He coughed out in laughter. “Does a final bill constitute as a party?”
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll get one of those too.”
“My bank account appreciates it.” He shoved a heaping scoop of buffalo chicken dip into his mouth, grinning as he chewed.
Though I’d had my suspicions, Linda had never made it obvious I was her favorite. But that day, there was no mistaking it. She’d gone all out on this little graduation party. The breakroom—which I wasn’t even sure I was allowed to be in—had been covered in banners and balloons. There were cocktail weenies in a crock pot, chips, dips, cookies, you name it. She’d thought of it all. Right down to the delicacy of sherbet floating in a bowl of punch.
There was enough food to feed an army and definitely more than needed for me and the ten employees at Atlanta PT.
“Remi?” she called. “You want another, hon?”
I lifted my overflowing plate in her direction. “Still working on the first round.”
She beamed, her rich auburn hair brushing her shoulders. I could only hope I looked as good as she did when I was in my sixties. She might have only been a volunteer at the PT center, but she was well respected. So when she walked around stacking a second serving on everyone’s plate, not asking for permission or interest, no one said a peep.
It also could have been because the Rice Krispies treats were freaking unbelievable—no one with functioning taste buds and half a brain could have turned her down.
By the time she made it around to me, she had one left and she used her spatula to slide it onto John’s plate. She then lowered her voice. “Don’t worry. I have a whole plate for you in the back to take home. And I swear, child, if you say one word about paying me, I’m going to put you in my will so I’ll have the last word no matter what.”
I laughed. “Okay. Okay. Jeesh. My wallet is sealed. No need to resort to litigation.”
“Smart girl. I have an excellent attorney.” She stood beside me, smiling as she swung her gaze around the room to admire her handiwork.
“You know you didn’t have to do all of this,” I told her.
“Yeah, I did. After everything you’ve been through, this is the least you deserve. I sure am going to miss you, honey.” She sighed and looked at me, emotion welling in her eyes.
“Awwww.” I pulled her into a hug. “I’m gonna miss you too. My waistline isn’t, but I will.”
She giggled and hugged me back. “You still have my number, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then you better promise to use it.” Bracketing my shoulders in her palms, she set me away, her green eyes never leaving mine. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed watching you thrive and reach your goals over the last few months. Honestly, Remi. I don’t know how you do it. It’s inspirational to me. You survived a plane crash and still walked in here every week with a smile on your face.”
John used a blue-and-gold Congratulations Remi napkin to wipe his mouth and then smirked. “Linda, relax. As clumsy as Remi is, she’ll be back in a matter of weeks. Aim for your legs this time. I put a lot of work into those arms and shoulders.”
I shot him a glare, but it held no heat. He was a good guy, and as much as I would not miss our PT sessions when he put me through the wringer, I would miss him.
Linda rolled her eyes. “And this guy never took it easy on you, either, so no one would have blamed you if you’d skipped out a time or twelve. But you handled it all with grace and dignity, bringing joy, and sometimes succulents, to the entire staff. I’m proud of you. But most of all, I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
Damn. Now she was going to make me cry.
“Jesus, Linda. It’s a party. We aren’t supposed to be crying.” I hugged her again.
Truthfully, I was proud of myself too.
There were a lot of days right after the crash when everything had felt impossible. Everyone had told me to take it one day at a time, but that was easy to say when they didn’t have to rely on friends and family for every task. Those first few weeks when Mark had to spoon-feed me every meal and Aaron had to brush my teeth each morning were enough to test any level of friendship.
Don’t get me wrong. I was happy to be alive. Grateful that my head injury hadn’t been worse. And damn near ecstatic that a nurse had told me about a plastic tool they sold on Amazon to scratch underneath my casts.
But getting better and back to the life I loved so much had always been my main focus.
