Keith (Hathaway House #11) - Dale Mayer Page 0,42

back to just float, he saw Shane standing there, looking down at him. “Problem?” he asked.

“No,” Shane said, “not at all. Just glad to see you put more effort into that than you did upstairs.”

“Sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Woman trouble?” Shane asked, his hands on his hips, frowning at him.

“Actually not,” he said. “I was worried because she hadn’t shown up for a few days, but she was there this morning.”

“Well, I know the last couple days she’s been slammed in the kitchen,” he said, “because some of the staff members were out sick.”

“I knew that,” he said, “because she came today.”

“Good,” Shane said, “but after all that I didn’t get anything close to your best efforts, so having her show up again obviously didn’t affect things much.”

“It didn’t. You’re right,” he said. “It just reminds me that, although life is changing, it’s not necessarily changing enough.”

“Explain,” he barked.

“I can’t really explain it, but, even if I wanted to have a relationship with somebody, that somebody is here working all the time,” he said. “I can’t stay here forever obviously, so I’m not sure what solution there is.”

“Well, you’re not going anywhere soon,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to see you leave here for at least another two months.”

He stared at him in surprise. “Do you think I need to be here that much longer?”

“Absolutely,” Shane said. “You’ve come a long way, but it’s just the beginning to get you where you need to be.”

Keith nodded slowly. “Okay,” he said, “I was thinking I would only be here for another couple weeks.”

“I would say eight at the minimum,” Shane said. “It could be closer to twelve if not sixteen. Even once we get you back up to peak performance,” he said, “we have to stabilize all those muscles in that spinal column of yours. We’ll be a long time at it, so spend the time getting to know and to enjoy her. If it’s something that you want to keep up when you’re done and you’re healthy,” he said, “you’ll find a way. Don’t start making problems ahead of time.”

At that, Shane turned and walked away. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, going up to the dining room deck, and said, “And, hey, don’t do so much swimming that you don’t eat.”

“Yes, boss,” Keith said and then laughed. He hadn’t wanted to come to Hathaway House and, even when he’d arrived, he didn’t want to stay. Now he couldn’t stop laughing because he could stay for at least another two to four months. And that was perfect. How far he had come was evidenced by that alone.

Chapter 12

Ilse did take two days off. She really needed them. She was completely burned out, and her crew, now that they were back up and running fully staffed, had everything in hand. She went into town and visited friends, saw a movie, and did some shopping. By the time she came back to work two days later, she couldn’t wait to see if Keith was awake. When she walked into his room, he looked up and laughed.

“This time I asked Dennis, and he said you were off for a couple days.”

She nodded. “Exactly,” she said, “I don’t take enough time off as it is. I did mention it before I left.”

“I know. It just seemed longer. I was wondering how that worked,” he said. “In case I ever get out of this place, and we wanted to spend some time together,” he said, waggling his eyebrows, “how do you make time for that when you’re always here working?”

“I’m here a lot because I don’t have any other life,” she said, laughing. “This has been my whole life for a long time now.”

“When was your last relationship?” he asked.

“Years ago,” she said. “I’ve dated since then, but I haven’t met anybody who I really cared about.”

“Until now,” he nudged.

She chuckled. “Until now,” she agreed. “And it’s hard to say where you’re heading yourself, right?”

“Well, for the first time, I know,” he said. “I spoke with Shane about it a couple days ago, and I guess I’m here for a while yet, which was great news.”

“Oh, wow,” she said. “It’s funny though, most people don’t want to stay here long-term.”

“No,” he said. “And that’s where the problem comes in because, as soon as I do leave, I don’t know how to keep in touch with you.”

“Well, I’m sure we can …” Just then her cell phone beeped. She