When I go back to therapy on Thursday, I find that I've actually missed it, and I'm excited to see Fern. "Hey, Sarah, how's it going today? I hope you're feeling better," she quips as she walks into the therapy gym.

"Oh, yes, thank you," I respond to Fern's question, feeling slightly guilty about fibbing to her. "I must have had a little bug or something. It wiped me out for a few days, but now I'm good as new. Well, almost!" I laugh, pointing to my prosthetic leg.

"You are doing better than most when it comes to recovering from an accident like yours!" Fern gushes. "Well, what should we work on today?"

"First, can I ask your opinion about something?" I ask.

"Of course," Fern answers.

"Well, Ethan and I have our first official date this Saturday." Fern's face lights up when she hears that. "I'm not really ready to show off my new look, you know," I say, gesturing to my fake leg again.

"I knew it! I knew he'd win you over! I'm so happy for you!" Fern begins. "Let me think...hmm, what about wearing a pair of dressy slacks?"

"I wore a nice pair last weekend when I went out with him-"

"You said your first date is this weekend," Fern interrupts.

"Well, that was unofficial," I shrug. "We went out with his family."

She looks thoroughly confused, so I tell her about the art contest and that Ethan won first prize. I figured I'd save the anecdote about meeting his sister for some other time. I pulled up a picture of the painting on my phone to show her.

"Whoa, that is so awesome!" She says in a low, slow tone of voice. "He painted that for you?"

My heart fluttered in acknowledgment as I nodded. "So anyway, I don't want to wear the same outfit again."

She agrees to give it some thought and we get started with some balance and strengthening exercises. The session goes by fast as we chat happily about my budding relationship with Ethan.

When we finish, Fern asks, "I was thinking, would you want to go shopping with me? I can help you pick out something to wear this weekend."

I'm taken aback, but pleasantly so, by Fern's invitation. I never thought she'd view me as a friend, but I like the idea. We've hit it off well, so I think it would be fun. "Sure, that would be great. What time do you get off of work?"

"My last appointment is at 3:00, so I should be done at 4:00."

"Okay, I'll have my mom drop me back off here. Can we take your car? I'm not exactly in a position to drive just yet," I chuckle.

"You will, probably when you get your permanent leg. You have such a great attitude," Fern assures me. "Yeah, we can take my car. I'll see you at 4:00."

As my mom and I head out, I ask if she can take me back into town at 4:00. "I can find out if Fern can drop me off at Ethan's afterward, and maybe he can drive me home."

"I have to go back to school this afternoon, but I was planning to go in around 2:00," she informs me. "Is that okay?"

"Um, yeah," I tell her. "I'm sure I can just hang out at the clinic until Fern gets done."

"For two hours? Are you sure?" My mom looks a little worried.

"I'll text Ethan, but I'm sure it won't be a problem," I tell her.

When I arrive at the clinic, the receptionist, Lia, the receptionist, looks surprised. "Oh, hi again, Sarah. Did you forget something?"

"Oh, no, I'm just here to wait for Fern. And to say hi to Ethan," I say, blushing slightly. As if on cue, Ethan walks through the door and kisses my cheek. Lia nods in understanding, with a grin on her face.

"I got your text. You can hang out in my office if you'd like. It's a little more private and a lot more comfortable." I have to agree with him because I've been in his office. He has a small but plush loveseat, a mini fridge, and a TV. I doubt he has any time to actually enjoy the space, but I'm happy to take advantage of it. I settle down in the loveseat and Ethan joins me for a moment, kissing me a little more passionately now that we're behind closed doors.

"I could get used to this," he teases me.

"What?" I giggle.

"Having you waiting in my office so that whenever I get a break, I can come in and kiss your lips." With another swift kiss, he gets up quickly and says, "I have another appointment." He waves as he closes the door behind him.

After I've spent time listening to music and surfing the web on my phone, a small bookshelf behind Ethan's desk catches my attention. I walk over and find a miniature photo album. On the front is a beautiful young woman with blond waves cascading over her shoulders. She's holding a baby who looks to be about six months old.

Ethan, March 1989 is scrawled across the top of the picture.

I smile in recognition of his blue eyes and ruddy cheeks, so obvious even when he was a baby. I open the album expecting to find more baby pictures, but there are mostly pictures of the blonde woman, his mother. I'm surprised at this point to realize that I hadn't seen any pictures of her before. I carefully leaf through the pages, seeing the joy on her face as she interacts with her small children. They're very simple pictures, not posed for the most part. There's a picture of her in the kitchen, alongside a young Ethan and a tiny Jessica. Ethan's face and apron are covered in flour; Jessica is sitting on the floor with a large mixing bowl in front of her; Ethan's mom is looking at them lovingly, laughing. A tear forms in my eye as I think about the mom that Ethan and his family have been missing. I'm sad to think that I'll never meet her; I'll never know the woman who helped to form Ethan into the incredible man that he is.

As another tear escapes, Ethan enters the office again and stops suddenly. I look up and tell him, "She was a beautiful woman."

"Yes, she was," he smiles. "And she would have loved you, Sarah." He leans over to give me kiss on the forehead.

A moment later, Fern's face appears in the doorway. "Are you ready?"

"Yup! Oh, Ethan," I turn back toward him. "Is it okay if Fern drops me off at your house when we're done, so she doesn't have to take me all the way back to Charlotte? You can take me home, right?" I ask with a wink.

"Oh, I see how it is," he teases. "I'm just the chauffeur now."

"Yes, and you're a very handsome one at that," I grin, giving him a small wave as we walk out the door.

Fern and I park in front of the Lansing Mall and head straight into the food court. "I'm starving!" I tell her and she agrees. We find some fast Chinese food and dig in.

It's enjoyable getting to know Fern. She grew up in the Upper Peninsula, but she came to Lansing to attend college and found a job here. She came from a large family similar to Ethan's so she felt right at home working for Broadwell Physical Therapy.

As soon as we've inhaled our food, we head to Macy's. Fern heads toward the dresses and skirts and I protest. "Fern, I really don't want to wear a dress!" I whine. But she moves purposefully without changing her direction. She stops at a display of maxi skirts.

"Why didn't I think of that?" I exclaim. "I don't know, but I think any one of these styles would look fabulous on you. And hey, since you have your very own physical therapist slash shopping consultant, I can help you pick out some shoes that will work with your prosthesis, too!"

I give her a spontaneous hug. "Thanks!"

We select several maxi skirts with dressy tops, but after trying on every single one of them, I am discouraged. Nothing meets my expectations. We return to the racks and then back to the dressing rooms, only to come up with the same result. I'm not happy with anything I try on, even though Fern seems to like many of the combinations.

"Maybe I'll just have to resort to a new blouse to go with my slacks from last weekend."

"Okay," Fern agrees. "Let's go look."

But as we head back through the juniors section, a long dress catches my eye. I pull it off the rack. "Fern?"

"Yes!" She squeals when she lays her eyes on the halter style dress. It's mint green with brown designs and a wide brown waistband. It's a cool and lightweight rayon, so it will be perfect for a summer wedding. "Let's go and try it on!"

As soon as I have the dress slipped over my body, I throw the door open. Fern responds with another uncharacteristic squeal. "Yes! That's the one!"

"I love it," I admit to her. "Now we just have to find some shoes."

We easily find a pair of comfortable brown flats that fit my prosthesis and provide enough support for me. We pick out some jewelry to match and we're on our way.

"Thank you so much, Fern. I'm glad you suggested this. I had a great time, and I'm glad you think of me as a friend. It means a lot to me."

"Me, too," she smiles. She leans over to give me a friendly hug after we've pulled into Ethan's driveway.

"See you next week," I smile and wave as I exit the car.

I trudge up to Ethan's door with my purchases in hand. He swings the door wide open before I have a chance to knock. "Are you ready, Mr. Chauffeur?" I tease him.

"No," he smiles, taking my bags. "I have to do this first." He dips me a little and kisses me.

"Okay, but I'll have to dock your pay for being so insolent," I smirk.

"Well, in that case, I'm not driving you anywhere!" He picks me up with his left arm under my left arm and his right arm under my legs, and carries me into his house like a princess.

"Girls! Look who's here!" Ethan yells while I laugh, pleading with him to let me down.

"Sarah!" The twins come running into the room, yelling my name and shrieking with laughter when they see how he's carrying me.

"Hello, ladies!" I smile and playfully punch Ethan one more time, finally getting him to release me. I lean down to hug the girls.

"Do you want to play with us? We were just going to play Scattergories!"

"Sure, I can stay for a bit," I respond. A bit turns into when finally I realize that it's after 10:00 PM and that Ethan still has to make the half-hour drive out to Charlotte to bring me home, but he doesn't seem to care at all.

* * * * *

Hey, sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Life got a little crazy and I've been dealing with some pretty heavy stuff, so I haven't really been able to update. I'm taking a vacation in California right now, hanging out with my friend who lives in the LA area, so I'm going to try to finish this book in the next week. Sound good?