Magical Weddings (57 page)

And supposedly, Luke was depressed too. He was going through the motions–exercising, visiting his doctors, going to a shrink–but without accepting any support from friends and family, it probably wasn’t gonna get much better with the long road of recovery ahead.

As an idea suddenly sprung to her mind, she sat upright in her chair. She’d better talk it over with Steve first, she decided, reaching for her phone.

****

Kelly only wished that she could be the one to deliver him to Luke. Eight-weeks old and the cutest and smallest of the litter, Duke was a black lab mix. And luckily, he was nearly potty trained. She only hoped that the puppy wouldn’t be too much of a burden for Steve, until Luke was finally able to take over the responsibily of the puppy’s care.

Kelly had adopted Duke at the local no-kill shelter, which, coincidentally, Jake’s wife had founded fifteen years earlier. Not only had Danielle helped her choose a puppy, she’d given Kelly advice about food and supplies that the puppy would be needing.

Or, rather, the things that Steve and Luke would need. The most important item on the list had been a large cage. Kelly hadn’t liked the idea at first. But then Danielle had brought up a very important point–since he’d be manipulating a wheelchair, and eventually relearning how to walk, Luke didn’t need a puppy running around underfoot.

Kelly had set up the time of delivery beforehand with Steve, to make sure Luke wasn’t around. Jake had business in Eau Claire, so he’d driven Luke to the hospital where he’d be having a routine battery of tests today.

When Kelly pulled into the driveway of the cabin in her father’s truck, Steve was obviously relieved when he saw the preassembled cage in the bed of the pickup.

Kelly quickly stepped out from the truck, and walked around to the other side. Opening up the passenger door, she pulled the pet carrier out by its handle.

Strolling out from the garage, Steve grinned, staring at the wriggling little black-haired pup. His tail was wagging non-stop. “Cute.”

Kelly grinned. “I’ve been calling him Duke–but only cause I couldn’t think of anything else.”

“That cage is a great idea.” Steve hoisted out the cage and a large tray from the back of the pickup. “Let’s set Duke up in the kitchen.”

For the next few minutes, Kelly and Steve worked in companiable silence. Kelly left the pet carrier in the kitchen, and returned to the truck for the food and supplies. After laying down the tray and spreading out some newspapers inside, Steve rested the cage inside the tray.

“Want to take him for a walk?” Kelly asked.

Steve grinned at the pup. Struggling to escape, he was sticking his nose out as far as he possibly could through the openings of the carrier door. “Why don’t you walk with him first? I have a feeling that Duke and I’ll be spending a lot of time together, anyway.”

Kelly laughed.

“Besides–I can set out some water and food for the little guy–so he can have it once you get back.”

Kelly bent down, releasing Duke from the carrier. When the puppy began licking Kelly frenziedly across her face, she began to laugh. Kelly squeezed the wriggling bundle of fur while attempting to hold him still as she attached his leash to his collar.

Steve had a huge smile on his face when Kelly finally escaped outside through the door. The puppy was yanking hard at the leash. Taking her time and allowing Duke to get his bearings, Kelly immediately headed along the pathway, and over the bridge, until she reached the pool overlooking the bay. The guesthouse had access from the main road, so Kelly had visited here many times over the last few weeks. Even though it was easy for Kelly to live with her parents–since the house was huge and her parents were never at home–Kelly had considered moving here into the guesthouse.

But not if Luke didn’t want to see her. He was getting around better in his wheelchair now, and she would hate having to avoid him.

When Kelly decided to return to the house, it was a matter of following, tugging and eventually chasing Duke through the woods when the leash jerked out of her hands. “Oh, you,” she said, when she finally caught up with him. Luckily he hadn’t gone far, since his leash had snagged on the lower branches of a pine. When she picked him up off the ground, the puppy started licking her face again. Her irritation vanished–she just couldn’t help it–he was just so damned
cute.
She laughed as she struggled to hold him tight in her arms the entire way back to the house.

Once they reached the house, obviously awaiting their return, Steve slid open the door so they could come inside. Kelly grinned, bending down, removing the leash from Duke’s collar. Instantly noticing the food and the water, Duke scrambled across the floor, slipping and sliding and bumping into the bowls. Duke jumped into his huge water bowl and began to drink.

Kelly grimaced when Steve rolled his eyes. “Guess I’d better use a smaller bowl, and save that one for later.”

“Might be a good idea,” Kelly said, grinning wryly. “I suppose I’d better get moving. Luke will probably be coming home soon.” She peeked behind her at the pup while she was walking outside with Steve through the door. Duke was scooping out his food from the bowl and eating it off the floor “Good luck with getting Duke settled.”

Following the direction of Kelly’s gaze, Steve shook his head with resignation. “Yeah–I have a feeling that I’m gonna need it,” he answered dryly.

He was only going through the motions. Luke stared out sightlessly through the window of the van as Jake finally pulled into the driveway of the cabin. Everyone was trying really hard to do whatever they could to help him. Luke was even pissed at himself for not being more grateful.

He yawned. Damn, it’d been a long day.

After sliding open the door, Jake set the lift into motion. “You’ve sure been quiet,” Jake said, rolling the wheelchair upward on the ramp toward the deck.

“Thanks, Jake.”

Jake raised a brow.

“I know–I don’t say it nearly often enough.”

“Just get
better–
and don’t give up. That’s the only thanks that I expect from you, Luke.”

But it was definitely getting more difficult to get motivated on a daily basis. And he couldn’t figure out
why
–he had a fantastic trainer to assist him, the best equipment, and his dream house to temporarily shack up in–everything he could’ve ever asked for when he’d been stranded in that hospital, not knowing or caring about the future.

Except that he couldn’t fly anymore.

And that he couldn’t–no he
wouldn’t
–have Kelly. There’s no way on earth he’d let her be tied down to a cripple for the rest of her life. She was young and beautiful, and now that she’d graduated with honors from Wisconsin, she’d have her entire life ahead of her. She could do
anything
she wanted to do.

Who knows how many medical issues would come up–not to mention the surgeries he’d have to go through over the next few years.

And he wasn’t even sure if his shrink was helping him out much. Luke’s nightmares were becoming worse. He’d been fighting the support group thing–but Steve and his shrink had both insisted that he needed to begin attending meetings next week.

When Luke rolled his chair into the kitchen, he sensed something was up immediately. Besides, Steve had a dopey smile on his face.

And then he saw him. A cute, black ball of fur came sliding across the kitchen floor, rolling over backwards when he crashed into the wheel of Luke’s chair. “What the…?” Turning upright, the puppy shook his head dazedly. Prancing back over to Luke, he promptly rested his paws on Luke’s knees and jumped, attempting to climb into Luke’s lap.

“Looks like he knows who his master is,” Jake said dryly, grinning at Steve.

Steve smiled back, watching Luke scoop the puppy up into his lap.

When he managed to pull his face away from the puppy’s wet tongue, Luke stared hard at Jake first, and then at Steve. Rolling his eyes, Luke shook his head with resignation, wrapping his arms around the puppy like he was never going to let him go. “What’s his name?”

Steve grinned. “We’ve been calling him Duke–but you can name him whatever you’d like.”

Luke hesitated, staring down at the wriggling bundle of fur in his lap thoughtfully. “Sounds too much like Luke–don’t ya think?”

Steve nodded his agreement.

Luke’s thoughts were far away, as he scratched the pup behind his ears. “How about Hawk?

Jake cleared his throat. “Hawk, it is, then.”

Steve was quiet, staring at Luke, nodding his agreement.

****

When Luke awoke abruptly later that night, he was caked with sweat. He was having one of his damned nightmares again. The horrors of what’d he’d seen–the people, the
children,
and Hawk dying right before his eyes–the memories were all flashing back through his mind.

Would he have actually resigned if he’d returned to the U.S. before the accident? He’d never know, for sure–but probably. There’d been something unreal about having to bomb a city with actual inhabitants. Granted, they were eliminating evil–it’d been a tactical move. But what about all the
innocent
victims? He just didn’t think he was tough enough to handle it mentally anymore. It’d been eating away at Luke, even before he’d returned to Iraq for his final tour.

How did Steve do it? Somehow, he’d heard Luke awaken, and was already barreling through the door to assist him into the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, Steve was waiting for Luke to finish up. “You alright?” he asked, brusquely.

“Yeah, I guess,” Luke answered.

Steve frowned, studying Luke. “Tell you what–I’m gonna run you a bath–it might help you sleep a little better. We need to get you back on schedule tomorrow.”

The water was running shortly, and soon, Steve was switching on the jets for the tub. “Have you noticed–you’re finally getting around better?”

“Yeah–I’ve gotta little more upper body strength–between the workouts and rolling around in that chair,” Luke added dryly.

Steve nodded approvingly. “Now you know why I didn’t want you motorized. You might even be ready for a walker soon–and then, eventually, you’ll use crutches.”

Luke grunted, settling back against the wall of the tub.

Steve left Luke alone for about twenty more minutes while he soaked in the jetted water. He was startled awake when Steve began lifting him from the tub. “Hmm,” Luke said sleepily. “Your strategy worked.”

“Usually does,” Steve answered. Within five minutes, Luke had an arm wrapped over Steve’s shoulder as he assisted him back into the bedroom.

Luke halted and grinned, when he saw the puppy sitting on top of the bed. Hawk cocked his head, with his tongue hanging out.

“He’s just been out,” Steve muttered. “I shouldn’t be doing this–he might get spoiled. But I figured a warm body in your bed might help you sleep a little better.”

Luke snorted. It wasn’t exactly the warm body he’d been dreaming about, night after night, over the last year– but Hawk would have to do. As soon as Steve got Luke situated under the comforter, Hawk pranced over to the foot of the bed and settled in.

And Luke fell immediately asleep.

One week later, Luke was rolling the wheelchair over the planks of the bridge, and following the pathway leading out to the pool overlooking the bay. Steve had supposedly had the heater turned on for the water earlier that day. The nights in Crystal Rock were sometimes rather cool, and Luke had been warned by Steve that his rigorous daily workouts might lead to cramping in his legs if he spent too much time in cold water.

Steve would allow Luke an hour to swim and return to the house–but he’d added a few stipulations; Luke would have to remain at the shallow end of the pool, and enter the water by way of the wide long staircase and railing cemented within the surround.

But if any unforeseen problems arose, Luke had been ordered to call Steve immediately on his cell.

Freedom felt good. It’d seemed like he was under lock and key since the moment he’d awoken in the hospital nearly nine months earlier.

After numerous fittings, Luke’s first prosthetic had finally arrived at the hospital yesterday. But it’d hurt like
hell
when he’d tested it out. His leg was healed, and the swelling was gone–it’d just take some time to adjust, according to Luke’s specialist, Dr. Donnelly. They’d be taking baby steps at first–and Luke would need to work on his balance. He might be able to be fitted with a higher functioning prosthetic in as little as a year–it just depended on how well he adapted.

This was the awkward part, Luke thought, sliding out from his chair, and grasping the railing for the staircase. Grunting long, loud and hard, he carefully lowered himself to the ground. But he was a hell of a lot stronger now–he’d seen it in the definition of his arms and shoulders, when he’d studied his image in the mirror earlier that day while he’d been shaving.

But he wasn’t very pretty. Luke grimaced. Puckering and scars from the accident covered nearly half of his body, even masking parts of his tattoo. Plastic surgery had been recommended–but not because of his looks. The accumulation of scarring tissue from his burns would affect the flexibility of his skin, as Luke grew older–possibly hindering his movements.

The temperature of the water was perfect, Luke thought, as he sat on the steps in the pool. He’d been swimming for therapy at the hospital three days a week for a month. So moving forward like a snake through the water, he synced his sidestroke into a rhythmic crawl.

After a fairly intense workout, Luke returned to sit on the steps nearly half an hour later. He was…content, he supposed. He gazed around him at the beautiful backdrop of the woods, before staring upward at the towering white pines; they were a perfect frame for the clear blue sky. This was the best that’d he felt physically in a very long time, he realized, finally admitting it to himself.

Eventually, he glanced around him and sighed. It’d been about forty-five minutes since he’d arrived–Steve would come looking for him soon if Luke didn’t return to the cabin on his own.