“Yes.” Clem told him as he came out of the cooler, then walked over to the other door and opened it. “This is the deep freeze. I’m assuming you didn’t purchase any meat today?”
“No. Well, other than pork products. Lois told me not to purchase beef or chicken.”
“Take what you wish, it’s divided by cuts of meat. Steaks, burgers, roasts, then there’s chicken. Get with Erin later and ask her how much you owe. That goes toward the price of processing.”
“I’ll do that.” He nodded and walked over to the shelves. He didn’t want to take a lot, so he grabbed two packages of hamburger, a roast, and when he reached for two packages of steaks, Clem told him that each package had two in them, so he only took one. Then he grabbed a whole chicken.
Back in Lois’ vehicle, they drove to his cabin, and he quickly unloaded his groceries, and when he was done, he actually gave her a hug and told her how much he enjoyed spending the time with her, and thanked her for all her knowledge about how the place was run. She returned his hug, then climbed into the SUV, tooted her horn, and left.
Tony spent the rest of the afternoon taking care of his groceries, and because the meat was still frozen, he left a package of hamburger on the counter, and put the rest in the refrigerator. After organizing the kitchen to his specifications, he looked around and after a heavy sigh, he grabbed the first box and started unpacking. By the time his stomach started growling he had made a big dent in unpacking and turning this cabin into his home. He ended up making hamburgers, cutting some potatoes with onions and had burgers, with home fries. He cleaned up the kitchen, sat there with a cold beer, and looked around. He was in bed and sound asleep by nine that night, again, getting a great night’s sleep. When he woke the next morning, he was well rested and ready to hit the road running, but he would take his time so he didn’t reinjure himself. He had learnt the hard way not to push himself, and no matter how good he felt, he knew his limits and stuck to them. There was no way in hell he would ever intentually reinjure himself by doing something stupid.
CHAPTER 7
Staci shother hand out and slapped it on the alarm clock, then swore, and fell out of bed when her legs became entangled in the sheets as she tried to grab the clock that she had knocked off the nightstand instead of shutting it off. She finally got the offensive thing shut off, and back on the stand. She sat there, with the sheet wrapped around her legs, and buried her face in her hand.
“Shit, why am I such a mess?” she mumbled to herself, and knowing there was no going back to bed now, or even hitting the snooze, she scowled when the clock indicated that it was only six thirty in the morning. Since she hadn’t gotten to bed until after two that morning, she was groggy and cranky.
The first thing she did after getting out of her sheets was stumble to the kitchen, and she grinned when she remembered she had made a pot of coffeethe night before. Knowing how forgetful she came if it didn’t pertain to her work, she double-checked the water and grounds were ready, then she turned it on. As it brewed, she went back to her bedroom and right into the bathroom to shower. By the time she finished with her morning routine of her shower, brushing her teeth, doing her hair, and only mascara and lip gloss, she dressed and was out in the kitchen enjoying her first cup of coffee. She didn’t have to be at work until eight, and since it was only a two-minute drive, she looked around with a sigh, and shook her head.
“Maybe I’ll talk to Katherine today about learning how to cook.” She rose from the table and went to the cupboard and looked over the boxes of cereal she had put on her grocery list. With her favorite kind in her hand, she fixed herself a bowl of cereal, and was able to make two slices of toast without burning it. Thank goodness she’d also put TV dinners and meals for one on her grocery list. Her refrigerator was practically empty, but her freezer was packed full. As she ate, she pulled her work from the night before toward her, but stopped because she knew if she started reading, she would never get to the office on time. At least she knew herself well enough to know these things. She had told both Caleb and Katherine in a joking matter that she needed a keeper, but she really did. To the outside world, it was a joke, but deep in her soul, it was the truth.
“He’ll have to know how to cook, as well as keep me on a schedule,” she mumbled to herself as she rinsed out her bowl, and placed that along with the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher. She looked around after cleaning up, saw it was about a quarter to eight, and decided to head to work. She opened the door to her pantry reached in, and grabbed a can of soup. She knew there were bowls and a can opener at work. She stuffed that in her purse, grabbed her papers from the night before, and headed out, exclaiming shock at the three inches of snow on the ground.
“I can do this,” she said to herself as she started her van, turned the heater on, then hunted through several cubby holes before she found her snow brush. By the time she got to the windshield to clean it off, the heater had melted it, and she knew it wasn’t practical, but she finished cleaning it off by turning on the wipers. However, she did use the snow brush to wipe the snow off the side windows as well as the back ones.
As she made her way through the trees to the office, she laughed when she realized there wasn’t any snow on the road, but knew that later in the year, it wouldn’t be that way. Gathering her things, she looked up when Caleb pulled in, and she allowed him to unlock the door, turn on the lights, and turn off the alarm before she entered. She immediatelyheaded to her work area in the back, but Caleb stopped her.
“What’s up?”
“Tony’s stopping by this morning.”
“The new guy?”
“Yes.”
“Can I sit in on the consultation?”
“I don’t see why not, you do know that he doesn’t need a prosthetic, right?”
“Yes, but I read his file, I’m curious to see if he has any x-rays. I can picture what the words say, but I’d like to see if there are films.”
“Ah, like a before, during, and after?”
“Exactly.” She nodded and it wasn’t long before she was settled at her desk with her head buried in her work. She gave a small shriek when someone touched her shoulder, and she looked up with a shake of her head.
“Caleb, you scared me.”
“Sorry, but I called you several times. Tony’s here.”
“Oh, I’ll be right there, where is he?”
“I left him getting a cup of coffee in the reception area.”
“Let me run to the ladies’ room and I’ll join you. Can you get me a cup of coffee?”
“We will be in my office.”
“I’ll be right there.” She rose and hurried out, and by the time she entered the office, she met Caleb in the hall carrying two mugs of steaming coffee. Sheput her pad of paper beneath her arm, stuck her pen in her messy bun on top of her head, and turned toward his office. She didn’t see Caleb look up and catch Tony’s eye, and they both shared a smirk when they saw several pens sticking out of her hair. The three of them settled and Caleb started the conversation.
