page. Hold still a second while I fix your sling.” Thom stood still, holding his right arm in place while Ben eased a clean, dry sling into position and secured his arm and shoulder. “Feel okay?”
Thom nodded and Ben finished drying off while Thom started the one-handed process of brushing his teeth.
“Anyway,” Ben picked up the thread of their conversation, “I don’t know how long Dad is planning to stick around Cable’s Bend. I think it might be indefinitely, but I was hoping it would be okay if he stayed here a while longer? Until he figures out what he’s going to do?” He met Thom’s eyes in the mirror and Thom nodded.
“And then there’s Mindy.”
Thom leaned over to spit out a mouthful of toothpaste.
“What about Mindy?” he asked before starting to brush again.
“I want to offer her a job.” Their eyes met in the mirror again and Thom cocked his head to one side, encouraging Ben to go on.
“She’s graduating soon, and there’s not a lot of jobs around here for her. You know how smart she is. If we can keep her challenged, I can see her running the show before long.”
Thom spat out the rest of the toothpaste and rinsed before replying. “So, you’re talking about her staying, too? But her family is right down the road. It’s not like she needs a place to stay.”
“I can’t speak for Mindy, but Steve said he thinks she wants to stay. I’d like to offer her that option, but in the end it’s your decision.”
Thom limped over to the bed and crawled in while Ben brushed his teeth and finished drying off.
“You okay?” Ben asked as he slid under the covers, rolling onto his side to face Thom.
“Just now, when you said it was my decision?”
“Yeah?”
“I feel like my life has been on hold. So much has been going on and I’ve just gotten swept along and I had almost forgotten that it all comes down to my decisions in the end.”
Ben pushed himself up on one elbow and looked down to meet Thom’s eyes. “None of us were trying to take that away from you, I swear.”
“I know.”
“But in those first days, you were unconscious and things had to happen. Then we just all put the priority on getting you well. Maybe we overstepped.”
“No. That’s not what I’m getting at.”
“What, then?”
“At first, I had to let go, and then it was just easier to go with the flow. It’s back to what we talked about earlier – when I was so focused on getting well that I lost track of what was going on with everyone else. Now I’m realizing that it’s time for me to wake up and get my ass in gear.”
“What–”
“Don’t ask what you can do. I’ve got to figure this out myself.”
“You’re right.” Ben rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling.
“I am?”
“Yeah. I was going to ask you that. Steve and I talked about this earlier. He says I try to do too much.”
“Maybe. But we wouldn’t have made it through the last couple of months if you hadn’t.”
“We had a lot of help.”
“Yeah.”
They lay there for a few minutes without speaking. Ben reached down and took Thom’s hand in his, threading their fingers together.
“After the accident, everyone kept calling you my partner.” Thom said at last.
“I was wondering when you’d bring that up.”
“I think it’s the main thing we need to discuss before we can talk about anything else, don’t you? Because if you are – my partner, that is – then it affects every decision that comes after.”
Ben nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
“So, how?”
“It was Uncle Chuck. When we were in the waiting room while you were in surgery. He told Dr. Sterling I was your partner so they’d tell me your condition and let me see you. I didn’t say anything, and then everyone assumed, and here we are.”
“You went with the flow, too, then?”
“I guess so.”
“It wasn’t your decision.”
“But I didn’t deny it. I told Steve the truth, though.”
“What if it had been your decision?”
“I’ve told you how I’ve felt from the very beginning. But it’s not just my decision. It takes both of us to make that decision.”
“So much has happened.”
“Yeah. But if you’re not ready to believe I’m not going anywhere, or if… if maybe you don’t feel the same way I do–”
“Stop. Just… how can you think I wouldn’t believe you at this point?”
Ben raised himself back up on his elbow so he