Chapter 8
Clark had just pouredhimself a cup of coffee when he looked out the window. He turned to Erin to ask, “Who drives an old Army Jeep?”
“Pru, why?”
“She just backed in close to the ramp. Where will Naomi park when she gets here?”
“Naomi’s probably with her.”
“I’ll go check,” Clark said as he put his cup down, but Erin stopped him.
“Why?”
“I’ll help her from the truck.”
“No.” Erin was firm in her reply and stared her brother down. Finally, she shook her head and let out a huge sigh. “Clark, as far as I know, you don’t have any challenges. I’m not being mean, I’m stating facts.”
“True, I don’t have challenges, other than wanting to escape from my dreams, and the occasional nightmare, but that’s another story.”
“Okay, we can get into that later. I need to give you a quick three-minute education here.”
“About?”
“People with disabilities. Tell me, what would you have done if I hadn’t stopped you?”
“Gone out and lifted Naomi from the vehicle and placed her in her chair, but not before setting her chair up.”
“Okay, that’s good, but it’s wrong.”
“How is it wrong?” Clark asked in outrage. He glanced over at Reid, and saw no help coming from his friend when the other man just shrugged his shoulders and continued to shake his head.
“First, you never, ever automatically pick up someone from a spot and either place them in their chair, or take them out of their chair and place them someplace else. Like from the chair to a vehicle. It’s rude, demeaning, crass, and embarrassing.”
“Then what do you do?”
“Ask.”
“Huh?”
Erin sighed and put the peeler down she’d been using to peel the potatoes for their dinner. “Instead of going all he-man on someone with a disability, ask their permission before you do something. The person with the disability is used to living with it, they know what they can and can’t do. If you just take over, it undermines their independence.”
“Why do you think I didn’t take the peeler away from Erin?” Reid asked as he turned from getting the turkey they were going to deep fry ready. “She knows what she’s doing, and I’ve learned that if she needs help, she’s the first one to tell me. I know it’s hard because we’re former SEALs and we want to protect those around us, but you’ll learn, as I have. The longer you’re home and the more you get to know these women, they’ll shock the shit out of you with their resilience. I know they blew me away. We’re just giving you this little bit of information so you don’t slip up and get blasted by angry women for trying to take over their lives. Yes, it’s a little thing to pick Naomi up and put her in her chair, but it’s also demeaning. Like your sister said, it would undermine what she’s already accomplished.” He looked between Clark and Erin. “Look at your sister with peeling the potatoes. Instead of asking for help, she adapted by sticking a fork in it and used that to hold the potato so she could peel it. Adapting to her surroundings.”
Clark looked between the two, and sucked in his breath at the love he saw between them. He shook his head, and said quietly, “I’m sorry.”
“No harm done. I’m not being a bitch, but the same thing that I just told you about Naomi, about asking, applies not only to the other women, but to the ranch also. Please, for the love of God, don’t assume anything. If you have a question, ask.” She picked up her peeler again, and looked at him with a grin. “How’s the reading going?”
“I’m saying this with all the love I have for you in my heart, but you’re a bitch for making me read all that.”
Erin threw her head back and laughed. “I know, but how far are you, and have you learned anything?”
“Actually, I’m up to our grandparents. Dad’s parents. There wasn’t much information for a few generations. I don’t know whether they were illiterate or lazy, but there wasn’t a lot of information.”
“Yeah, I saw that too. How are you with Grandma Erin’s journals?”
“I’m saving them to read at night. I’m on the part where Harem left.”
“Sorry.”
“For?”
“Because shortly after that, you’ll get to pages with blood on them. That’s from me. I was reading that journal when the accident occurred.”
“Ah, I thought it was coffee or wine stains.”
“Nope, it’s blood.”
“Got it.” Clark picked up his cup and looked around. “Do you want me to stay and entertain the guests or go back to reading?”
“First, they aren’t guests, they’re family. You can do what you want, but if you want to get to know them, I’d recommend you stay.”
“I can do that. Do you want the big coffee pot started?”
“Just plug it in.” Erin grinned at her brother’s rolled eyes, then called out when she heard someone enter. “Welcome!”
“Hey!” Naomi said as she wheeled herself in and right up to the counter. “Here, I don’t want to get in your way, but this should be refrigerated.”
Before Erin could take it, Clark turned and took it from Naomi’s hand. He looked at it, then scowled at her. “Why is there a corner missing?”
Naomi laughed, and Clark stared at her with interest. He liked the sound of it. “This is my grandmother’s recipe, she made this every year for Thanksgiving. I haven’t had it in over twenty years, and this is the first time I ever made it. I had to make sure it tasted the same.”
“And if it hadn’t?” Clark grinned as he headed toward the back room and quickly put it in the refrigerator out there. He returned and waited for her answer.
“If it hadn’t, then I would have either tossed it, or eaten it all myself.”
“Oh.” He nodded, then looked up when the next woman entered. “Pru, correct?”
“Correct, these need to go into the refrigerator also.”
“What do you have?”
“Deviled eggs,” she said, and she and Naomi exchanged grins when Reid stopped what he was doing and looked over Clark’s shoulder. “If you put those in the cooler, I have another plate you can munch on now.” She set a bag on the table and it looked like Clark couldn’t leave fast enough. By the time he returned, Reid had the plate out and they both took an egg. It was the greatest compliment when they took a bite, closed their eyes and moaned. When they reached for another one, Erin slapped their hands.
“Save some for the others.”
“Fine,” Clark said as he wrinkled his nose at her. He turned to the two ladies and asked, “Can I get you something to drink?” He naturally took over the role of host for them.
“Coffee would be fine,” Naomi said as she wheeled herself over to her usual spot at the table and settled in. Pru joined her in her regular seat. Naomi nudged her and nodded toward Erin. “Ask her.”
“Ask me what?” Erin had been watching them and saw the exchange.
“I’ve been thinking about what I asked you a few weeks back.”
“About?” Erin scowled as she closed her eyes trying to remember what Pru talked about. She shook her head sadly. “Please, refresh my memory.”
“Having chickens at the cabin.”
“Is there room?” Clark asked as he brought them both a cup of steaming coffee. “I know I’ve only been here less than twenty-four hours, and haven’t been out to Broken yet, but is there room at your cabin?”
“Yes. Each of us are on almost two acres of land. We have our cabin, and then two small sheds.”
“The sheds were my idea,” Wendel said as he walked in from getting the fryer set up out in the yard away from the house.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what are they for?”
“One is for gardening tools and a lawn mower. Each lady is responsible for mowing their own yard. The other one is full of wood. They let us know if they need any and they either take it from the main barn here, and tell us what they took, or if the snow is too deep, we can use a tractor to take them some if it gets low.”
“Damn, I should get out there and have a look around.”
“You should,” Naomi said. She didn’t know if she liked it that Clark took the same seat as he had the night before. She shook her head when she realized that was the only empty chair besides the one on the other side of Pru. Somehow, she didn’t think Clark would want to be squished between two people. “However, Pru has something to talk to Erin about.”
“What’s up?” Erin paused in peeling the potatoes to look at the other woman. “Do you want chickens?”
“Yes, but I need two containers, no, that’s not right, coolers, no, that’s not right either.” She shook her head, closed her eyes, and took several deep breaths.
Naomi reached out and put her hand over Clark’s when he went to say something. He frowned at her, and she only shook her head at him. She turned to Pru, and asked, “Did you bring the paper.”
“Oh,” Pru said in relief as she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. She opened it, read it, then grinned at Erin. “I would like two chicken coops. I want to get layers and meat chickens. I thought with the layers, I could provide eggs for everyone. For the meat chickens, I can provide well, chicken for everyone. You provided beef this year, and I’m not saying that I’ll have enough chickens to fill everyone’s freezers, but it will at least break up the intake of red meat.”
Everyone turned to Erin, and Clark saw she was thinking. He held his breath waiting for her response. “I think that can be arranged. When will you need the coops by, and how many of each chicken?”
“I’d like at least ten to twelve layers, and maybe about twenty eaters. At least for the first year. Next time I’m in town, I can stop in at the feed store and put in my order. I know Stan takes orders ahead of time.”
“You’re right, he does. Do you think that’ll be enough?”
“For the first year, yeah. Oh, could someone remind me to pick up some waterers and feeders?”
“Why would we have to remind you?” Clark asked, confused that she wouldn’t automatically get them when she picked up the chickens. He frowned when Pru gave him a sad look. “What’s wrong?”
She tapped the side of her head, around her temple. “TBI, I sometimes have the memory of a gnat, but other times, everything is bright and clear. I’m going to warn you now, you need to take me with a grain of salt.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that when I had my accident.” She again tapped the side of her head. “The filter between my brain and my mouth broke.”
“What do the doctor’s say about it?”
“That I was lucky with the TBI, unlike the team I was with. They didn’t walk away, I did, and now I have a messed-up brain. The doctors say that the neurons in my brain either fire too fast, that’s when I get excited and talk excessively, or misfire, and that’s when I forget words and have to write them down when I remember.”
“Oh,” Clark didn’t know how to respond to that, so he remained silent.
“Pru is our resident, how do I say this?” Naomi asked Erin.
“Quirky sidekick?” Erin asked with raised brows.
Pru threw her head back and laughed. “I like that. I’ll probably forget it in the next ten minutes, but I like it. I’m everyone’s quirky sidekick.”
They all shared a laugh and looked up as others started to join them An hour later, Clark found himself outside with the guys as they got the flame going on the turkey fryer. As they stood around waiting for the oil to come to temperature, Clark sipped his coffee, and asked, “So, what are the stories of the women?” He scowled when the men gave him funny looks. “What?”
“You’ll have to ask them, they’re not our stories to tell,” Denver said. “I’m not saying this to be a bastard, but these women went through hell and back, and lived to talk about it. If they keep their initial accident to themselves, then that’s their choice. I’m not going to force Opal to tell anyone her story unless she wants to.”
“I agree,” Lloyd said, and Perry backed him up. “As Denver said, all these women have been through hell, the same as we have. I know from my own experience with Marcia, she’s liberated me from my demons of not sleeping, and the nightmares when I would fall asleep.”
Clark saw how much the men loved the women they’d chosen, and felt jealous that he hadn’t found someone yet. Deep in thought, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle and turned to look. He raised his cup and smiled when he saw Naomi looking out the window at him. In all the reading he’d done over the last day, he’d taken a break and looked up Naomi on the internet and read her story. The one burning question in his brain was what happened to the perfectly healthy horse that had fallen out from under her and caused her to be paralyzed. Something about the interview the papers did with her father didn’t ring true to him. Lost in his own thoughts, he let the conversation carry on around him.
When the turkey was done, he went inside with the others and the smells coming from the kitchen reminded him of the past years of being in this house. His only regret was that he wouldn’t see either of his parents at the table, or turning a corner to come into a room. On a sigh, he helped the others, and during dinner, he got to know the women that his men had decided to spend the rest of their lives with. By the time he went to bed that night, he was happy, and hoped by being home he could begin to heal and stop having nightmares from his time in the military. As much as Erin and the others spoke about challenges, he didn’t think his horror-laden dreams constituted as a challenge. Sure, he didn’t have any outwardly visible challenges, his were all internal and only reared their ugly head when he closed his eyes at night.