“I agree, and I will do everything you tell me to do. Like I said, it’s been years since I’ve been physically active outside the normal day to day living stuff. You know, like walking, showering, dressing, and driving. It about killed me to pack up my house back home, and I had help doing it. Teaching you to cook will give me something to look forward to instead of standing or sitting around waiting to work.” He looked at Caleb with a nod. “Like I just said, I’m willing to do anything you tell me to do in order to get my life back.” He lifted his arm and made a muscle, but everyone saw that it was weak. He held up his hand and shook his head. “As much as I want to get back to work, and improve in my everyday life,I know that it won’t happen overnight.” He turned to look at Staci. “Let me at least look forward to something by teaching you how to cook.”
“But I don’t have the supplies to cook anything,” Staci said with a smile, then snorted a laugh. “Unless you can make something with cereal, soup, and frozen meals.”
“There’s always things like Rice Krispie Treats,” Katherine said with a laugh.
“Ooh, I like those, how do you make them?” Staci whipped around and looked at Tony with a hopeful look. He couldn’t resist, he threw his head back and laughed.
“The cereal, marshmallows, and butter.”
“Hot damn, I have all of that stuff in my house.”
“Maybe we can make them for treats after your first cooking lesson tonight.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“You need to know one thing about Staci,” Caleb said seriously, but his facial expression bore a wide grin. “First, Staci is like a little sister to me, and I look out for her as much as I can. As I mentioned earlier, she relied on Door Dash, Insta Cart, and the local restaurants that delivered. This is why we do lunch like this.” He turned to face Staci. “I love you like a sister, and I will help you in any way I can. However, in my personal opinion, you need to take Tony up on his offer to teach you how to cook.”
“I’ll think about it.” Staci looked back and forthbetween the two men, and when she caught Katherine’s smirk, she grinned at her before she turned to look at Tony. “A few questions first.”
“Shoot.”
“Whose place, yours or mine?”
“Since it sounds like I have more cookable food than you do, then I’d say my place.”
“If I pay you for the groceries, can I take home what we cook?”
“Not all of it,” Tony stopped her next question with a raised hand. “I would haveus bothcook enough for our dinner, and the left overs would be divided so we both could have lunch the next day.”
“I can wrap my head around that.” Staci admitted. They continued to eat, and as they were cleaning up their mess, she looked at Tony. “Yes, I would welcome some help in learning how to cook.”
“How about tonight? What time do you get off work?”
“Six,” Katherine and Caleb said at the same time.
“I guess I get out at six.”
“Then I’ll see you at my cabin at six thirty.”
“Where is your cabin?”
“The last one on the right over at New Double.”
“And where is that?” She closed her eyes, held up her hand to stop them from answering. “I know where it is,” she said and told them how to get there from where she currently was, and Tony agreed with her. When they were completely finished with lunch,they went back to the exam room, and Staci stood off the side to watch Tony as Caleb put him through his paces. She made sure she noted any wince, or stiffness as Caleb worked him over.
Two hours later, Tony put his outside shirt on over his tee and as he buttoned it up, he looked at Caleb, who was writing in a chart. “Well?”
Caleb made sure he looked directly at Tony as he answered, “I’m actually shocked at how much you can do. I’m not saying you can go out and run a 10K race, or work sixteen-hour days, but you’re good. I don’t see any reason why you can’t do normal work.” He looked at him sternly then. “Don’t be a hero. Take your time. I’ll be calling Cole and Erin when you leave here to give them my assessment of your abilities. If you are told to muck out the stables, you can, just be mindful of your own abilities and try not to over assert yourself. If you experience pain, note it down, and if it gets worse, not better, after several days, call me. I mean it, Tony, I can’t help you if you don’t let me know if something is wrong.”
“I understand, and I’ll take it easy.” Tony nodded and turned to Staci with a smile. “Six thirty?”
“I’ll be there.” He left then, and Staci went back to her office, leaving Caleb to finish putting his notes in Tony’s chart and make the calls to the proper people.
CHAPTER 8
Tony leftCaleb’s office with some pep in his step, feeling better than when he had left his last appointment at the VA back home. At least Dr. Lassiter gave him hope that he could get back to the way he lived before the accident. As he drove away from the office, he was deep in thought about what he would teach Staci to cook that night for dinner. He did a mental checklist of what he had in his refrigerator and cupboards and decided to teach her how to make spaghetti. Something quick and easy without a lot of instructions. How hard could it be to boil water?
When Tony arrived at New Double, he parked in front of the barn instead of going past it to his cabin, and shut his truck down. He climbed out and it didn’t take him long to find Cole in his office. He rapped his knuckles on the doorjamb and entered when Cole looked up and motioned to him.
