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“Me too. Did you know it was the fiftieth year? Audrey never said a thing about it.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head again. “No one has said a thing, which means they’re keeping everything under their hat. Be prepared for quite the celebration.”
I leaned over his chair and smiled. “I’m looking forward to it because I get to spend it with you, Irving Wallace.” Before I could give into temptation and kiss his lips, I pushed off his chair and walked away whistlingSanta Claus is Coming to Town.
Chapter Ten
“Where are we heading?” Hazel asked as I steered the SUV down a dirt road.
“Tent city. I want to distribute some of the sleep-out event flyers there.”
“We’re going down into an encampment while it’s snowing and you’re going to use your wheelchair?”
I glanced at her quickly as I crawled around a corner on the dirt road. “Do you want to carry me instead?”
“Har-har,” she said, but I noticed her lips tipped up. “Aren’t there other places to put the flyers?”
“Sure, but I want people to actually see them and that means bringing it to them. I figured you’d be fine with this considering your past work experience.”
“I have no problem distributing the flyers at the tent city or talking to anyone there. I do have a problem with it being snowing and you being one day away from getting stitches out of your hand after two long weeks.”
“I told you before that it’s all healed, and the infection is gone. I brought a vinyl glove along to wear under my regular ones. That will keep it clean and dry. Besides, if my guy is here, I may not even have to get out of the SUV.”
“Your guy?” she asked. “You have a guy?”
“More like a contact,” I said, parking the SUV outside an area that was usually packed full of tents but was almost empty now. “Looks like people have already taken off.”
“I can’t imagine living in a tent in the winter. I’m sure they don’t have a choice but to find a shelter or something warmer than a tent.”
“A lot of veterans with disabilities live out here,” I explained. “Many of them are missing limbs and use wheelchairs. There’s no way to live out here in the winter. Hopefully, word will travel about the event if they’re hiding out in town somewhere.”
Hazel grabbed some flyers off the dashboard and held her hand out to me. “Stay in the car. I’ll pass these out to those who are left and see if they have any immediate needs we can fill. Who’s your guy?”
“His name is Dawson. He has an eye patch and is missing fingers on his right hand.”
“Got it,” she said, opening the door to a gust of wind and a swirl of snowflakes.
Before I could say more, she was out the door and walking toward the tents. Before she made it two steps, three men stepped away from a tent and faced off with her. I put my window down so I could call out to them that she was cool, but before I could, she was handing out the flyers and talking to them like old friends. To say I was impressed was an understatement. It took me several trips out here to win anyone over and even then, no one laughed and smiled the way they did with her.
“Then again, I’m not a beautiful redhead, am I, Star?” I asked the dog, who sat at attention in the back seat. I swear he snorted, but I couldn’t be sure.
I noticed Hazel motion behind her toward the SUV, so I waved through the window to let them know we were together. She nodded several times and then pointed at the SUV before jogging back and climbing in.
“They said Dawson is at the library.” She rubbed her hands together in front of the heater vents. “They’re going to make sure the flyers get out to everyone.”
“Thanks, I appreciate the assist,” I said, turning the SUV in the tight space and heading back to the main highway. “We’ll go meet up with Dawson at the library.”
“Want to tell me about him?” she asked, settling back against the seat as we headed into town.
“Dawson was one of the first to apply to New Beginnings. I can tell you this because you work there,” he clarified and I nodded. “He’s a veteran with a disability and has been living on the street for must be close to three years now. He faithfully checked on the construction progress and the status of his application over last winter. When summer hit and we still weren’t open, I offered him some work on the grounds. He was the one who got Star’s pen fenced in and kept it mowed for me along with some other chores that fell to me but I couldn’t do. He’s desperate for a place, but I can’t even let him move into one of the empty apartments.”
“That’s why this is so frustrating!” she exclaimed as she stared out the windshield. “It’s so unnecessary.”
I wanted to grab her hand and calm her down, but using hand controls meant I couldn’t. “I know,” I whispered, allowing her to settle into her feelings for a moment so she could let her frustration out. “That’s why I agreed to this event. I’ll do anything to get our point across, and I’m confident this is a good start. If it doesn’t work, I’m afraid we’re going to have to move forward without accessible units just to get the place filled.”
“We can’t do that, Irving! There has to be accessible units in any new build.”
“Then we agree to get the minimum finished, move people in, and try to utilize the accessible showers we still have. I don’t know the right answer, but we can’t keep doing a phantom job. Yes, we’re working with the bungalow tenants, but that’s not going to be enough to keep us both busy forever.”
