Page 26 of A Place for Daydreams

“People knew how to pay attention back then.” Gloria nodded.

A few minutes later, they were seated out on the balcony, sipping their hot apple cider and munching on the delicious coconut macaroons. The sun had now set, leaving only a faint flush of gold at the western edge of the horizon.

“This is delicious, thank you, sweetheart.” Gloria took a sip of the hot apple cider, wiggling a little as she swallowed with relish. “Mm. Just hits the spot.”

Noelle laughed at her grandmother’s antics. “If we’re really talking delicious, let’s hear it for these cookies. I think you outdid yourself this time, Grandma.”

Gloria chuckled. “Thank you, dear. I just followed the recipe. Now tell me all about how things are going at work. Do you feel like you’re really settled in yet?”

“Oh, I’m getting there.” Noelle took a sip of her hot apple cider. “The other physical therapist, Chip, has been really great. He’s really helpful and I never feel like I can’t reach out and ask him a question. And my patients have been really great. The ones that started right when I got here have been showing substantial progress, and the new ones—well, the new ones are great.” She thought about Dean and found herself smiling broadly.

“Hmm, what do you mean by ‘great’?” Gloria asked, cocking her head curiously.

“Uh, well, there’s a very sweet old man who always brightens my day. And there’s a younger man too. His name is Dean.”

“Why is Dean in physical therapy?” Gloria asked. “Does he have an injury of some kind?”

“No, he has osteoarthritis.” Noelle shook her head sadly. “I feel terrible for him, although I think that putting in the work of physical therapy will really get his symptoms under control.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. How young is he?”

Noelle wondered if it was her imagination, or if her grandmother looked slightly mischievous.

“He’s… well, he’s around my age. A young man. So I’m really hoping that PT will help him. He’s too young to be struggling with weakness and fatigue the way he has been.”

Gloria nodded. “Well, hopefully you’re able to help him improve his quality of life.”

“I hope so.” Noelle smiled. “That’s the most rewarding part of the job—when patients really start to do better. I love seeing the hope start to appear on their faces. And Dean seems like a hardworking guy, so I think he’s going to put in the work and start to see progress.”

“Why do you say he’s hardworking? Just a hunch?”

“No.” Noelle shook her head, unable to keep from smiling when she thought about Dean’s auto repair shop, and all of the sweet extra things he’d done to her car. “I was having issues with my brakes on Saturday morning. Luckily Dean’s shop is a three-minute drive from here, so I drove there before the issue got really serious. My brake lines had been damaged, so the brakes still worked, but I could feel that something was starting to be really off with them.”

“Well, thank goodness everything worked out fine! Don’t ever take chances with things like that.”

“Oh, I won’t. Dean told me I should get my car towed when things like the brakes start acting up. He thinks it’s better to be safe than sorry and I agree with him.”

“Dean’s a mechanic?”

“Oh!” Noelle laughed. “I guess I’m getting ahead of myself. Yes, he is, but he also owns Rosewood Beach’s auto repair shop. And the way he took care of my car there—honestly, just the way he runs the whole place, even though I know he’s been struggling with his osteoarthritis symptoms—was impressive. It’s clear he cares a lot about doing a good job on things.”

“That’s a great quality.” Gloria nodded sagely. “He sounds like a nice young man.”

“Oh, he is. And while I was waiting there, I got to see some of the pictures hanging on the wall in his office. He used to be really active. He played baseball and went hiking and fishing a lot. SoI’m hoping that he’ll have the energy to go back to those kinds of things soon, at least some of the time.”

“That’s nice that you got a chance to see what it is he likes to do. It’ll help you understand just how much he wants to feel better again. Not that you need motivation. I know you always give your clients your best effort.”

Noelle gave her grandmother’s hand a squeeze. “Thanks, Grandma. I appreciate you saying that.”

They continued to munch on their cookies and sip their apple cider as their conversation wound its way toward other topics. They discussed recipes, the upcoming holidays, and Gloria encouraged Noelle to take up the habit of knitting again, because it was so relaxing.

Throughout their conversation, Noelle’s thoughts kept darting back to Dean, wondering how he was doing and if PT was going to help him as much as she hoped it would.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Dean stood in front of his bathroom mirror, combing his wavy hair back. It looked neat and tidy for a few seconds, and then immediately bounced back to looking tousled. He chuckled, deciding that his hair had a mind of its own, and he might as well give up on trying to make it look sleek.

He reached for his toothbrush and began to brush his teeth, glancing at the clock on the wall as he did so. He would need to leave in another five minutes if he wanted to be on time for his physical therapy appointment.

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