Ryatt stared at Shane in amazement. “Umm,… I guess.”
Shane cocked his eyebrow at him. “Because it sure sounded like that from my end.”
Ryatt smiled, one that crested and took over his whole face. “You know something? I just might have.”
Shane slapped the door with a big grin on his face. “Go, you.” And, with that, he took off, leaving a very happy Ryatt in his wake.
Chapter 3
The next day,Lana couldn’t wait for lunch. At 11:00 a.m. she realized that she hadn’t double-checked with Ryatt about the time. She went on her computer, checked his posted schedule, and realized he was with Shane until 11:30 a.m. At that, she winced because Shane could often work his patients hard. Ryatt may not necessarily even want to go out for lunch today, depending on how serious today’s workout routine was.
She hesitated when 11:30 arrived and then decided she’d better go find out for sure what kind of shape Ryatt was in.
As she walked toward his room, she hoped to find some sign that he was one way or the other. However, when she came to his closed door, she frowned. She didn’t want to disturb him. She knocked gently and thought she heard something, so knocked again. When the door opened instantly, she looked up to see Ryatt there. “Sorry,” she said, “I wasn’t sure if you were here or not, and I didn’t want to wake you, if you were napping.”
“I’m here.”
Obviously he was still recovering from his latest session with Shane, leaning heavily on his crutches. She looked at him in concern.
He waved away her worries. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look it,” she said bluntly.
He burst into laughter. “No, I probably don’t, and that’s just a sign of the times. How pathetic is that?”
“Not at all,” she murmured. “It’s pretty normal around here.”
He nodded. “Isn’t that the truth? However, if you give me a minute, I’ll get a quick wipe down and a change of T-shirts, and then I’ll be ready for lunch.”
“Sounds good. Do you want me to save us a table?”
“Great. Why don’t you do that? I’ll meet you there.”
“Sure.” And she left him to it. She wasn’t too sure how long he would be, but she picked a table outside on the deck, realizing that, once again, she hadn’t asked him about his preferences. Shrugging, she made a choice regardless and put themselves under a big umbrella, so that they could be a little cooler, if needed. The sun could be intense here in Texas, and she wasn’t sure she was up for that much heat today. It had been a pretty hectic morning for her, but what had kept her going was knowing she had lunch with Ryatt ahead of her.
“Now how silly was that?” she murmured to herself. Not a reaction she expected, particularly not to him. But he’d been very different the last few times that she’d seen him, and he had obviously turned a corner. She’d heard murmurings from everybody else around him that he was nicer now too. And they were all hoping it would last.
She knew that lasting wasn’t necessarily something that was even possible, but she was happy for him. It was important to nurture the healthy mind-set and to start finding good things in life, instead of always holding back their hopes and desires, expecting to get the worst in life instead.
Yet somehow that wasn’t something you could easily tell people; it wasn’t something that you could just turn around and explain to them and say,Hey, look. If you change your attitude, your life will be that much better, because most of the time that just made them angrier. And why wouldn’t it? It would make her angry too most likely. Not exactly the mood that everybody was going for here, and so much good was being done here at Hathaway House that she was just amazed at the progress she’dseen in people. The mind really did influence the body—and vice versa too. People just had to be aware of it. Lana smiled, still amazed, overwhelmed with joy, and happy to be a part of something so special.
She’d told Dani several times how much she really loved being a part of this. And Lana knew Dani had appreciated hearing it because, as the co-owner, she’d done a great job finding other staff or people who were appreciative of the progress and could see the change happening in people’s lives. That healing was… that was worth so much.
Lana was grateful she was here. And she hadn’t even been here all that long, maybe six months now. It was something that she was proud to focus on, even at the end of a tedious workday, even though she might be tired, even though there might be more stress than she had been particularly ready for. Sometimes it was just nice to leave at the end of the day, regroup for a bit, and come back, knowing that she was wanted and needed here and that she was part of a worthwhile cause, part of something good for everybody, patients and staff alike.
She sat here at the outdoor table and waited for Ryatt a good ten minutes. Finally she got up and headed toward the buffet line, and, just as she did so, she saw him enter the room.
He looked at her and asked, “Am I too late?”
“No, not at all.”
“Good. Shane stopped in for a minute, and that delayed me.”
She nodded in understanding. “It’s all good.” She pointed outside to the table that she had saved for them. “I didn’t know if you wanted sunshine or not.”
“Today I’m tired,” he murmured, “so the sun will just take more out of me than I’ve got to give but I’d love to catch a few minutes.”
She laughed. “Good enough. Do you want to sit there for a moment and relax or come to the buffet first?”