“I’m so sorry about last night,” Hannah apologized again.
From the other side of the desk, Marnie grinned at her. “I was cozy in my bed,” she replied. “I didn’t even notice a thing, honestly. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”
Hannah found that hard to believe. The power had been out almost all night before Xavier and Lawson managed to get it back on, and the lodge had been freezing. She was sure Marnie was just being polite so she could get on her way without making waves and start her new life.
It was hard to believe she’d already been there for three months; Hannah could still remember the day the middle-aged woman had arrived, fidgety and freaked out, a bruise over her left eye from the abusive ex she had just fled. Hannah had tried to calm her down that night, but she had been so terrified she was hardly able to take in a word Hannah said to her. But now? She looked like a whole different person. She was glowing, her bruises healed, and her face lit up with a bright, easy smile that came from a joy deep inside of her.
It hadn’t been easy for her; Hannah knew that much. She had seen the work Marnie had done to keep on top of her scattered mental state and had seen her coming out of therapy appointments in tears more than once. But slowly, she had started to get her feet back under her again, settling in to her treatment plan at the sanctuary and making herself useful.
By the time February came around, she was already planning what she was going to do once she left, and she had organizeda trip with her brother to move out to her new place across the state. A fresh start. With a restraining order in place against her ex, hopefully she would never have to worry about him again.
“I can’t believe you’re going,” Hannah told her as she tucked away the keys to Marnie’s room. It was a bittersweet moment, for sure. Of course, she was beyond happy that Marnie was able to get back on her feet and start over, but Hannah was going to miss her. It was always the same, when someone who had been there for a while moved on—difficult for Hannah not to let her emotions get the better of her.
“Oh me, neither,” Marnie replied with a sigh. “I can still remember when I first got here. I never thought I would get to the point I am now. But…” She grinned, biting her lip. “Here we are.”
“You’ve earned it,” Hannah told her. “You put in so much hard work, Marnie. We’re all so proud of you.”
“Stop, you’re going to make me cry,” Marnie protested, fanning her hand in front of her face and laughing. “I don’t want to look a mess when my brother gets here.”
“Sorry, sorry,” Hannah apologized, and she darted around the reception desk to give her a huge hug.
Marnie squeezed her back, as though she wasn’t quite ready to let go yet. “Thank you, Hannah,” she murmured to her. “For everything you’ve done.”
Hannah didn’t feel like she had done enough to earn that kind of comment, but it still meant the world to her. Being able to make a difference like this, really help people in a practical way, it was everything she had always wanted. Working at Warrior Peak Sanctuary wasn’t how she had expected to do it, but she was so happy with where she was and grateful for the opportunity to help people every day.
Hannah looked past Marnie to see a car pulling up outside the lodge doors in the parking lot. “Is that your brother?” she asked, nodding outside, and Marnie turned around.
“Yeah, that’s him,” she replied, quickly wiping away the tears that had slipped down her cheeks. “I should get going, I guess.”
“You should,” Hannah agreed, giving her hand a squeeze. “You keep in touch, okay? Let us know how things go at your new home.”
“I will,” Marnie replied, and she lingered for one more moment before she headed for the door. She embraced her brother as he climbed out of the car.
Hannah watched them happily before she made her way back behind the desk. She was just arranging a few intake papers for later in the month when a voice caught her attention.
“Uh, hello.”
Her head snapped up, and she found herself staring at a man she had never seen before. She smiled quickly, trying to look as welcoming as possible. She was the first point of contact most people had with the sanctuary, and she wanted to make sure they felt safe from the moment they stepped through the door. “Hi,” she greeted him. “Can I help you with anything?”
The man looked a little disheveled, with a beat-up backpack over one shoulder and scruffy stubble just shy of a beard that told Hannah it had been a while since he’d actually had a decent place to stay. He looked tired, with dark rings underneath his eyes, and his clothes were scuffed and smudged with various stains.
Racking her brain, she tried to remember if any new arrivals were scheduled to come in today. She couldn’t remember anything, but maybe there had been a last-minute change of plans she hadn’t been made aware of.
“Yeah,” the man replied, rubbing the back of his neck worriedly.
Hannah looked him up and down; if ever there was a poster boy for ex-military, this guy would be it. He wore combat boots, an old army jacket and a pair of sweatpants that looked as though they had seen some action. The way he carried himself, too, told her that he had at least been through basic training. She ran into plenty of military guys working here, and she’d developed a sense for them.
“You here to visit someone?” she asked. Maybe he was just stopping by to catch up with an old friend.
He shook his head. “I came here because…because I want to check on your availability.” He dropped his chin to his chest as he said it.
Hannah stared at him for a moment, surprised. It wasn’t often they got walk-ins like this, but when they did, it was usually because the person was in need of some serious help. She quickly clicked through a program on her computer to see if there were any rooms free. She probably should have consulted with Xavier or her brother first, of course, but she knew they wouldn’t want her turning away someone who was so clearly in need of help.
“We don’t have any rooms in the lodge right now, but we try to keep a few cabins available for overflow guests. We have one you can use, if that’s okay with you. It’s only a short walk, and you’ll still have access to everything here in the lodge,” she said.
“No problem.” She could hear the relief in his voice.
Where had this guy come from? Her mind was racing with questions, but she knew it wasn’t her place to interrogate him just now. She wasn’t even sure how he’d gotten up here. She hadn’t seen a vehicle coming up the drive or heard one in the parking lot. She knew she would have noticed it, especially with Marnie’s brother stopping by.
