Heath

by Dale Mayer

  And now here he was, once again falling asleep to sounds of somebody who cared enough about him to get up in the middle of the night to do that for him. He wanted to do something special for Hailee, but he wasn’t exactly sure what. He’d sent out several emails, asking for more information, but, so far, there hadn’t been too much response. He wanted a few moments of just some peace and quiet to talk to her about some options also and to let her know how he felt about her, more than just her mopping in the middle of the night to get him to sleep.

  When he went to lunch, a look on his face must have relayed something because Dennis immediately asked in a low tone, “You okay?”

  Heath looked up with a smile and said, “Yeah, I am. I was just thinking that maybe, instead of being in here, I’d find a way to get outside with the animals today.”

  “Well, why don’t you have your main meal here,” he said, “and I’ll fix you a coffee and a couple cinnamon buns to-go, then you can take the elevator and go outside in the wheelchair or on your crutches and go to the horses?”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” he said. “I need to touch base with the animals again.”

  “It sounds like you got woman troubles.”

  “Ha,” he said. “Pretty hard to have woman troubles in here.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Dennis said. “I’ve watched a lot of couples form in this place. So, if it is, you just talk to old Dennis. I got a solution for you.”

  “Yeah, right,” he said, and then he shook his head. “I’ll eat lunch, and then I’ll go down and spend some time thinking.”

  “Maybe you should do that,” he said with a smile, and, sure enough, as soon as Heath finished eating, Dennis arrived with two big cinnamon buns and a cup of coffee in a thermos. “The buns are hot out of the oven,” he said, as he then wrapped each of them in foil. “Take these with you, and maybe go visit with the animals,” he said, putting the buns and a thermos in a reusable grocery bag. “Maybe over there where the llama is or someplace that you’re comfortable.”

  Heath nodded. “That’s a great idea.” He slung the bag over his shoulder and slowly made his way downstairs and back outside on his crutches. He should have brought the wheelchair, but he preferred to do with the crutches as much as he could. He headed over to the long grass, and, rather than trying to get up onto the fence, he sat down against a post, his crutches beside him, wondering just what he was doing and where he was heading. When he heard a female voice call out to him a few minutes later, he looked over to see Hailee walking toward him, with a cup of coffee in her hand.

  “Hey,” she cried out, “may I join you?”

  He smiled and said, “Absolutely.”

  She sat down beside him. “Ooh, cinnamon buns.” She looked back up at the cafeteria and then shrugged and said, “It’s too far to go.”

  “Well, I’ve got two,” he said, “so how about you share with me?” And that’s what they did, splitting up the cinnamon buns with an awkward, and yet peaceful silence between the two of them.

  “So, how did it work?” she asked, studying his features.

  He looked at her with a smile. “Perfect. You have no idea how grateful I am.”

  She shrugged. “Can’t say gratitude is anything I particularly want,” she said with a laugh. “But I’m glad it worked out.”

  “I understand,” he said. Just then his phone beeped. He pulled it out and checked to see what the email was about and laughed. “On the other hand,” he said, “I have something of a gift for you too.”

  “Really?” she said. “And what’s that?”

  He held out the email that was on this phone and said, “Read that.”

  She took his phone from him and slowly read it, her eyes widening as she stared at him in shock. He nodded and said, “I wasn’t kidding when I said people are out there who work to help forgive medical debts.”

  “I actually heard from my lawyer, and the hospital has renegotiated my bill down by 75 percent,” she whispered.

  He looked at her in surprise and laughed. “Well, maybe between these two events, we can get you cleared of all your debts.”

  “And that,” she said, “sounds too good to be true.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “I think we often forget that good people are out there too.”

  She looked at the email again and said, “Is it for real?”

  “They said so,” he said. “They’re offering $30,000 toward your medical debt.”

  “I don’t have much more than that left to pay off,” she said. “At least if what the lawyer says comes to pass.”

  “It probably will. We don’t realize just how much of that medical debt is inflated. So, in this case, there’s a good chance that you’ll do just fine now.”

  “Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” she said, laughing.

  “And, if it is,” he said, “what would you do with your life now? Would you leave?”

  She stared at him wide-eyed, then shook her head, and said, “No. I love it here. It’s been the perfect place for me.” Then she stopped and looked around. “How long are you here for?”

  “Another month and a half, I think, maybe a little longer,” he said. “And then I’ll probably settle close by in Houston.”

  “Ah, good,” she said.

  Then more awkward silence came.

  He finally took the bull by the horns and said, “And, even if I do move to Houston, I was hoping we’d be close enough to see each other. If your trust issues have come this far.”

  “Have your guilt issues?” she asked.

  He nodded slowly. “I’m working on it, but having Wendy, Ben’s sister, to talk to has really helped a lot.”

  She smiled and nodded. “You’re right. And I’ve made some progress myself.”

  “Perfect,” he said. His voice thickened. “So, do you think that’s something you might be interested in?”

  “What’s that?”

  He shook his head. “Let’s not play games. I’m a straight shooter, and I think we’ve both had enough of the dishonesty in life to want to talk straight.”

  “If you’re asking if I’m interested in seeing more of you? Absolutely,” she said with a gentle smile. “But I was hoping we didn’t have to wait until you went to Houston.”

  He looked at her and smiled. “Seriously?”

  “I came out here to tell you about the email I got from the lawyer, and, as I was walking here, I realized that somehow you’ve become the friend I’ve never had,” she said. “Even when I was married, my husband wasn’t somebody I could talk to like this. He wasn’t somebody who I cared to share enough of my life with.”

  “So maybe you married the wrong person completely,” he said with a smile.

  She nodded and said, “It took me a long time to realize that I didn’t do him a service either. And that I should have chosen somebody better for myself.”

  “So now what?” he asked.

  “Well, I was kind of hoping,” she said with a kink of her lips, “that maybe you’d be interested in the job.”

  “You mean, if I’d be interested in being a replacement?”

  She shook her head immediately. “No, of course not.”

  “Good,” he said, with a little more force than he intended. “Because I’m not a replacement for anybody. On the other hand,” he said, “if you feel about me the way I do about you, I’d highly suggest that we entirely skip the whole talk of replacements and just start fresh and maybe create something unique between us.”

  She looked at him, then smiled, her eyes widening.

  He leaned across and gently grasped her chin with two fingers, then tugged her closer. “At least if you feel the way I feel …” And he kissed her ever-so-gently.

  Her lips curved under his, and she whispered, “I don’t think you could possibly feel the way I feel about you because I think your heart would hurt too much.”

  “No,” he said, “it’s not about hurt. It’s about being open enough to accept what’s co
ming so that you’re free and bright and happy.”

  “That sounds nice,” she whispered. “I can definitely sign up for that.”

  And this time, when their lips met, it was a kiss of promise, and it was a kiss of hope. But, more than that, it was a kiss of growth for both of them, for a future neither had expected to find but was there waiting for them nonetheless.

  Epilogue

  Change offered the chance for a new beginning.

  Iain Macleod stared down at the acceptance letter and the rest of the papers that he had to fill out in order to make his transfer to Hathaway House happen. He took a slow and deep measured breath.

  Everybody here knew him as a class clown, somebody who threw off the problems and stresses in his life without a care. Most looked at him sideways, wondering how he managed it. But he also knew he was at the end of his rope—knew that he couldn’t keep up the facade. It was time for a change, and it could only happen if he left here and went where people didn’t know him. A place he could go to find the depths of his soul, to find a way to live with the future as he had it right now. Because it looked pretty shitty from where he sat.

  He didn’t want to hear any more about “probably never walk again” or “probably never be fully functioning in society again.” Just so many damn probablys that he didn’t even want to contemplate it.

  He had both hands, and he had a sturdy back, and that was more than a lot of guys had. Iain was missing a leg, but he still had one. It was kind of shriveled and didn’t do so well, but that’s because he’d had a lot of muscle torn off it. He’d also had the recommended surgery to put new muscle back on, and, so far, it was an unknown as to how well that would work. He roomed with three others, and he lived with hundreds, all in the same type of nightmarish scenario that he was in. Everybody was different, and everybody was unique, and yet all so much the same.

  It hurt. All of it hurt. Humor and laughter had been his shields, which might have fooled everybody else, but they weren’t fooling him.

  He’d gone as far as he could, staring at himself, seeing the joker and the ultimate joke that life had thrown at him. Yet he knew, if he wanted to make anything out of his world, he had to cross that abyss and had to learn to live with the best that he had, which was what that surgery had given him. To maximize this point, he needed therapy that went well past what he had access to here, and that was stupid. This was a VA hospital. He should have had the best of the best right here, but he knew from what he’d seen that he didn’t. From what he’d heard about Hathaway House, he knew there was more. He’d contacted several people who had been there and had left much improved. They’d all told him the same thing.

  “Go. You won’t be disappointed.”

  Taking that chance, he’d put his John Doe on an application form, and he’d sent it off. He hadn’t told anybody here, and, if he had, nobody would have been more surprised than him when he’d been accepted. Now after more paperwork, more medical appointments, and a painful transfer, maybe he’d have a chance at a new life. Or at least a chance at living the life that he’d been given as best as he could.

  And really, was there more to anything in life than that?

  This concludes Book 8 of Hathaway House: Heath.

  Read about Iain: Hathaway House, Book 9

  Hathaway House: Iain (Book #9)

  Welcome to Hathaway House, a heartwarming and sweet military romance series from USA TODAY best-selling author Dale Mayer. Here you’ll meet a whole new group of friends, along with a few favorite characters from Heroes for Hire. Instead of action, you’ll find emotion. Instead of suspense, you’ll find healing. Instead of romance, … oh, wait. … There is romance—of course!

  Welcome to Hathaway House. Rehab Center. Safe Haven. Second chance at life and love.

  Getting accepted to Hathaway House is the new start Iain MacLeod has been waiting for. His old VA center has put him on the road to recovery, but he’s nowhere near where he wants to be. Much work remains to be done, and Iain is determined to do what’s necessary to get back to full power. But he has hit the limit of his current professionals’ abilities. He needs a new team. New eyes. New methods. He can only hope that Hathaway House has what he needs to keep moving forward.

  Robin Carruthers works in the veterinary clinic at Hathaway House. When she connects with Iain, she’s his biggest cheerleader and enjoys watching him take steps toward greater recovery. Until she realizes that, while Iain is growing in major ways, … she isn’t. When traumas from her past intrude on the present, and Robin is forced to confront issues of her own, she’s afraid she and Iain won’t find their way back to each other again …

  Find Book 9 here!

  To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for reading Heath: Hathaway House, Book 8! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment and leave a short review here.

  Dear reader,

  I love to hear from readers, and you can contact me at my website: www.dalemayer.com or at my Facebook author page. To be informed of new releases and special offers, sign up for my newsletter or follow me on BookBub. And if you are interested in joining Dale Mayer’s Reader Group, here is the Facebook sign up page.

  Cheers,

  Dale Mayer

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  About the Author

  Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

  She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

  To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.

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  HEATH: HATHAWAY HOUSE, BOOK 8

  Dale Mayer

  Valley Publishing Ltd.

  Copyright © 2019

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-773363-79-0

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