“It’s not even so much that you’re early, but we’re just a few minutes behind getting everything out. So grab a table, and I’ll bring you a plate over.”

  “Sure. Sounds good.”

  And, with that, Wesley headed out onto the deck in the early morning sun, pulled out his notepad and pen and jotted down all the thoughts that had been running through his head, and, boy, were there a lot. He wrote down as much as he could remember about the fateful encounter with Annabelle, not wanting to look back later and wish that he had written more down at the time.

  When Dennis came by with coffee, he noted, “You forgot to grab coffee on your way.”

  He looked at it and shook his head, “Man, I must have been seriously not awake yet.”

  “Maybe.” Dennis studied the pouch on his arm. “Wow, I really like that.”

  Wesley nodded and grinned. “Yeah, my dearly beloved doctor made that for me.”

  “That’s really cool,” Dennis said, “and very helpful.”

  “You’re not kidding,” Wesley noted, with a smile. “Alba has been surprising me over and over again.”

  “She’s quite the woman. Go you.” And, with that, he headed back to get breakfast.

  Wesley realized how it meant everybody around them saw them as a twosome. And yet it wasn’t anything he had broached with her yet. Neither had she asked what he would do when he left, although she had tentatively brought up the subject yesterday. He hadn’t really been forthcoming because he was still working on his plan. He’d had a couple ideas come up but hadn’t really thought about them too much, not yet at least. He was a little bit further off than he wanted to be from some of these plans, but, hey, it was one of the things that he just had to sit down and spend some time working on, and maybe go back to school for. He wasn’t sure yet. As he sat here, staring off in the distance, Alba called out to him. He turned to look at her and waved her over. “Hey, good morning.”

  “Good morning,” she said. “How are you doing this morning?”

  “Good, more determined, more at peace—that’s the word I’m looking for. I feel more at peace than I was before.”

  “That’s excellent,” she said, as she sat down beside him.

  “I was also thinking,” he began.

  And then Dennis appeared out of the blue.

  Wesley looked at the plateful of food that Dennis put down in front of him and said, “I am so going to miss your cooking when I’m not here.”

  “Are you leaving anytime soon?” he asked.

  “Nope, I’ll drag it out as long as I can.”

  Dennis burst out laughing. “Nope, just like everybody else, you’ll be anxious to leave as soon as you can,” he corrected, “and that’s just the way of the world.”

  “I guess,” Wesley agreed, “but I’ll miss you guys.”

  “It depends how far away you go,” Dennis stated. “They’re starting to do inhouse day-training for people who are close by, who come back for refreshers on some of their exercises.”

  Wesley stared at him. “That is an excellent idea. I’m not even out of here, and I want to get signed up.”

  “Well, you know who to talk to, as those projects are one of Shane’s babies.”

  “I will do that,” he said, as Dennis left. He looked over at Alba. “No breakfast?”

  “I’ll get something,” she said.

  And there was that serene smile on her face again.

  Chapter 14

  Alba didn’t know what to say.

  “You get that look on your face,” Wesley said intuitively, “when you hear something that you’re trying not to react to.”

  She stared at him over her coffee cup.

  “And now you’ve got that look that says, How do you respond without giving away what’s going on?” he added. “And it always comes up—or at least let me say this. I’ve noticed it coming up a couple times whenever we talk about me leaving.”

  “Of course I’m not happy you’re leaving, but, like Dennis just mentioned, it’s the way of the place.”

  “I’m not going far.”

  “When you say that, I’m delighted to hear it. I’m still not exactly sure what far is yet.”

  “And I’m not sure either. I sent off some inquiries yesterday,” he murmured. “And I’m still a way away from figuring out just what to do. And the idea is a little bit on the far-fetched side, so I’m not sure.”

  “You want to give me any hints?”

  He looked at her and smiled. “Well, kinda. It’s because of you that I started this. So I probably should give you some hints but, I’m just … I’ll just warn you that nothing’s for sure, okay?”

  “Got it. So what are all these big plans?”

  He shrugged. “I contacted the local community college.”

  “Oh? What will you take?”

  “I explained my situation and was wondering if there was any chance of teaching shop.”

  She stared at him for a long moment. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “When you make a change, you make a change.”

  “I only did this yesterday,” he reminded her, “after meeting Annabelle.”

  “Ah, because of how relaxed she is about her arm.”

  “It just reminded me that I was a fool and an idiot and that I was hiding and that, if she wasn’t hiding, there was no reason I should be hiding,” he shared. “As I mentioned yesterday, seeing her was quite the eye-opener.”

  “I like it. Have you had a response?”

  “No, and honestly, I’m not even sure that any response would be one that I would like—because obviously I’m not as able-bodied as I once was.”

  “And did you tell them that?”

  “Not only told them but I sent them a photo of the injuries and told them that I was perfectly capable of doing a lot of things that I needed to do and that some of the machines I needed to adapt to, but I wondered if they had a program for people like me to learn skills and hobbies or if they did any training, any hands-on technical-type training, for handicapped people.”

  “Oh, that’s a fascinating idea,” she exclaimed, staring at him. “I really like it. When you hear back from them, let me know.”

  “Oh, I will,” he promised. “And now, go get food,” he ordered. “We don’t have much time before our day starts. And you know what that can be like.”

  She burst out laughing and got up. “Aye-aye, captain. See you back here in a few minutes.”

  *

  Amazing just how much freer Wesley felt, after having met that little girl, Annabelle. Stupid, yes, like an idiot, an adult who had missed a major learning curve somewhere along the line and had to be shown by a small angel. He almost wished he could see the little girl again and thank her. But she probably wouldn’t even understand because to her it was natural, it was normal. He’s the one who had made a big deal out of nothing. And that had just complicated his issue.

  He could still feel himself adjusting, depending on his thought processes. He would be sitting in the dining room and looking around and suddenly realize that he wasn’t feeling the same sense of judgment anymore. And he didn’t know if that was coming from the people around him or if that was self-induced, but, because of that lack of judgment, he had so much more freedom. It was stupid. It was ridiculous, and it was a number of other feelings that he was more than happy to let go of.

  When he heard from the local community college, he stared at the email reply. He hadn’t even expected to get a response. As he read the message, he was even more stunned. They wanted to talk with him, see what his capabilities were, and see what he had in mind. He immediately responded, replying how that would be perfect and what time frame were they looking at for a meeting. As it was, they went back and forth with several emails, confirming the time and the date, and then he realized that he didn’t have any way to get into town.

  And then he got an email from Kat. He froze, not sure he wanted to read it, but he did. Send me your medicals, she said, and I’ll be in touch.

  He sat here, staring at the emails, with a frown on his face, only to have a knock on the door, and Shane poked his head around and asked, “Ah, so were you planning on working out today?”

  Wesley stared at him in shock, stared down at the time on his computer. “Oh, man, I am sorry.” He got up from the bed and headed in Shane’s direction.

  “I hope you have a good reason,” Shane stated in the testiest tone that Wesley had heard yet from Shane.

  “Maybe, at least for me. I don’t know about for you.” As they walked down to the therapy room, Wesley explained.

  Shane stared at him. “Seriously?”

  Wesley nodded. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” he admitted, wincing. “I’m hardly to that point yet.”

  “No, but that likely isn’t something they’ll want to start on Monday anyway,” Shane pointed out. “So, if this is something that’s doable, we need to figure out a way to ensure that you’re capable of doing the job.”

  “That’s what I don’t know,” Wesley admitted. “And I don’t really have any machinery to practice on.”

  “No,” Shane replied slowly, “but we have a workshop here because things always need to be repaired around here.”

  Wesley stared at him. “You have a workshop?”

  “Sure. It’s down in the basement,” he noted. “Not a ton of equipment is there either, but obviously drills and circular saws and handsaws.” He added, “I don’t even know what all else is down there. However, I can call one of the maintenance men and see what we can set up.”

  Wesley stared at Shane. “That would be an incredible opportunity, if for no other reason than to test what I can do and what I want to do.”

  “And considering you’ve already reached out to the college, maybe we should do that now.”

  Wesley winced at that. “Yeah, that would be a good idea.”

  Shane nodded. “Today we’ll work on strengthening that arm. In the meantime I will see what I can work out with the workshop. Even if we can get an hour or so to test and to see what you need to do, that would be a start.”

  And, with that, the morning progressed at the same speed that it had started. And by the time lunch came around, Wesley was now onto another problem in his head. He needed to talk to Dani to see if he could get a ride into town to visit the college. He knew that people went in for shopping trips and day trips and various things to keep them socially active and aware, but this was a completely different thing. He would probably have to pay for a round-trip visit, probably have the driver waiting for Wesley in the interim. But it would be worth it, if it resulted in something positive.

  “Heck,” he muttered to himself. “It is positive already.”

  The bottom line was somebody had expressed interest, without dismissing him as having nothing to offer. He was still preoccupied with that thought, when Alba sat down beside him at lunch.

  “Hey,” she greeted him. “What’s with the expression on your face?”

  He looked at her, blinked to bring his mind back to it, and said, with a wry look, “You won’t believe what happened.”

  She stared at him for a moment. “Well, from the tone of your voice, you’re quite nonplussed about it, so tell me.”

  He explained about the multiple emails, missing out on Shane’s workout time frame, and Shane’s offer to contact maintenance to see what there was for tools here so that they could test how Wesley could handle various implements. She put down her fork, interlocked her fingers together, and dropped her chin on them, as she stared at him. “When you get moving, you get moving.”

  He laughed. “I wasn’t expecting anybody to get moving with me though,” he noted in a wry tone.

  “Yeah, you’re back to that, Hey, I can’t do this.”

  “No,” he corrected. “I’m back to, Oh my God, can I do this?”

  “I’ll take that as a huge step forward,” she declared, “and that’s absolutely fabulous.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I have to talk to Dani next though.”

  “And why is that?” she asked.

  “Because I don’t know how I would begin to get to town for this.”

  She shrugged. “Depending on how you feel about it, I could take you.”

  He stared at her. “Seriously?”

  “Sure, why not?” she asked. “I do go to town, not all that often, but it’s not a hardship for me to do.”

  “But it would be during work hours,” he noted cautiously.

  “And I have lots of breaks in my hours where I do reports,” she reminded him. “I can certainly take you in, and something like this would definitely be part of my job, or at least isn’t a hard stretch to consider as part of my job,” she explained. “Getting you out there to meet somebody who has a potential career path for you?” she exclaimed. “That would be huge.” She added, “Not to mention a significant boost to your self-confidence.”

  “Yeah, but would … How will I feel in front of multiple able-bodied people?”

  “And how would you feel in front of others who are not able-bodied people?” she asked, tilting her head to study his face. “Because you have to wonder that maybe there’s an awareness that something like this is needed for the community at large, for those who don’t have the same physical abilities as others—maybe the elderly, maybe the youth.”

  “Well, that would be even better,” he replied, staring at her. “But I doubt the college is running something like that, and, in that case, even if they are, it would probably only be a night class or two.”

  “It’s not a bad way for you to start though,” she noted. “What an in that would give you.”

  He had to nod. “It’s still”—he stopped and winced—“scary.”

  “Of course it is,” she agreed. “It would be scary no matter what you were doing. But, in this case, you’ll be utilizing your ability to your advantage.”

  “Is that … what’s the term?” he asked. “Like maybe abusing my ability?”

  She stared at him, shook her head slowly, and asked, “Still some more judgments you have to get rid of, huh?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, apparently, but I’m working on it.”

  “You are, indeed, and you’re doing a great job,” she murmured.

  He laughed. “You’re a great cheerleader.”

  “I’m more than that,” she declared, with a smile. “And did they give you some time frame when they wanted to talk to you?”

  He nodded. “They suggested this Monday,” he replied nervously.

  She let out her breath in a slow exhale. “Wow, that’s amazing. Monday morning?”

  He nodded.

  “Well, you’re in luck,” she said. “Monday mornings are generally slow for me, and I can shuffle a few things around to make it happen. And that’s only if you’re okay for me to go with you.”

  “I would rather you went with me,” he replied, “because, if I completely muck it up and make a fool out of myself, I would just as soon not have too many eyes and ears around to hear about it.”

  “Just mine,” she said, with a smile.

  “But you won’t judge me for it,” he stated. “You’ll give me one of those big pep talks on the way home and tell me to try again.”

  At that, she burst out laughing. “You’re so right there, and glad to hear that you know who I am.”

  Chapter 15

  Alba couldn’t even begin to express how amazed and how proud she was of Wesley’s progress. Once he’d seen how he was letting something emotional and physical, yet superficial, affect his life, he’d made changes in a drastic way. She had no clue what the college had in mind, and she didn’t think Wesley did either. She quickly did a Google search to see if they did have shop classes for the handicapped, but they didn’t appear to—although they did certain things for less able-bodied persons than others. She frowned at that, not wanting to interfere but hoping that would be something that Wesley had a good experience from. If it was a good experience, then he would continue to stretch and to try new things. But, if it went south, well, she wouldn’t blame him for wanting to pull back inside his shell again.

  *

  When Monday morning dawned clear, Alba knew Shane and Dani were waiting on tenterhooks, the same as Alba was, but she walked out to the car with Wesley and pointed hers out.

  “Nice. Is the AC on?”

  “Not yet,” she said, with a laugh. She got in, adjusted her seat, and turned on the AC, as he got in beside her. “There you go. Now you’ve got AC.”

  He just grinned. “So, depending on how long this takes,” he said, “I was thinking we might have lunch in town.”

  She looked over at him in surprise. “I was thinking the same thing.”

  “Oh, good.”

  As they drove in, she noted, “The college isn’t very far away.”

  “I know,” he murmured. “I was thinking about that too. Wondering if there was something I could do now while I’m still healing and work at building up my strength and maybe do more a little bit later.”

  “Just don’t try to push it,” she reminded him.

  He grinned at her. “No, that wasn’t really on my plan, but I’m eager to get back to whatever I can get back to.”

  She nodded. “I like the sound of that.”

  When they pulled up into the parking lot of the college, she turned off the engine and looked at him. He just sat here, staring at the building. He let out a slow, deep breath and turned to face her. “It’s not foolish,” he stated, “yet a part of me says this is really foolish.”

  “And that part doesn’t matter,” she declared. “We’re here, and you’ll go through with this, and we’ll see just what options they have for you. And it’s not just them. There are government programs, all kinds of opportunities out there for you.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I was thinking of that too,” he admitted. After a big sigh, he added, “Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.” He looked at her and added, “This will also sound foolish, but I was hoping I could go in alone.”

  “Doesn’t sound foolish at all,” she agreed. “I’ll go sit in that beautiful set of gardens over there. You can find me when you’re done.”