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 morningdawned 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."

He nodded. "Good enough." And he opened the door and hopped out.

She watched as he walked straight and tall in through the front doors. She also noted he had no limp. Whatever adjustments they had made to the prosthetic, and/or whatever Shane had done to correct the balance in his stride seemed to have worked. He will not be as sore when he got home at the end of the day. Either way, he had presented himself as a very able-bodied male.

She'd heard from Shane that they'd spent a lot of time over the weekend, extra time for Shane but, because of the Monday deadline, he'd been happy to do it, set out in the maintenance room and with two of the maintenance guys who'd also come in and who had worked with multiple machines. Some of the machines were easier to handle, like a sander, and he just had to do things more and more with one hand.

They had utilized her Velcro pouch in another way and had put the cords through it so that he could keep the electrical cords from getting tangled, and he could move them as he wanted to. And she'd found that fascinating. Obviously there'd been some frustration, as he'd had to switch in and out sandpaper and deal with buckles and clips and screwdrivers. The drill had been easy, until it came to removing the bit, but then he'd quickly popped it under his wing and had changed out the bits easily enough too.

By the time he was done with getting more comfortable with those machines, he'd moved on to the circular saw. The handsaw had been fun, and he'd had enough strength to hold a board with his little wing stump when bent over, pressing downward, so that he could actually handsaw. And then the guys had shown him the vise, and he'd gone to town with that. All in all, by the time they'd worked themselves into a sweat, Wesley had been beaming with success. The guys had also been impressed.

Shane had told her, "He can do so much. I'm wondering if we shouldn't incorporate some shop lessons for any of the people who want to just even do basic handyman stuff around the house again."

"I think," she murmured to him, "a lot of guys would want their hobbies back again, and, if this is something that they want to do, even for those who have two able arms, I think it would be a good thing for them to gain self-confidence again."

And, with that, the two of them had gone to Dani.

She'd listened intently, when she'd seen the photos of how well Wesley had done and had heard their stories. She was amazed. "The maintenance room is pretty big, I don't know that it'll pass any safety codes though."

They both winced, as they stared at her.

"Let me look into it," she said. "We might take one room and just section it off and have a big worktable and some tools. As long as they're under supervision at all times…" She had now focused in on the problem and started jotting down notes.

Alba walked around the college garden, enjoying the beautiful display, realizing that they had a landscape program here as well. All those kinds of things made a difference to the world around you that you didn't even think about. It took people to weed and mow and trim and cut and keep everything in check all the time. And she, for one, rarely found the time to stop and smell the roses. Something else that she needed to do more of.

She shook her head at that because she always had just so much on her mind that she should do. And even now she was worried about Wesley, when there was no need. She knew he would do fabulously. However, it didn't mean that this would be the be-all and end-all, and then he would walk away with a job.

She heard a shout behind her. She turned and watched as Wesley walked toward her. She checked her watch and realized he'd been gone almost an hour. She shook her head at that.

"What are you shaking your head for now?" he teased.

"How much time went by," she replied. "You were in there for an hour, and I didn't even notice. I was just sitting here, enjoying the gardens."

"And that's what they're meant for," he noted, with a serious tone.

"So, how did it go?" She studied his facial expression, looking for any answers. When his face split into a huge grin, she said, "Wow, I'll take that as meaning it went well."

*

Wesley laughed. "Itwent better than I expected was possible," he admitted. "Obviously there are still some things to work out, but it would be a case of working with the other shop teachers for some of the special needs kids and with the regular students, depending on the projects," he said. "They are looking for a shop teacher. I do need to have certain skills. I do need to have certain certificates, but I don't need to have a degree, although I do have one, which they were happy about. So there is a list of certifications that I would need to get ahead of time, such as first aid, shop safety, and things like that."

She stared at him. "So did they offer you a job?"

"The job starts in January's term," he stated. "Their current shop teacher is leaving for a sabbatical. So they're quite willing to give this a try for the one semester."

"One semester is better than nothing," she said in amazement. "That's absolutely huge news."

"Yeah, I'm feeling pretty cheeky about it," he noted, with a big grin.

"And when do you need to have whatever they want you to have by?"

"The sooner, the better," he replied, "but they're okay if I'm certified by, say, October. They would like to see progress, and, if I change my mind, they would want to know because they, of course, need to have somebody they can count on for the rest of the term."

"Yes, of course," she agreed, shaking her head. "Wow, I'm stunned."

"Right?" he said. "So am I, honestly. It's not what I expected. I thought they would send me on my way with the standard line, We'll consider our options and let you know. Who would've thought they would offer me the job on the spot?"

"Exactly. Sometimes when it's not what you would expect, that is the best thing ever."

"That would definitely qualify in this case," he said. He walked toward the car with her.

"And it's a beautiful place to work," she noted.

He nodded. "And it is close to Hathaway, so, if I sign up for Shane's outpatient workout in the evenings and/or weekends, whatever he decides to set up," he shared, "I was thinking that would be something I would need to do more on a long-term basis, just to keep some of my skills flowing in the right direction."

"Oh, I'm certain anything along that line will be a big help regardless," she noted, "but honestly I'm still stunned." She sat in the car, stared at him, and muttered, "Wow." She started the engine. while he watched her.

"You really are happy, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," she declared. "This is sheer amazement. You've done so well."

"And I would be… staying close."

"Oh, don't worry," she said, shooting him a bright grin. "I got that message."

"And, with all this happening," he began, "it did occur to me that I needed a little bit of clarification on something else."

"Shoot," she said, glancing at him as she pulled out into traffic. "And, by the way, are you okay with having lunch in town?"

"Yep, sure am," he said. "A really good burger place is around here."

She laughed. "Ilse's food is always so good, yet she never really does hamburgers, does she? So a messy old-fashioned diner burger sounds good to me." She drove along the road and noted, "It's not even far from here."

He watched as she navigated traffic with competence, realizing that driving would be one of the challenges he had to face. "I'll have to get recertified for driving, won't I?"

"I'm not sure," she replied, looking over at him. "Dani can help you with that."

"Right. And I guess it's really only a matter of having a simple prosthetic to grab the wheel."

"Maybe, but I don't even think you need that. I think there are adaptations that you can use. You have full functionality of your dominant arm and hand, so maybe it's not a big deal at all."

"It won't be," he declared, and such confidence filled his words that even he laughed. "Listen to me," he said. "This is progress that I wouldn't even have thought was possible a few months ago. And I owe that to you."

"Oh no, you don't," she argued. "You owe that to yourself."

"Do you really believe that?" he asked, eyeing her intently.

"Absolutely I believe that. Hathaway House is a package deal, but the biggest participant in all of it is you," she declared. "You're the one who has to show up. You're the one who has to do the exercises. You're the one who has to do the therapy, and you're the one who has to make the strides forward," she pointed out, "and you have done that in spades. I'm really so proud of you."

He felt his heart warming at that because he knew that she meant it, every word. There wasn't anything false or fake about her. That was one of the reasons he had fallen in love with her; he just hadn't told her that yet.

When they pulled into the parking lot of the diner, she unhooked her seat belt and asked, "Shall we?"

He hesitated and then spoke. "One of the things that I wanted to bring up, regarding the whole staying close thing is—" Then he stopped, winced. "I've come a long way, but this is still hard."

"That's fine," she said, twisting in her seat to look at him. "Take as long as you like."

"That's one of the reasons why I'm staying close," he began. "I am trying to take as long as I like and hopefully as long as you like."

She frowned, staring at him. "Sorry?"

He smiled, picked up her hand in his, and drew in a big breath. "I don't want to lose you," he said. "I don't want to move so far away that we can't see each other."

Her fingers closed around his, and she nodded. "I'm really glad to hear that because I feel the same way."

"And I know you feel the same way to a certain extent," he replied hesitantly, "but I'm hoping that you feel the same way to a much greater degree."

Her eyes opened wide. "And to what greater degree are you saying?" she asked hesitantly.

He laughed. "Nothing like talking about relationships to make everybody back off."

"You're right there," she agreed, with a smile. "Also nobody wants to send anybody running."

"No, and I definitely don't want to send you running," he declared, with a bright smile. "What I would like is to see you by my side, as I move forward into this whole new venture. Knowing that you care about me, the person, and care on a level that sees us moving forward toward something permanent."

Her eyes widened, as she stared at him.

Wesley hesitated, but then he caught a glimpse of a tear in the corner of her eye. He wiped it off her face. "And I don't know what to think of that tear," he noted hesitantly, "but it definitely has me worried."

She shook her head. "No." She tried to smile through the tears that were even now running down her face. "No, it's all good," she said, "but I didn't think I would ever find anybody."

"And I'd had hoped to, but I was always holding back because you're somebody I work with all the time," he said. "Yet, because of that, I feel we've come further and faster in many ways than we would have in any other circumstances. But I also know that we could have a few issues going forward as, you know, I might tell you to butt out of my life every once in a while."

She burst out laughing. "And you know something? That would be quite healthy if you did," she murmured.

"So, again, it's,… it's hard to bare my soul, but I really… I've done so much, and I've come so far, to see something that I didn't even think was possible and yet was right in front of me. I just wanted you to know how I felt." She leaned across the front seat and laid her head against his chest. He wrapped his good arm around her and held her close. "It would mean living with somebody with only one arm," he pointed out.

She looked up, her eyes twinkling. "And that's been a bother so far, hasn't it?" she quipped.

He laughed. "No, but there will be times that you could be embarrassed because I fall over something or I fall because my leg goes out from under me or—"

She placed her finger against his lips. "And there could be times when you are embarrassed by me," she added, "when I might fall because I'm not paying attention or my heel breaks or I just trip for no reason or I slip on water. Plus there's no guarantee that tomorrow I will be as physically complete as I am today," she added. "I see people like you day in and day out, and it's never been something that's ever bothered me. Maybe working at Hathaway is good for people like me because we come to terms with your injuries faster than you guys do. However, it still has to be something that you're comfortable with. It has to be something that you can do on your own and can feel fulfilled in a way that maybe we can help you with," she murmured.

He nodded. "And I have seen that time and again at Hathaway," he said, with a smile. "And I have to tell you that I think the best thing I ever did was come here. Not only did it help me to get back on my feet, but you helped me to get back into my own personality, into my own skin, in a way I didn't think possible," he murmured. "But more than that," he added, "I have a future. I have a life ahead of me now that I didn't even think was something that I could even look at in the same way. And it's all because of you."

She shook her head. "No, and again we're going back to that."

"I'm not saying this because I'm grateful," he clarified, "although, believe me, I am grateful. And I understand that you'll tell me it's because of me, and, yes, I'm the one who came to Hathaway, and I did the work," he admitted, "but it's been a special journey because of you, and I don't want it to end."

She looked at him, and her heart was in her eyes.

He continued. "So I don't even know if it's too early to say this because I feel as if I'm out of sync with everything else in life," he said, "but I wanted you to know that I think you're a very special person and that I'm not sure where or how it happened, but I fell in love with you somewhere along this pathway," he shared. "I just would really appreciate knowing if you felt the same way."

He stared intently into her eyes and what he saw made his heart loosen and his chest widen to hold his own heart, as it swelled up with joy. "You do, don't you?"

She sniffled and nodded. "Yes, absolutely. Absolutely, yes."

"So is this like maybe a done deal?" he asked.

"Is what a done deal?" she asked in a teasing tone.

He hesitated for a second, then asked, "Would you marry me? Alba, would you spend the rest of your life telling me when I should be a better person and standing by my side when I am that better person and being there when I wake up and I'm not a better person?" he asked, his lips twitching. "Because there'll be those days."

She reached up a hand, stroked his cheek, and asked him, "And you? Will you be there when I'm not a better person, on the days that I need to be told to be a better person?" She added, "Will you be there when I have an accident, if I have one, and I need somebody else to hold my hand and to tell me that it'll be okay because you already know that it'll be okay?"

He nodded. "Absolutely, it would be my honor."

And she whispered right back at him, "Ditto. The answer is yes, I would love to marry you."

He threw his arm around her, crushed her against his chest, and held her close. He whispered against her ear, "I love you.… I think I fell in love with that that very first day I arrived at Hathway House. I saw you on that horse, your red hair glistening in the sun, and I somehow knew. Yet I didn't think this would ever happen. And to know that such a special person could fall in love with me? It's wondrous."

Immediately she placed a finger against his lips and whispered, "Right back at you."

He laughed and looked down at her huge chocolate-colored eyes, smiled, and said, "I think we need a kiss. We need to seal this deal with a kiss."

And he tilted her chin up, lowered his head, and poured into her all the promise and longing of a future together that he'd never thought would happen, but right now he finally believed that miracles were possible.

And he kissed her, for them, for tomorrow, and for every day thereafter.