Читать книгу Steadfast Soldier - Cheryl Wyatt - Страница 11

“This one’s my favorite.” Chloe pulled out her neon-green therapy band at Ivan’s next OT session.

Ivan’s scowl intensified. “Who cares?”

“I do.” Chance knelt. “Come on, Dad. Please try it.”

“I said no. I’m tired of everyone bossing me around.”

“We’re trying to help you get better.” Chance looked to Chloe. Desperation gnawed at him. Dad had refused therapy several days in a row. How long would she keep coming if Ivan refused to try?

“I’m sure Miss Callett has other places to be, Dad. She’s been here three hours today already. Please, don’t waste the lady’s time.”

Chloe put her hand on Chance’s arm. “It’s okay. We’ll give it a rest for now.” She rose and rolled up her band.

A sinking sensation hit Chance when she stuffed it, along with her clipboard, inside her bag.

Clearly she was done.

Ivan lifted his head. Eyed her and Chance, then turned away when they caught him looking.

“Thanks for trying.” Chance walked Chloe to the door.

“No problem.” But the sudden panic piercing her face when she eyed her watch belied her confident words. Chloe faced Chance. “I’m sorry I can’t stay longer today. I’ve a meeting I’m late for. Bye, Chance.”

She ran to her car. Midnight wasn’t with her today. Chance appreciated that she’d tried without him.

Hadn’t made a difference. He closed the door and fought his frustration with Dad.

“Next time you mow that yard, boy, mow this carpet too.” Ivan tried to wheel himself across the floor, but the carpet was too thick and the chair wouldn’t budge.

“Where do you need to go, Dad?”

“Anywhere you aren’t. Put me to bed.”

Chance clenched his jaw and pushed the chair across the floor to Ivan’s room. “Dad—”

“Just let it go, son! Let me go. Just…let me go.”

Chance’s throat clogged. His eyes stung. “I can’t.” He helped his dad into bed and was surprised to see tears drip on his hands. His or Dad’s? It didn’t matter. They mingled. Chance tucked Ivan in. His father turned away. Glared at the wall.

“I know this is hard for you. I love you, Dad. Too much to let you go.” His voice cracked.

A grunt met his words. But that was okay. Losing Mom had ripped any reticence out of Chance about telling those he loved how he felt. His father just switched on the television and turned it up. The two men sat in silence, staring at the screen.

Two hours later, Chance heard a distinct rumble outside as a motorcycle pulled up. “Dad, Vince is here to visit with you while I make a grocery run.” Chance stared at the figure in the bed. “Want anything special?”

“Yeah,” his dad grunted a reply. “Celery, peanut butter and a roll of duct tape the width of your lips.”

Chance grinned with relief. “For my mouth, right?”

“Yes, and a lock to keep that hippie therapist and her creature out of this prison you’re forcing me to live in.”

Chance chuckled grimly. “I’ll think about it.” He went to step out and close the door.

Ivan twisted. “Wait, what’s wrong with the mutt?”

“Nothing that I’m aware of.”

“Just wondered, since he was a no-show today.”

Chance paused. Was it possible? Did his father actually care a little bit about Midnight?

Maybe there was hope after all. At this point, he’d grasp that tiny grain. His father’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Get going. I need my nap. Don’t forget celery. The one with hearts.”

“The packages with the hearts are my favorite too,” a voice that sounded like honey to his ears said behind him a few minutes later as he was eyeing the produce at the grocery store.

Chance turned. The smile was as sweet as the sound. “Hi, Chloe.” He eyed her cart. “Shopping, I see?”

“Yes. Looks like you’re stocking up too.” She watched him set two packages of celery hearts in his cart as she rolled hers beside his.

“How’s Ivan?” she asked.

“Calm for now.” He grinned. “But only because he’s sleeping.”

She laughed. It swirled through him like fresh air.

“Thanks for being patient with him. I know you’re going above and beyond what anyone else would do.”

She put fresh broccoli in her cart. “It’s what I’d want if he were my dad. I try to treat every patient as though they are people I love.”

Chance paused. “I got the feeling you didn’t care much for your dad.”

Chloe stilled and twisted a knot in the broccoli bag. “He didn’t care much for me. But I loved him. He was the only dad I had, and while he wasn’t perfect, he was mine.” She blinked several times.

Chance rested a hand on her arm. “Wanna go somewhere and hang out? We can just talk and have fun. I can show you around Refuge.”

“I’d like that.” She eyed her cart’s contents. “I’ll drop my stuff off at home and meet you back at your house?”

Chance nodded and a sense of excitement filled him as he checked out and drove home. It lingered as he put groceries away.

Vince stepped out of Ivan’s room. “I helped him bathe. He’ll be in bed for the rest of the day and all night, I think. If you want to get out of the house for a bit, bro, I can sit with him. Val’s preparing a court case. Trial’s in two days, so she’s working at home.”

“Actually, I was going to ask if you could. I’m showing Dad’s OT around Refuge.”

Vince got a goofy smirk. “Sounds like a date.”

“No, just a…a…friendship outing. I’m trying to stay in her good graces so she’ll keep coming back to help Dad. Not sure why she hasn’t given up on him yet.” Chance swallowed and eyed his dad’s door. A car pulled up outside. “That’s her.”

Vince grinned. “Have fun, man. You need it.”

Outside, Chance walked Chloe to his Jeep. He opened the door and helped her up, pleased to discover she’d freshened up her makeup, clipped her hair into a barrette and spritzed on perfume.

“Where to first?” she asked as he drove toward Haven Street.

“Mandy mentioned you’re looking for land to build your animal-assisted therapy program.”

“Yeah, if it ever gets off the ground.” She sighed.

“Having trouble?”

“That’s an understatement. My troubles have trouble where the program’s concerned. My meetings with Refuge City Council and the bank loan officer didn’t go well today.”

Remorse smacked him upside the heart. “Oh, wow. That’s where you were headed when you left late today.”

“Yeah, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Two council members are afraid of funding something so progressive.”

“I think I know the two in question. Sheriff Steele and Mayor Bunyan?”

“Exactly. How’d you know?”

“Because they staunchly opposed programs my buddies and I tried to institute.”

“I hope everything turned out well for you.”

“We compromised. Steele and Bunyan agreed to what they did only because the entire town put pressure on them.”

“That’s discouraging. The town doesn’t know me.”

“But God does. If you have Him in your corner, there’s no need to fear. Besides, the mayor and the sheriff are both entering their last terms.”

Chloe laughed. “Not soon enough to save my program.”

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“You believe in me?”

“Of course. You haven’t given up on Dad yet.”

Chloe nodded, seeing the fear in his eyes that she might. But as willing as she was to keep trying, she couldn’t force Ivan to exercise. “You haven’t either. So between the two of us and Midnight, he still has a chance.”

“Thanks, Chloe. You encourage me.”

“We’re even then, because you encourage me too.”

Chance took her to his friend Joel’s house and borrowed his four-wheeler. He rode Chloe through the woods until dense forest gave way to a clearing.

Chance cut the engine. Chloe liked being close to him and didn’t want to put distance between them, but the view before them called to something deep in her. Almost like a dream.

“Wow.” Chloe climbed off the ATV. “This land is incredible. I can instantly envision where each of our animal rescue buildings should go. Mallory, my cousin and partner in crime with the animal-assisted therapy project, would freak if she saw this.”

Chance rested his hands on Chloe’s shoulders and turned her to the left as he pointed at a real estate sign.

“It’s for sale,” Chloe breathed. She eyed every inch of the property and practically drooled. “This would be perfect.” She turned to Chance. “Do you know who owns it?”

“The local garage owner. He has money coming out his ears. He owns a lot of land around Refuge. He’d probably sell it at a reasonable price as long as he knows the program is worthwhile.”

“My program will bring job openings to Refuge.”

“That’ll help.”

“But it may not be enough. There are too many obstacles to count.”

“Think of them as hurdles. Just focus on the one directly in front of you. Leap one at a time.”

“Thanks, Chance. Did you ever coach sports? You should.”

“I ran track in high school and college, then coached troubled teens in my spare time. I started a cross-country running club to try and give them something to do besides get arrested on weekends.”

“So you have it in your heart to work with youth?”

“Yeah. It’s very important to me.”

She rubbed the chill off her arms and hoped he’d change the subject. He stilled and studied her motions a moment before leading her to the edge of the property. A stream gurgled beside grassy knolls. Breath left her body in a delicate gasp. He smiled gently at her.

“This is so peaceful, so picturesque.” She turned in a half circle, then stopped. “That sign on the adjacent property says Sold. Do you know what’s going in there?”

“One of my skydiving buddies bought it. He wants to put in a horse farm and bring at-risk teens out to teach them work ethic. He wants to use rescued horses, which is why I brought you here. If you snagged the property next door, you two could combine your programs.”

“That would save money, which is another hurdle I need to jump in order to get this thing off the ground.”

“I have no doubt. I believe you will.”

She faced him. “I’m glad someone does. Let’s hope you’re not the only one in town.”

The wind rustled tendrils of hair loose from her barrette. He visually tracked the motion as it billowed. Something melted in her.

Something that made the moment much too romantic.

His eyes met hers, then fell to the lush, green earth. He dug the tip of his boot into the ground. His countenance succumbed to shyness.

“Hey, that looks like a combat boot. Is it?” She nodded toward his foot.

He nodded. “Jump boot. Similar, I guess.”

“For skydiving?”

He met her gaze again. “You could say that.”

What he said intrigued her, but what he didn’t say intrigued her more. She loved a man immersed in mystery. The fact that she’d get to ride back through forest and fields with her arms wrapped around him again pasted a smile on her face.

He looked so masculine against bright backdrops of raised knolls carpeted in vivid green grass landscaped with outlying woods. Assorted trees and wildflowers dotted the canvas of earth, which met the sky in brilliant purple-pink hues. Colorful and vibrant, pure and peaceful.

How she felt inside just walking and talking with him.

His jaw lifted as he eyed the painted horizon. “Sun’s setting. We better head back.”

Walking side by side, he peered down at her with steadfast sureness. The compelling look on his face caused her heart to flutter like a butterfly being courted by a winsome breeze.

“It’s going to be okay, Chloe,” he said after a moment of walking, with no words other than what was communicated by his sturdy gaze whispering unwavering confidence into hers.

“I hope so.”

He cleared his throat. “Uh, d-do you think you’ll be coming back t-t-to try again, y-you know, w-w-with Dad?” He looked both annoyed at his stutter and scared of her answer. His dysfluent speech proved it so.

She stopped, put her hand on his arm until he paused his long-legged stride and looked down at her. “Of course.”

He nodded and relief fell across his face in terrific waves. He resumed his steps. The four-wheeler came into view. “Busy week ahead.”

“Me too.” One that she looked forward to more than she ought, thanks to thoughts of glimpsing Chance again, although she truly did look forward to the challenge of assisting Ivan with his exercises.

If she could continue to trick or otherwise convince him to do them. If not, Chance had no need of her. She was there to help his father and she’d best not forget it.

That’s the only reason Chance looked at her as if he’d been stranded for months in the middle of a lonely, swirling ocean and she was the first lifeline to hit his destitute horizon. Right?

God had sent her. No doubt about it. The girl was a human life preserver. Dad’s mood had improved three hundredfold since Midnight and Chloe had come this week. And his mood had improved along with his dad’s, especially after spending time with her yesterday afternoon and evening. They’d had a great time.

Chance’s teammate Nolan and his wife, Mandy, arrived, and Chance grabbed his keys. “Mandy’s here, Dad. She’s gonna sit with you while Nolan and I work out and run by the Drop Zone. See you later, Dad.”

Ivan waved him off. Apparently, Dad’s mood still had a ways to go.

After pausing in the driveway to catch Mandy up on his dad’s needs, Chance and Nolan left. They pulled up at the B&B to pick up Brock for their daily pararescue workout regimen at Joel’s.

Hopefully the next few hours of strenuous lifting and exhausting himself on free weights, kettlebell and fitness machines that looked more like torture devices would sweat the image of Chloe, the memory of her essence and the linger of her perfume out of Chance’s mind.

Joel had built an exercise pole barn on his property. The guys used it often to stay in the superior shape their jobs required. If Chance’s appetite would return and his insomnia go, he’d be up to par. But these days, eating felt like little more than cramming gritty rocks in his mouth.

After cardio and working muscles to the max, they hit the gym showers and locked up. Brock dropped Nolan off at the Drop Zone to help Joel, then accompanied Chance to the car.

“Good ol’ Thursday. One more work day. We going out this weekend?” Brock pulled out of the DZ driveway.

Chance knew that by weekend, Brock meant Friday night, since Saturday evenings the guys convened at Joel’s or Commander Petrowski’s for PJ cookouts.

Chance attended church on Sundays now and didn’t want to break away from Dad or find sitters on Saturdays to attend the PJ barbecues, though he missed them. Dad was anxious about being left alone, plus his doctor recommended he remain under constant watch for a few more weeks.

“What’s popping at the movies?” Chance settled deeper into the seat of Brock’s sports car and enjoyed the rumble of power beneath him. Brock was as much of an adrenaline junkie as Chance. They hadn’t gotten to do much in the way of fun the past six months though.

Merging onto the interstate, Brock rocked the RPMs. “I’ll check the movie schedule at home. There’s a new action flick on.”

Since Chance had openly committed his life to Christ following his teammate Vince’s dramatic conversion, Brock didn’t pressure Chance to party. Chance hadn’t managed to talk Brock into attending Bible studies…yet. In due time.

Brock changed lanes and passed a semi. “You could invite that girl.”

Chance plucked a bag of Nutter Butters off the dash. He had a penchant for sweets and missed his mom’s baking. These would get him through. “What girl?”

“You know what girl.” Brock grinned. “She’s new to town. You should make her feel welcome.”

A jagged piece of cookie must have gone down wrong, as Chance coughed. “The dog-toting OT?”

“Seriously, man. She could probably use friends.”

Brock was right. Mandy told him in the driveway earlier she was the only person Chloe knew in Refuge besides her mom. And now Chance and his father.

Chance worked kinks out of his shoulder. “Not to change the subject, but I need to get back into a better routine. I don’t want to be out of shape for a rescue.”

“Long as you keep working out like a fiend and hit most of the training ops, you’ll be fine.”

“But being youngest on the team, I’m the weak link.”

“You’re more experienced than most guys on Petrowski’s other PJ teams. Dude, seriously, don’t sweat it. You’ve been through a lot. Take this time to regroup.”

Chance flipped the visor up when Brock merged onto Pena’s Landing toward the B&B. “I just wanna keep my head in the game when lives are at stake. Ya know?”

“For sure.” Brock pulled into the driveway, cut the ignition and leaned forward abruptly. “No way.”

Chance looked up. Blinked. Leaned in. “Is that Chloe?” She sat on the B&B steps, looking uncharacteristically frustrated. Chance exited the car. Brock trailed.

Chloe’s body tensed and her expression looked uncertain under the wraparound porch’s dim light until she recognized the guys. She rose and wiped grime off of jeans that outlined shapely legs. “Hey.”

They stopped in front of her at the foot of the stairs. When she looked at Chance as if she could cry on his shoulder, his heart melted. “Hey, Chloe. What’s up?”

She waved a hand up to the tree where soft mewling originated. “There’s a stray kitten loose. I didn’t know it and Midnight got after him. He’s stuck up there. I’m not fond of falling from heights.”

“I assume the dog’s inside?”

She nodded. Chance searched the tree until he spotted the kitten’s eyes glowing between still-wet leaves that clung to a tangle of branches.

“Can you help me rescue him?”

Her voice drew his attention back. “Rescue?”

He was falling for her right here on the spot.

This was a girl after his heart.

Brock clamped Chance’s shoulder. “It just so happens that rescue is his specialty. Particularly animals and people.” Brock headed inside.

Chloe’s face fell, which meant she didn’t realize Chance wouldn’t need help getting the kitten safely down. “Brock has allergies. Cats and guinea pigs.”

“Oh. I suppose you’ll need my help?” She nibbled her lip, which unfortunately drew his gaze there and interrupted his focus. He struggled to decipher what she’d just said.

Thankfully, the recall that had earned him the PJ team job of memorizing intel didn’t elude him long. “I think I can manage. But you can watch if you want.” He grinned.

She stepped aside. “Okay. Do I need to do anything?”

“No, ma’am.” Except answer the question burning tracks through his brain. “Other than clue me in on what you’re doing here.” It wasn’t often he came home to a beautiful woman waiting at his door. Well, not his door. But still.

“I might ask you the same thing,” she said, her typical spunk returning.

“I live here. Well, used to, with Brock.”

She eyed the Victorian structure. “Oh. You did?”

“Yep. Miss Evie rented rooms to most of my team before they married their sweethearts.”

“Your special rescue team?”

“Yeah, how’d you know I’m on a rescue team?”

Even the cover of moonlight couldn’t camouflage the tinge invading her cheeks. “Um, er, Mandy might have mentioned it. I hope that was okay.”

He nodded. Not many people knew the elite status their team held in the U.S. military. Chloe might not know he was an Air Force special operative, but by the obvious respect in her eyes, she knew plenty well he was highly trained, distinguished military.

“I was staying with Mom, but Evie had a vacancy.”

“Need help moving your stuff in?”

“No, I didn’t bring much from Chicago because I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying. But thanks.”

Silent, Chance went to his Jeep. “Let me get some rope and we’ll get Miss Maple out of the tree.”

Chloe followed in a skip. “Miss Maple?”

“Yeah. She got herself stuck like syrup up there in a maple tree, and she looks like a clump of wet leaves clinging to the branch. So Miss Maple fits.”

She peered at the frightened kitten. “What if she’s a he?”

“Then we’ll call it Mr. Maple.”

“We?” She rose on tiptoes.

“Correction. You. It’s obviously a stray and Dad would cream my corn if I brought a cat in the house.”

Her finger went up. “Hey, that could work.”

“What?”

“Use the cat as a ploy to get your dad moving.”

Chance laughed, knowing she was joking but having fun with the mental images her statement provoked nonetheless. “Yeah, that’d do it. Can you imagine? He’d bullet out of that chair after me faster than I could say kitty litter.”

They both knew they were working against time in terms of Ivan regaining the use of his hands. But it felt good to see the rare humor in the situation.

She giggled, causing a carefree breeze to blow through him. He found himself slowing to allow her to fall into step beside him.

He also found himself laughing, genuinely laughing, for the first time in six long, hard months.