Chapter 14

Mitch Glover hurried into the library, his hearing dog right at his side, bypassing the checkout counter without even looking over to see if Kaytee Larsen stood there. Sure, he'd had a crush on her for a few weeks after meeting her a few months ago before one of his calls to his friends back in Virginia.

He loved her dark hair, her sparkling eyes, and those soft-as-pillows lips. She hadn't seemed to mind that all of their conversation had to be typed, but Mitch did. He wanted someone he could truly talk with, and that meant he needed someone who could speak sign language—or he had to learn to hear and speak, an avenue he'd started thinking about more and more.

In the Texas Panhandle, in a town of barely twenty thousand, the people who could communicate with him all lived at Shiloh Ridge. And they'd all learned to sign simply so they could talk to him. With him. Because they loved him.

Now that Link was back together with Misty, Mitch could easily see and feel the gaping holes in his life. His parents loved him, and Mitch knew his daddy would do anything for him. Absolutely anything, Cactus Glover had said last week when Mitch had gone to talk to his parents about returning to Whispering Paws, the deaf education school he'd worked at after he'd graduated from high school.

He'd worked on the dog-training side of the academy, but they'd been asking him to come back and teach for nine months now. They wanted someone who knew specialized signs for ranches and farms, and seeing as how Mitch had been living and working at Shiloh Ridge since he was ten years old, he knew a lot of that vocabulary. All of those signs.

The thought of living so far from Texas had his heart tied in a knot, but every time he thought about staying here, he just knew it wasn't right. He didn't talk to God as much these days as he had in the past, but it sure seemed like the Lord still cared about him. Still wanted to guide Mitch where he was supposed to go.

So he slid into the chair at an open computer and started clicking around like crazy while Honor found a spot at his feet. Mitch possessed quick and nimble fingers, as he'd spent his whole life talking with them. Either through a computer, a phone, or sign language, and Mitch did his best to take good care of his hands.

The video conference window came up, and he made sure the volume was down. Phil, the director of Whispering Paws, could speak and sign, and he did both on calls. No one else needed to hear this conversation, though they could read the captions over his shoulder if they really wanted to.

Mitch, Phil said with a smile. You made it.

Sorry I'm a little late, he said. Things on the ranch are a little unpredictable in the summer.

Mitch ignored the look from the man next to him. He was used to people looking at him a little strangely, but they usually went back to their business fast enough.

It's fine, it's fine.Phil waved away Mitch's apology. We miss you here. You're so good with the dogs, and we do have a gaping hole in our curriculum where you'd fit nicely.

Mitch smiled and nodded, his cowboy hat ducking low to cover his face. He wouldn't be able to see Phil if he started signing, and of course, he couldn't hear. But sitting here, on this day in late June, Mitch wasn't sure he could say what he'd come here to say.

He looked up and found Phil waiting for him. Of course he would be. Phil knew not to talk to a deaf person without making eye contact first. So what can I do for you today, Mitch?

He took a deep breath and blew it out. I've talked to my folks, and we all agree that it's time for me to come back to Whispering Paws.

Lowering his hands, he nodded. Just once. Like, that's that. What do you think? Will you hire me, or have you just been saying things?

Mitch didn't like that. He didn't understand people who talked and talked and didn't mean what they said.

Phil looked straight at him, seemingly into his soul. Then a smile broke out onto his face as he started cheering with his hands. We'll take you whenever you can get here, Mitch. When do you think you'll be here?

August, Mitch said, making the three-letter sign quickly. I've got to get packed up, drive across the country, all of that. It should be in time for the new semester, and for me to get settled. Get back into a routine of working with the dogs. All of that.

He shifted in his seat and glanced down at Honor, who looked back at him.

When Mitch looked back at Phil, he asked, You've still got Honor?

She's right here with me, Mitch said. I don't go anywhere alone, and sometimes I wish I could.

Here, you can, he said, smiling.

Mitch smiled back at Phil. Nah. My daddy says that's not safe. And he knew it wasn't, even at a place like Whispering Paws. He couldn't hear anything. If something went wrong, and Mitch wasn't actively looking at it, the only way he'd know was through Honor.

I don't mind having a dog with me, he said. She's a good friend. He reached down and patted Honor, whose eyes closed in apparent bliss.

I'll get the paperwork emailed over, Phil said.

I wanted to talk about housing, Mitch said, shifting in his seat again.

Our professors are eligible for on-campus housing, Phil said. I'll have Martha send you the information packet on it.

Is there room for me there? Mitch asked.

Absolutely, but you don't have to live on-campus. We have teachers and staff who find a place in town. We can assist with whatever you need. We know people in the community who can sign or who our employees have rented from before.

Mitch nodded, and he wasn't sure why the housing in Willowbrook was concerning him so much, only that it was. Last time he'd gone, he'd simply taken a dorm in the canine trainers wing without a second thought.

This time, he wasn't sure where he'd fit at Whispering Paws. He wasn't a student, so he wouldn't live in the student dorms. He hadn't last time either. He'd only worked with the dogs in the training facility, and he'd lived in a room with another trainer.

I'll look for the email, he said. Thanks, Phil.

I'm just so excited you're coming, Phil said. I'm going to be the most popular guy in our meeting tomorrow. He laughed, though Mitch couldn't hear him.

Mitch grinned back, and he let Phil end the video conference. He leaned back in his chair as the screen went back to black, a sigh leaking from his mouth. Honor put her paw on his leg, and he looked at her. The golden retriever looked over to something else, and that was his cue to do the same.

He did, and he jumped to his feet when he saw Kaytee. Hey, he said. He pulled his hands up his body. What's up?

She'd done her hair up today, the start of twin braids happening on either side of her head. She wore enough makeup to make his throat go a little dry, and she wore a dark blue polo with the library logo across the chest and a pair of jeans. Her bright white sneakers made him smile, as did her bright grin.

Kaytee was a couple of years younger than him, but still within an acceptable age for dating. She held out her hand, and Mitch tugged his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. She started typing while he stood there awkwardly.

He hated this part of things. He just wanted to see someone and start talking to them. This was why he didn't go shopping anywhere he might need to talk to someone.

Kaytee turned his phone back to him, and he read the screen. What are you doing this weekend? A bunch of us are meeting for a picnic in the park and then watching the fireworks from Mount Cross.

He looked up at her. Maybe, he signed. Kaytee didn't know sign language, but they'd gone out a few times, and he could generally get the gist across for simple things. He took his phone and let his fingers fly as he answered her below her text in his notes app.

Maybe. My cousin is moving out this weekend, and I'm helping him with that. If we get done in time, I could come.

He gave her the phone and watched her face light up. So she still liked him. Mitch could read facial expressions and body language extremely well, and the interest in Kaytee's expression sure wasn't hard to find, even as she looked down to type him another message.

If it's Link, he could come too, Kaytee said, and Mitch nodded.

She kept the phone and typed some more. Would you come pick me up? If you can come, that is. Text me and let me know. We aren't meeting for dinner until seven.

Mitch read her message as he took the phone back. He looked up at her while keeping his head down. He liked Kaytee just fine. She was incredibly pretty. He'd kissed her before, and they'd been out a few times. He'd stopped texting her when he'd decided to move back to Virginia, but he hadn't told her that.

I'll text you, he typed out. But Kaytee, I'm moving to back to Virginia and Whispering Paws at the beginning of August. He read over the message once, and then again, and then gave her the phone.

She read it quickly, and she looked up with a measure of surprise in her eyes. "Oh," she said. "That's too bad." Then she moved into his chest, her hand with the phone sliding around his waist and slipping his phone into his back pocket. She kissed his cheek, then moved her mouth to his.

Surprised, but knowing what to do, Mitch kissed her back. Probably a mistake, but she'd surprised him. He loved Link, but he wasn't a whole lot like him. Link wanted serious and long-term, and while Mitch did too—eventually—he didn't mind having more of a summer fling.

Moving Link out of the cowboy cabin where he'd been living for the past few years took about thirty minutes, and most of that was the drive up to the Top Cottage. He didn't own his own bed, dresser, couch, nothing.

So moving turned out to be furniture assembly and positioning those pieces where a suddenly indecisive version of Link wanted them. Plenty of people had come to help, and Mitch did recognize the passive, stands-back man Link became when his daddy and uncles showed up to get a job done.

Mitch knew, because he did the same thing. He didn't know how to be like Uncle Bear or his own daddy, so full of life, confidence, and experience. Mitch supposed that was why he, Link, and the other Glovers coming up worked alongside their fathers and uncles, but he still always felt vastly inferior to those older than him and everyone who could hear when he couldn't.

Finally, everyone left but Mitch, and he stood in a new, updated interior of the Top Cottage. Link's new house. He faced his cousin and started talking. How are you feeling?

Weird, Link signed back, and he looked a little disheveled, a little uncertain. I've never lived alone before.

It's nice, Mitch said as he looked around again. Really big. New everything.

The Glovers certainly had resources to furnish a house on a moment's notice, put together a huge spread of food for whoever needed it, and more. They'd done just that for the victims of the electrical outage and fire down in town, and only Janie and Misty still lived at Shiloh Ridge. Everyone else had either been able to get back into their apartments or find other housing.

He looked back to Link, who said, It's too nice. I feel kind of awkward here. Like, where do my dirty boots go? Why do I have that empty bedroom? His chest rose and fell, and Mitch imagined the frustrated sound his cousin might make.

You'll get used to it, Mitch said.

Enough about it, Link said. Tell me what you decided to do at Whispering Paws.

Mitch made his own version of a frustrated sigh. I'm not sure yet. Daddy and I are flying there next week to actually look at places, at the faculty lodging. Talk about feeling stupid. Why can't I just decide?

Everything had become harder after Mitch had decided to leave Three Rivers. He felt like things should be easier, but nothing was.

Link clapped one hand on Mitch's shoulder, and they stood nearly toe-to-toe, looking at one another. "You'll figure it out," Link said without his hands. "Because you're smart, and you're capable, and you're Mitchell Glover." He grinned, and Mitch's emotions pitched left and right and up and down. He couldn't leave Link here at Shiloh Ridge. What had he been thinking?

"Don't ever forget that," Link said. "You're my best friend, my brother, and Mitchell Glover." He brought his fist to his chest in the same way their daddies and uncles did. In a display of family and camaraderie. "That means something."

Mitch nodded and said, Yeah, it does, wishing he could use his voice to get a point across, the way Link did. Thanks, Link. He pulled him into a hug and held on tight. They stood there for a few seconds, and then Link stepped back and ran one hand through his hair.

Well, he signed. Should we head to town for that picnic and the fireworks?

Mitch grinned and said, Yeah, we should. I'll let you go pick up Misty.

She's coming here, Link said. So you better head out. He grinned. We'll come pick you up in twenty minutes.

Mitch nodded, and with his emotions still a bit raw, he left through the front door. Link had been at his side for seventeen years now. He translated for him whenever Mitch didn't understand. He described the music in movies, so Mitch could imagine the big horns and trumpets that played during the biggest moments of the plot. During the emotional reunions. All of it.

He'd never have a friend as good as Link, Mitch knew that, and he smiled and saluted to Misty as she pulled up in her SUV. Link would want to show her around the house and talk about how it was too big, with too many nice things in it, by himself.

So Mitch headed back to the bedroom he'd once shared with Link, and with every turn of the wheels, he felt more and more confident that he was ready for the next phase of his life too.

In Willowbrook, Virginia, at Whispering Paws.