Dave tucked the crutch under his arm. Now he understood why Tom allowed his wagon to be painted pink. It reminded him of how much his girls loved him.
Dave glanced around the yard and saw that Sally and her family, Jenny and her family, and Joel and his family had already arrived. Joel had even talked his twenty-year-old brother-in-law, Sep, into coming. At the moment, Sep was playing fetch with the dog. The only ones missing were Richard and his family.
“Are Richard and Amanda coming today?” Dave asked.
“I think so,” Tom replied. “Jessica said something about a newspaper article about him.”
“Richard’s in the paper?”
“I haven’t seen anything,” Tom began, “but Jessica said when she talked with Margaret last week, it sounded like her husband, Joseph, was adding an article about Richard in an upcoming edition. Joseph recently got promoted to be the editor of the entire paper. Jessica went over to celebrate with Margaret about it.”
“What’s the article about?”
Tom shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
No one in the family had ever been in the newspaper before. “Well, if they were celebrating, then it’s something good, right?”
“Of course. Jessica was all smiles about it. Besides, since when has Richard ever done anything bad?”
That was a good point. Dave turned his attention to Mary as she approached him with Adam still in her arms. Rachel had already left to play with Emma and Laura.
“Did you hear anything about Richard being in the newspaper?” Dave asked.
“Jessica mentioned it on the way here.” She put her free arm around his waist and helped him over to the porch. “She thinks Amanda might bring it out today.”
“What is it about?”
“The article is about how he started with nothing when he came to Omaha and made something of himself. Jessica said she even ran into Maureen and Connie while she was in town, and they found the story very inspiring.”
“They did?” Dave asked.
“As you know, they’re starting a business with the food they’re cooking.”
He briefly remembered Mary mentioning something about that. She set Adam down and then helped Dave up the porch steps.
“Anyway,” Mary continued, “I’m happy for Richard and Amanda. I think it’s wonderful he got mentioned in the paper. I asked Jessica for a copy.”
Once they reached the nearest chair, Mary took the crutch and he sat down.
“Do you want me to bring you anything to drink?” she asked him as she picked Adam back up into her arms.
“I’d like that, thanks,” he replied.
After a few seconds of silence, Joel ran over to him. “How’s the leg doing?”
“It doesn’t look that much different than it did before.”
“It takes bones time to settle back into place and heal.” Joel pulled up a chair across from him. “While I’m here, I might as well check it.”
Dave wasn’t sure he wanted Joel to remove the splint and bandages while everyone else was around. “Can’t we do this later?”
“There’s no better time than when we’re already together.” Joel gently propped the leg up in the chair then began removing the splint. “I might be busy with another patient in a couple of days when I’m due to check on you.”
Dave glanced at the others in the yard. So far, no one seemed to notice him. “Alright, but make it quick. I don’t want others to start gathering around to see what a broken leg looks like.”
“Why not? It would be educational.”
“I don’t want to be the reason they get educated.”
Joel rolled his eyes. “Everyone here is a part of the family. It’s not like I’m showing this in front of a bunch of strangers. I’ve done that with one of my other patients.”
“You showed one of your patient’s injuries to a group of strangers?”
“I was asked to be a part of a medical convention, and one of my patients who lost two fingers in an accident was willing to show them how well he had healed. The person next to him during the harvest got too close to him with a reaper.”
Dave tried not to shiver, but he did anyway.
“Exactly,” Joel said. “All you have is a broken leg that is in the process of healing. That poor man will never get those two fingers back. You should be grateful.”
“I am grateful. I just don’t see why we have to do this here.”
But there was no point in arguing. Joel already had the splint off and was removing the bandages.
“I want to see! I want to see!” came Erin’s voice.
Dave groaned as Erin ran up to the porch, followed by most of the other children. “Great,” he muttered. “Are you happy?”
Joel shook his head. “Don’t be such a baby. It’s only your leg they’re going to see.”
Dave crossed his arms and watched as almost every child, who’d been playing only moments ago, was trying to get a glimpse of his leg.
Joel removed the last of the bandages and smiled. “I have good news. You’re healing nicely. You just might get to walk on your leg in two weeks.”
Forgetting the others around them, Dave asked, “Two weeks?”
“Don’t get too excited,” Joel replied. “You’ll have to take it easy. Your leg will be weak. You can’t go running around the property right away. You’ll need to take it slow. Maybe use a cane for a while so that you don’t put too much pressure on it. Only walk to the barn once a day. Your body will let you know if you need to rest. If you get tired or start to
