He looked at him and frowned. “It’s obvious I can’t do it.”
“You didn’t do it,” Dennis corrected. “That doesn’t mean you can’t do it. This time, instead of worrying about where your feet are going, keep your eye on the tray.”
And, with that, she held her breath and watched as he carefully carried the tray and another plate ever-so-slowly. It was a small tray, sure, but he carried it in one hand as he moved with one crutch forward.
“Wow,” she said to herself. “I would have been too embarrassed to try again.”
And yet not only had he tried but he’d succeeded. He sat down with a huge grin of triumph.
Dennis cheered, adding, “See? Not so hard after all. It’s all about coordination.”
“And who’s got coordination around this place?” Melissa muttered under her breath.
As if Dennis had heard her, he smiled and said, “You’ll get there.”
She wasn’t so sure about that, but she nodded, not ready to start an argument, when all she could see was the food in front of her. She quickly tucked in, enjoying every bite. By the time she was done, Dennis came around with a coffeepot and refilled her cup. “Haven’t you got anything better to do?” she asked.
“Sure I do,” he said. “Lots of people here need a cup of coffee, but you’re one of them too.”
“I don’t need looking after.”
He stopped, gazed at her, smiled a gentle smile, and said, “I’m not so sure about that. It might be that you need more looking after than most.” And, on that strange note, he turned and walked away again.
She stared after him, wondering what he meant, when a tray landed on the table beside her, and somebody asked, “Mind if I join you?”
Not that she had a chance to say yes or no because it was Shane, and, as he sat down, she looked at all the food in front of him and whistled. “Wow! How often do you work out to get away with that amount of food?”
“Not enough,” he said, laughing. “But Dennis is very good at what he does.”
“Does he cook this?”
“No,” Shane said, “not at all. Ilse is the head chef, the manager, the all-round kitchen helper. You’ll meet her eventually, and a good four or five guys and gals are in the kitchen with her most days as well. But Dennis runs the outside of the kitchen. He always makes sure there’s food for us all.”
“He does seem to care,” she admitted.
“And then some.”
Shane had seen Melissa sitting there when he arrived in the big room for breakfast. As he loaded his plate, Dennis had a big smile for him, as usual. Shane motioned toward where Melissa sat. “Has she been here long?”
Dennis nodded. “Had a bad night,” he said. “She was here really early.”
“Maybe I’ll see how she is.” He picked up his tray and headed to where Melissa sat, asking if he could join her. He didn’t really give her a chance to say no. He wasn’t sure if she would give him the answer he wanted. It was always easier to take the choice away from somebody. He sat down, studying her. He could see the bags under her eyes and the stiffness in her body, but she seemed to be sitting better. “How was your night?”
She gave an irritable shrug. “It was okay,” she said, “but it wasn’t great. Most nights aren’t great anymore.”
“You look stiff.”
“You think?” she said, then she shook her head. “Sorry. I’m not trying to be grumpy, but, like I said, I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep. I was in here early. I wasn’t sure what time I was allowed to come in but decided the lure of coffee was worth the trip.”
“If the doors are open,” he said cheerfully, “you’re allowed in.”
“Good,” she said. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just waiting for something to happen, waiting for some improvement.”
He smiled. “I hear that a lot,” he said.
She looked past his shoulder, a frown on her face.
He didn’t turn around, knowing that she could be looking at any number of things. “Something wrong?” He forked a sausage and took a big bite.
She shook her head, but her gaze was locked behind him. “An animal?” She looked at him, looked back, and then nodded. “A man is carrying something, but I don’t know what it is. It’s so big though.”
“Is it huge, fluffy, with long ears?”
She stared at him and asked, “Have you seen it before?” She pushed back from the table and leaned around him so she could get a better view.
Shane turned, saw Stan with Hoppers, and called out, “Hey, Stan.”
Stan took one look and headed toward him.
“Who’s Stan?”
He looked at her in surprise. “Did you get a tour of downstairs?”
She shook her head. “No, I haven’t been downstairs yet.”
“Well, that’s something we need to change,” he said with a bright smile.
Stan walked over and looked at Melissa. “What’s this, a new arrival?”
She smiled up at him and said, “Yes. I’ve only been here a couple days.”
“Well, I haven’t seen you downstairs in my corner,” he said. “Do you mind if I sit?”
Shane watched as her gaze was locked on the rabbit in his arms. Of course it was big enough to be five rabbits, but she said, “Please join us.”
Shane didn’t care, even though he was still eating, and some people would be offended, but he was fine with it. Besides, he was almost done. He looked over at Melissa and grinned. “You’re staring with absolute fascination at the rabbit. Melissa, this is Stan. He’s the vet from the center downstairs. And this is Hoppers,” he said, “one of the rabbits he’s working on, supposedly to be a therapy animal, I think.”
“Well, we could have picked a lighter-weight one,” Stan said chuckling, “but everybody has such an interesting reaction when they see him.”
Melissa’s gaze flew up to look at Stan, then back down again. “My goodness,” she whispered,
