“I’m glad you’re happy, And you tell him for me that if he hurts you I will come all the way there and hunt him down.”He sent a scowling face before saying goodbye.She sent a rolling eyes emoji, and Derek chuckled to himself.At least his idea might have some merit.Now he needed to start the paperwork required to begin a new program.There weren’t any direct costs associated with his proposal, which was good.The biggest things he needed to do were to put together the parameters of the program and then figure out how to reach the people who might be interested.The library had plenty of meeting space.The question was how he was going to reach the people who could really use something like this.But all that could wait until tomorrow.Scarlett O’Hara had nothing on him.
“YOU REALLYthink we should do something like this?”Connie asked the following morning when he shared with her the initial writeup of his idea.
“Why not?You know the guy you were so afraid of—he can’t speak.I don’t know how it happened, but he was the one who gave me this idea.There isn’t anything like this in the area.So why not?We don’t lose anything if there isn’t interest.”
She rolled her eyes.
“What?”
“I know you’re hoping for the director job, and we’re all hoping you get it.But if you start a program like this and it’s a bust, the board will know it, and you can kiss any chance you have at that promotion goodbye.The opportunity will be gone faster than a fart in the wind.”
“Great….”Derek still thought it was a good idea and could be filling a real need in the community.“Well, so what.I have experience with this sort of thing.I’ve been using ASL since I was six.And my sister messaged me that she can get us materials free of charge as long as we give credit to their developer.Apparently she’s a grad student, and us using her materials and providing feedback will help her with her thesis.”He thought he had everything they’d need.“Now, how do we reach people?”
“Get the sessions scheduled and we can add them to the library website.Claire can get posters designed and printed for the windows.We can also email graphics to the other libraries in the county.All are welcome.But your challenge is to get Harm to come.”
Derek nodded.“I know.He’s the inspiration for this whole thing, and I hope he’ll see a benefit in it.Maybe he won’t, but I really hope so.”The thing was that Derek wanted to help everyone who came in the library, and he felt it should be more than books and videos.It should be part of the community and provide education and services that filled a real need.And he wasn’t going to get anywhere unless he took a chance.
“Then talk to him and see if he’s interested.You seem to have a connection with him.”
“Really?”
Connie shook her head like he was being dumb.“He smiles at you like the sun shines out of your butt.So yeah, you ask him and see what he says.”Derek had a pretty good idea that if Harm wasn’t interested in what he was proposing, it was likely the whole idea was going to flop.
Chapter 4
THE GUYbehind the library counter looked nervous today.Usually the little hottie was confident, but Harm knew excitement mixed with fear.It had been the exact combination that roiled his insides hours before he knew he was going to be in the line of fire.As soon as the shit hit the fan, his training kicked in and he knew exactly what to do and how to act.But in a situation like this, he was completely lost.The guy behind the library counter was watching him, but not at all the way most people in town did.Derek didn’t have that “run across the street to get away” look.This was different, and something he couldn’t quite parse.
Not that it mattered.Harm thought Derek was pretty interesting.He was cute in a dark eyes and curly hair sort of way.Not that a guy like that was going to be interested in someone like him.Guys had shown interest before, but what the hell was Harm supposed to do?He couldn’t even talk.In the past, he’d ask someone for coffee, or if they were interested in an afternoon of no-strings sex.But now, he couldn’t even say a word to the first guy he’d found interesting in some time.After his injury, he had figured the sexiness part of his life was over, and maybe he’d been right.Still, that tiny jolt of excitement raced through him, just like it always had when he encountered someone he found… interesting.
Without thinking, he ran a hand over his head, wondering what he’d look like if he let his hair grow.Caution seemed to suggest that he should, and while it felt like it was time for a haircut, he wasn’t in the Army any longer and he could wear his hair any way he wanted.Hell, his life was his own and he could dress the way he wanted, wear his hair any way he wanted… there were no rules about that stuff anymore… no regulations about everything.That alone in some ways made things harder.The rules had made decision-making easy.But now he had to decide everything for himself.
Derek got up from behind the desk, and Harm figured he had been standing there long enough, so he headed to the fiction section to try to find something new to read.These last few months he had devoured everything he could get his hands on in order to pass the time, and quite frankly, he was running out of new material.Still, he went through the stacks to try to find something.
“Have you read any of these books?”Derek asked as he held out a couple of hardcovers with graphic titles.“They’re a little dated—they were written maybe fifteen to twenty years ago—but the stories are amazing.Dick Francis writes about horse racing in England.At one time he was a jockey for the Queen Mother.”Derek handed him the books, and Harm looked them over before smiling and nodding.
It was so fucking frustrating knowing what he wanted to say and not being able to say a word.He continued smiling and tried to remember something of the class he had taken, but ended up nodding because it was all he could think of to do.
“Do you want to say ‘thank you’?”Derek asked.“Thank you.”He made the motions with his hands at the same time, and Harm set the books aside and mimicked him.“That’s very good.This is ‘please’.”He made the sign, and Harm followed him.Harm found himself smiling but wanting to say more.He had questions he wanted to ask but wasn’t able to.
“It’s okay.I understand.”Now Derek shifted from foot to foot, and to Harm’s surprise, didn’t hurry away.“I have a question for you.”God, he looked nervous.“I know you can hear me and that you aren’t able to speak.My sister is deaf, and I learned sign language when I was six.I was thinking of starting a class to teach sign language and to help build a community of people who want to learn or improve their skills.I was hoping to start next month and was wondering if you’d be interested in joining us.”His voice was kind of lilty, and Harm figured he could listen to him forever.
Harm had taken a few classes in sign language after his injury, and he probably should have kept up with it, but there were very limited resources here.Maybe his decision to return to where he’d spent part of his childhood hadn’t been a good one, but he had wanted to be in a place where he’d been happy, and with Joe and Larry he’d had some good years here.Maybe a bigger city would have been a better choice.He nodded and smiled, making the sign for “yes” that he remembered.Just those few signs had shown Harm that in a way he could get his voice back… something he hadn’t thought possible.
“Excellent.Do you have an email address?I can send you information on when we’re going to meet.I’m thinking on Tuesdays for an hour.But I was also thinking that after the hour, we could have more time to get to know everyone and practice.”He was talking quickly, voice filled with excitement.Derek led the way to the desk and handed Harm a sign-up sheet.Harm filled in his name and contact information, noticing that he was the first one.“I’m just starting the program,” Derek explained.
Harm finished filling out the information.Then he took one of the scraps of paper and a small pencil.“Did you do this for me?”
Derek read the note and smiled.“You inspired it.Suzanne, my sister, lives in Rochester where there is a sizable deaf community, and a lot of people there, deaf and hearing, know sign language.But here there aren’t many resources, and you helped highlight that the library can provide some of that support here.I don’t expect a big group, but who knows.”
Harm pointed out toward the college, then realized he probably just looked stupid.“Will the college help?”he wrote.
“I hope they’ll help get the word out,” Derek told him.“We’re designing posters, and the class will be added to the website soon.I’m really hoping to help.”
Harm was too skeptical to let himself hope too much.This was new and it might not happen after all, but still, for the first time, there was a nugget down deep that told him this had possibilities.He made the sign for “thank you” that Derek had taught him before returning to the fiction section to get some additional books.
“THE MANat the library is trying to start a class in sign language,” Harm texted to Joe and Larry almost as soon as he got home.“He’s really nice and has been helping me when I go in.”
Larry sent a smile emoji.“So he isn’t afraid of you.”Ha ha.
