Dani’s eyebrows shot up. “Now that’s lovely,” she said. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Me too,” she said. “You forget just how much you stop believing in yourself, until you see some forward movement, and then you wonder how you could have let yourself stop believing.”
“I don’t think it’s as much that you stop believing,” Dani said, “as much as you stop thinking about it. And we tend to slide into a negativity versus optimism, so it’s like a natural step to go backward.”
“It still sucks,” Melissa said with a laugh. “But today I managed to do a couple things that I hadn’t done before, so it’s all good.” She slowly wheeled herself toward her room.
“What are you doing now?”
“It’s lunchtime,” she said, “so I was going to the washroom before the cafeteria.”
“Well, if you’re up for it,” Dani said, “my father is here. He wants to see you.”
She looked at her in delight. “The Major’s here?”
Dani nodded. “He extended his trip by a few extra days, so he didn’t get home as early as expected. But he’s back now. I thought maybe if you were up to it,”—and she stopped and looked at her friend—“maybe you could join us for lunch?”
“Absolutely. Does that mean anything different than going to the cafeteria though?”
“Absolutely not,” Dani said with a laugh. “You’ll see my father as soon as you get there because he’ll be holding court, as usual.”
“He always was quite the character,” she said with a knowing grin.
“Well, that hasn’t changed.” Dani chuckled. “How about I wait for you?”
Melissa quickly used the washroom and changed into a fresh shirt. “Ready,” she said.
As they headed toward the dining room, Dani asked, “How are you doing emotionally here?”
“I’m getting there,” she said. “There’s a lot of change, a lot of adjustments.”
“But all good?” She heard the note of worry in her friend’s voice.
Melissa looked up and said, “Dani, you’ve done a great job here. I can’t believe it. What you’ve created, it’s amazing.” Dani flushed with pleasure, but Melissa meant it. “Seriously,” she said. “I’m not just trying to be a friend. This is amazing. And I haven’t had a chance to get down to the animals, except to see the various ones that come through here. But, once I realized you had animals all over the place too, it just made my heart smile.”
“The animals are a big hit,” Dani admitted. “Not just because animals are here but also because we’re helping the animals. And that’s a two-pronged benefit for everybody.”
“I can’t imagine,” she said. “I wish I could do something with animals myself. You know that I’d have a hobby farm and half a dozen critters of my own.”
“Absolutely,” she said. “But you have a lot of abilities, and it’s not the time for you to start worrying yet about your future. But keep those ideas in mind. Maybe you can do something with animals.”
“Like Aaron?” Melissa teased.
Dani flushed with pleasure. “Like Aaron,” she said. “But, in his case, it was something he wanted to do way back when anyway. So this was just him finally aligning his work with what his heart really wanted to do.”
“And I imagine that makes a lot of difference.”
“I didn’t really have any goals when I started out here, except to help my father, but it certainly made a difference now that I do have a purpose in my life.”
“I think that’s what I’m missing,” Melissa said. “I’m still a little lost.”
“You’re a little lost, but that’s because so much in your world needs your focus, but you’re getting there. Don’t shortchange yourself.”
“I hope so,” she said. “No,” she stopped and shook her head. “No, I know so.”
“Good,” Dani said, as she led the way to the cafeteria. Even before they arrived, they heard the laughter and a louder noise level than usual. She rolled her eyes. “As you can tell, my dad is here.” She chuckled, and they pushed open the door. The din rose and fell as the waves of conversation washed over them. And then Dani called out, “Major.”
After a moment of silence, she heard him saying something about having to go, and then he walked toward her. Melissa looked at the big robust man in front of her. “He’s not quite the way I expected.”
“Well, he’s pretty well crashed and burned and been reborn from the inside out,” Dani said. “That’s why I came here and built this. It was to help him, and it’s been a godsend for him.”
The Major walked over, took one look at Melissa, and his face split into a huge beaming grin, but it was the gentlest of arms that reached down and gave her a hug. “If it isn’t beautiful little Melissa,” he said. “I would love to see you any place but in here, but, if you need help, this is where you belong.”
Melissa smiled, feeling the tears in the back of her eyes because really, all the years she’d been looking for family, she’d been looking for what Dani had—a father who cared, a parent, somebody who would be there, and the closest Melissa had ever had was the Major. But he wasn’t hers; he was Dani’s. And something in Melissa’s world hadn’t allowed her to accept him quite the same way, even though she knew that he’d have been more than welcoming. Only she’d still been dealing with her own hurts at the time.
She smiled up at him and said, “Don’t you look fine.”
He gave one of his huge belly laughs and said, “I do, indeed. And you can thank my daughter for that. We’ve been to Hades and back again, but we’re here now, and that’s where we need to be. And it’s a good place to be.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” she said, “and nobody’s more grateful than me. I didn’t want to ever be in a position where I needed to come here,” she said, “but, now that I am, Dani has welcomed me with open arms.”
“Of course she has,”
