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Isaac sat down again.
"What have you been doing all morning?" Whatever he'd been doing stained the collar and underarms of his T-shirt with sweat. She'd been too distracted when he handed her the food and was too far away now, but she imagined he smelled like he had when they danced. Like the air before it rains.
"Mostly just cleaned up."
"I meant to take some time while you were sick to pick up downstairs. Sorry about that."
"It wasn't your mess. Don't worry about it."
Some of it was but she wouldn't argue. Not with that nor with being waited on. Any time she could save and put toward her project, she appreciated more than he could ever know.
After Katie finished about half the chips, she leaned forward and passed the plate to Isaac. "Thank you. That was delicious."
"You're welcome." He set the plate on the bed. "I'm just going to grab a couple of things and get out of your way."
Through the air, from Isaac's hand when it appeared every couple of seconds, flew item after item of clothing landing in a small heap on the footstool beside her feet. A white tank, a blue T-shirt, a pair of mesh shorts, and navy blue briefs with a dark gray waistband. His go-to lounging gear.
Then he set something down next to the clothes she didn't expect. "Are those knitting needles?" Two wooden sticks were poked into a clear plastic bin full of an array of brightly colored yarn.
"Yep." Isaac brought out his shower caddy and closed the closet door.
"You knit?"
"Surprised?"
"A little." And a little turned on. This she had to see. Those big, meaty hands working the delicate yarn over those skinny sticks.
Warmth spread through her center. She shifted in her seat.
Why did this turn her on so much?
"What do you make?"
Don't keep talking about it. That's not going to help.
Isaac dug into the bin. He pulled out a nylon bag with thin straps that also acted as a drawstring for closing the bag.
"You're probably not going to believe me but I was a preemie. Born almost two months early. My ears had barely grown all the way in."
"Wow. You're right, that is hard to believe."
"Of course, I don't remember how hard it was to go through that, but my mom and dad do and they always told me what helped them the most were the little things. Even the smallest thing someone did to help them or me through those months in the hospital, got them through each day." He pulled a dark blue, half-circle shape out of the bag and held it in his palm. "There's this charity. You knit hats for preemie babies and donate them to the hospitals. This was the one they gave me." He shifted the hat holding it between his thumb and index finger handing it to her.
She took the tiny hat. Spreading it out, she said, "This would barely stretch over a baseball. I can't imagine you ever being that small."
Isaac shrugged. "My parents pushed me. They were afraid I might grow up too weak to take care of myself so, they signed me up for pretty much every sport. They turned our garage into a weight lifters wet dream. And they fed mereallywell."
"I bet they were shocked when you ended up over six foot tall."
"They were but it hasn't stopped them from claiming it was their excellent care in raising me and not genes passed down from my six foot three grandpa."
Every inch of Katie's body tingled loving every word of Isaac's story. Loving even more that it led him to do something so sweet for babies who would never know him. Then she remembered him telling her about going on to get his doctor in physical therapy.Pediatricphysical therapy.
"Is this also why you chose your major?"
"Many preemies and timely born babies, aren't as fortunate as I was. I want to help them on their way to being in the best physical condition they can be."
Katie's heart swelled so big she thought it might explode before she hastened a glance at her laptop. The goals she was killing herself over seemed so small compared to the good he was doing, giving so much of his time for no other reason than to help others. Unlike her, whose goal was the recognition of her professor and someday, her colleagues. On top of a whopping fat paycheck.
