free and to be wild. Or at least pastured where they had lots of room to move and run with other horses.

  She quickly walked over to the elevators. She admitted to being a little miffed at not hearing about the horse earlier. Normally Stan would have done that right off.

  When she reached the vet’s office, with her dad only a step behind her, Stan was looking stressed and harried and had his hands full with a monster-size cat. Her father raced forward and grabbed a second towel to help wrap up the critter’s legs.

  Stan stepped back with a relieved laugh. “Good timing. This guy just about got the better of me.” As it was, his arms showed signs of the cat’s displeasure.

  Dani walked over and gently held out a hand to the cat. With his arms and legs bundled up in the towel, he couldn’t scratch her, but she wasn’t sure if he wanted to be petted or if he just wanted to take off her hide. However, he accepted her caress and a quick scratch behind his ears. His eyes were still wild-looking, but he was calming down.

  “What’s wrong with him?” she asked.

  “Broken back leg that healed crooked. It’s causing all kinds of damage on the joints.”

  “I heard that another horse was on the premises.” She glanced over at Stan. “Is that true?”

  He lifted his head, a confused look in his eyes. Then his gaze cleared, and he said, “Yes. I meant to let you know earlier, but my day’s been like this since I first arrived.”

  She nodded. “I suspected as much. What’s wrong with her?”

  “Nothing and everything.” He shook his head. “She was treated as a pet until they realized they couldn’t keep it up. Her hooves are in rough shape. They are still so soft, and unfortunately one of them is cracked, so we’ll work on that. She’s also very skittish about other horses, having never been around them.”

  Dani couldn’t imagine. “I’d like to see her when we’re done here.”

  He waved her off and said, “You don’t need to stay. Go down and visit her. Her name is Molly.”

  With a glance at her father, she smiled and left them to it. That tomcat wasn’t interested in having anybody look after him, whereas Molly appeared to be very much a people-person. Dani walked to the attached stables where Maggie had her permanent home. The older horse would be close enough that Molly could see, hear and touch her on the nose, if need be, at least until they saw how Molly handled being with another horse. Dani came around the corner to look into Molly’s stall and spotted a pair of crutches leaning against the barn door.

  Her heart raced. She had deliberately avoided him all afternoon and evening, but was it possible …? She leaned over the half-door to look in at one of the prettiest little fillies she’d ever seen. Even more heartbreaking was the sight of the big man sitting at her side, gently brushing her, with a look of absolute adoration on his face.

  “Hi, Aaron. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

  Hearing the familiar voice, Aaron turned to study Dani, her gaze locked on the little horse in front of them. He remembered her being one of those horse-crazy girls back then. He could just imagine how this little heartbreaker would affect her. “I heard about her earlier,” he confessed. “I couldn’t not come down and see her.”

  “You get to spend as much time with the animals as you can manage without avoiding any treatments,” she said with a laugh, not moving any farther.

  “You coming in?”

  “Maybe I should just leave the two of you together,” she admitted. “Sometimes the animals are the best healing force we have.”

  “That doesn’t mean there isn’t enough to go around.” He motioned toward the door. “Come on in and say hi. This little girl’s Molly.”

  “How’s she getting along with Maggie?”

  On cue, Maggie’s head popped over the side. Then she gave Molly a nicker. Molly nickered back.

  Now that was a good sign.

  He watched with joy as old Maggie gently dropped her head over the stall to make sure the little one was doing okay. Molly hobbled over to the side and leaned against the wood so Maggie could get as close as possible.

  Instead of walking to Molly first, Dani headed to Maggie and gave her a good scratch and a cuddle. “You just love new ones, don’t you, Maggie? The eternal mother, that’s what you are.”

  “That’s a good thing because Molly could sure use some guidance.” Aaron looked at the small animal, a flash of pain crossing his face. “Whatever possesses people to treat animals as if they’re humans? This horse lived in the house, going up and down stairs and had a bed.”

  Dani shook her head. “I can see people doing things like that when the animals are small and adorable, but very quickly it becomes impractical, and it’s not healthy for the animal, never for a horse. What do you do when she reaches Maggie’s age?”

  “It’s ridiculous.”

  He sat back and watched as Maggie gently cuddled with the filly. One of Molly’s hooves was bandaged, and she’d need some rehab work, but she appeared to
be in good health otherwise. “At least she didn’t stay there very long.”

  “Exactly.” He reached over and grabbed a crutch, and using it as a lever, he rose. With his other crutch, he hobbled to the gate. He went to open it but found Dani there ahead of him. She opened it up for him and then followed him out, closing the door on the two animals.

  “They’re beautiful,” she said. “Both of them.”

  “Especially right now. That connection. That bond. They don’t care about the garbage that came with each other. They don’t care about likes, dislikes, pain or fears. It’s just all in the moment for them.”

  He felt her gaze searching his face and realized he had revealed a little too much of his personal thoughts.

  “Too bad we didn’t know that,” she said, injecting some humor into the conversation. “All those years ago, when we knew each other. And yet, we didn’t know each other or how much things would change since then.”

  “But none of it’s baggage we have to bring forward.”

  “We’re not the same people we were back then.”

  “True enough,” he said with a note of bitterness in his voice. “No matter how much I try not to dwell on it, it’s hard not to.”

  “Molly’s lost a lot too. Just like you.”

  He waved an arm. “You think I don’t feel guilty because I’m bitching and whining, and yet I’m so much better off than so many people? The thing is, it doesn’t make it any easier. I’m still missing a leg.”

  “Did you know Stone’s missing a leg too?”

  He turned to stare at her. “What?”

  She nodded. “You didn’t notice it because his prosthetic limb fits so well that he moves easily. He’s gotten so used to it that it almost doesn’t matter to him anymore.” She shrugged. “I’m sure he went through hell in the beginning. I’m sure there were long days and dark nights when he wished things were different, but he’s back in action, doing exactly what he’s always loved doing.”