I wondered if Cade had bought those items too. If so, he’d made an effort to make the home inviting as well as functional.
I waited next to Cade while the Wallens rolled Kai’s wheelchair out of the van. Kai was just as Cade described, except his legs were in braces and his beautiful blue eyes were unfocused. His hands rested on top of each other limply. I took a deep breath to stop the tears. I was sure the Wallens had enough pity in the last year. This was supposed to be a happy moment for them.
Cade crouched down in front of Kai and touched his hand. “Morning, Kai. Are you ready to see your new house? I brought my girlfriend, Hadley, to meet you.”
Kai didn’t react at all, but it was sweet for Cade to treat him as if he could.
I crouched down next to Kai and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Kai. I can’t wait to see your new house.”
At the Wallens’ soft smiles, we stood and followed the Wallens to the porch to the double front doors.
Nolan opened both doors so they could easily fit inside.
As soon as Mrs. Wallen entered the home, her hands flew to her mouth. We stepped in behind her, waiting for her to move further inside the home. It was a large open space for the kitchen, living room, and dining room.
“You said you were going to widen doorways, make the bathrooms handicapped accessible, and lower counters. You didn’t say you were going to tear down the walls.” Mrs. Wallen looked from Cade to Nolan.
I couldn’t gauge if she was happy or upset.
“We were going to widen the walls, but it made more sense to open everything up so you can see Kai wherever you are.”
Mrs. Wallen’s eyes welled with tears and she hugged him tightly before doing the same with Nolan. Mr. Wallen patted Kai’s shoulder.
I had to clear my throat, taking a deep breath so I wouldn’t cry with her. It was intense following them through the house as Nolan and Cade showed them each new detail and convenience. Every aspect of the house was improved from the floors to the cabinets to the walls. Cade had thought of everything.
When we finished in the in-law suite, Mrs. Wallen said, “I can’t thank you enough. This is beyond anything we could imagine.”
“We want you to be happy here and have everything completely accessible,” Cade said.
If Cade was doing more than handicapped accessible improvements for everyone like he’d done for the Wallens, it was no wonder he needed additional funding. He couldn’t continue to carry the financial burden himself. But the thought that he did all of this and didn’t expect praise caused me to fall even more for him.
We followed them to the front door before Nolan handed the Wallen’s their keys. “Let me know if you have any problems with anything. We’ll come back and take a look if something isn’t working.”
“This renovation is very generous of you. It was beyond anything we were expecting. Are you sure we shouldn’t be contributing to this?” Mr. Wallen asked.
“No. This is what we do. You had the partial grant from the state, so we were able to use some of our funds for opening the walls and new cupboards in the kitchen. Now you shouldn’t need to fix anything for a long time.”
I didn’t say anything, but they’d made significantly more upgrades than walls and cupboards.
“Thank you. I’ll be singing your praises everywhere,” Mrs. Wallen said.
“We appreciate it, but seeing your happiness is all we need.”
Cade’s words sounded cheesy, but I could see Cade and Nolan felt that way.
I shook their hands wishing them happiness in their new home. I had this overwhelming desire to do more for them. I made a note to ask Cade if he followed up with them as Kai grew to make additional adjustments to the house.
“I have a project I have to check in on. I’ll see you later,” Nolan said as he opened his door and backed down the driveaway.
We got into Cade’s truck before taking a minute to study the house.
Cade turned to me. “Where to? Are you hungry?”
“I am actually. I would have thought those pancakes could have tided me over until dinner, but I guess it was all of the excitement of the Wallen’s seeing their home for the first time.” Seeing the results of Cade and Nolan’s hard work on the Wallen’s face was everything. It was the same high I got from seeing the kids speak more confidently in my program.
Cade backed out of the driveway.
“Thank you for inviting me today. It was amazing to see their reaction.”
“Yeah. You can’t get a feel for something like this unless you’re there. That’s why Nolan wanted to invite the local media to one. He thinks it will generate more interest and funding.”
“You need it if you keep adding all those extras to the renovation.” I watched his face to gauge his reaction. I wondered if he’d be embarrassed.
“I can’t help myself. While we’re demoing, it’s easy to just keep going and take everything out. I think of how happy they’ll be once they see it. That’s what motivates me. Their happiness and the thought of making their lives easier with the accommodations. They’ve had a tough go of things, but I like to help any way I can.”
I studied his face. His hand was moving in time with his words, his eyes were bright with excitement. He’d given me a glimpse of himself this morning. One that showed me he was deeper than he gave himself credit for. He was amazing. His charity was doing wonderful things. He was kindhearted and incredibly generous. Was it selfish that I wanted some of that intensity focused on me?
Chapter Twenty-One
Hadley
I smoothed my dress over my thighs. I was meeting
