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“Everything’s wonderful,” I said with a smile. “But I want you to meet her as my partner. Not as my nurse.”
I watched a smile slide across my sister’s lips as Grace’s eyes popped out of her head.
“Over the past few months, Grace and I have spawned a beautiful relationship. It’s catapulted into something a little more romantic over the past few weeks, but in a way it was always there. She’s the light of my life, and I couldn’t have asked for a better woman to fall in love with.”
I looked over at Grace and watched as her jaw dropped.
“I love you, Grace. And I want you to know that this next announcement is because you came into my life. It’s because you showed me there was another way to live it. It was because you showed me how caged I’d become during my recuperation and it’s because you and Zander never gave up on me that I’ve found what I want to do. What I need to do.”
“I’m not following,” Grace said.
“Spit it out, son. What is it?” my mother asked.
I drew in a deep breath as an excited smile slid across my face.
“I’m leaving the company.”
Cara started coughing and Grace’s eyes grew wide, again.
“What?” my mother asked.
“I’m leaving the company. I don’t have all the details worked out yet, but by the end of the week I will,” I said.
“You’re… leaving. The hotel company,” my sister said. “Our hotel company?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” my mother asked.
“I’m actually curious to know myself,” Grace said.
I threaded our fingers together and brought her knuckles to my lips to kiss.
“I’ve missed you,” I said with a whisper.
“I’ve missed you too,” she said.
“My recovery showed me a lot. But more than that, it showed me a lot that could be improved in terms of the care I received. Grace, what you did for me during my healing process, it was phenomenal. I was a genuine asshole most of the time, and yet you strived to make sure I was taken care of and fed appropriately. But you were at a grave disadvantage with the tools you were given to work with,” I said.
“I still don’t understand,” Grace said.
“I want to work with people who have physical disabilities. There has to be another alternative that can fuse the spectacular in-home care I obtained with Grace along with the rotations that nursing companies give. There has to be a middle ground that works better than ‘either-or’. And as far as that damn wheelchair went? Did you know that design hasn’t changed in almost four decades? I was doing some research on it at work today, and there are some serious improvements— small, miniscule things— that would make a wheelchair less of a nightmare to work with.”
“So, what? You want to make a new wheelchair?” Cara asked.
“I do. I want to help wheelchair companies create chairs that are more effective for people in recovery like I was. I don’t want to start my own line, but I want to help the institutions already in place. This world doesn’t need another business. But some of the current businesses need help. And I’m in a place to do that.”
“Hayden.”
I turned my head to look at Grace. Her beautiful blue eyes were bright and her long, curly brown hair was pouring past her shoulders. She was radiant. The true embodiment of an angel. I untethered our fingers and rose them up, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. I allowed my thumb to trail along her cheek, taking in the healthy flush my touch left behind.
“I don’t want to be at that company,” I said. “It’s just another cage. And I don’t want to cage myself off anymore. You were right. I was cooped up and feeling sorry for myself. I don’t want to do that anymore. But these past two weeks? I don’t care about the company anymore, Grace. I care about something bigger. Something greater. Something better.”
She placed her hand on mine and turned her lips in to kiss my palm.
“I’m leaving the company,” I said as my gaze turned back to my mother.
But instead of seeing anger or disappointment, I saw a grin.
