Walk for Christmas

Chapter 9

Vincent POV

Mum's cooking is always delicious and easy to chew. I was a little surprised to see Mrs. D cut up Roxy's meat like a child.

Can Roxy not use her hands?

I watched from the corner of my eye, not trying to make it obvious, but Roxy seemed embarrassed and a little annoyed.

All through the meal, she seemed to withdraw more and more.

Ultimately, it was as if she was no longer joining in or being part of the conversation. We all avoided talking about the accident or her family back home.

In the past, she would comment here and there or correct us when she felt we were wrong, laughing at the jokes.

But not today.

Maybe she is just tired.

As if she had read my mind, she excused herself, and Mrs. D took her to her room.

Not long after Grandma took Roxy away, the rest of my family left for home. I waited in the lounge room with Mr. D and talked about the next rodeo and what he wanted me to do before then. We also had a general ranch chat, and neither touched the subject of Roxy. Once Mrs. D returned, they both said goodnight and headed upstairs for the night.

Unable to settle down, I headed to her room, lifted my hand to knock, and stopped when I heard her crying. My heart sank, and I thought I would intrude and embarrass her even further by catching her in tears.

It was hard to do as I was told. I wanted to comfort her, but I had no idea how. She is my friend and neighbor, but Mrs. D said to give her space, and I felt she might need a friend at the moment. I had to fight with what I felt and what Mrs. D suggested.

I will have to wait and see how tomorrow is.

I lay in my room, staring at the ceiling, the moon shining through the open windows, frogs calling out at night, and other night creatures talking. I could not get to sleep. Stacy was in my head again, wondering how she was doing. Did she get what she wanted? I needed to put that girl behind me; sitting up and opening my bedside drawer, I grabbed the black box and flipped it open. It sparkled in the moonlight, so pretty. It was small and delicate like I thought Stacy was, but it turned out she was a viper, and my feelings did not count.

Then my thoughts turned to Roxy and how much she had changed; at the moment, she was small and delicate. I bet she would not toy with me the way Stacy had. If Stacy walked back down my drive and begged forgiveness, would I forgive her? I do not know. She said she never wanted to be a rancher's wife; she was destined for greater things; if she came back, and I took her back, how long before she strayed again?

Would I be willing to be hurt like that again?

I doubt she will be able to hang around for long. I am just a meal ticket until she finds someone else.

No, I would not take her back, not this time.

My thoughts kept bouncing between Stacy and the hurt she left me in and of Roxy and hearing her crying in her room. What that girl is going through right now is worse than having my heart torn apart. She has a long road ahead. I am wondering what is going on in her head; does she remember the accident and is reliving it? I hope not.

The next thing I knew, my alarm was going off. I groaned at being woken already; it felt like I had only just fallen asleep. I stretched out before heading to the shower. I have a lot to do before breakfast, not even a cuppa. It is still dark outside, but the bulls like routine and will expect their food by the time the sun rises. We have some cows carrying calves, and they are due to drop soon, so we will be all hands on deck when that happens. You cannot afford to lose any calves; they are too valuable.

I make it to the stables and pull out the tubs, filling each one with the special feed. The competition bulls get a different feed from the ones left behind. I need to make sure the vet can come over today and check them before we go to the next Rodeo. They need vet checking before I can send them to compete. It gets annoying to keep doing that, but we have no choice. Luckily, the vet is a local who knows the ropes and often comes to ours and this ranch. He is almost part of the family.

I continue doing the morning chores: feeding and cleaning the stalls, checking the pregnant cows, and putting feed out for the ones in the paddocks.

By the time I have done all this, the sun has risen, and I am ready to eat.

My stomach feels like it is eating itself.

I dust off my boots at the door and enter. Roxy is still at the table, eating toast while chatting with Mrs. D. Mr. D is reading the newspaper. He still likes to get it in print and slowly reads it cover to cover.

'Morning.' I greeted no one in particular and grabbed the coffee pot.

'Morning.' Mr. and Mrs. D replied, and Roxy lifted her head and nodded. Good, some things have not changed.

'How did you sleep? That tree by the side of the house, not rubbing? Keep you up all night?' I asked. I had meant to trim it back, but time kept slipping away.

'No, the tree did not bother me. I slept soundly once sleep found me.' I knew what she meant; falling asleep last night had taken a long time.

'Let me know if you need any adjustments in the room. I made guesses about the height of things. It would be easy enough to lift or lower anything to make it easier for you. I just wanted to let you know that.' I offered kindly.

'Actually, there are a few things I would like to change if you have time.' I was stunned, she had responded. I expected her to say all was well even when it was not. The old Roxy would have done exactly that, so the old her is in there somewhere. I just got to draw it out.

'Show me.' Roxy turned her chair around and wheeled herself slowly to her room; you could see she was not yet ready to do too much, and the need to help her and push the wheelchair was strong. It looked that bad, but I knew she would take offense if I did and resisted the urge to help.

I knew with Roxy, you needed to pick your battles.

Allowing her to struggle with her wheelchair was a battle I could not win, and her determination would, no matter what it cost her. She was like this when learning to ride a bull. Only a few females do bull riding, but this girl can ride it as well as I can, though she has never been in a competition. She rides them to train the bulls, and the bulls all love her. They rush to the fence when they see her coming, calling out to her for attention.

'Can you lower my bed about four inches and then in here.' she wheeled herself into the bathroom.

'I fell off this chair last night. Could you put a bench seat in here, along that wall? Like you see in sauna rooms?' She asked. Hearing she had fallen on the floor made me cringe. How did she get back up?'

'Would you like some rails in there too?' I asked, pointing to the wall. I could rig something up, using the bench seat for support.

'If you can. That would be lovely. Also, I need some alarms here. I do not like to bring my phone. There is too much moisture.' I understood what she meant and was sure I could do something.

'What about the bath? Will you be using that?' I thought ladies liked to soak in the bath and shave their legs and that sort of thing.

'Maybe when I get stronger, but I cannot get in on my own, and the thought of getting out when wet. I cannot foresee that happening.' I felt for her. I wish I could do more, but being a guy, there is no way she would let me see her in the shower or bath.

I moved some of the furniture around as she needed, grabbed my tools, and cut some of the height of the bed.

'I need to go to the hardware store to get the right wood for the bathroom. Do you need anything from town while I am there?'

'Yeah, I do. Can I come with you?' What! Really?

'Sure.' I was glad my voice did not show how shocked I was that she wanted to go to town.

'Mrs. D, I am going to the hardware store. Want anything while I am in town?' I called as I headed down the hallway to the front door.

'No, thank you, Dear.' I heard her voice coming from the kitchen.

'I am taking Roxy with me.' I called out as I left the house; I was in time to watch Roxy struggle to wheel her chair down the driveway to my truck.