Magical Weddings (56 page)

But she wasn’t.
What’d he expected?
Luke had made it clear, from the time he’d awoken in the hospital in Germany, and had seen just how severe his injuries were, that he didn’t want anyone to see him like this.

Least of all Kelly.

Right now, Jake and Dan had there arms around him, assisting him as he struggled to make his way down the steps from the plane. Luke’s brow was covered with sweat, as he attempted to put some weight on his right leg. “Why not just bring that chair on board?” he muttered. “I know there’s a ramp.”

Without bothering to introduce himself, the man with the wheelchair spoke. “Because I told them not to. I needed to get an idea about how much strength you’ve got.” He began to assist Jake and Dan, and took over for them both, until Luke was able to drop down awkwardly into the chair.

“Luke–this is Steve Ryder. He’ll be your physical therapist–and he’s also gonna take care of you for a while,” Jake said.

Luke glared at the man who was standing before him. With light-brown hair, and dark-brown eyes, he had to be at least thirty. Although the guy was tall, thin, and wiry, he obviously had hidden strength, judging by the way he’d been able to hoist Luke into his chair. “I don’t need a physical therapist,” Luke muttered. “I can take care of myself.”

Dan snorted, shaking his head with irritation. “What kind of an
idiot
are you Luke? How in the hell do expect to get around–when you don’t even have enough strength to stand up or sit down by yourself?”

Luke stuck out his chin stubbornly. “I’ll manage.”

Steve wheeled the chair onto the sidewalk that led to the parking lot. “Alright–than you can start right now.”

Jake and Dan both hesitated, still looking down at Luke. But motioning with a hand at the parking lot, Steve gave them each a mulish stare.

Luke started, glancing over to Jake, who was hiding his face. Was he
smiling?

When Luke stared hard at Dan, Dan shrugged, promptly turning away.

Following Steve’s suggestion, and ignoring Luke, Jake and Dan strolled quickly along the path until they reached the van in the parking lot.

Looking down at his hand as it gripped the wheel of the chair, Luke whined, “Hey–this isn’t motorized.”

“Get used to it,” Steve growled, before turning away. Without looking back, he strolled along the sidewalk, heading to the van, where Jake and Dan stood waiting.

Fifteen minutes later, Luke was caked with sweat and exhausted, as he was hoisted along with the chair on a lift into the van.

“
Don’t
get too used to this,” Steve warned Luke, as he studied the lift. “Eventually, we want you using crutches and sitting in the passenger seat.”

For several minutes more, they were all silent as Steve drove through town in the van. Finally, he asked Dan where he wanted to be dropped.

When Steve pulled up in front of the Callahan family residence, Dan turned to Luke with a mocking grin. “I’ll stop by and see how you’re settling in after a couple of days. Don’t forget, I’m in charge of you now,
Lieutenant
–I’ve even got the papers to prove it.”

“Just shut up, Dan,” Luke growled. He was still humiliated–the hospital hadn’t allowed his release without a legal representative.

And where in the hell were Steve and Jake taking him? No one would tell him anything. But he had to admit that he was definitely curious, as Steve steered the van around the access road leading to Dragonfly Pointe. And curiousity was a good thing, he supposed, considering his state of mind over these past few months.

It
was
nice to be home. He felt a sense of peace settling over him, for the first time in months, since all of this had happened.

Driving past the Dragonfly Pointe Inn, Steve continued along Beach Road. Despite his exhaustion, Luke sat up in his chair when Steve took a left and pulled into the driveway, across from the entrance to the beach.

Recognizining their obvious destination, Luke was stunned when he turned to Jake.

Jake seemed pleased by his reaction. Wearing a half-smile, Jake shrugged.

If he could’ve left the van under his own power, Luke admitted to himself grudgingly, he would’ve. He’d dreamed about this house,
this place
, when he’d been overseas. For the first time in months, he was experiencing emotions he hadn’t known he was still capable of feeling.

All of a sudden, he was sick of feeling sorry for himself. But the guilt…well, he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to get over it.

Luke was having trouble keeping his eyes open. The events and excitement of the last few days–leaving the hospital, his time on the plane, everything was catching up with him. He wasn’t really very strong–was he?

Luke was dozing off, when Steve finally wheeled him over the deck and into the house, where Luke vaguely noticed his surroundings. But, except for being furnished, the home was just as he remembered it inside. After he was wheeled into the huge master suite on the ground floor and hoisted into a king-sized bed, Luke dropped off soundly to sleep.

****

Luke awoke to the quiet murmur of voices, carrying in through the wide-opened door of the bedroom. The sound of a woman’s voice had him sitting upright in the bed.

Just as Luke was about to call out, Jake Loughlin entered the bedroom. “Well. Good to see you’re finally awake. You slept over twelve hours, you know,” Jake added dryly. “It’s the middle of the morning.”

“Damn,” Luke said, peering out through the window.

“Alright Luke, before you get a chance to revert into whining mode–I’ve got some things I need to say.”

When Luke scowled at Jake, and began to speak, Jake quickly held up his hand to stop him. “Please, cuz, not yet,” Jake moaned. “I’ve only had one cup of coffee. It’s been kind of a long week already, hanging out with you in D.C.”

Luke blinked. But after a moment, he had to smile. Jake was right–not only had he been a lousy patient these past several months, he’d been doing nothing but whine, moan and complain to Jake and Dan, who were only trying to help. “I’ve decided to quit feeling sorry for myself.”

“Well–that’s a start,” Jake muttered. He sat on the end of Luke’s bed with his coffee in hand. “But you need to think about forgiving yourself, too, Luke.” Jake must’ve noticed Luke’s discomfort, because Jake quickly shifted away from the subject. “But meanwhile, here’s what your future looks like–at least from my point of view…”

When Jake finally returned to the kitchen after speaking with Luke, he had a smile on his face “That went pretty well. And at least he waited until I was nearly done talking before he fell asleep again.”

Kelly frowned. “Are you sure he’s alright? Maybe he left the hospital too soon?”

Steve answered her question. “Nah, Kelly–he’s fine now physically–he’s just exhaused. But that should all change soon, once he begins with a regimen.”

Kelly nodded agreeably, before turning back to Jake. “Did you get the chance to talk to him about the airport?”

Jake nodded. “He looked a little surprised at first–maybe a little sad, too. But I think that might’ve been because he was thinking about flying.”

Kelly agreed. “It’s gotta have him depressed, knowing he’s never gonna be able to fly again.” She stared at Jake, puzzled, when he suddenly grinned. “What?”

“It’s just that I’ve been looking into that, and it might not be a total impossibility,” Jake answered, smugly. “Flying, that is.”

“Really?”
Kelly smiled from ear to ear, before asking softly, “But you didn’t want to get his hopes up?”

“Exactly. There’d have to be an aircraft specially designed–a single engine. And with all the travelling I do –well–it might be worth the expense for me. But Luke’s got a long way to go with healing first, before I can even consider taking the next step with a project like that.”

She hestitated, before taking in a deep breath, and finally asking her next question. “He still didn’t ask about me?”

Jake stared at Kelly with concern. “No, Sweetie.” He patted her ackwardly on the shoulder.

It was hard not to let the news bother her.

Jake sighed. “I guess I’d better get moving. I’ll stop by later today, Steve–just to see how things are going.” He turned to Kelly. “I’ll be sure to check in with you too, Kelly, before you begin your job next week. You’ll need to come in and fill out some paperwork either today or tomorrow.” Jake raised a hand in farewall as he rushed out through the door.

Steve cleared his throat to get Kelly’s attention. “I know that it’s not really any of my business, Kelly–but what you really need to do is to just give Luke a little more time . Once he begins to get stronger, and he feels better, it should improve his mental state. And seeing a shrink should help. I know this from my experience with other patients. Let’s just wait until he’s ready.”

All of a sudden, Kelly began blinking, as she tried hard not to cry. “It just seems like it’s been so long already. It’s driving me crazy, just knowing he’s in the next room. I want to be with him so bad.” She put her hand over Steve’s as he neatly rearranged the bottles of pain relievers and anti-inflammatories laying on the counter. Kelly had dropped by the pharmacy earlier to pick up a huge tub of topical antibiotic. The ointment still needed to be applied to Luke’s healing burns on a daily basis to help prevent infection.

“Thanks so much for all your help, Steve. I can’t believe we were lucky enough to find someone with your qualifications.”

Kelly had hired Steve Ryder at the recommendation of Dr. Donnelly, the local physcian who’d be monitoring Luke. Steve had dealt with his own share of tragedy, though–he’d recently lost his wife after her long battle with lung cancer.

He gave her a rueful smile. “Ehh–I’m glad to be here. As sorry I am about what’s happened to Luke, I think I’ve needed this challenge. I wanted to get away from home for a while, too. It’s been a long couple of years.”

Kelly met his eyes with quiet understanding, before she began to finish unpacking the food she’d brought earlier. Finally, she sighed, as she stared at the emptied paper sacks on the counter. “Have I brough you enough to eat, then?’

Steve grinned. “Plenty. What’d you do–buy out the entire grocery store?”

She laughed. “I guess I did go a little crazy? But the cabinets were bare.” Kelly began folding the paper sacks. Once they were neatly folded, she opened the door of the pantry, and slid them onto a shelf set up for recycling. Returning to the kitchen, she took a final glance around, before gathering her purse and keys.

“That chicken and rice that you left last night was excellent,” Steve said, smiling.

“Thanks. I taught myself how to cook when I moved into an apartment at college.” Kelly grimaced. “With all the trouble my mom seemed to have cooking when I was growing up, I’d always assumed it’d be difficult–Mom was such a
lousy
cook.”

Steve began to laugh. “I’m not much good at it myself. But are you sure you want to do that–come and cook for us every day?”

Kelly nodded, as she voiced her concern. “I hope it’ll be alright? I just want to be close to him. It’ll just be for dinner, since Jake said he’d make arrangements for breakfast and lunch to be sent from the inn.”

“I’m putting Luke on a strict daily schedule,” Steve answered matter-of-factly. “I don’t see it as a problem at all, if you just want to come between four and five each day. I can keep Luke away from the kitchen while we’re busy with his rehab. Whoever designed this house thought of everything. Adding that huge exercise room at the back of the garage with a bathroom, along with a hot tub, was inspired. It’ll be perfect for Luke’s therapy, and he won’t have to manipulate any stairs. He won’t even know you’re here. Besides, if you’re here every day, it’ll be easier for me to keep you and Dan updated.”

Normally, Kelly tried hard not to think about the future, but today she was depressed and in need of reassurance. “Do you really think Luke will ever want to see me?”

Steve hesitated. “Of course, this is all speculation, Kelly–after reading his files–but I’m pretty sure it’ll happen eventually. Everyone needs someone, and before this happened, you were apparently it for him. But it’d probably be better for me to wait until after I get to know Luke a little better to say these things to you–and it wouldn’t hurt for me to get advice from his shrink, too.” He hesitated. “I heard that you were considering a support group for yourself as well?”

Nodding, she gave him a rueful grin.

“That’s probably an excellent idea.” Steve motioned toward the bedroom with his hand. “Right now, I’d better wake him up. He needs his meds and some food, along with a bath too. The sooner we begin a schedule, the sooner he’ll adapt and quit whining.”

Kelly smiled. “Alright. I’ll be sure to call you, before I come by to make dinner tomorrow.”

Steve was already on his way towards the bedroom with Luke’s ointment and medications.

Kelly began to laugh as she headed outside through the door. She just couldn’t seem to help it. There was something about Steve’s attitude that had her suddenly feeling more hopeful.

It’s been nearly three weeks now, since Luke had arrived home. It was a sunny day in June, and Kelly sat staring dejectedly through the window of her new office inside the Dragonfly Pointe Inn. When two additional levels had been integrated above the inn, office space and conference rooms had been included here on the third floor–since this wing was located immediately above the sometimes noisy restaurant and bar. Kelly had a lovely view overlooking the lake and nature walk.

But she wasn’t noticing the clear blue sky, or the kids who were running along the pathway, pointing with excitement to a pair of mischievous squirrels.

She’d just spoken to Steve. Kelly was so disappointed to hear that Luke
still
hadn’t asked about her. Did he even know she was living here in town? Did he even
care
? They’d had something so special together–and by refusing to acknowledge her, Luke was making everything that they’d had together appear to be fleeting and intangible.