“I did have some granola for breakfast this morning, but that’s it.” She looked at the plate in front of her and grinned. “That salad looks fascinating.”

  “It’s got fresh cranberries, raisins, and about four different kinds of seeds among lettuce of many varieties. Enjoy.”

  “I will,” she murmured, as she took it outside. She sat down, her motion a little on the heavy side because she was so tired, and she just idled for a few minutes. At the end of the workday she was tired, but the weekend was here and hard to argue with that. As she tucked into the salad with gusto, Dennis laughed behind her.

  “I do appreciate when someone enjoys their food.”

  “Hey, I always enjoy your food. Is Ilse around? I wouldn’t mind a visit with her.”

  “She’s in town herself. She’s got supplier issues.”

  “Oh no, that’s never a good thing, not when feeding all these people here.”

  “Nope, so she’s gone in to talk to them herself. We’re big clients and steady clients, but sometimes they need to have a little bit of a personal talking to before people get back into keeping prices in alignment.”

  “And especially when we’re all on budgets,” she noted, twisting slightly so she could see him.

  He looked at the plate in front of her. “Did I give you enough?”

  “You sure did,” she replied. “I’ll have trouble finishing it.”

  “And that’s a good thing. You work very hard physically. I was a little worried that I hadn’t given you enough protein.”

  She smiled. “When does anybody ever look after you, Dennis?” she teased.

  He grinned. “One day there’ll be somebody maybe, if I’m lucky.”

  And that was the first inkling she had that he was possibly looking for a partner too. She felt his pain because this guy was all heart. “It’ll have to be a pretty special woman for you.”

  “That depends,” he said, “whether it’s someone else’s version of special or mine. I don’t want anybody interfering in my love life,” he declared, with an eye roll.

  “What? You mean, everybody here doesn’t get a chance to get involved in yours, when you got so nicely involved with everybody else’s?”

  “Exactly. If everybody gets involved, it’d be way too confusing,” he said, with a laugh.

  “And nobody special is in your life right now, is there?” she asked curiously.

  He shook his head. “Nope, not for a few years. Came close once, but she was killed in a car accident,” he shared, with a gentle smile. “And for the longest time I just wanted to honor her memory. Then I realized I was hiding behind her memory.” He shrugged. “Still, in the meantime, I haven’t met anybody who makes me forget her.”

  “I don’t think we’re meant to forget them,” Bella noted. “I think we’re meant to honor them, to speak about them, to talk about them, to keep their memory alive by keeping them alive in our hearts and thoughts. Yet don’t ever try to replace her because that’s not possible.”

  He looked at her in surprise and nodded. “That’s pretty deep for you.”

  “What?” she teased. “Am I not allowed to have all these deep thoughts that you seem to specialize in?”

  He chuckled. “I do love a good philosophical conversation.” He joined her, flipped a chair around backward, and straddled it to sit beside her.

  “And enough people around this place get involved in some of those words of wisdom with you,” she murmured. “I hear about it a lot.”

  “Do you?” he asked. “I never think about conversations making it out to the garden.”

  She burst out laughing again. “And you know perfectly well that I don’t spend all my time in the gardens.”

  “No, I mean, you seemed pretty cheekily ensconced in that hot tub here what, a few days ago?”

  “A little bit longer than that now.” She smiled. “That was a really nice evening. I appreciated the help you gave us.”

  “Hey, you know how I feel about patients getting their needs met.”

  “I do, indeed, but not everybody does.”

  “No, that’s true enough,” he murmured. “Still, this place has done a lot for me, so I always want to give back.”

  “And you always seem to have that celebratory champagne at the ready now.”

  “And honestly I don’t even put it in the budget. I buy that in town myself.”

  She stared at him in astonishment. “I’m sure Dani wouldn’t have a problem if you did put it in the budget,” she murmured. “I know she’s a big fan of all the relationships that have happened here.”

  “She is, and so am I,” he said, “but it doesn’t have to be a company expense. I’m totally okay to make it personal.”

  She nodded, understanding what he meant. “It is pretty special, isn’t it?”

  “It absolutely is,” he declared. “Your day will come.”

  “And so will yours,” she stated.

  At that, he hopped up and walked back to his corner, carrying her empty dishes. “It will, but probably not anytime soon for me.”

  She wasn’t too sure what that meant. But she was ready for a shower and maybe even a swim. As she wandered downstairs, she looked at the water, nodded to herself, and headed back to her apartment to get changed. When she came back, the pool was empty, which was just perfect. She just dove in from the side, and, although she’d already worked a lot physically today, she did several lengths and finally ended up with a good forty minutes of straight, steady swimming.

  When she was done, her muscles were relaxed, almost like melted butter over thin toast. She pulled herself up onto the side, grabbed her towel, walked over to the closest lounge chair, collapsed, and basically stretched out and closed her eyelids.

  And that’s where she was, when a man spoke beside her.

  “Look at that,” he murmured. “This place even comes with built-in mermaids.”

  Bella raised her eyelids to find Spencer sitting in his wheelchair beside her. “I don’t know about that,” she argued, with a sleepy murmur, “but I am definitely one tired gardener.”

  He smiled. “You overdid it again, huh?”

  She chuckled. “Isn’t that my line for you?”

  “Seems you’re the one who overdid it though,” he said, with a headshake. “You know better than that.”

  “I do, but going to town exhausted me.” She smiled at him. “Still not quite sure how that works.”

  He shuddered. “Traffic, pedestrians, people, road rage. It’s enough to make anybody scared.”

  “Yeah, even you, a big tough guy, huh?”

  “Absolutely. I’d stay out of town as much as possible, if I could.”

  “You seem to have done a pretty good job of it by staying here.”

  He grinned. “Yeah, convenient, isn’t it?” He laughed. “But still, some days, everybody has to brave that wild, wild west and head into the city.”

  “And to think that some people enjoy it.”

  “I’ve heard that. I haven’t seen any proof of it yet though. Seems that everybody here has the same attitude.”

  “A lot of us do.” She gave him a gentle smile. She yawned just then and covered her mouth. “Wow, I came in late, had a bite to eat, then decided on the pool. Probably overdid that too.” She frowned, looking at the water. “And now I’m just tired again.”

  “You are always tired. You just never had a chance to get untired.”

  She burst out laughing. “You’ve got a point there. How are you doing? I haven’t seen you for a few days.”

  “Nope, it’s been pretty busy in my corner too. Shane is not an easy person to work with.”

  “Oh?” she asked in concern. “Are you doing okay?”

  “I’m doing fine, but there’s no slacking when he’s around.”

  “No, I don’t imagine there is,” she agreed, with a nod, “but still, you don’t want to overdo it either.”

  “No, I don’t. Yet, at the same time, that’s why I’m here—to get whatever rehab and recovery I can get from this place, and then who knows where and what I’ll do after this?”

  “And what do you do?” she asked. “I guess that’s always one of the questions—when you’re done here, where do you go, and what do you do then.”

  “I’m at loose ends. I was on the base in Coronado, California, where I got injured, but I do have extended family not all that far from here that I would like to get to know better, now as adults. So it’ll depend what my next step is.”

  “And what would that be?”

  He shrugged. “I’m a strategist, so it’ll entail either economics or math.”

  “Wow, one of those brainy people, huh?”

  “My biggest concern when I was injured,” he murmured quietly, “was about my head injury. Considering the work that I’ve always wanted to do, it could have been catastrophic.”

  “And yet didn’t you get a brain injury? Didn’t you say something about that?”

  He frowned. “I had head injuries, and I guess you could call that a brain injury. I was certainly … They took the top of my skull off to ease the pressure and to let some of the injuries heal,” he explained. “There doesn’t appear to be any lasting damage, and, for that, I’m grateful.”

  “Wow. I don’t think that happens very often.” She looked at him in surprise.

  “No, I don’t think so, and, in this instance, it’s all good.”

  “So what would you do?” she asked. “I mean, I’ve never heard of anybody doing strategy stuff.”

  “An economics position,” he suggested, “which I’m not sure that I want to do as a civilian. I was even thinking about teaching again.”

  “Teaching again?”

  He nodded. “I did a certain amount of teaching and business training before I went into the military, but I was young and didn’t know what I wanted to do back then.”

  “So you are one of those superbrainy people?” she asked, a kernel of suspicion forming on her face.

  He gave her a lopsided grin. “Does that mean I’m no good if I am?”

  “It definitely makes you unique. I’ve never been terribly brainiac in any shape or form,” she admitted. “I’m all about plants and nature and things.” She gave a wave of her hand.

  “So am I,” he noted. “I went into the service to do that. To be of service. And I know that made me an oddity too.”

  “In many ways, yes, but good for you.”

  He smiled. “When you are touted for your brains, you often lose out on opportunities.”

  She stared at him in surprise. “And here I thought all those kinds of opportunities would have been a benefit. Instead, from what you’re saying, it seems almost a hindrance.”

  “In many ways it was a hindrance. In many ways it opened doors, but not always the doors I wanted to open. Just because they were opening and seemed to be great opportunities, I could walk through them. However, I still lost out on a lot of other experiences. That’s one of the reasons I joined the military. I wanted to get out from the economics world, where everybody saw me as who they wanted me to be, and instead I went to where I could just be me.”

  “I think you succeeded,” she noted.

  He nodded. “Yes, I did, and then I got injured.”

  “Ouch, talk about a way to stop a career.”

  “I was leaving anyway,” he noted. “So time to get back to my regular life.”

  She smiled. “So joining the military was a sidestep for you?”

  “I wanted it,” he replied. “I wanted to do more for my country and to do more on a physical level. When you’re hired for your brain but not necessarily super physical, everybody slots you into being the last pick on various sports teams. You never have the fun stuff that all the jocks do.”

  “I understand that. I was always the jock at school, and we had a blast. But you’re right. So many people never got a chance to do what we did because we were all so good at what we did.”

  “Exactly, and, because I was so good at what I did, you can guess where my world ended up.”

  “Yep, exactly,” she murmured. “That’s fascinating.” She studied him. “And what are you doing now?”

  “I came for a swim,” he said, pointing at his swim shorts.

  “And yet instead you got stopped, talking with the hired help.”

  He leered at her. “If you’re the hired help, this place is dynamite.” And, with that, he shuffled his wheelchair over to the side of the pool. “I’ll see you in a little bit. I need to get refreshed from some of Shane’s rehab work, get the muscles relaxing a little bit.”

  “You’ll go in the hot tub afterward?”

  “I hope so. As long as it’s pretty empty, I will be. If I can find someone to supervise.”

  “I can supervise. It’s 100 percent empty right now.”

  “Yeah, but you know how that works.” He chuckled, as he slipped into the water. “Give it ten minutes, and there won’t be sitting room.” And he went under and started working on his strokes. He was a huge swimmer, and, of all the sports that he would love to do on a much broader scale, it was swimming. He needed to add that to his goals list with Shane. Spencer could have been a professional swimmer; he knew that. But how did one make that choice when it was drilled into him all the time that he should do something with his gift, whatever that gift was in their mind?

  It had been hard in many ways, but it had also been rewarding. He had done a lot of good things growing up that other people never had a chance to experience. Yet, at the same time, he’d also lost out on a few. After he did twenty laps in the pool, he made it to the side steps and bumped himself up until he was sitting at the top step.

  He looked over to see her lying there, calm and just half asleep. Pretty decent that she could do that. Just be here at the end of her day, enjoy the evening, and be herself at the same time. Maybe a little bit of jealousy arose in him. Because she got to stay here permanently, where he was a visitor, and he would have to leave.

  Interrupting his musings, an older man carrying—carrying what?—walked toward him.

  Stopping in front of Spencer, the older man grinned and said, “Want to say hi?”

  “I’d love to but what is it?” He studied the liquid furry form in surprise but willingly held out his hands to receive the soft animal. Its eyes looked at him inquisitively.

  “Hey, Stan.” Bella nodded at him, a big grin on her face. “Is that Pika again?”

  “It is,” Stan confirmed. He studied Spencer. “Pika comes every so often for some dental work. She has a bad habit of getting in the hard candies her owner refuses to give up. She’s a four-year-old ferret.”

  Fascinated, Spencer cuddled Pika. “She’s adorable.”

  “She’s got a great personality. I like to bring her out to visit the residents at Hathaway, as she’s very friendly to new people.”

  “She’s adorable.” Spencer’s voice thickened with emotions, as he carefully handed Pika over to Bella. Pika immediately crawled up her shoulder as if recognizing her.

  “Hey, Pika. How’s my girl?” she whispered against her soft fur.

  “You haven’t made it down to my clinic yet.” Stan made it sound more like an accusation.

  “That’s more my fault.” Bella smiled up at him. “I should have taken Spencer there before now. We haven’t even taken him for a proper tour yet.”

  Stan reached out his arms, and Pika raced into them and up onto his shoulder. “Anytime you need a pick-me-up, come on down. We always have someone around for you to cuddle.”

  “Sounds like a great offer,” Spencer said immediately. “Thanks for letting me know.”

  “I’ll take you down there later, or if you get a chance, you can always go on your own,” Bella urged.

  They watched in silence as Stan walked over to someone else to fall in love with Pika.

  Dani had built quite a place here, and Spencer kept meaning to tell her that, but, so far, he hadn’t gotten around to it. He’d been telling Timothy all about it, and, of course, waiting for his friend to get here was taking what seemed forever. He wondered what Timothy would think of Bella. Yet Spencer already knew that Timothy would think she was phenomenal and gorgeous.

  If she were available, he’d make a play for her. Even though Timothy’s body was twisted, and Spencer was dealing with some other issues himself, just enough of that light in Timothy’s eyes always said that he appreciated the ladies. He was a ladies’ man in some sense but honorable at all times.

  Spencer made his way over to the hot tub by hitching his butt across the tiles. When he got to the other side, he heard chuckling. He looked over at her. She’d been watching his progress. “Hey, one of the things that you learn is that necessity is the mother of all inventions,” he told her. “The thought of getting back into the wheelchair and making my way over and getting out of the wheelchair again?” He shook his head. “Nope, this was by far easier.”

  “Oh, I’m not laughing at you. I’m very appreciative of everything you do because you show me so much,” she admitted impulsively. “A new perspective on old issues.”

  He looked at her in surprise. “Are you sure you’re talking to the right person?”

  She smiled. “Absolutely.”

  Chapter 8

  Just watching Spencer make his way, totally unconcerned about how anybody else would view it, made Bella smile. He was a really good guy. She walked over, dipped her toe in the water, and announced, “I’ll go back in the cold water first.” And she turned and headed over for another set of laps. By the time she was back at the hot tub, she was yawning the whole time.

  “Seems to be bedtime for you.”

  “Nope,” she disagreed, with a smile, “but it’ll be dinnertime soon and then an early night. That’s the thing about getting up so early in the mornings. Even on a Friday night, bedtime is still at nine o’clock.”

  “What time do you start in the morning?”

  “Usually I’m already working at five a.m.,” she shared. His eyebrows shot up. She nodded. “It’s the coolest hours to be working, and it can get blooming hot out here, doing the work I do.”

  “I understand,” he agreed. “I just didn’t realize it was that early.”