Keith (Hathaway House #11) - Dale Mayer Page 0,23
she stepped through, she said, “I’m sorry about leaving your door open.”
“It’s fine,” he said. “This way I don’t have to growl at you again to open it.”
She burst out laughing as she walked over and placed the treats on the table, then moved the table across the bed. “That’s a good point,” she said. “I’ve got older brothers, so you don’t scare me.”
He looked at her with interest. “Are they as small as you?”
She chuckled. “No, they sure aren’t. They’re big. Both of them are six foot tall, and they used to call me Pint Pot all of my growing up years. It was totally embarrassing.” Yet she smiled at the memory. “But, as older brothers do, they also protected me, looked after me, and completely spoiled me.”
“Sounds like you have a good relationship with them.” He looked at the pie, plucked a blackberry off the top, and took a bite. “What is it about something like this treat midafternoon on a bad day that just brightens everything up?”
“Because food is the nectar of the gods,” she announced. “I learned how to soothe the most savage of beasts of my brothers with food, so I highly doubt anybody here in this place is any worse.”
He chuckled and used his fork to break off a piece of the apple pie with some ice cream and put it in his mouth. He put the fork down and melted against the sheets. “I was in such a bad mood before,” he said, “and, seriously, your little bit of kindness has gone a long way to making my day better.” He lifted the coffee cup. “Cheers.”
She smiled, walked back out, and, as she turned by the door, said, “Well, let’s hope the rest of your day is better.” Inside, she was thrilled, and her own heart was considerably warmer too because she felt happiness when doing something nice for somebody else—but to also know it was appreciated meant so much.
There really was a special connection between the two of them, even though she’d been determined to keep it more formal, but it was well past that now. She really liked him. The fact that he wasn’t capable of doing anything more than lying in the bed and just talking to her also kept it in perspective. She didn’t want to do anything to distract or to disturb him, but she really wanted to do everything she could to help him heal, and maybe then there’d be something between them at the end of the day, and they could explore it a little more too.
The apple pie had been absolutely divine. Keith didn’t know if she made it or if one of her sous chefs had, but, wow, the filling had been thick and rich. The pastry was fluffy and flaky. And, by the time his plate was empty, he was wishing he’d asked her for more. It was hardly fair to ask for seconds, but, at the same time, he just couldn’t resist having this treat. He didn’t think he had much of a sweet tooth, but she was proving him wrong. And, of course, the coffee was always good.
He sank back against the bed, wondering at his mercurial moods these days. Before it had never been a problem because he’d always just been depressed. He hated to even say it because saying that he’d been depressed would just make things worse. No way he was depressed, but it just made him feel better to avoid that label, and that was difficult too. Critical moods meant that his moods were shifting.
Before he had been filled with a total apathy, a sense of weightiness maybe, and an acceptance that nothing would change. But now, instead of always feeling that same dark moodiness, he found these pockets of bright laughter that he didn’t even know what to do with.
He stared down at his hands, wondering, when a knock came at his open door. He looked up to see his sister. She had a big grin on her face and something in her arms that he couldn’t even believe. “What the heck is that?” he exclaimed.
She laughed and walked to his bedside. “I don’t want to put him on top of you if he’s too heavy.”
He shifted in the bed as she laid down the largest rabbit he’d ever seen in his life. Immediately the rabbit hopped forward, its big nose, monstrous eyes, and huge ears heading toward Keith’s face, looking to sniff him closer. He