December
Neal paid for his ride, got out of the cab, pulled the chair out, and sat down in it. He pulled out his phone and texted June that he was there at the house. He considered trying to get up to the top of the entry stairs himself, which he might have been able to manage, but definitely not with the chair. The front door opened, June came out and beamed at him, "hello, Neal."
"Hello, June. Thank you for meeting me"
June came down the steps, put her hands on his shoulders, and looked him over, "you look good. Tired. But good. I'm so glad you came by."
Neal smiled up at her, "thanks. I'm glad to see you."
He got up, "if you can carry that I can probably get up–"
June took his arm, "let's just get you to the top first."
Neal let her turn him to face the steps, and they slowly walked up together. June let go and patted his arm at the landing, "I've got a surprise for you."
She went down the steps and carried the wheelchair up to the top, as Neal asked, "oh?"
June put the wheelchair just inside the door, and took Neal's arm again, though this time in a less solid, more friendly way, as they stepped inside, "I was going to tell you at Christmas, but since you came by…"
When Neal came through the doors, he saw something that hadn't been there before. It was a small elevator lift, clearly an antique, with black and white tile and black enameled scrollwork on the gates. Neal sat down in his chair, and went to the lift, opened the gate, looked around inside. He ran his fingers over the control lever, brass polished bright by many decades of use.
"June, this is a work of art."
"I thought you'd appreciate it, I had been looking for a bit for something that would fit the house, and when I saw this I fell in love. I've missed you coming around, and to be honest I'm not getting any younger. A lift for the outside stairs is coming next week."
Neal gently pulled on her hand, and she leaned down, so he could kiss her cheek, "thank you. Seriously."
