“She doesn’t love it, but she’s okay as long as I keep her in the loop with my various jobs. I call her after I’m finished with whatever I’ve done for the day and fill her in on my many adventures.”
Sheila always wanted details.
“When I’m home, we have dinner together every night, and when I’m not available, she falls back on the normalcy of the rest of her routine.”
“Which is?” Spencer wasn’t just paying attention; it seemed like he was actually interested.
Well, so be it. If his eyes glazed over with boredom after Tabitha got going, she’d at least know to keep things to herself from now on.
From now on? Where had that come from?
Tabitha pulled in a deep breath to regroup.
“Sheila has a list of chores she has to perform each day, like navigating the kitchen and cooking for herself, keeping her room clean, and participating in some rudimentary yard work. She also takes on odd jobs she can perform from home on her computer, which gives her pleasure because she’s not only helping people, she’s making money on her own. She’s actually a whiz on-line.” That was actually an understatement. Sheila’s genius really came out when she was virtually engaged. “She also goes, quite often, on supervised field trips.”
“Museums? Parks?” Spencer guessed.
“Nope.” Tabitha grinned. “More like grocery stores, and fast-food restaurants. It helps her acclimate to the real world and it’s a reminder that most things outside her room aren’t actually scary. Last month, her support professionals took Sheila and a few others to the airport where she got on a commercial plane.”
“Really? That’s pretty cool,” Spencer marveled. “Where did they fly to?”
“Oh, frick. I guess I should rephrase that,” Tabitha amended with a smirk. “She got tositon a plane. It was an immersion therapy kind of thing, getting her used to being inside a fuselage without the added angst of travel.”
“Huh. That sounds awesome. Maybe I should try it,” Spencer chuckled. “I’m not exactly comfortable when I fly. I’ll do it, but I’m more interested in being on the water than in the air, any day.”
He smiled broadly, even though he’d just admitted to a…what? Shortcoming? Vulnerability? What kind of guywasSpencer, exactly? The man of her dreams?
Freakitty, frack. She needed to shut that thought down, immediately.
He obviously didn’t know where her mind had gone, because he continued, undaunted. “It sounds like you and her team at the house are providing Sheila with some really useful life skills. Kudos for that,” he added, sincerely.
Tabitha actually chuckled. Thiswas all a first when describing her sister to someone, be they colleague or acquaintance. Getting such great feedback from Spencer made her positively giddy.
Still, she felt compelled to add a few things, so he wouldn’t think Sheila was incompetent. That was very far from the truth.
“All the social stuff in people’s everyday life? That’s the part Sheila struggles with. But what sets her apart is the other madskills I mentioned; the computer stuff that blows my mind, which she’s learned all on her own.”
“Like…?”
Spencer hadn’t tuned out, so Tabitha kept going.
“She does things that aresobeyond my understanding, it’s hard to believe.”
“Such as…?” Spencer prompted again.
Tabitha answered eagerly this time. “She not only picks up jobs for firms doing data-scouring, but has been known to build amazing websites. And on a recreational note, she researches whatever interests her down to the nth degree, she’s also been known to hack into systems that should be impossible to access; sometimes with…interesting results.”
She’d tell Spencer a few stories another time,ifhe decided he still wanted to consider Tabitha as something other than a casual hook-up.
“But she always gets away with it,” Tabitha added, getting back on topic. “Which drives her caregivers crazy, but also amuses them enough that they don’t shut her down.”
“Good for them,” Spencer agreed.
Now, to see if Spencer could handle the depth of Sheila’s abilities when it came to hisownprivacy. “And she, um, alsostalks, for want of a better word,” Tabitha gave over in a rush of words. “She stalked you.”
“She did?”
Yes! Spencer’s face held no censure, only amused wonder.
