as a physical therapist here at Mercy Heights. Reese told me what happened to your nephew. I’m real sorry.”
“Yah … ah, thanks.” Caleb had no idea what he was thanking this man for. His concern, he supposed. He felt a nudge of familiarity when he looked at Leroy and heard a certain cadence in his voice. Leroy Hershberger had what Caleb considered an easy face. Everything was out there, for all the world to see. It was a face that held no secrets. An honest face.
“Leroy’s my neighbor,” Reese explained. “We live in the same building, six and a half blocks down the street.”
“You’re going to need a place to stay while your nephew is in the hospital,” Leroy said. “Reese tells me you’re from Amish country, so I thought a home stay might work better than a hotel. I’ve got a spare room at my place.”
“I couldn’t impose,” Caleb said, though he was touched by the man’s kindness.
“It’s not an imposition,” Leroy said.
“But if Jonah needs me—”
“We’ll get you a cell phone so you can always be in touch.”
The offer was tempting, but Caleb shook his head. “I need to be close to Jonah.”
“You have to stay somewhere,” Reese insisted, “and like I said before, you won’t do him much good if you don’t take care of yourself. But it’s up to you, of course. You do realize the hospital isn’t going to let you live here.”
Caleb did understand that he couldn’t very well keep sleeping in his clothes and washing up in the men’s room with thin pink soap and paper towels. “Obliged to you,” he said.
“I’m happy to help.” Leroy really seemed to mean it.
Caleb looked from one to the other. “Somehow I have the feeling not everyone gets this treatment.”
“You’re right about that,” Leroy said. “There are hotels nearby for patients’ families. But Reese here—she said you were special.”
Caleb glanced at her and was amazed to see that her cheeks had turned bright red with a blush.
“And by special,” Leroy said easily in Deitsch, the German dialect, “I mean she might be sweet on you, but don’t let on I told you that.”
A short laugh burst from Caleb. “I knew there was something about you, Leroy Hershberger.”
Reese looked from one to the other. “It’s like you’re in some secret club.”
“Like a cult?” asked Leroy.
Caleb laughed again. It felt good to laugh, ever so briefly, in the midst of everything. And it felt entirely strange to hear Leroy say the beauteous and exotic Reese Powell was sweet on him. Like a hoax. And a stupid one at that.
“We’ll be heading home in about an hour,” she said. “Why don’t you check on Jonah and let him know the plan.”
When Caleb got back upstairs, Jonah was awake and reading a book in the cranked-up bed. “There’s a guy who’s invited me to stay with him while you’re laid up,” Caleb told him. “He’s ex-Amish.”
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