Page 24 of Gideon’s Gratitude (Love in Mission City #5)

Much of this made little sense. Except it meant I could come back without having to dig into my monthly check. “Uh, thank you.”

A soft smile. “So, now that’s out of the way, I’m going to say a few things. Take what works and discard the rest. I just ask you keep an open mind.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“I spoke to your counselor at the pain clinic.”

Crap.

“She said you were authorized to take acetaminophen and ibuprofen for pain. Neither are addictive, and they can make some pain manageable.”

“But —”

“And she said she understood why you refused, but that living with crippling pain was preventing you from fully engaging in your recovery.”

“Yeah.” She’d said that. On my last visit.

“She was disappointed you discharged yourself. She understood living so far away made things a challenge, and she was surprised you didn’t take her up on a referral to a specialist closer to Mission City. We have several in Cedar Valley, all within driving range.”

“I just don’t see the point. I wasn’t getting better.”

A soft smile. “You were dealing with some serious mental distress. Things that couldn’t be avoided.

Likely little would’ve helped at the time.

” She held up her hand. “And I know you’ve got things going on now.

You’ve developed coping mechanisms. Some are fantastic, like your support group, Lucky, and your friendship with Archer. ”

Okay, that’s something.

“Some are less so.”

Saw that coming.

“The isolation isn’t good for you. Humans are social creatures. You know this. We require contact with other people.”

“I have Archer.” Worth a shot.

“For all of two days, and you’ve admitted you don’t know when he’s leaving or when he’ll be back. I think it’s wonderful you’ve made a new friend. That’s great. But you need to plan to come down the mountain more often.”

I wasn’t sure why I had to, but her point about connecting with others was valid.

I’d connected with Sarabeth. Even in a small way.

And the woman wasn’t likely to remember me, but her kindness had meant something.

I also looked forward to my interactions with Riley.

At least once a week I popped over to the site on the pretext of having a question or a concern.

She likely saw through it, but she was always courteous and considerate.

The silence we lapsed into settled over me. The rain pelted against the window, and Lucky snuffled in his sleep. This was a place I could be comfortable in. A place I’d return to. “Let me think about it. ”

“That’s all I ask.” She moved to rise, but hesitated. “Your counselor from the pain clinic was in touch with your lawyer a while back. With your permission, of course. Might I obtain the same permission?”

“You want to speak to my lawyer?” Man, what was that going to cost me?

“Not necessarily. More that if he calls here, I need your permission to speak to him.”

“Sure, speak to him. Speak to whoever. It’s not going to make a difference.”

“But you want visitation with your children?”

I slumped. “Of course I want that. But it’s never going to happen. I told you all the people who decided I was bad for them.”

“And, although I’m sure I don’t know everything, I believe you are good for them. Children of divorced parents thrive when they get attention from both parents. I think you need to attempt to speak to Leo again.”

She doesn’t get it. “He won’t talk to me.”

“Just something to keep in mind. Surely you speak about the children?”

“Barely. I get clipped emails from him with the basics, but nothing more. If I write back, he doesn’t even acknowledge it. I’m screaming into the void.” Tears prickled the backs of my eyes.

“Okay. We’ll put that aside for now. Let me get the authorization paperwork and we’ll book your next appointment. Same time next week?”

“Yeah, that’d be great.” Getting out of the chair was a struggle, but I managed.

Ten minutes later, after completing the requisite—but useless—paperwork, I followed her into the kitchen. The room was bright with massive windows that likely let in tons of light on a sunny day .

Archer sat at the island. No laptop in sight. Obviously he’d been conversing with Rainbow this whole time.

A yellow Labrador bounded over to greet Lucky. The two dogs did the sniff routine, and obviously liked what they smelled.

Rainbow held up a small, green treat in the shape of a bone. She cocked her eyebrow.

I nodded.

“Lucky. Tiffany.”

The two dogs scrambled to get over to her.

She held up the treats. “Sit.”

Both plopped onto their butts.

“Tiffany, spin.”

The yellow lab spun.

Rainbow glanced at me.

“He’ll do down.”

Lucky glanced my way, glanced back to the bone, and sank to the ground.

“Oh, my goodness, what magnificent dogs you are.” She held out the bones, and both dogs took them and meandered over to a blanket on the floor.

She pivoted back to me. “So, I made dinner rolls for you to take home. I find they work best with butter mixed with honey.”

I shot a glance to Archer who shrugged. “She said she bakes for fun, and her co-workers won’t eat it.”

Kennedy snorted. “Oh, I eat plenty of her baking.” She placed her hands on her hips. “It’s hard to maintain my waistline.”

She looked just fine to me, but I didn’t dare speak.

Rainbow also handed a container to Archer as she handed the plastic bag of rolls to me. “Sugar cookies. Made fresh.” She tossed a glance at Kennedy. “I cook when I’m annoyed. ”

Kennedy held up her hands. “Not my fault our sister pissed you off.”

Our sister? Oh, Kennedy and Rainbow were sisters. They didn’t look anything alike.

Kennedy snagged a cookie off the plate on the island. “I never mind when you have your sisterly tiffs.” She nodded to Archer and waved to me. “See you next week.”

A little dazedly, I waved in return.

Surreal. It all felt surreal.

“Well, you fellas’ll need to head out soon. Not that I’m pushing you, mind, but you don’t want to get stuck if a road washes out.” Rainbow gestured to the window with her chin.

Archer leapt from his seat.

She held up her hand. “Nothing to worry about between here and the main road, but I’m not sure where you’re headed. Be on the lookout for standing water.”

“We will, thank you.” He placed a hand to my back, as if sensing I needed prompting.

“Yeah, thanks.” I held up the dinner rolls. “This was generous of you.”

She placed her hands on her hips, much as Kennedy had. “I do plenty of work to keep in shape, but I can’t indulge too often. And I’ll call my sister, Spring, and make her apologize. All will be right in the world.”

If only I could do that with Leo.

“Lucky.”

The dog popped up.

“Say goodbye.”

The dog nuzzled Tiffany .

“Your dog knows the command say goodbye ?” Archer nodded approvingly.

I warmed.

He again placed a hand to the small of my back and led me to the entranceway with the coat rack. Rainbow held our treats while we donned our coats. Coats that were still damp. Putting them on was uncomfortable.

Finally we pulled up our hoods.

Archer palmed his keys, so she handed the cookies and rolls to me.

I suppressed the urge to hug the woman. I didn’t know her. Didn’t know Kennedy either. Yet the sense of welcome in this place staggered me. Not just the baking, although that helped. No, healing took place in this building. Maybe, if I was really lucky, some of that would rub off on me.