Healing Hearts

by Margaret Daley

  “Look at this. Cherry Jell-O with fruit and nuts in it. I love that.” Madi grinned from ear to ear.

  “And Mrs. Ponder knows that. I’ve got German potato salad. A favorite of mine.” Dominic placed his plastic container in the middle along with the other food.

  After Abbey handed everyone paper plates, utensils and bottles of tea, they all dug in, no one speaking for five minutes.

  When Madi had eaten half a sandwich and part of her Jell-O, she asked, “Can I go with you to church next week, too?”

  Abbey glanced at Dominic, not sure how to answer the child, but he was busy eating his potato salad. She wanted to say yes, but he was Madi’s guardian. Finally Abbey said, “It’s up to your brother.”

  “Dominic? Can I?”

  “What? Oh, sorry. That’s fine with me.”

  “Will you go, too?” his sister asked, and then took a bite of her sandwich.

  Score one for Madi, Abbey thought, then realized that would mean they would be going together again if he said yes. She wasn’t doing a good job of staying away from him.

  “Well...”

  “Please, Dominic. You liked Pastor John. You said so. He’s funny.” Madi used her pleading tone accompanied with her sad-eyed look.

  Abbey resisted laughing.

  “Sure. I’ll go with you two. In fact, Abbey, we’ll come by your house and pick you up.”

  Cheering, Madi clapped, perking Cottonball up.

  Gabe even barked and trotted over to the blanket and sat, his gaze fixed on Abbey.

  “You will not get any of this food, Gabe, so quit begging.”

  Madi produced a tennis ball, saying, “I’ll distract him,” and then she threw it.

  While Gabe hurried after it, they finished up, and Abbey began to put the containers back into the basket. He trotted to Madi and dropped the ball in her lap.

  “Now he’ll expect you to play with him.” Abbey rose and retrieved the hula hoop. “Remember I said I would show you some of his tricks besides sitting, lying down and shaking hands?”

  “Oh, good. I’ve been teaching Cottonball to sit, and she’s doing that.”

  Dominic’s cell phone chimed. “I thought I turned that off.” He pulled it out and checked who was calling. “I’d better take this. Samuel wouldn’t call me on a Sunday unless it was important.” He walked away from them.

  Madi frowned. “I wonder what’s wrong.”

  “Probably nothing. Okay, are you ready to be entertained?” Abbey asked, taking the child’s attention off her brother because she could see his body tensing.

  * * *

  Dominic clicked off with Samuel and stood under the oak tree about forty feet from Abbey and Madi, struggling to compose himself before returning to them. The situation in Costa Sierra would only end when his company was completely gone. At the moment he couldn’t think clearly. He’d gotten little sleep the night before because Madi had woken twice from a nightmare. He’d needed to rest after such an intense time in Houston. Once he’d assured her that both Cottonball and Gabe were with her, she finally drifted back to sleep.

  But he hadn’t. He’d nodded off in a chair in Madi’s bedroom and came awake maybe two hours later with a sore neck, unable to go back to sleep.

  This hectic pace had to stop or—

  “Everything okay?” Abbey asked from behind him.

  He hadn’t even heard her approaching. The concern on her face made him feel he wasn’t quite so alone. Looking around, he discovered that Madi had fallen asleep on the blanket. “I didn’t think it would take much to wear her out. She had another nightmare after you left last night.”

  “She told me while you were parking the car at the church. I tried to get her to talk about it, but she clammed up.”

  “The same with me. I’m not sure what to do about it anymore. I keep wondering if something besides Dad and Susie dying is going on.”

  “Have you tried sharing how their deaths have affected you?”

  Her question rumbled around in his mind as he tried to figure out how to answer her. Finally he said, “I don’t know how to tell her that.” Because I’m feeling more than sorrow.

  “Practice on me, if you want.”

  “No.”

  Abbey’s neutral expression morphed into a frown. “I’m sorry. I’m intruding.” She pivoted and headed toward the blanket.

  “Abbey, wait.” He closed the space between them and turned her toward him. “The reason I said no is because I don’t know what to say. My feelings are—complicated.”

  “I understand complicated.”

  “No, you don’t.” What happened between his dad and him didn’t occur every day.

  “You had a different vision for your life than your dad did. I didn’t do what my father had wanted, either. He’d pictured me becoming a vet and going into practice with him. For a time I toyed with that because I love animals, but after a summer spent working for him, I realized I couldn’t handle seeing so many injured animals. I wasn’t tough enough to be a vet.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t think I could, either. Plus, I hated science in school.” Could he redirect the conversation away from him and his mixed emotions concerning his father? “What made you pick being a social worker?”

  “I like helping people, but I couldn’t see becoming a teacher. That’s not me. I guess you could say I stumbled upon it. But enough about me. Has something happened in Houston? You seem upset.”

  “Why is it I can’t hide anything from you?” Dominic smiled.

  “Probably because I’ve been trained to detect problems. Sometimes people aren’t forthcoming, and I have to be able to read what they aren’t saying to give them the assistance they need.”

  “It’s not like you won’t hear about it by tonight. The rebel forces have invaded San Pedro, the capital of Costa Sierra.” Anger churned in his gut. He cared about the people in Costa Sierra and hated that this was happening to them.

  “Is that where your factory is?”

  He nodded. “The rebels have set my factory on fire. Most of the people were gone and the ones who were in the building got out unhurt. But the place is going up in flames. Samuel thought they could salvage one area.”

  “Will that help any?”

  “Not really. Whether I wanted to or not, that factory has been shut down—months earlier than planned. I’ve asked Samuel to get the rest of my American employees out of the country. There weren’t many, but I don’t want a repeat of what happened a couple of weeks ago. I can’t rest until I hear they’re back on U.S. soil.”

  “So what do you have to do next?”

  “Nothing in Costa Sierra. Here, a lot. I need to find a new factory location this week and begin construction as quickly as possible. My other factories can take over some of the Costa Sierra production for a while, but not for more than a few months.”

  She clasped his arm. “I’m so sorry this is happening right now.”

  The heat of her touch messed with his mind. He needed to focus on the situation with the factory, not Abbey and her effect on him when he let down his guard. He tried to push the sensations zipping through him from the feel of her fingers on his arm. But he couldn’t. He stared at her perfect mouth. He wanted to kiss her. She was a compassionate, attractive woman.

  Abbey scrunched her forehead. “Dominic?”

  Maybe if he finally kissed her, he could move on. Then he could face his work problems without being distracted by her. He stepped even closer. She didn’t move away but tilted her chin up and looked him in the eye while her hand slid away from his arm.

  Inches away, her breath whispered against his lips, heightening his awareness of her. Her lilac scent washed over him and brought a calm he hadn’t felt for a while. He bridged the short distance between them a
nd settled his mouth on hers. He put his arms around her and brought her closer. The feel of her in his embrace felt so right.

  Then, as though she’d had second thoughts, she leaned back, her large chocolate-brown eyes staring into his, as if delving into the reason behind what he had done. He didn’t have one, other than he’d wanted to forget the rest of the world for a short time. But kissing her wasn’t something he should do again. It sent all the wrong signals to her, and he didn’t want to do that. So why couldn’t he control himself for a few more hours, because after today they probably wouldn’t see each other a lot? His life would be centered around work and Madi.

  “We probably shouldn’t. Madi will be waking up soon.” Abbey threw a glance over her shoulder at his sister.

  “You’re right. I have enough to deal with.” He released her from his embrace. He needed space between them before he forgot the wisdom in her words.

  “Me, too. I talked with my dad after church today, and he thinks I should go forward with plans to train therapy dogs first, then later add in service dogs. He’s got a few connections and will let me know what I need to get started. It’ll probably be small at first, and then if there’s a need I’ll expand later. I may be able to work part-time at the hospital after I get Caring Canines started. That way I’ll have some money coming in to pay the bills. There are so many plans and...” Her chatter came to a halt, and her cheeks reddened. She brushed her hair behind her ears, something he’d noticed she did when nervous.

  “I think you should go for it. If you set up a foundation, you can take donations. I’d be the first person to donate. I can’t say enough about Cottonball and Gabe.”

  “And we’ll both be too busy for...” Again her voice trailed off into the silence, and her blush deepened. “I’m not doing a good job explaining why us kissing probably isn’t too good an idea.”

  “I know. It won’t lead anywhere, so why do it, right?” Saying it out loud didn’t make him feel any better.

  “Exactly. The breakup of my marriage was very hard on me at a difficult time in my life.”

  “Why do things fall apart at the worst possible time?”

  “Is there ever a good time?”

  Tired of being reminded of what he should do but couldn’t, he hiked one corner of his mouth up. “Probably not. You haven’t heard of any place big enough to build a factory for sale in the area in Cimarron City, have you?”

  “No, but then I haven’t been looking for that kind of space.”

  “Nothing like a deadline to get you to start looking.”

  “I still think your ranch would be a good place. It isn’t too far outside town. Do you have any land that you aren’t using for the cattle and horses?”

  “I know you suggested that, but I don’t know about building it here.” Dominic scanned the field before him. He hadn’t thought about that.

  “I guess it isn’t really a good idea. This ranch has been in your family for generations, and putting a factory on part of it probably isn’t what your father envisioned when he left it to you.”

  Dominic plowed his fingers through his hair. “This ranch has thousands of acres and not all of them are being used, but to put a factory on it?” He tried to picture it in his mind, and all he thought about was his father’s reaction if he did. “But you’ve given me something to think about if I can’t find anything in the area for a reasonable amount of money. The bottom line, the factory doesn’t have to be in Cimarron City if a better place can be found quickly.”

  Abbey glanced toward the elm tree. “I see Madi is waking up.” When she returned her gaze to him, sympathy showed in her eyes. “This will work out in the end. You’ll find the perfect place, your employees will be safe, and your sister will be all right.”

  “I wish I had your faith.” He strolled toward Madi with Abbey next to him.

  “You can. You just have to put your trust in the Lord. He knows what is best for each one of us.”

  If only it were that easy. He’d spent most of his life trying to control what happened to him and his surroundings. Only recently was he realizing he really had no control over what occurred. But could he give up a lifelong habit and trust the Lord totally?

  * * *

  Abbey held two leashes with Gabe on one. On the other was Ginger, her small dog that had probably about five different breeds in her pedigree, the most obvious being poodle and Yorkie.

  Mrs. Rosen stepped into her path, facing her as though she were going to war, her fists at her sides, her stance rigid with her feet braced apart. “You’ve won.”

  “What have I won?” Abbey asked, observing the older woman grow even tenser.

  “I can’t have the whole east wing of Shady Oaks getting heatstroke in July. You can use the rec room, but the dogs you bring must stay in there. You can come in the side door and go right to the room. No visiting patients’ rooms with the animals.” You need to schedule the visits with the activity coordinator. She uses that room a lot during the day. We do have a full schedule of activities our residents can participate in. We don’t leave them in their rooms all day. We get them involved.”

  “And that’s why I think Shady Oaks is a good choice for patients leaving the Cimarron City Hospital who still need some kind of care they can’t get at their home.”

  “But...but you insinuated Shady Oaks wasn’t a good place. You got the families of the residents...” Mrs. Rosen sputtered to a stop, fury on her face.

  “I didn’t get the families involved. The residents did. Other than that woman last week who I told to talk to you, I haven’t spoken to any other family members.” Abbey smiled, hoping somehow she could mend this rift between Mrs. Rosen and her. Every time she’d come to the nursing home, the number of residents who wanted to see the dogs had doubled. Today it had looked like she had a whole wing out in the courtyard. She’d decided to bring Corky next time and hope that Mrs. Rosen would allow three dogs. She looked directly into the director’s eyes. “I’m sorry if I’ve made things difficult for you. My intention was to give something to these residents to look forward to.”

  “It’s easy to say you’re sorry now. You’ve won. You’ve gotten your way. The corporate office told me to cooperate with you and your dogs. It seems someone sent them a whole bunch of literature on the benefits of dog therapy, then several family members followed up with phone calls.”

  Abbey tapped her chest. “I didn’t. The only literature I sent to anyone was you.”

  Mrs. Rosen harrumphed. “Just keep them in the rec room.” Then she stormed down the corridor.

  Abbey was thrilled the residents would enjoy her dogs during the summer indoors with air-conditioning, but maybe she hadn’t handled it the best way she could. Sometimes she didn’t think before she acted. She wanted to use the success at Shady Oaks to expand to other nursing homes. Emma Langford had agreed to help her with the training as well as the Caring Canines Foundation.

  As Mrs. Rosen disappeared around the corner, Abbey released a long sigh and made her way to her yellow VW Beetle. She needed to drop Gabe at the ranch for Madi, then see a lawyer her dad knew about drawing up the paperwork for the foundation.

  She’d never seen her father so excited. It was Thursday, only four days after she’d mentioned it to him, and he’d hooked her up with Mr. Franklin, an attorney. Her own excitement was building each day as she thought of Caring Canines’ possibilities.

  By the time she reached the ranch, she had an hour and twenty minutes before her appointment with Mr. Franklin. Since Sunday, the last time she’d seen Dominic, she’d been here each day to pick up Gabe in the morning and bring him back in the afternoon. She usually didn’t have a lot of time to visit with Madi, but today she could stay for at least an hour.

  With both dogs on a leash, Abbey rang the doorbell, and she heard Madi shout, “I’ll get it.”

 
When the little girl opened the door while maneuvering her wheelchair, Mrs. Ponder appeared in the foyer.

  “Oh, good, it’s you. She’s been waiting all afternoon since Greta finished working with her on her exercises.” Mrs. Ponder turned and headed back toward the kitchen.

  “You haven’t been in the foyer the whole time, have you?”

  “I was throwing the ball for Cottonball. She likes it as much as Gabe.” Madi patted her thigh and the bichon jumped into her lap, holding a ball in her mouth. She dropped it for the child to throw again.

  “You know if you throw it, Gabe is going to chase it, too. I don’t think Mrs. Ponder wants him chasing a ball in the house. Let’s go out back. I have some time before I meet the lawyer.”

  “Great. Dominic should be home soon. You’ll get to see him. He went to look at some more properties today.”

  I’ll get to see him? Why would Madi care about that? Madi hadn’t seen them kissing on Sunday afternoon, had she? Every day she’d gotten a running commentary on what Dominic was doing when Madi called her to tell her about her physical therapy. “Are you still going to see the doctor tomorrow?”

  “Yep. In the morning. I’ll let you know what he says. I want to walk by the time school starts in eight weeks.” Madi turned her wheelchair and made her way toward the back door. “I went to the barn today to see Spice again by myself. Well, Cottonball was with me, and Dominic was watching from the house. But I did it and got to see my horse. By myself.”

  “That’s great.” Abbey followed the child outside and down the ramp to the yard, then released Gabe and Ginger from their leashes. Even though she and Mrs. Ponder had reached an understanding about the dogs, she was especially careful that none of them ran wild through the house.

  Madi threw the ball, the distance it went increasing each day as she built up her arm muscles.

  “Before long they’ll have to chase it in the field.” Abbey pulled up a chair from the pool area. “It feels good to sit.”

  “I hate sitting. That’s all I do.” The corners of the child’s mouth tugged down. “I wish I could walk now. And ride Spice.”