“Yep. Always has. I suspect she always will.”
“Makes sense.”
He bristled. “What makes sense?”
“Why you aren’t put off by strong women.”
That comment came completely out of left field. And it made him bristle even more. Like Dash thought that he didn’t have the smarts to know when to stand up for himself?
Hayden said, “I know what we need to do first.”
Kane was grateful for a chance to focus on something besides what Ginger’s dad thought of him—which apparently wasn’t much.
After the van door opened and the mechanical platform was on the ground, Dash could roll himself onto it. Then Kane just hit a switch to load man and chair inside the van. Impressive, how slick the whole set up worked. Must’ve cost a pretty penny, but it was worth it since it kept Dash from being totally housebound.
At the community center, they unloaded in the handicapped zone. Kane hadn’t realized how tight the fit was between parking places for a mechanized wheelchair platform. Despite Dash’s insistence he could maneuver himself into the gymnasium, Kane wheeled Dash inside, Hayden loping alongside them. When people called out to Dash, Kane wondered if Dash’s insistence about handling himself was a smokescreen: maybe Dash was embarrassed to be seen with him.
“Hey, look! There’s the signup sheet for the halftime race,” Hayden said.
“Let’s get you on the list.” Kane spoke to Dash. “You wanna wait here until we’re done so we can find seats?”
“I have to stay in the handicapped section on the main floor. You two go on, I’ll be fine on my own.”
“But Grandpa, I wanna sit with you.”
Dash looked at Kane briefly, then back at his grandson. “We can sit in the same vicinity, but the handicapped section is small. If you sit by me, that means someone in a wheelchair won’t have a seat.”
Dash set his twisted hand on Hayden’s shoulder. “Go sign up. Hayden raced to the table. Dash glanced at someone behind Kane and muttered, “Crap.”
“Why, Dash Paulson. Long time no see.”
Kane recognized his cousin Keely’s voice and turned around.
She squealed, “Kane! I hoped you’d be here.” She hugged him effusively and punched him in the stomach.
“Hey, what was that for?”
“For not inviting me to the last McKay poker game. You macho guys were just pissed because I handed you your collective asses last time.”
“I seem to recall you bein’ out of town.” His eyes narrowed on his only female McKay cousin. Circles darkened the pale skin beneath her tired eyes. Her sunny smile seemed a tad forced. “Whatcha been doin’?”
“Workin’, workin’, and more workin’.” She sighed. “I was coming to this basketball game to support my lamebrain brother Colt, but he backed out at the last minute.”
Kane said, “That’s too bad,” without any disappointment.
Keely ignored his sarcastic reply and invaded Dash’s personal space. “So Mr. Paulson…happy as I am to see you out and about, you wanna tell me why you’ve been ditching our physical therapy sessions?”
Dash scowled at Keely. “They’re pointless. I’m never getting out of this chair.”
“Probably not. But you don’t want to lose what strength and agility you have now, do you?”
“No.”
“Does Ginger know you’re skipping class?”
Another grimace. “No. I also know you can’t tell her because of patient confidentiality, so you’d best be keeping this to yourself, missy.”
“Mr. Paulson, we both know there are ways around those pesky rules. So if you don’t show…”
“I’ll show,” he grumbled.
“Excellent.” Keely rubbed her hands together with utter glee. “Fair warning. Wednesday is gonna suck. I’m putting you through the wringer. See you then.” She gave him a finger wave and a haughty grin before she whirled on her boot heel and vanished into the crowd.
Dash pointed at Kane. “Not a word to my daughter about this business.”
“You have my word. But I agree with Keely. And I’ve seen firsthand how much her therapy has benefited my cousin Cam. Think about that.”
Kane wandered off in search of Hayden. They found two seats in the lower bleacher section. Kane kept Hayden’s junk food intake to a grape snow cone and a box of red licorice. With the kid’s food allergies, he was careful to stick to the tried and true. The guilt would eat him alive if Hayden got sick on his watch.
At halftime, Kane headed down to the main floor and crouched beside Dash as Hayden participated in the footrace.
Hayden finished third. Kane snapped a couple of pictures of the ceremony and the green ribbon with his cell phone and sent it to Ginger.
Near the end of the third quarter, he saw the back of Dash’s wheelchair as he exited the gym. He and Hayden followed.
Dash was parked outside the restroom, wearing a scowl.
“Is everything all right?”
Two spots of color dotted the man’s sallow cheeks. “I need to use the facilities but this handicapped bathroom isn’t conducive to my needs.”
Kane scratched his head. “How about if you repeat that in plain English?”
“This particular bathroom is impossible for me to use.”
“Do you need help?”
The muscle in Dash’s jaw tightened. “No. That’s not the issue.”
Like hell that wasn’t the issue. Like father like daughter. Neither one wanted to accept his help.
Rather than snap, or embarrass the man, or point out the obvious, Kane said, “Fine. Let’s get you back home.”
“I thought you’d prefer to stay until the end of the game.”
“In the future, maybe it’d be better if you asked my plans instead of assuming they’ll conflict with yours.”
Dash had no response.
Kane buttoned his sheepskin coat and slipped on his gloves. “Everyone ready to go?”
“Wait a sec. I gotta say goodbye to someone.” Hayden raced off and ducked beneath the bleachers.
The silence between him and Dash was decidedly chilly and didn’t owe a damn thing to the frigid temperatures outside.
“McKay, I apologize. I can be a bit of a curmudgeon sometimes.”
At least the members of the Paulson family didn’t have a problem admitting when they were wrong.
“I understand. We’re cool. Know what’s funny? My mama used that same word to describe my grandpa. Course, me’n Kade thought it meant mean.”