Chapter Twenty-One
“Good game, man.”
“Thanks for letting me play!” Steven fist-bumped Eric, one of his new friends.
“Anytime.”
The rest of the guys left the court to hit the showers, but he stayed behind. He wanted to soak up as much of the moment as he could.
It had been a while since he’d had time to do anything remotely considered fun. Between work and the wedding, there weren’t enough hours in the day to finish everything he needed to and enjoy some of his favorite hobbies. For months, he’d promised himself that after he and Lanie finalized their mother’s estate, things would change. Then he’d pushed it until after the wedding. And even at that moment, he found himself thinking it would all come together once he’d gotten the law firm off the ground.
Maybe Rose was right. Maybe he was working himself into an early grave. But he didn’t know any other way to be. Most small businesses failed within their first year, and he had less than six months to prove that statistic wrong.
Something had to give, and if it wasn’t the firm or the wedding, what was it? What ball could he drop or hand off to someone else until he improved?
He didn’t have an answer. While Michael had been instrumental in bringing his law practice back from the brink, there was only so much the law clerk could do until he passed the bar. And Steven already felt bad enough about the wedding plans that he’d forced onto Rose’s shoulders. He was glad they’d raised enough money to alleviate the financial fears.
His earlier fears rekindled at the thought of Rose. If he lost momentum, if he couldn’t keep up with their plans, she might second-guess her decision to marry him. He didn’t want to lose her the way his dad had lost his mom.
Images of his parents’ fights flooded his brain, and he squeezed his eyes shut to block them out. But they persisted. His father never could live up to his mother’s expectations, and Steven’s worst fear was repeating that history. He’d tried his hardest to learn from their mistakes. And yet he feared he was headed for the same fate, assuming he and Rose ever made it down the aisle.
“Hey, hot shot, you plan on baking all afternoon?”
He turned to find Ronnie standing by the door, one hand on her hip, the other shielding her eyes from the sun. Only then did he realize how hot the day had gotten.
“Just enjoying the fresh air,” he lied as he came over. “I don’t get out much.”
Her eyebrow rose as she glanced at his ghost-pale legs and arms. “You don’t say? You’re practically translucent.”
“Ha ha,” he retorted, but his tone lacked its usual biting sarcasm.
Ronnie noticed. “Something wrong?”
“Lot on my mind is all.” He took one last look at the basketball court before he went through the door she was holding open. “Can I do this again sometime?”
“Absolutely!” She grinned. “I thought this would be good for you.”
“It was,” he said. They were halfway to the waiting room when Steven stopped. “Be honest with me. Will I be able to walk again by my wedding?”
Ronnie gave him a quizzical look. “What brought this on?”
Though she seemed genuinely curious about his change in demeanor, Steven couldn’t help feeling like she was avoiding his question. Instead of responding, he stared at her and waited.
“Uh, I mean, it’s early yet. Your body is still recovering from your accident, and sometimes it can take up to six months for it to—”
He held up his hand. “I’ve heard this song and dance before. But you’ve worked with patients who’ve been through what I’ve been through, right? What was their experience? Were they further along in their progress than I am by this time after their injury?”
“Steven, you can’t judge your progress by someone else. Spinal contusions are a tricky business, and everyone heals differently. I’ve had patients who could walk just fine for the most part but would have random bouts of numbness in one or both legs. And then I’ve had patients who never regained the feeling in their legs.”
He winced. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
“But that’s clearly not you,” she hurried on, gesturing to his legs. “Your cast is off, and you’re already improving in your transitions. Every session, you not only get a little stronger, but I can tell you’re gaining more control over your muscles. I imagine you’ll regain feeling in your legs before your wedding, but I can’t guarantee you’ll have total motor control by then.”
That was something, at least. With a sigh, he rolled his chair forward. “I’m frustrated. Every day, I feel a little more like my old self. But I’m still in this blasted chair.”
“Give yourself some grace and some credit.” Her eyes swept over him. “I have absolute faith you won’t be in the wheelchair much longer.” His face must have betrayed his doubt because she huffed in exasperation. “I understand it doesn’t seem that way to you, but as you said, I’ve been doing this awhile. I’ve worked with people from all walks of life and with myriad illnesses. Take my word for it.”
Before he could respond, the door to the waiting room opened, and Lanie rushed out. The frown on her face faded to a smile of relief when she saw him.
“There you are! I got here a half hour ago, and no one knew where you were.” She threw her arms around his neck.
He awkwardly patted her back with one hand while the other stopped the wheelchair from running over her foot. “Sorry for worrying you, but Ronnie banished me outside for my PT.”
Lanie straightened and raised her eyebrows. “Oh?”
“Your brother decided to finally pursue the basketball dreams your grandfather laid out for him.”
“Figures you’d wait until your height didn’t give you an advantage to try to make old Pop-Pop proud,” Lanie said with a laugh.
“I’m not sure how proud he would have been,” Steven grumbled. “Those guys wiped the court with me.”
“But you had fun, right?” Ronnie asked.
He gave a grudging nod. “Yeah, I had fun.”
Lanie put a hand over her heart. “I didn’t know you knew that word!”
“Oh, hardy har har,” Steven retorted. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before she finds something new to torture me with.”
“See you in a few days!” Ronnie wiggled her fingers in a silly wave before turning to find her next victim.
“So, you had fun, huh?” Lanie pressed.
“Don’t make it into a thing.” He pushed the chair up to his sister’s car.
“I’m not doing anything of the sort!” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she opened the car door. “It’s nice to hear that you enjoyed yourself for a change. With everything that’s been going on, you deserve to blow off a little steam.”
Ronnie was right about one thing. His improvement with performing transfers had made the van unnecessary, and his father had canceled the rental contract. Riding shotgun was a vast improvement to being strapped into the back of the van. With Lanie’s help, he pulled himself into the car then busied himself with settling into his seat and buckling in so he had an excuse not to respond. But Lanie wasn’t one to give up easily.
“Did you play with anyone I know?”
“I don’t think so.”
She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, a clear sign she was getting annoyed with his evasiveness. And really, what was his goal here? She’d asked because she cared, not because she was trying to hold something over his head.
“To be honest, I told Ronnie I’d like to do it again. I can’t remember the last time I had such a fun afternoon.”
“That’s awesome!” The genuine joy in her voice touched his heart.
“And I’ve been thinking,” he continued, unable to resist the excitement in her tone, “maybe Rose is right.”
“Uh, what?” Lanie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Could you say that again? She’ll kill me if I don’t get a recording.”
He ignored her antics. “Just that I need to take better care of myself and find a better balance in my life.”
“Rose isn’t the only one who’s been saying that.”
It took effort not to roll his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. But the problem is the timing. There’s so much going on right now.”
“Maybe that’s the point,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
Her lips twisted to the side as if she was debating how to answer his question. “Health issues often show up when our body is trying to tell us to slow down. If it waited until we weren’t stressed, it would kind of defeat the purpose, right?” She glanced at him. “I know you’re worried about the firm and the wedding, but it’s not as catastrophic as it once was. I’ve been looking over your financial situation—”
“Again?”
She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You’re the one who gave me access to your accounts.”
That was true, though he’d been reluctant to do so. Still, it had freed up some of his time to allow her to take a look at things while he focused on the stuff no one else could do.
“Anyway,” she continued when he didn’t respond, “Sandra has booked you a few new clients that I don’t think she’s discussed with you.”
“Like who?”
“Our old neighbor Cassandra wants to have a will drawn up,” Lanie said.
He stared at her. “Really? I didn’t know she had anyone to leave anything to.”
“I don’t know the specifics.” She shrugged. “But she’s lived in that house all our lives. I imagine it’s paid off by now and is probably worth a small fortune.”
“Who else?”
“Nate’s parents want wills as well. His father had that heart attack not long after Mom died.” Her lips quirked up. “Though I suppose it’s more Nate’s mom who will be dragging his dad in. And Bea is thinking of taking on a partner for the diner.”
“Wow, I thought she was going to sell it.”
“So did we all, but she’s not ready to give up. She seems to be hoping one of her nephews will be interested in it when they’re older.”
A moment later, they pulled into the parking lot of the law firm. Steven unbuckled his seat belt and waited while Lanie pulled his wheelchair from the trunk and came around to his side.
“I hope what I told you alleviates some of your stress.”
“It does and it doesn’t.” Steven accepted her hand and shuffled out of the car and into the chair.
Her brow furrowed. “Why do you say that?”
He sighed. How can I explain this in a way that doesn’t sound like I’m ungrateful to her, Sandra, or the town?
“New clients only help the practice if I’m capable of doing the work for which they hired me. If I can’t, they’ll move on, and I’ll be right back where I started.” He patted his legs. “And I barely have enough time now to keep up with my current workload thanks to all of my various medical appointments.”
“But that won’t last forever,” Lanie countered as she pushed him into the office.
“No, but the timing is still awful. If this had happened when I was more established, it wouldn’t be stressing me out as much.”
She snorted. “Oh, please. You’d be stressed no matter when it happened.”
He opened his mouth to protest but thought better of it. “Be that as it may, I need to find a better balance between my health and my work. Preferably one that doesn’t cause me to go bankrupt or my business to go under.”
After pushing him into his office, she stooped and gave him a hug. “I have faith you’ll figure it out, and we’re here for whatever you need.”
Once he was alone, Steven opened the spreadsheet they used to track new clients. Sure enough, Sandra had booked several new ones. She’d set up meetings with them for the following week on both of their calendars. Shaking his head, he couldn’t help but smile. If his law firm survived, Sandra deserved a raise.