Tears were in Robin’s eyes, and she kept wiping them back. But she reached down and gripped Iain’s shoulder from behind him. Almost without thinking, he reached up and laced his fingers with hers, and the two just hung on to each other. She was overwhelmed with emotions. The joy on his face when she’d seen him out there on the horse, seeing his body hold him and giving him that moment of joy, she knew that this was just a starting point to even more emotional and joy-filled moments. The fact that he’d gotten on a horse and had made it an hour out there was absolutely phenomenal.
And she knew that, no matter what else he tried to do now, he’d do just fine. He was a special man. He’d gone through so much, and here she was, the one who was not doing as well. And she didn’t have any valid reason not to. And she was desperate for him to do well, and, at the same time, she also knew that it could mean he’d move on and move past her. She gripped his fingers even harder, and, when she tried to release his hand, he wouldn’t let her go. She smiled and said, “I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had breakfast.”
He looked up at her, then smiled and said, “No, I haven’t either.”
And, with that, the crowd started to disperse. He’d been so happy and so proud, as if he’d finally succeeded at something. She walked beside him, her hand still on his shoulder, even as he needed both his hands to push his wheelchair toward the elevator. She could feel the stress in his back with each shove forward. “You know that I could push you,” she said hesitantly.
“No. Carry the crutches,” he said. “We’ll go back to my room and put those away and then head for lunch, if that’s okay with you.”
“Definitely okay with me,” she said. Stan had gone somewhere. She presumed he was still talking with the others, but she knew Iain needed to go relax. “Unless you need to lie down.”
“I’ll have a nap this afternoon,” he said, “but I want to eat out on the deck and watch the horses.”
“That we can do.” They made their way to his room, where she put away his crutches, and then, walking back at his side, headed over to the cafeteria. A noisy crowd was in the center of it. She looked at him and said, “Do you want me to get food for both of us, while you claim a table out in the sun?”
He hesitated.
She looked at him and said, “There’s no need to not accept help again.”
“I seem to be bad at that,” he said. Then he nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind,” he said. “We will have to compete for a table out on the deck.”
“Go,” she said. “Get us one, and I’ll come join you in a few minutes.” She watched as he headed out, completely okay to do that, and realized just how far he’d come. As she got into line, she grabbed two trays. Dennis was once again at the forefront, serving and talking to everybody as they came by.
He looked at her, smiled, and said, “I saw Iain on the horse.”
“Did you see him?” she said with a beaming smile. “That was one happy man.”
“And he should be,” Dennis said. “He’s a good guy.” He looked at the food and said, “But I bet he’s really hungry now, isn’t he?”
“Hungry and very tired,” she said. “Not that he’ll admit to the last part though.”
At that, Dennis chuckled. “No, of course he won’t,” he said. “That would make life too easy. Men are complex.”
“Nah,” she said teasingly. “Women are complex. Men are simple.”
He beamed a grin at her. “You could be right,” he said. “Men just want the basic needs.”
“What’s that?” she asked. “Beer, ribs, and football?” Several of the men around her cracked grins. Dennis waved a finger at her admonishingly.
She laughed and said, “Good food. He definitely needs good food.”
“Well, I’ve got all kinds of it here today. What would you like?”
She quickly made choices for both of them, with Dennis loading up their plates, and knew she couldn’t carry both trays if she loaded them too heavily. So, she put one by the coffee area, carried one out, and then came back and got the other one. By the time she was done, they were both sitting on one side together, the table pushed up against the railing so they could see as much as they could. Iain ate slowly, but his gaze was on the horses.
“I think an awful lot could be done with horses, don’t you?” she asked him.
“Some friends of mine back in New Mexico,” he said, “they formed a new company to help veterans get employed, to find a second career, even to build suitable housing for returning vets. I sent one of them an email a while ago, wondering what all their operation did. I haven’t even checked to see if he has responded yet.”
“And then what?”
“Then,” he said. “I was wondering about setting up something like what they have done—but here.”
She looked at him in surprise, but something warm and caring wrapped around her heart like a hug. “So, you’re thinking about staying close?”
He looked at her, smiled, and said, “That’s where you are, isn’t it?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes,” she said. “That is definitely where I am.”
“In that case,” he said, “yes, I’m looking at staying somewhere close. We still have a ways to go on this journey of ours, but I’m sure not ready to call it quits.” Just then, shouts of laughter came from behind him, interrupting their conversation. He looked at her, smiled, and said, “Eat. We’ll talk later.”
“Sounds good,” she said. And they proceeded to dig into lunch, but her heart was full, and her soul was happy.
Iain shouldn’t have said anything about his plans because he really didn’t have any plans; it was more a vague dream. But he’d been emboldened by the horseback ride. He looked at her and said, “It might not work out.”
“What might not work out?”
“If I do decide to do something like that.”
“It’s an idea,” she said in surprise. “Ideas are just that. I hope something like that does happen for you. I think you would find a great deal of personal satisfaction in helping others get established.”
He nodded slowly. “That’s what I was thinking. I know these guys in New Mexico. They’ve done so much good for other people. I was just thinking it might be nice to do something like that myself.”
“So, work toward it,” she said. “You’re probably not capable of doing it all yet, but that doesn’t mean in a few months you won’t be.”
“After today,” he said, “it does feel like I’ve made some major strides. I’m not there yet, but I’m getting there.”
“Is there anything else that you want to work toward?”
“Unless I wake up tomorrow morning,” he said jokingly, “and I think this is a terrible idea.”
She looked at him steadily. “And, if it is a terrible idea,” she said, “maybe what you need to do is look at why you suddenly feel that way. Because it sure doesn’t sound like a terrible idea to me.”
“Maybe,” he said. “Maybe I’ll spend some time with that journal and dig a little deeper.”
She gave him a fat smile. “You do that.”
“And you,” he challenged. “What about your journal?”
“I haven’t even started,” she admitted.
“Well, while I work in mine, you do something for yourself,” he said with a smile. “It’d be nice if we both move forward together.”
“It would, wouldn’t it?” she said. “I need to work on a couple things definitely, so maybe I should.”
“No,” he said. “Not maybe. We’ve made a lot of progress together. Let’s keep that up.”
She smiled, then nodded and said, “I can work with that.”
“Good,” he said. “Now, I hate to ask, but how do you feel about getting us some coffee?”
She chuckled. “I can do that too.”