Knowing Grace continued to accompany his mom every time she flew out made him love her even more, which was exactly the opposite of what he wanted. His heart beat so hard each timehe caught sight of her at the rehab center that he could hardly breathe. But he couldn’t let her know how much he still cared.
He couldn't have a life with her yet. Not when he was so easily triggered. Loud noises sent him into combat. Almost nightly, he woke up screaming, ready to fight anything and everything. He recalled the chokehold he had on his pillow last night.
Nor did he want to hurt her.
"I unpacked your duffel bag when it arrived." Mom walked into his room. "Your BDUs and uniforms are hanging in the back of your closet for now. I figured you wouldn't be ready to pack them away for a while. Your rucksack and other gear are down in the basement."
"Thanks." He let his gaze roam the room.
The walls were now a soft tan color. Sage green and tan bedding now covered the bed with more pillows than he knew what to do with. His old dresser was painted olive green with tan and sage accents in the curtains and throughout the room.
He spotted a blur of black hair and a bright pink jacket outside his window. Knowing Grace helped decorate the room must have pushed her to the forefront of his mind, because he was certain he'd just seen her in the front yard.
He adjusted his crutches and made his way to the window, but when he looked out, he couldn't see her or anything else black and pink.
"Do you...like it?" Mom's words were hesitant.
"Yes, very much." He turned from the window. "It's different, but it looks...comfortable and inviting."
In fact, he wanted to throw himself on the bed and take a nap. He'd woken up way too early today, and the flight had felt eternally long, making his muscles cramp, worsening the phantom foot pain that he still experienced more often than he’d like.
Mom patted his arm. "Come on into the kitchen. We'll have a snack then you can rest for a while if you'd like."
Before long, he was seated across the table from Steven who'd already scarfed half a cinnamon roll. Mom slid a gooey sweet roll in front of Damon, making his stomach rumble.
Conversation was stilted until his mom asked, "Would you like me to ask each family to stagger their visits tomorrow, so they don't all come at once and overwhelm you?"
"I'm not a porcelain doll, Mom." Getting all the staring and explanations over with at once was better than having to relive it all again and again.
"Of course you're not. I just don't want you to overdo it."
Steven rolled his eyes and gave Damon a sly grin before rising to his feet to take his plate and milk glass to the sink. "Do you guys need me for anything?" When they both shook their heads, Steven bent and kissed Mom on the cheek. "In that case I need to check on things at the store." He headed toward the door, then called over his shoulder. "Tell Grace the cinnamon rolls were amazing."
The bite Damon had been chewing stuck in his throat. He washed it down with a swallow of milk. "Grace?"
Mom gave him a surprised look. "You didn't think I had time to make them this morning, did you?" She didn't give him a chance to answer before going on. "I mentioned how much you enjoy coming home to fresh cinnamon rolls and felt bad that I wouldn't have time to make them before leaving for the airport, so she offered to make them."
Of course she did. Because Grace was amazing like that.
He took another bite of his sweet roll and savored the sweetness and the moist softness of the dough. They were almost right out of the oven fresh. Which meant itwasGrace he'd seen outside his window.
He wasn't sure how he felt about that. On one hand, it touched him that she would go to so much effort for him—-like she had with so many things these past couple of months—and on the other hand, it grated on his nerves that she had so fully ingrained herself into his family's lives—and his—even though he'd tried to push her away.
CHAPTER 28
"Was that Scott Wheeler I saw driving away?" Paige plopped down on the sofa beside Damon.
"Yep."
"What did he want?"
"He offered me a job. Said his wife, who works in the repair shop with him, had a baby and he could use the help."
Damon turned off the TV and laid his head back on the couch. He had a feeling ignoring Paige wouldn't make her go away. He'd only been home for six days, and this was the third time she'd "dropped in" to say hi. He was just glad Gabe wasn't with her.
"That's great!" Paige exclaimed. "Well, after you get your prosthetic next week that is."
Damon gave her a sideways look. "If I wanted to work in a garage, I would have stayed in Providence and taken over the shop from my dad." He loved being able to work alongside his father, growing up, but he wasn't as passionate about cars as his dad was.
