It was perfect. It was hers.
She didn’t realize she had reached out again until Bert’s hand wrapped around hers in a steadying grip. Looking up, she reveled in his warm smile.
“What do you think?” She suddenly wanted to know his opinion.
“The question is, what do you think?” he replied.
“I love it,” she said, surprised that her voice was breathy and not her usual confident tone. Her gaze still searched his, wanting his reaction.
He knelt so they were eye to eye. “I do, too, Mary. I’m really happy for you to have this place.”
She looked down to see his hand still enveloping hers. Sucking in a deep breath, she turned to Carol. “It’s perfect.”
Moving day arrived on a bright Saturday, and Mary pulled up to the house to find the entire team already there. Trucks and SUVs filled the driveway and lined the street. They had picked up her furniture earlier and were now unloading everything from her apartment.
Bert directed the others after speaking with her about where to place the furniture. Sisco and Devlin were arguing good-naturedly about the best way to carry her couch. Frazier and Dalton were hauling boxes with easy efficiency, while Todd and Timothy wrestled with her dresser.
Casper moved silently with a stack of carefully balanced boxes, and Cory was helping Cole maneuver her bed frame through the front door. Landon and Sadie were working together to unload kitchen items, and Sadie called out a greeting when she spotted Mary.
But it was Bert who immediately came to her van, opening the door with a smile that made her pulse skip.
“Welcome home,” he said simply.
Mary felt tears prick her eyes. She’d lived comfortably in the apartment for several months, but this was different. This was permanent. This was really, truly home.
“Thank you,” she managed. “All of you. This is incredible.”
“This is nothing,” Sisco called from the front door. “Wait until you see how fast we can get you unpacked. Military efficiency at its finest!”
The next few hours were controlled chaos. Mary directed where the furniture should go, and the Keepers moved everything with impressive speed and coordination. They worked well together, anticipating each other’s movements, communicating with the kind of shorthand that came from training and trust.
Mary watched them transform her empty house into a home, and her chest felt tight with gratitude and something deeper. These people had become her family over the past year. They’d accepted her, respected her, and made her feel like she belonged in a way she hadn’t felt since before the accident.
By late afternoon, all the major furniture was in place, and most of the boxes were unpacked. Mary had ordered pizzas from the best place in town, and they gathered on the back deck, sprawled on the new outdoor furniture she’d bought, and ate directly on paper plates so she would have nothing to clean up later.
The sun was warm, and the conversation flowed easily. This was what Mary had missed most after her injury. Not the physical abilities she’d lost, though those hurt. But the camaraderie, the easy companionship of people who understood each other, who’d been through things together and come out stronger.
“I can’t thank you all enough. I could have hired movers, but I would have felt awkward with a bunch of men in my house who I don’t know.” She shrugged. “There are always stares and uncomfortably pitiful looks sent my way.”
“So, Mary,” Timothy said, finishing his second slice and reaching for a third. “Can I ask about your van?”
“Sure, you can ask anything you want.”
“I was just wondering how long it took you to learn how to operate it.”
The question hung in the air, and Mary felt everyone’s attention shift to her. If she wasn’t mistaken, Bert bristled as he sat beside her. The Keepers knew she’d been in a car accident, but she’d never offered any specifics, nor had anyone asked.
But Timothy’s question brought up so much more than just learning to drive a vehicle that was adapted for someone who couldn’t press the pedals with their legs. Looking around, she acknowledged these were her friends. Her team. And she wanted to give them the truth.
She set down her pizza and took a breath. “I’ve never really talked to you all about what happened, but I know you know it was a car accident. It was several years ago. I was on the Navy base. Had left work and was heading to my quarters. I had a cute apartment off base that I shared with two other women, also in the Navy. A young man, distracted by his cell phone, ran through a red light. He T-boned me on the driver’s side.”
The memories came back with painful clarity, but she pushed through. She was aware of how quiet everyone had become, how still. Even Devlin had stopped eating.
“The firefighters had to cut me out,” Mary continued, her voice steady despite the way her hands wanted to shake. “I was unconscious for most of it. But I remember waking, and I couldn’t feel my legs.” She swallowed hard. “I had to look down to see if they had been amputated.”
“Jesus,” Devlin cursed.
“Fucking hell,” came the curses from several others.