"I'm fine, Mom. I'm not going anywhere. Youshouldgo home," Damon insisted. "At least for a few days. I'll be starting PT on Monday, and I have a feeling I'll end up sleeping a lot between sessions." Damon didn't want her to leave, but it was selfish to expect her to sit by his bed every day.
"Maybe Iwillgo home for a few days." She leaned over and kissed his brow. "I'll think about it and let you know."
"At any rate, little brother..." Matt patted his good leg. "We'll all be here for Christmas."
Steven planted his hands on his hips. "I know you wanted to be home for Christmas, but did you really have to go lengths to make it happen?" He winked, letting Damon know he was teasing.
Knowing his family was making the effort to be with him for Christmas, stung his eyes. "You guys don't need to do that."
"Maybe not," Matt said with a shrug. "But we're going to. The kids are excited to fly on an airplane."
Steven chuckled. "Sawyer and Benson are going to be disappointed that you don't have your prosthetic yet. When they found out you lost part of your leg, they were so jealous that you get to be part robot now."
Damon forced a laugh. Having everyone stare at him would take some getting used to, but the sooner he accepted it and convinced himself that it didn't matter, the better off he'd be.
"I just don't knowwhat to do." Charity wrung her hands. "I want to be there with Damon, but I started something here with the Twelve Days of Christmas meals and I feel like I need to follow through."
"Of course you need to be with Damon," Faith said at the same time Grace said. "Your place is with Damon."
It was Sunday evening and Charity had only arrived home two hours ago.
Faith stood directly in front of Charity. "I don't profess to be anywhere as good of a cook as you, and I certainly don't enjoy it like you do, but if you give me your recipes, I'm perfectly capable of making lasagna and chicken pot pie." She looked at the list of meals. "Although it might be best if we change the beef wellington and the pecan crusted salmon to simpler meals."
"And I can help Faith," Grace gave Charity an encouraging look.
"No, you should be with Damon too." Faith shook her head. "I can enlist Lottie to help me with the meals, if need be."
From what Grace experienced at the wedding, Lottie, the cook and housekeeper at the Double Diamond Ranch, was every bit as good of cook as Charity.
Grace and Charity exchanged a lengthy look.
Damon thanked her via a text message for the cell phone Friday evening, but he hadn't responded to any of her texts since. On Saturday, she sent him a text with a motivational quote and a video of Lily. This morning, she sent an inspirational quote from Sir Francis Bacon and the scripture from Philippians that said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."
Again, silence.
"What?" Faith asked. "Why are you guys looking at each other like that? What did I miss?"
Charity arched a brow and tilted her head toward Grace.
Fighting the tears that pricked at the back of her eyes, she swallowed hard and gave Faith a stiff smile. "Damon doesn't want me there. He broke up with me."
Grace hadn't wanted Damon's family to know, but it was going to be hard to explain why she wasn't being the dutiful girlfriend, refusing to leave his bedside, if she didn't tell them.
"Why on earth would he do that?" Faith's jaw dropped. "You guys are meant for each other, anyone with half a brain can see that."
"He thinks he's a burden and says I deserve better."
"Oh fiddlesticks." Faith waved a hand in the air as she shook her head. "He's doing that thing Emily said he'd do; withdrawing from the ones he loves, so he doesn't have to worry about disappointing them or hurting them down the road."
Instead, he's disappointing me and hurting me now.
Grace bit back the words.
Faith put an arm around her. "All the more reason you should be there, even if he doesn't want to see you. He needs to know you have staying power. That you're not going to run and hide when things get tough."
Grace wanted to be with Damon. More than anything. But being at the hospital and not able to sit by his bedside and hold his hand would shred her heart even more.
This isn’t about me. It’s about Damon.
