Page 94 of A Moment In Time

“I’m not being a nuisance?”

“I like having you here. Which is saying a lot. Because I like my alone time.”

Sydney smiled. “I know you do. So, I’m quite flattered.” She ate some of her pancake. “The rain washed away all the snow. So we could take another walk. But we’ll have to stick to the road. It’s pretty muddy out there.”

“A walk sounds good.”

“We could walk to Cooper’s and say hi to them.”

“Yeah. We could do that. Or we could turn around right before we get to their house.” He smiled. “After relaying the outhouse story to you, I’m a little pissed at him all over again.”

“That’s understandable. Maybe we could come back here after our walk and finish the book.”

Gage shook his head. “I hope you’re not too disappointed in Rusty’s family secret.”

“It has to be good, right?”

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out.”

As they were finishing their breakfast, Gage heard a vehicle pull up out front. He got up and looked out the window. “Huh.”

“Who is it?”

“Corbyn and Rose.” He opened the front door. “Hey, guys.”

Corbyn came up the steps. “I’ve been trying to call you since yesterday.”

“My phone was a casualty of the tree.”

Rose came up behind Corbyn, then went to Gage and hugged him. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”

He patted her head. “I’m fine. All better.”

Corbyn nodded. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Gage nodded. “Come on in.”

They went inside and Corbyn motioned toward the couch. “Have a seat. I just want to take your vitals and check your ribs.”

Gage sat, and Corbyn took his blood pressure, temperature, and pulse rate. “Okay. You’re about back to normal. Have you been moving around a little?”

“We’ve taken a couple of walks. It wears me out, though. I’ve also taken a couple of naps.”

“That’s to be expected. Lift up your shirt.”

Gage lifted his t-shirt and both Sydney and Rose took in a breath. Sydney shook her head.

“Oh, my gosh. I had no idea you were bruised like that.”

Corbyn felt around, causing Gage to suck in some air of his own. Corbyn smiled. “Sorry.” He backed away. “You’ll be sore another week or so. Maybe two. But it’s looking pretty good.”

Sydney cocked her head. “That looks good?”

“He’s healing on the inside. The bruising will go away before the pain does. But considering a tree fell on him three days ago. He’s doing fine.”

Gage pulled down his shirt and leaned back on the couch as Rose came to sit by him. She took his hand. “That looks like it really hurts.”

He smiled. “It does. But only when I move the wrong way. Or, sometimes, at all.” He laughed. “I’m kidding. It’s feeling better than it did.”

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