Melissa: A Hathaway House Heartwarming Romance by Dale Mayer (good book club books txt) 📕

more, and that was the point in time where it didn’t matter what he did. They just wanted more and more and more of their progress; they thirsted for more. They hungered after it and would do almost anything at that point to get better.

He needed her to get there. He knew she was in a tremendous amount of pain, to the point that her mind was almost dulled, and she just accepted what people said and did what she was told, but she didn’t really think about it. And that was worrisome too because he had to get her pain levels down where she took notice of what was going on around her, so that she could fully engage in what she was doing.

His mind wandered on as Dennis said, “Here you go.”

Shane turned to see Dennis holding out a plate of beef and veggie stir-fry. He smiled and said, “That looks delicious.”

“Remember? You’ve got to look after yourself too.”

Dennis had the advantage, as he could see from his perspective what Shane could not see of himself.

“You have as much hard-headedness as anybody in this place, and you work harder than anybody I know to make sure your patients are doing the best they can,” Dennis said. “Don’t let yourself fail because of it.”

Shane flashed him a smile. “Same to you, buddy. Same to you.” He picked up his plate, coffee, and cutlery, then headed to the deck. If he had the time, he would take his meals down to the animals, but lately it seemed like there was never time. They had more and more patients, so many people in need that sometimes he wondered if it was even possible to help them all.

But, when he focused on helping the ones he had been assigned, people in his little corner, then he was doing his best for them. Just not enough time to help everybody. His gaze landed on the horses. Midnight nestled against the little filly. Shane smiled at that because everybody was happy to be with other people on their own terms.

Sometimes they were thrown together, where they had to make the best of a situation. And he knew that Melissa was there. He wasn’t exactly sure if she’d chosen to come or whether she’d been convinced to come or whether she figured, Why not? Nothing else would do any good. She was a fascinating person, dark, quiet, and she’d obviously been through enough trauma in her life that she had come out on the other side with a lack of trust and a lack of faith.

He understood, but it was just as important for her to rebuild that broken spirit as it was for her to rebuild that broken body. But somehow he had to convince her of that, and he couldn’t do it fast. He muttered about that as he ate his lunch. It was, as usual, delicious.

Dani walked outside and sat down in the chair beside him.

Shane looked at her, smiled, and said, “I almost never see you out of your office,” he teased.

“And we don’t often see you separated from your clients either,” she said in the same tone. “Tough day?”

“Just another busy one in the middle of multiple very long and busy days,” he said. “You?”

“I’ve got no arguments,” she said. “Life’s pretty decent.”

He looked at her and smiled. “Don’t get me wrong. Life’s very decent,” he said. “It’s just, sometimes, every once in a while, you hit a low spot.”

“Just remember who your friends are,” Dani said firmly, “because, in a place like this, people don’t stay alone long. Not unless they choose it.”

Chapter 4

Early in the morning Melissa woke up. She wasn’t even sure why she was awake. She’d been here several days now, and so far had slept late every day. But this morning, guessing by the light outside, she figured it was somewhere near five-thirty, maybe six o’clock. She lay quietly in bed, knowing that she would have to move soon because of a full bladder but not really wanting to deal with the pain of walking there.

Shane had been pretty solid in believing that they could deal and work with that pain, but, so far, they hadn’t really done anything after the testing. In fact, the testing had set her back. They hadn’t made very much progress since.

He kept saying she wasn’t ready; she wasn’t ready. She knew she was ready, she just didn’t know what it was that he was looking for as a marker to say that she was ready. And she hated feeling like she had to come up with the right answer. It was like being in school, where, on exams, it wasn’t so much about knowing the right answer but you had to give the answer the teacher was looking for in order to get full marks. And that was how she started to feel with Shane. And she hated it. Surely that wouldn’t go over well here, when everybody was so emotionally delicate.

Even at that she winced. “Emotionally delicate?” she whispered. Who would have thought she’d use a phrase like that for herself. But she had spent her lifetime trying to be tough, trying to be one of the guys, part of the group, and honestly, she had finally made a place for herself. But it hadn’t been a comfortable fit. She’d made it work in the end, but it hadn’t been where her heart was. But then, joining the navy had been a way to escape her ugly life. Plus she’d seen it as a way to belong, a way to have something of a life for herself.

Instead she’d just ended up feeling more isolated. Maybe she’d retreated into a state she knew well. She’d been isolated all her life in so many ways. It was not that she was difficult by any means, but …

She stopped thinking about it. Yet her mind continued. She was reserved, a little harder to get to know, and that had caused