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“Alright. I’ll be back at two for our afternoon walk.”
“Can’t wait.”
Ember left him then and was heading for the door when she heard someone in the kitchen. She decided to go say hi before she left for a few hours. She didn’t expect the someone to be Jake, though.
“Oh, hi.”
He gave her a smile, then resumed pouring himself a cup of coffee. “Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”
“I shouldn’t. But it sounds really good.”
He nodded toward the table. “Have a seat. Do you need cream or sugar?”
“Both please.” Him not knowing how she drank her coffee was a sad reminder of his missing five months.
He brought two cups of coffee to the table, then set a sugar bowl down and got a small carton of creamer from the refrigerator, before joining her at the table. He sat across from her.
“So, how’s it going with Dad?”
“He had his first physical therapy session this morning.”
“So I heard. How’d that go?”
“I wasn’t in the room with him. But I didn’t hear any cursing, so I think it went well.”
“Good. My father has always been a bit temperamental. But his stroke has been hard on him. He’s a proud man who has always been in complete control. He hates depending on the family to take care of him.”
“I think it was a very wise decision to hire outside help. It might be easier for him to accept help from me than from you or the grandkids.”
“I think so.” He took a sip of his coffee. “What besides physical therapy, is on the recovery plan?”
“I’m coming back in a while and we’re going to take a walk.”
“If you follow the path behind the house, you’ll come to the pond in about a quarter of a mile. It’s nice and flat. And there’s a bench to sit on if he needs to rest before heading back.”
“We’ll do that.”
“Would low impact exercise or weightlifting help?”
“Definitely. Do you have a weight room?”
“We do, actually. We put it together for Sawyer a few years back. But we all spend some time in there.”
“That’s great.” So that answers the question of whether he worked out or not. She wasn’t sure what some time meant, but whatever it was, it showed.
“I can show it to you. It’s in the barn. Andwhile we’re there, I can introduce you to the horses.”
“Yes please.”
“Finish your coffee and we’ll do that. I need to go into town in an hour or so, but I think I’ve got time to take you out there.”
A few minutes later, they went out the back door and were heading for the barn. Jake glanced at Ember. “Will you be going home for Thanksgiving? You can take whatever time you need.”
“No. I really don’t want to make that trip again so soon.”
“I understand. Then you’ll have Thanksgiving dinner with us.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to intrude.”
