Keith (Hathaway House #11) - Dale Mayer Page 0,29

with him?”

“Oddly enough, he reached out not too long ago because he’s going through a divorce,” she said in a wry tone. “And his wife wants child support for the two children he gave her.”

“Of course,” she said. “And probably wants sole custody. So he doesn’t want the divorce or the limited visitation when he has to pay child support, right?”

“I think he’s realizing that he not only lost his first family but he’s now in danger of losing his second family.”

“Yep,” Ilse said, “I’ve seen that happen time and time again.”

“I know, and it’s sad, but it is what it is,” she said. “I don’t think he’s reached out to Keith at all. And I’m not sure Keith would have anything to do with him if he did.”

“Depends on if he can forgive and move on,” she said. “Not everything in life is quite so dark.”

“I don’t know. I think, in Keith’s case, it certainly is,” she said. “After the accident that put him in the hospital, he also lost one friend at the time and another friend about three months ago. After months and months of rehab and everybody thought his buddy was good, then a blood clot or something like that came loose and took him. I know since then that Keith, who doesn’t talk about it at all, has been pretty quiet. As if all that effort that his friend made was completely useless, so what’s the point?”

“Yeah, that’s how he was when he fell too,” she said.

“I didn’t hear about the fall,” Robin said with a frown.

“No, not many people did. He tried to get into the wheelchair or grab his crutches or something. I’m not sure. He was going to get a coffee for himself, but somehow he ended up falling and hitting his head on the floor, knocking himself out. We don’t think he was out for very long though,” Ilse said. “He was put on bed rest for a couple days, but he should be back up and moving around again now.”

Robin nodded. “And of course he probably asked that nobody tell me about it,” she said in a wry tone. “That would be so him.”

“Well, I hate to say that it’s possible, but it sounds quite probable,” Ilse said.

“Yeah, he doesn’t like anybody fussing over him,” Robin said. “So that’s a warning. If you ever show any pity or try to coddle him, he’ll back off right away.”

“I don’t think I did that,” she said, “but he’s definitely backed off, and I have to admit that I’m kind of angry about it.”

“Good,” Robin said robustly. “Get angry, and let him know that you’re angry. He cuts people out of his life because either they hurt him or he’s afraid they’ll be hurt by him.”

And those words resonated long after Ilse left Robin with the horses. Even for another few days.

When she went in Monday morning, she saw a light on in his room. She stopped, not sure she should say hi or not. But she decided to try it. She knocked on the door lightly.

He looked up and smiled and said, “I haven’t seen you in a week,” he said.

“I wondered if you were pretending to be asleep when I came by,” she said, opting for the truth.

His lids fell closed slightly, confirming her suspicions.

“I’m not sure what I did,” she said lightly, as she moved into the room. “Or why you’ve decided to forgive me and say hi now.”

“I missed you,” he said simply.

At that, her heart melted yet again. “You know how to break apart somebody’s defenses, don’t you?”

He chuckled. “I didn’t realize you had any,” he said. “You’ve always been the sweetest, nicest person, and, well, it’s hard for me to realize just how nice you are versus how not so nice I am.”

She stared at him for a moment, her arms crossing over her chest, and she tapped her foot. “That better not be more self-pity,” she said.

“And why is that?” he asked, his gaze flying to her face.

“Because that’s one of the hardest things for anybody else to deal with. You need to toss that one off and walk away from it.”

“You make it sound so easy,” he said.

“No, it’s not,” she said, “but it’s not impossible. I never think in terms of what somebody can do for me or what somebody has got going that somebody else doesn’t. I don’t make comparisons,” she said. “Obviously something is between us, and we like each other’s company.