“That’s a fair point.” Arrow rubbed the scruff on his chin in mock thoughtfulness. He turned and began leading them down the walkway again.
She wrapped her arms around herself as they walked and tried to think of what to say next. She felt vulnerable enough already.
“Is this creep somebody that needs to be taken care of?” Arrow said suddenly as they began passing under a cluster of trees that had an unusual amount of leaves still attached to their branches.
“I don’t know.” She said honestly. “He seemed to give up once I talked to him. It was odd because nobody generally cared about what I felt at work. I’m not sure I really had any friends.” Harmony allowed herself to feel the sadness that this introspection created. “I’m too plain. Too basic. Everybody else I worked with had vibrant wardrobes, interesting sexualities, colorful races, and interesting hobbies. I was just…me.”
“What things do you like?”
Harmony thought a moment and said, “My dog. Watching TV. Earth tones. Tea. Men.” She glanced over to see how this would be received.
Arrow seemed oblivious. “You sound pretty interesting and well-adjusted to me.”
Her heart fluttered in her chest as the perfectly normal statement landed. “Could we go in?” She asked suddenly. She didn’t want their conversation to end but she was beginning to feel the chill in her toes and couldn’t walk much further.
“Of course.” He led her back up to the main house and when they were in the foyer she expected him to head back up to his room, but then he said, “So, where can we go to keep talking?”
And that’s when she completely fell for him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
DURING THE DAY, it was difficult to locate Zion or Rachel due to the flurry of activity going on at the rehab center. That meant that any microchip research was reserved for evenings. During the day Pat, Harmony, Clive, and Arrow were like any other volunteer at the center. They cleaned bathrooms, cooked meals, and prepared classrooms for lessons among other things.
They also were all assigned to a special project involving freshening up one of the storage buildings in preparation for remodeling. This included taking out trash and debris, scrubbing the dirt-covered surfaces, removing the items in storage, and painting. Harmony immediately grabbed the broom because this was something she knew how to do and it would take a long time to complete.
“Yikes.” Arrow said as he looked around the place bright and early on Friday morning. “Zion wasn’t kidding.”
Harmony couldn’t help but notice that Arrow was looking much healthier in clean jeans, a yellow plaid flannel shirt, and boots.
“Glad to have you back, brother.” Clive said heartily as he clapped Arrow on the shoulder. “And we’re ministering to their family. This is the Lord’s work.”
“I think you mean doing the stuff they didn’t want to do.” Arrow said sarcastically.
Harmony caught a glimpse of Pat and the corner of his mouth jerked into a smirk. In his own quiet way, he appeared to be agreeing with Arrow’s assessment.
“They’ve done so much for us. This is the least we can do for them.” Clive said, continuing to hold firm on his pious attitude about hard work.
“Have you done an ounce of manual labor your whole life?” Arrow demanded.
Clive didn’t answer immediately, but instead turned his head away from the group to appear as though he was surveying the work that needed to be done. “I did work for a summer at my grandfather’s farm one year.”
“Uh-huh…” Arrow said skeptically. “Dressing the cows in fashionable boating outfits?” Pat snorted then and put a bony hand over his wide grin.
Clive’s face, which had previously been expressing the feelings of a resigned martyr, now shifted to aggravation as he turned back to Arrow. “No! I helped with planting and harvesting and feeding the animals.”
“C’mon, boys.” Harmony said exasperated, but she secretly liked to watch people gang up on Clive. It was clear that the doctor wasn’t used to being the butt of jokes. “We have a lot of work to do and it won’t get done at this rate.”
“Harmony’s right.” Arrow admitted and she glowed at the praise. She wasn’t used to being “right”. Everything about her was considered “wrong” in the circles she ran in.
“I’ll paint.” Pat said simply and went to the supply closet where the paint supplies were housed.
“I guess that leaves us to do the heavy lifting, Doc.” Arrow said and Clive’s attitude worsened.
“How much do we have to clean out?” Dr. Evers asked.
“Put your big boy britches on and follow me.” Arrow winked at Harmony and turned to lead Clive through his first day doing manual labor as an adult.
“I have to be careful. My hands are what make me a good surgeon.” Clive’s voice echoed as the pair of them walked to the opposite side of the building from where Harmony was working.
Arrow was such a different person when he wasn’t drinking. The apathetic and cranky person he was when they first met wasn’t even close to the sober version. His eyes were bright with the gleam of a joke and his movements were strong and deliberate. She continued to glance over at the men as they worked and was amused to see how all of them worked together.
Pat was content to be alone and painted the walls immediately despite the lack of painter’s tape or drop cloths. He seemed eager to just work and not be disturbed. Arrow was all about following a strategic plan to get all the objects from point A to point B and was getting very aggravated with Clive’s deliberate caution to protect his hands and physical appearance.
“Just lift from the bottom. There is a gap down there where you can really grip the desk.” Arrow instructed.
“I’m not sure I can lift it.”
“It’s light.”
“But it’s awkward.”
THUD!
Harmony whipped around and saw that Clive had dropped his end of the desk down on the ground and a long crack ran up the side of the thin particle board that the desk was made of. It was a cheap desk, but the look on Arrow’s face was frustration and disgust.
“Little Miss Priss…you broke the desk.”
“I told you I wasn’t able to lift it.” Clive said defensively.
