The PA scowled.“If you follow instructions, I don’t see why you couldn’t have it off by May, but taking time off PT will set you back.You’ll lose strength and have to recover that ground when you get back.”
Spider shrugged.“I don’t plan on stopping the exercises, just not attend so often.I know it won’t be easy, but she came up with the trip to motivate me.I’d like to be able to take it, and to spend more time with her.”
“Well,” the PA tilted his head and watched Spider for a moment, “then let’s use it that way.Do what you’re told, work your ass off in PT, and we’ll work toward it.I can’t guarantee you’ll be ready by May, but we’ll shoot for that.”
“Thanks, doc.Now.Where’s this brace and how often do I get to take it off, even for a few minutes?”
****
That night, Spiderlay in bed wishing he could take off the brace to sleep, but that was against the doctor’s order.Though it had been heaven to be able to take it off for his shower earlier.PT on the other hand had been a whole new chapter of hell, but he’d persisted.It was a milestone on the way to where he was going, he knew that.While not a sign he was done, it was a good marker that he was on the way.He reminded himself that every time his spirits started to flag.
It wasn’t that he expected himself to stay upbeat and happy all the time.He allowed himself to be down or just not feeling it from time to time, but one of the things he’d learned a long time ago was perspective affected the way you dealt with things, and when you chose to look at everything as an attack, you were always on the offensive.That was how his father had been and Spider had known from the time he was a child that his father was the last person he wanted to emulate.
His mother had been different, but not what he wanted to be either.She’d seen herself as a victim.And in a way, she was—she was a victim of his father’s abuse.Spider had been too, until he’d gotten the hell out of Thermopolis and left his father behind.
Over the years Spider had worked his ass off, not just to leave behind the legacy of abuse of one kind or another.His father had abused him and his mother.His mother had abused alcohol.Spider was determined to break that chain, or rather, both of them.That had led Spider to limiting himself to only the occasional drink and never more than one.It had also been the driving force behind Spider deciding to change his outlook on life.He would not be the kind of person his father was.The kind that thought everyone was out to get him, that the world was against him.That it didn’t matter what he did to get ahead, something would always come along to knock him down.The kind of person who only focused on the negative in their life and was so focused on himself that he forgot about everything else.
Instead, he’d focused on the good.He tried to help when he could, especially with the Angels who had become his family, and they were a far more supportive family than his parents had been.Even when the worst happened, he tried to find the silver lining, even if it wasn’t always easy to locate.
He shifted, attempting to find a comfortable position with the new hardware.He closed his eyes and tried to relax.His mind drifted back to the day Jordon had been trying to get him to lie down, but he hadn’t wanted to miss any time with her.She’d agreed to lay down with him.They’d fallen asleep side by side, but when he had woken, he’d found her curled up, with him wrapped around her, as if protecting her.He still didn’t know if she’d rolled into him or if he’d pulled her close, only that he ached to feel her like that again.To have her trust him when she was at her most vulnerable.That was something he could get used to.But he had to go about it carefully.Her father had been nothing but good to him, and the last thing he wanted to do was to disrespect him by disrespecting Jordon.No.He was coming to care about her far too much for something like that.The trick would be to figure out how to get what he suspected Jordon wanted as much as he did, without alienating her father or the rest of her family.He’d met her mother once, but none of her brothers.He knew that needed to happen sooner rather than later.
An idea blossomed in his head, and a smile curved his lips, despite his being alone and in the dark so no one could see it.He would talk to Dax and get everything in place first thing in the morning.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jordon released thehoof she’d been holding between her knees, straightened, then arched her back.She’d spent most of the last twenty minutes bent over cleaning the hooves of all the horses as she brought them in from the pasture.Most didn’t bother but she was paranoid about one of the horses ending up with a lame foot, even for a while, because of a rock that could have been found and removed.Today she was glad she had, because she had found a rock that had taken her a while to work free, but she’d managed.When she finished stretching her back, she untied the mare and led her into the stall that had been cleaned, made sure she had hay and water, and went to clean and put away her tack.
She’d just hung up the halter when she thought she heard Daddy’s voice calling for her.She didn’t bother to hide her frown as she made her way out of the barn and toward the house.Daddy didn’t usually yell like that, at least not for her.He hollered for her brothers all the time.As she rounded the house where she could see the driveway, she saw a familiar pickup sitting in front of the house, but she’d never seen it here.She could see an outline of someone sitting in the passenger’s seat but couldn’t tell who it was.
Increasing her pace to a trot, she hurried into the yard, looking around for Daddy.She spotted him in front of the gate to the short wooden fence Mama insisted on keeping.She said now that Jordon and her brothers no longer needed the fence to keep them in the yard, it was handy for puppies, and wouldn’t let them tear it down.
“What is it?”she asked as she came to a stop beside Daddy.
“Someone came to see you.”He motioned to the truck in the yard.
“Why didn’t he come inside?”she asked.
