Chapter 7
Naomi wokewith a start and stared around in shock. “What the hell?” She looked up from her position in the middle of her bathroom, and it all came flooding back. “Fuck,” she whispered as she reached up and snatched the towel off her head. As she did, she felt a sore spot on her forehead and remembered she’d hit the toilet on the way down, but the towel on her head had prevented any severe damage. Scowling when she felt her body was cold, but completely dry, she lay there for a few minutes, listening, not hearing anything, she looked around and saw her wheelchair tipped on its side in the middle of the room. Because she had placed her clothes on the small stand next to the shower, she was able to sit up, grab them, and she didn’t bother with her panties, but slipped on her sweatpants, and again, not bothering with a bra, she slipped an oversized tee over her head.
She crawled toward the chair on her elbows, and when she got to it, she inspected it, thinking that maybe one of the brakes had come undone, and that was why it had spat out from under her when she tried to get into it. With it set upright, she wedged it against the cabinet that held the sink, moved around and was able to get herself in. She released a gigantic sigh when she was finally in the seat. She turned the chair and leaned into the mirror as close as she could get and inspected the faint bruise at the edge of her hairline.
She knew she could artfully fix her hair to cover it, but as a precaution, she’d make sure to apply makeup the next day, not that she was vain or anything, but she didn’t want to have to answer any questions to the others at the dinner, especially without having any answers to give, or at least not any answers that would satisfy them, let alone herself. She finished in the bathroom, and looked over and scowled when she spotted her phone, which she grabbed and looked at. It was completely dead. She wheeled herself out to the bedroom and plugged it into the plug that was always kept beside her bed. She also had one in the kitchen, and one in the living room. As she plugged her phone in, she stared in shock at the time on the clock. Over four hours had passed since she’d gone into the shower.
Shaking her head, she went back out into the kitchen and saw that it was dark outside. When her stomach rumbled, she knew she had to eat something, but she wasn’t about to cook what she’d planned, her hands were shaking too much for that. She opened the refrigerator, saw the dessert she’d been making, and quickly finished preparing it by adding the topping. With that back in the refrigerator, she wheeled over to the pantry, and because there wasn’t a door on it, she went inside, clicking on the light as she did so. As she sat there staring, she blindly reached out for the soup section of her pantry. When she saw what she’d selected, she grinned as she went out, turned off the light, then went to the stove.
Fifteen minutes later she sat at her small kitchen table with a bowl of tomato soup, and a grilled cheese sandwich. She washed it all down with a glass of milk. Once she was done, she rinsed her dishes, set them in the dishwasher, and because it was full from her earlier cooking, she started it. She sat there and stared into space for a good fifteen minutes and finally shook her head. According to the clock, she’d missed four hours when she’d fallen out of the shower and hit her head. It was now going on eight at night, and because she was still shaken up from her ordeal, she decided to go to bed. Before she did, she went into the living room to retrieve the book she had been reading. By nine she was settled beneath the covers, and by ten, she was sound asleep.
Naomi groanedwhen her alarm went off, and as she turned to reach over and shut it off, she ended up screaming into her pillow, reached out blindly, and ended up knocking both the alarm clock and her phone onto the floor. Thankfully the alarm had been silenced in the process and they had both landed on the rug she’d placed next to the bed. Normally, she didn’t like carpet or rugs because sometimes it was hell with her wheelchair. She lay there and tried to catch her breath.
“What the fuck?” she whispered as she flopped the blankets off her legs and looked down at them. She could swear she had felt pain radiating down her legs. As she moved them, she jerked when her hand encountered the bruise from her run in with her desk at work and had to lay back to catch her breath. It took a few minutes to get herself under control, and when she did, she was able to swing her legs over the side of the bed, and she sat there, hanging her head, breathing deeply. She had to wipe the tears from her eyes before she could find her wheelchair. After several deep breaths, she moved herself into it, then went into the bathroom.
She used the facilities, looked in the mirror, and winced when she saw what she considered her mousy brown hair was flying all over the place. She shook her head when she realized that it hadn’t been completely dry when she’d gone to bed. There had still been areas that were damp. She quickly turned on the water and used her hands to wet it, quickly brushed, then combed the long locks free of tangles. Now with the tangles out, it would be okay to let it air dry, she’d just throw it up in a messy bun before she left the house, like she did every day.
In the kitchen, she made herself eggs, bacon, toast, coffee, and orange juice. As she sat there and ate her meal, she thought back to the events of the day before, and what had happened earlier. She pushed away from the counter, went into the spare room she used as an office, and grabbed her laptop, back at the kitchen table, she continued to eat as she searched for something on the web. As she ate, she thought of what she would say, so that when she pushed her plate away, she pulled the laptop to her and she sent a very, very long e-mail to her doctor. With the day being a holiday, she didn’t expect a response anytime soon, but she was glad she’d sent it.
She emptied the dishwasher, then put her dirty dishes inside, and went back to her room to get dressed for the day. As soon as she opened her closet to see what she had, the image of Clark Riceman came to her, and she shook her head. She had never been one to dress to impress, but for some reason, she wanted to impress him.
“Like he’d give a girl in a wheelchair the time of day,” she scoffed at herself, but still pulled out her favorite pair of good jeans, and a top she’d bought months ago, but hadn’t worn yet, because it was too fancy for the barn, and she never went anywhere except to the grocery store, the feed store, or the barn. Because others would probably be dressed up also, she decided to take a chance and wear it. In the bathroom, after she brushed her teeth, she inspected her forehead and realized she didn’t need any makeup, so she finished up, and made her way back to the kitchen. She realized she’d have to leave for Erin’s house soon, and as she went to get the dish she made from the refrigerator, she paused at the knock on her door.
“Come in,” Naomi called out, and turned her chair in time to see Pru enter. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Nothing much, I’m here to see if you need help with anything.”
“And?” Naomi asked when Pru wouldn’t look at her directly. “Why else are you here?”
“How do you know I’m here for something else?”
“Because you are the most direct person I know, and you never look away from anyone when you talk to them.”
“Yeah,” Pru sighed as she removed her shoes and made her way over to the coffee pot. Luckily, all the women were close, and they treated the others’ cabins like their own. “Want one?” Pru asked Naomi, and she agreed. When Naomi wheeled herself to the table, Pru went off to the side and grabbed a chair. Naomi hated to have extra furniture around to bump into.
“What’s up?” Naomi asked after several minutes of silence.
It took several minutes for Pru to open up, and when she did, she looked at Naomi with a small smile. “I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I asked Erin a few weeks back.”
“Okay, can you refresh my memory?”
“I asked if we could have chickens at our place. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and research, but I think come this next spring, I want to get at least ten of them. I know we live on a farm, and we produce animals we can eat. I’d like to get a combination of layers and eaters.”
“What in the hell are they?” Naomi asked in shock. “I know what chickens are, I had them growing up, but I never heard them as referred to those names.”
“Oh,” Pru sipped her coffee, then laughed. “Sorry, layers are chickens that lay eggs. My thought is that if I can get enough eggs, then I can share them with you and the others. With the prices of food lately, I think in the long run, it will be cheaper to have our own chickens.”
“Will you expect us to help you take care of them?”
“No, I’ll do all the work.” Pru laughed. “Not like it’ll be hard. Anyway, the eaters are really supposed to be called…” Pru cocked her head to the side, snapped her fingers, then finally pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. She opened it and read. “Meat chickens.”
“Ah, I got it, now that you called them that, I understand what you’re talking about.” Naomi sipped her coffee and studied her friend. “How’s the memory?”
“Sucks,” Pru said with no heat behind it. “Some days are good, others are bad. So far, today seems to be good, but I had to write down the name of the chickens I want. Unfortunately, I have to keep them in separate pens. Do you think Erin will foot the bill for two pens, or what are they called?”
“Coops. Chicken coops. I don’t see why not. Can you give her a reason why you want two?” Before Pru could talk, Naomi shook her head at her friend. “Other than they are two different kinds.”
“Oh, you have to keep the meat chickens separate from the laying hens so they don’t get pregnant.”
“Okay, but why do you want both?” Naomi shook her head at Pru to stop her from arguing with her, as she was wont to do when she got frustrated. “I’m only asking so you’ll be prepared for when Erin or the others ask.”
“Oh, I can provide eggs for everyone with the layers, and chicken meat with the eaters. I liked the fact that Erin gave us the opportunity to purchase our own beef, but between you and me, I prefer chicken. I can also provide chickens for everyone.”
“Okay, and again, I’m playing devil’s advocate here. Can you afford the feed for them?”
“I can, I just don’t know how to make the pen, or what did you call it?”
“Coop.”
“Okay, I can afford the coop for them, but I don’t know how to build it.”
“Very good.” Naomi smiled as she drank her coffee. She laughed as she set the mug down. “Who knows, maybe Clark can help you.” She grinned as she waggled her brows at her friend.
“Naw,” Pru said as she waved her hand in a dismissive way. “He’s not for me.”
“How can you say that?” Naomi asked in outrage. “Did you see how handsome he was?”
“Yeah, but he’s not for me. The entire time we talked when he first arrived, I got a big brother vibe from him, like I did with all the other guys. He’s not for me, you should go for him.”
“We’ll see,” Naomi said into her cup, hoping Pru didn’t hear her.
“Well, are we ready to go? If you don’t mind, I thought I’d drive the two of us over to the ranch.”
“In whose vehicle?”
“Mine, don’t worry, I’ll take care of your chair.”
“If you’re sure, I don’t want to put you out.”
“You won’t. Do you have anything to take?”
“Yes.” Naomi wheeled herself over to the refrigerator, while Pru returned the chair she used to the corner of the room. With the cold dish on her legs, she turned and went to the table to set it down.
“Why is there a corner of it missing?” Pru scowled as she leaned over to look at it.
Naomi laughed. “I haven’t made this in years. It is my grandmother’s recipe, I had to make sure it tasted the same.”
Pru threw her head back and laughed as she dressed her feet, then picked up the dish. She headed toward the door and told Naomi to come out when she was ready. Naomi only had to throw on her jacket, pull on her gloves, and wheel herself out and down the ramp. It took some moves, but she was able to get herself into the Jeep, and in no time Pru had her chair in. She ended up setting her dish to pass on her legs and by the time the drove through the fresh snow, she was rubbing her legs.
“What’s wrong?” Pru asked when she parked close to the ramp at Erin’s house by backing the Jeep up so Naomi’s side was the closest.
“Nothing.” Naomi waved it off. “My legs are cold, that’s all.” She didn’t see the shocked look on Pru’s face as she started getting ready to get herself out of the vehicle.