Page 60 of Tacos & Toboggans
“It’s probably hard in his position to lead with it,” Audrey said. “He doesn’t want patients or colleagues to think he’s incapable, and while we know that’s hogwash, there are a lot of people with some rather unkind and preconceived notions about people with disabilities.”
“Amen to that,” Honor muttered.
If anyone understood those preconceived notions, it was Honor since she was married to a disabled veteran.
I promised to be back in a few minutes and headed for the elevator. Once I stepped on, I leaned my head against the wall to close my eyes. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to catch feelings for Major in more than a major kind of way. As hot as his kisses are and as easy as he is to be with, we still live in different worlds. Infatuation can convince you of many things until reality sets in and you find yourself unhappy with the state of your life. Not that I would be unhappy being with him, but I couldn’t say the same for him being with me. He was new to Bells Pass, and while he fit in, there was no guarantee he’d stay once the newness wore off. As for me, this small town had some big opportunities. Risking that kind of stability on an untested relationship wouldn’t be the smartest thing I’d ever done. Then again, if he did stay, ours could be another great love story for Bells Pass. To stop the swirling thoughts in my brain, I decided to leave the decision up to the Legend of the Gazebo.
When the doors opened, I stepped out and approached the front desk, sure of one thing: this was a real life choose your own adventure book. I just had to pray that the path I took was the right one for everyone involved.
Chapter Twenty
I sat down with the others to enjoy the cinnamon rolls and coffee that the bakery had delivered for those of us helping set up for the community Thanksgiving dinner. Despite staying up late doing surgery last night and working most of the morning here, my thoughts still wouldn’t settle. No matter where I was in the room, I looked for the woman tossing my thoughts like a tornado.
Jaelyn.
Currently, she was helping Holly corral the little ones at a table to eat a snack before they went back to playing in the adventure area that the community center had invested in not too long ago. There were slides, games, a ball pit, and all the necessary items to keep the kids busy. My trained eye found no less than thirty ways to break an arm, but that was an occupational hazard. If I let myself get hung up on whatcouldhappen, I’d have everyone walking around in plastic bubbles. Instead, I reminded myself that I had the skills to repair what others had broken throughout life.
Including Jaelyn. By the time I’d finished Alan’s surgery last night, she had a new splint that fit her properly and didn’t slide around. I could tell it was more comfortable, and she was happy she’d done it, even if she had to endure a bit ofawkwardness with the team in the rehab department. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t every day that the new doctor in town called in a special favor for a patient who wasn’t even his patient.
I groaned. That was a fine example of my head being loud. I wanted to shut it all down and concentrate on the work at hand, but thus far, I haven’t succeeded. Even the physical labor of moving tables and chairs, setting up kitchen equipment, and unloading all the decorations hadn’t cleared my mind. I’d had too little sleep, but that wasn’t anything new. I’d been going on too little sleep for eighteen years.
“Dr. Warren,” Dawson said, taking a seat beside me with a roll and coffee.
“Major, remember?” I said to the man with whom I’d worked side by side for the day. Our plan to stop by their house today fell through when Honor stepped into Audrey’s shoes to prepare the community center for Thanksgiving Dinner. Since Audrey didn’t want to leave Alan’s side, someone needed to organize the event. Who better than someone in the family with access to all the information? Honor wasn’t confident she had the chops to do it, but from what I’d experienced, she had the chops and then some. Then again, she taught teenagers, so keeping people on task came naturally to her.
“Sorry, habit since you’re a doctor,” he said, sipping his coffee as the rest of the guys joined us at the table. We shook hands again, more in a fellowship manner than anice to meet youmanner, since I had met most of them various times over the last few months. The only one I hadn’t met was Irving Wallace, one of the social workers from the new housing complex. We’d remedied that immediately upon their arrival, and after working together for a few hours, I understood why Jaelyn loved the couple so much. Irving rolled over, his service dog Star by his side, to sit near us. Gabe had carried his plate over for him and set it at the table before he took a stool for himself.
“How’s Hazel?” Ellis asked.
Once I’d met the man who was everyone’s favorite Santa, I saw the resemblance, at least in the white hair. As the town’syogi, he was probably in the best shape of any of us here, but everyone assured me his suit had enough padding to convince the kids otherwise.
“As she puts it, big as a house,” Irving said, chuckling as he ordered the dog to rest. “She’s not. She’s barely put on ten pounds, but I would imagine at this point, she feels like a walking basketball. She insisted on coming today to try to, and I quote, shake this kid loose.”
Everyone chuckled as we all sought out the woman in question. She was sitting by the kids, and Lucy had her hand on her belly as they chatted away. There was little doubt that Jaelyn was right about that girl. She had something special, knowing when to seek people out who needed an extra dose of empathy.
“Is she overdue?” I asked, unfamiliar with the situation.
“No, she just hit forty weeks, so the doctor said it could be tomorrow or a few more weeks. Hazel says the baby can come any day but Friday.”
“Why not Friday?” I asked curiously.
“The tree lighting,” Dawson supplied. “No one wants to miss that."
Oh, yes, the tree lighting. The one I’d be attending at Dr. Russel’s insistence. He’d said if there was anything that would make me stay in Bells Pass long term, it was the tree lighting. I’d agreed, but only because the real reason I’d stay in Bells Pass long term would be because of the one doing the lighting.
“And happy anniversary, a day late,” Mason said, patting his shoulder.
“Thanks,” Irving said, and I could see he was giddily happy. “We spent yesterday preparing the nursery and shopping for a few last-minute things.”
“How many years?” I asked to keep the conversation off me.
“Two,” he answered. “We were married at the gazebo the weekend before the tree lighting, thanks to that man and his now wife.” He pointed at Dawson, who was grinning like a cat that ate the canary.
“What can I say? When Honor sinks her teeth into something, it’s all over but the crying.” While this made little sense to me, they took a moment to explain how Hazel had been in Bells Pass as a protected witness. Unable to tell anyone, Hazel thought the townspeople would hold the lie against her, but it didn’t take long to see she was wrong.
“I feel terrible about Alan,” Cameron said as he joined us. “What can we do to help?” He’d addressed the comment to Dawson.
“I’ll defer that question to the guy who fixed him,” Dawson said, and I held my hands up.
