"I know you have a lot to figure out," Casper began carefully, his voice carrying that measured tone she'd learned meant he was choosing his words with deliberate precision. "The wheelchair, your house, all the adjustments you'll need to make..."
No shit, she wanted to cry out with bitter frustration, but she remained silent, recognizing that he was trying to let her down as gently as possible. Of course she knew about the challengesahead. They'd been consuming her thoughts since the moment the doctor had explained her injuries.
Her house wasn't wheelchair accessible, she had no support system in rural Nebraska, and the medical facilities near her isolated property were limited. When he mentioned that Nebraska was her place, her sanctuary, she couldn't hide the truth from herself anymore. He was preparing to leave her, and she'd been foolish to hope for anything different.
What had she expected, really? Nebraska wasn't where he lived or worked. She couldn't reasonably ask him to quit his job, abandon his life in Montana, and relocate to rural farmland just to take care of an injured woman he'd known for only a few weeks. Even if the thought of returning to that small house now filled her with dread and claustrophobia.
Her wheelchair would bang against every corner in the narrow hallways. The bathroom door was too small to accommodate mobility equipment. How would she shower? Brush her teeth? Reach anything in the kitchen cabinets? The practical impossibilities multiplied in her mind like a cascade of disasters she wasn't prepared to handle alone.
When she acknowledged that he had to return to his job, and he agreed with quiet resignation, she felt something fundamental shift inside her chest.Well, that's that, she thought with numb acceptance. We're at the end of whatever this was, unless he wants to try long-distance visits, and I'll have to figure out how to be the one doing all the traveling once I can walk again.
His face looked tortured as he struggled to find words, and she knew he was probably wrestling with how to let her down easy. He was too kind to simply disappear without explanation, but she could see the discomfort in his expression as he prepared to transition from lover back to professional security consultant with a job completed.
As the plane descended more steeply, Willow's thoughts spiraled through increasingly desperate alternatives. Aaliyah could come live with her for a while, but that would make her already small house feel impossibly crowded and turn her assistant into a live-in caregiver. She could temporarily return to Los Angeles, find a short-term wheelchair-accessible rental, and figure out her long-term plans from there.
The thoughts swirled faster as nausea built in her stomach, a combination of physical discomfort and emotional panic that made her wonder if she was going to be sick right there in the airplane cabin.
When the wheels touched down with a jarring bump, she gripped Casper's arm instinctively, hating how landing always made her feel out of control and vulnerable. He stood immediately once they'd come to a complete stop, his hands gentle but efficient as he helped her unbuckle her seat belt.
"My wheelchair?" she asked as he prepared to lift her from her seat.
"I ordered one that's better suited for you," he replied, his voice carrying that same careful neutrality. "It'll fit you properly and roll more easily than the hospital loaner."
"Oh. Okay. That was... thoughtful of you."
The gesture was considerate in a way that made her heart ache with what might have been. Even as they were ending things, he was still looking out for her practical needs.
She was terrified he might drop her as he lifted her from the seat—not because she doubted his physical strength, but because her world felt so unstable that even his steady arms seemed unreliable. But his grip remained sure and protective as he carried her toward the aircraft exit.
Squeezing her eyes closed for a few seconds, she tried to memorize the sensation of being held by him, knowing this might be the last time she'd experience the security of hisembrace. When he carried her down the aircraft steps and gently settled her into the waiting wheelchair, she felt like she was being deposited into her new reality… one where she would have to navigate the world without his strength to rely on.
When she opened her eyes and looked up at his face, she knew with devastating certainty that her life would never be the same. Whatever they'd shared during those intense weeks in Nebraska and their brief time together felt like it was ending with this moment of transition back to their separate lives.
But as she looked around to get her bearings, her brow furrowed with confusion. She'd tried to visualize the small regional airport closest to her Nebraska home, but nothing about this place looked familiar. The terminal building was different from what she remembered, and in the distance, she could see mountains rising against the horizon.
"Where are we?" she asked, genuine puzzlement cutting through her emotional turmoil.
"Hello! I'm so glad you're here!"
A warm, enthusiastic voice made her turn to see a beautiful woman in a wheelchair rolling toward them with obvious excitement. A tall man walked beside her, and both wore genuine smiles that caught her by surprise.
Willow looked up at Casper questioningly and was startled to see that he now looked like he might throw up. His complexion had gone slightly green, and there was panic in his eyes that she'd never seen before.
"Willow," he said, his voice thick with an emotion she couldn't identify, "this is Mary and Bert. Welcome to Montana."
42
Her sharp gasp and wide eyes had Casper immediately rethinking every decision he'd made over the past three days. The shock on her face wasn't the pleasant surprise he'd hoped for. It was the expression of someone who'd just discovered they'd been dropped into a different world than what they expected.
"Montana?" she whispered, the single word carrying a mixture of confusion and what might have been betrayal.
Mary's wheelchair rolled to a stop beside them, and she looked at Casper with obvious concern. "She doesn't know?"
He shook his head, feeling like the world's biggest idiot for handling this so badly.
"How on earth could you—" Mary began, her voice sharp with disapproval.
"Mary," Bert interrupted gently, placing a restraining hand on her shoulder. She looked between the two men and shook her head with obvious exasperation.
