Jaden: A Hathaway House Heartwarming Romance Read online

  Jaden

  Hathaway House, Book 10

  Dale Mayer

  Books in This Series:

  Aaron, Book 1

  Brock, Book 2

  Cole, Book 3

  Denton, Book 4

  Elliot, Book 5

  Finn, Book 6

  Gregory, Book 7

  Heath, Book 8

  Iain, Book 9

  Jaden, Book 10

  Keith, Book 11

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  About This Book

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  About Keith

  Author’s Note

  Complimentary Download

  About the Author

  Copyright Page

  About This Book

  Welcome to Hathaway House. Rehab Center. Safe Haven. Second chance at life and love.

  Jaden Hancock is blessed to still have two arms and two legs, but the one leg is so badly damaged as to be virtually useless. Until he came to Hathaway House, he’d never expected that it might become a vital part of his future. He’s willing to work for it, it’s just hard to see the lack of progress even after weeks. He knows he needs to accept his current state, but that feels like giving up. And that’s something he’s not prepared to do. But as defeat, and hope, and depression and final triumph he sees a future he’d never been able to envision before.

  Brianna Kole slowly adjusted to Hathaway House. She’d crossed the country to get away from her old life. As the newest staff member, she was polite but not overly friendly. She’d built walls to protect herself from getting hurt again. Only she’d arrived close to the same time as Jaden and in spite of her reservations they’d hit it off instinctively gravitating to the other new guy. But it wasn’t long before she was questioning her feelings… and his.

  It seems one step forward, then one step backwards. Will these two figure out what’s really important? Before it’s too late?

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  Prologue

  Jaden Hancock stared at the email from his buddy. He typed in a quick response. Is this for real, or are you just full of it? He sent it back just as fast. He watched and waited until he got a reply. Iain had been at Hathaway House for several months now. Jaden had heard a few intermittent responses but nothing major—until this one, where Iain said he was a new man, and life was great. If there was any way Jaden could make it happen, he would be coming to Hathaway House too. But, instead of an email coming in, his phone buzzed. He stared at it in surprise and said, “Iain, is that you?”

  “It is,” said the boisterous voice of his old friend. “And, no, I’m not full of shit. I’ve done a tremendous amount of growth and improvement here. Coming to Hathaway House was the best thing I could have done.”

  “Just because it was good for you doesn’t mean I should do it,” Jaden said cautiously. “I don’t travel well.”

  “Then don’t take a truck, like I did,” Iain urged immediately. “You know how I felt about that. It was the worst mistake ever. It put me back weeks.”

  “Well, I don’t have a whole lot of choice,” he said. “I’m not sure exactly how I would get there, but just traveling alone would probably kill my back.”

  “And I also know that you think this is as far as you can go and that you’ve already adapted and that you’ve already moved on, so why bother? Right? I’m here to tell you that you can go a whole lot further physically.”

  “Says you,” Jaden scoffed.

  “Absolutely, I say so. I’ve got a call in to Lance too because I think both of you in particular could do well here.”

  “Maybe. But just the thought of having new medical staff and of starting all over again, explaining the problems, the difficulties, and the pain …”

  “I get it,” Iain said. “I really do. I just don’t want you to shortchange what could be much improved on a physical level. I’ll send you some photos here in a minute. Of course they’re not terribly pretty, but they show the progress on my leg. And it exceeds the progress as we were told to expect.”

  “Sure, but you had surgery. You’ve had lots of improvements. You’re as good as you’ll get.”

  “No, that’s the mentality from where you’re at,” Iain said quietly. “I’m at a much further place.”

  “So, does that mean you’re done with rehab now?”

  “No, not quite,” he said, “but I can see the end in sight.”

  “You certainly sound different,” Jaden said with a frown. His buddy really did sound good, healthy, happy. He sounded like he was a completely new person. “What brought that about?”

  “A lot of things,” Iain admitted. “A partner for one. My physical health back for another. My future. All of those things are dead important.”

  “Did you land a partner?” Jaden sagged in his wheelchair in a daze. “I thought you figured that would never happen?”

  “And I figured wrong,” Iain said firmly. “Along with my mind-set, I needed to shift a lot. And sometimes, when you’re stuck in the same place, you just don’t see how different some other place can be.”

  “It’s not so bad here.”

  “You want to stay there?”

  “No,” Jaden said, looking around. “It’s pretty damn crowded, and it’s starting to look like we’re all the same.”

  “So come here,” Iain urged. “Try something different.”

  “How different?” Jaden asked. He stared down at his hands and wondered what happened to the big, stalwart, and strapping young man he’d been, up for any new adventure possible. Ever since he’d been injured, his world had coalesced into this little tiny circle around him.

  In a way, it was how he liked it. It was safe. The thought of moving to a new state, moving to a whole new medical team where he’d have to be reinterviewed and reexamined and poked and prodded all over again was enough to make the bile rise up the back of his throat and to give an instinctive and immediate no to the plan. But he also knew that Iain had been in a very similar position as Jaden. And, if Iain had had progress, what were the chances of progress for Jaden?

  Then he shook his head. No, there wouldn’t be any because this was definitely a case of where was no progress available for Jaden. He’d already become as good as he could get. He wouldn’t get any better, even if here—or there—a little bit longer.

  While he listened, Iain talked about the food and the pool and the people and the animals. Jaden was more than a little shocked. When he finally put down the phone at the end of their conversation, Jaden stared out the window. He was sitting in a large lounge, and about twelve of them were watching a football game on TV. All of their wheelchairs were lined up, like geriatric patients. People had gotten into the same mind-set here, and that’s what he understood now that Iain had seen for himself in places like this.

  Jaden had become part of the norm, and that norm became his reality, and anything else looked scary and different and impossible to achieve. He wheeled himself back ever-so-slightly, distancing himself a little bit, to see just what was possible.

  When his phone buzzed again, he looked down to see images of Iain’s leg—the original leg, which he’d certainly seen right after his buddy’s surgery. That hamburger blue-black and red gross-looking thing was supposed to be a leg,
and then several more photos popped up, showing the improvements. Jaden stared in surprise. Of course his own leg would heal naturally anyway, and it would look a whole lot better with time, even if he stayed here. But when he got to the next picture of Iain’s leg, where it showed a strong and fit, heavily muscled leg, followed then by the picture of Iain himself standing on a prosthetic, with no wheelchair or crutches, and a beautiful woman at his side, Jaden’s heart lurched.

  Damn, he badly wanted something like that for himself. His one good leg was okay. As for his other leg, the doctors had managed to save it, but it was a facsimile of the hamburger that Iain had started with. But just to think that maybe Jaden wouldn’t need crutches or a wheelchair down the road? That would be incredible.

  He stared at the wheelchair in the first picture of Iain’s leg for a long moment. And then, with determination, Jaden headed back to his room. Somewhere online had to be an application or a phone number that he could call and see about getting in that same center. He sent his buddy a text. Put in a good word for me, he said. If there’s a space, I really want my name on that next available bed.

  It’s as good as done came back the instant response. Now, phone them, and then send in your application with whatever medical documents they need. You won’t regret it. I can promise you that.

  Chapter 1

  The trip had been brutal, but Jaden was here. At least he would be, as soon as he got checked in and out of this front reception area. People were coming and going, and for some reason he hadn’t expected this much movement inside. A huge orderly was behind him and patiently stood to the side as a group wandered outside. Jaden looked around the reception area. Offices were on the left, and great big hallways headed off in two directions, with him sitting at the right-hand corner. A woman stepped out of one of the offices and smiled at him. He looked up and frowned.

  “I’m Dani Hathaway,” she said, as she reached out a hand.

  His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Hi,” he said. “Thank you for accepting me.”

  She nodded with a big smile. “I have to admit that Iain gave you a great reference.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “He gave you a really big reference too.”

  “I have your Hathaway House introductory packet here,” she said. “Let’s get you settled into your room.”

  She led the way down the hallway, and he followed, only because the orderly behind him was pushing. Jaden wasn’t sure he was up for much more than that. The pain in his right shoulder was agonizing, and he was leaning away from it by constantly slouching in the wheelchair. He had been told before how that wasn’t a good thing, but it’s pretty hard not to favor his right side.

  “Let me tell you a little bit about how the process here works,” she said.

  He listened intently, accepting the Welcome folder and iPad as they walked. He’d heard some about this from Iain, and so Jaden understood a full team would look after him, and everybody would come to see him after he’d procured his room.

  When he had told Iain the good news, Iain had spent hours on the phone with him, filling him in on how the system worked. But that wasn’t the same thing as actually being here and seeing it for himself. When they got to one of the rooms, she pushed open a door, and he was wheeled inside, noting a large comfortable-looking bed and all the overhead equipment that went with anybody who was physically disabled.

  He stared and studied the bars. “One day, I’d rather not have those there.”

  “When you leave here,” she said, still smiling, “it’s our hope that we don’t have to worry about getting any of this installed in your future home.”

  He looked at her in surprise and then slowly nodded. He didn’t say what was in the back of his mind, which was that he never really expected to return to independent living. He’d been living in the VA system for so long that he forgot another world was out there.

  This was a new world.

  He wheeled himself slowly to the window, almost floor to ceiling, low enough that he saw out, even in his wheelchair. “Green grass and horses,” he murmured. But his eye caught a great big Newfoundlander dog, walking beside a man. And the dog, although it only had three legs, didn’t appear to be impeded at all. “And injured animals,” he muttered. He shook his head. “You’ve put together quite a place.”

  She smiled a warm all-embracing smile that had him settling back and relaxing that much more. “It’s been a labor of love,” she admitted. “My father was in a similar situation to you and was not getting the help he needed. We decided that we had to do it ourselves then.”

  “This all came out of helping your father?” he asked in astonishment.

  She smiled and nodded. “That’s exactly what happened. And, once you start down that pathway, there’s no option to get off. It was a merry-go-round for a long time. Now, it’s as well-run a business as we can possibly make it.”

  He placed his tablet on the nearby nightstand, and Jaden realized that the orderly who had brought him in had long gone.

  Dani asked, “Is there anything else you could use right now?”

  He groaned and said, “Honestly, I’d like to get out of this chair and up on that bed. And I’m not sure when meals are delivered.” But then he stopped and frowned. “Or do I have to get my own?”

  “Not today, you don’t,” she said. “And, in fact, not any day, if you’re not able.”

  Just hearing that last word had his back stiffening.

  “After a long trip, we don’t expect anybody to make it down there on their own. However, if you would like to get a tour, I’d be happy to take you.” He hesitated, then there was a bang on the door. And in walked Iain, a great big grin on his face. Dani smiled and said, “Or I’ll let Iain take you for a tour.”

  “That sounds great, thanks very much” Jaden muttered as Dani turned and walked away, but he was in shock. Iain looked robust and healthy. Jaden stared at his buddy and shook his head. “My God, look at you.”

  “I know,” Iain said. “And I look at you, and I see how far I’ve come because, when I arrived, I was the same as you. So, you take a look at how I am right now and know that this is possible.”

  Jaden was too dazed to even come back with a joke, but it was almost impossible to envision that much progress in his own body. He slowly shook his head.

  Iain said, “Let’s go for a ride.”

  “Okay,” Jaden said, “but I can’t handle too much.”

  “A cup of coffee out in the sun? A bite to eat? Ice cream?”

  “All of the above,” he said with a smile. “I might manage that long.”

  “If the wheelchair is too uncomfortable,” Iain said, “we can get you some pillows too.”

  At Jaden’s headshake, his buddy pushed Jaden down the long hallway that he had seen from the front entrance and now his doorway and then turned a corner, where a large open game room area was. Jaden saw dozens of men in various stages of recovery. This looked more like what he was used to, but Iain kept pushing him forward to a huge dining room cafeteria.

  As he took him up to the front, Iain said, “You would probably do well not to eat yet because dinner is in about an hour, but we can do coffee and something right now.”

  Jaden’s stomach grumbled, but he also knew that his stomach was pretty touchy. If he ate too much rich food at one time, he would pay for it.

  “Hey, Dennis,” Iain said to a huge man on the other side of the cafeteria line.

  “Hey. How you doing, Iain. New guy, huh?”

  Iain quickly made the introductions. Dennis leaned on the counter and reached over to shake Jaden’s hand. “Welcome to Hathaway,” he said. “You’ll love it here.”

  Jaden was already finding it different and unique, especially having this level of personableness. He smiled and said, “Apparently dinner is coming up. Is that true?”

  Dennis nodded and said, “We’ll start serving in about an hour and twenty minutes. If you’re hungry right now, let me know. Otherwise we’ve got coffee and so
me stuff over here.” And he led the way to the coolers, where bottles of juice and milk and water were. When here, he said, “We always have hot coffee, hot tea, and boiled water. You can have soup, noodles, and anything along that line if you want it at any time. Plus, in this display case,” he said, “we’ve always got muffins and cookies and cakes. Something is around at any time. But, if you’re hungry for breakfast, lunch, or dinner outside normal mealtime hours, just let me know, and I’ll get you something.”

  Jaden smiled, shook his head, and said, “Coffee right now would be lovely.” Then he paused and pointed at Iain. “He did mention ice cream though.”

  Iain gave a big laugh. “Dennis, you got any ice cream left?”

  “What do you guys want? Bars or a cone?”

  “A cone would be good,” he said.

  Dennis grinned and said, “Go on outside with your coffees. I’ll bring them.” And he disappeared into the back.

  And, with the coffee carried by Iain, the two of them slowly worked their way outside to where more tables were. And then Jaden realized that the whole back wall to the dining room opened up to a deck. “Wow,” he said. “So, we can sit outside?”

  “That’s why the tables are here,” he said. “I sit out here quite a bit. But you’ve got to watch the afternoon sun. It can be brutal.” As it was, today was an overcast day. It was still hot, but they found a table partially in the shade. It would take Jaden a bit to adjust to the Texas heat.

  “You really are happy you came?” Jaden asked Iain.

  “I am, indeed,” Iain said. “Now I feel normal again. I don’t feel like I’m disabled.”

  At that, Jaden dropped his gaze to his cup and nodded.

  “Hey, I understand,” Iain said, leaning forward. “I really do. When I got here, I wasn’t in very good shape. I was stubborn, prideful, and I needed to understand that it was up to me.”

  “Got it,” he said. He smiled as he looked around. “And what’s this about a girlfriend?”