'The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He's the one who gets the people to do the greatest things.' Ronald Reagan
My jaw drops and my eyes widen in 'terror' knowing full well how protective Jenna is of Elena. "No Jenna, it's not that at all," I say shakily as I set Elena down on the couch.
"I'm teasing Damon. I know you're a gentleman.. well.. most of the time anyway," Jenna says laughing. She looks around a little with her eyes before asking, "Where's Ric?"
"Jeremy called. He had some car trouble apparently so Ric went to give him a hand."
She turns her eyes to my drawings that I left laying on the coffee table. "Is this what you have in mind, Damon?"
"Yeah. I thought you'd want to keep the front of the house pretty much as it is so I thought we could build the ramp so it connects to the porch from the side of the house, over here," I tell her pointing to the area on my sketch.
Turning my focus on Elena, I ask, "What do you think of this idea, Elena? I mean, you live here too and I want your input as well."
"Can I see the plans?" she asks quietly, never raising her eyes.
After Jenna hands me the drawing, I take a seat beside Elena on the couch to show her my ideas.
She pushes a strand of hair behind her ear before turning to me. I point out where the ramp will be on the drawing.
"This way it's closer to the driveway which makes for better access when you need to get into a car too. What do you think?"
"Um, I'd hate to mar the front of the porch so I think this is a good solution. Thank you Damon," she tells me, momentarily raising her eyes to mine. I'm lost in them for a long moment that's interrupted when Jenna clears her throat.
"Elena, do you want to help me make some sandwiches?"
Just then, Ric and Jeremy burst in through the front door arguing. "Oh c'mon Jer. I've told you enough times to make sure you had a useable spare tire. This is what the third time now?" Ric scolds.
"Give it a rest would you Ric. Geez!" Jeremy yells before dashing up the stairs and out of sight.
"Maybe I should go," I utter before grabbing my drawings and pulling the front door open. I turn back to look at Elena. Our eyes meet again. It's so easy to get lost in those deep sepia colored eyes of hers.
"I'm just going to go outside and take some measurements. You want to help me Ric?"
After we're done measuring and have all our specs written down, Ric and I go back inside the Gilbert home.
"Hey you two, sit down. Elena and I made lunch for us."
"Can you show me where the bathroom is? I'd like to wash my hands."
"This way," Elena says as she starts wheeling herself down the hall. "It's just right there," she says pointing to the door on my right.
I turn to her smiling, " Thank you Elena."
She blushes a little when she raises her eyes to mine. "You're welcome," she replies softly before turning away from me..
After we're through eating lunch, I say my goodbyes so I can go talk with my dad about my plans for the modifications on Elena's home. Just as I'm about to turn on the ignition, Ric jumps in beside me.
"I'll ride along with you. I haven't talked to Sep in ages," he says.
"Elena is really grateful, Damon. Thank you brother."
"It's nothing Ric, really. Like I said, I just want to get to know her. Bonnie told me she could use a friend."
"Yeah, Caroline is in New York City. She calls pretty frequently but doesn't get back here very often anymore given her job and all. Bonnie tries to make time for her but she's busy as well. Jeremy has his own life. Jenna is just so busy trying to work extra hours at her job to try to pay off some of Elena's bills. We do try to spend some quality time with her on weekends. Unfortunately there are only twenty four hours in a day. It's hard because when she's home alone, she's kind of stuck in one place because there's no one to help her out. Then there's Matt... They had a lot of big plans for the future. Plans that were obliterated right along with her ability to walk when that bullet tore through her spine.
"Were they engaged?" I ask, my curiosity getting the best of me.
"They hadn't bought the rings or made any official announcement but they were talking about it. As I already told you, as soon as that doctor told us she'd never walk again, he was gone. He didn't even wait till she came out of her coma. He cleared all of her things out of his apartment then dropped them off on Jenna's porch. There wasn't even so much as an 'I'm sorry' or even a note to explain himself. We haven't seen or talked to him since."
"No wonder she's so despondent sometimes. I've seen her struggle with Brady at PT. It seems that sometimes she just wants to throw in the towel. To Brady's credit, he won't let her dwell on it. He pushes her."
"You know that she and Bonnie are very tight too. Elena had wanted Bonnie to be her physical therapist but Bonnie is too close to her. She didn't think she'd be able to push Elena as hard as she would need to be pushed," Ric explains.
"Oh, I don't know about that," I laugh. "Bonnie sure enjoys cracking the whip with me."
"Yes but Damon, your relationship with Bonnie isn't as personal as the one she shares with Elena," Ric reminds me.
Before long we arrive at my parent's place. After walking into the house. I look around a bit till we hear voices. Then we head towards the kitchen. Mom and dad are seated at the kitchen table, each holding a section of the newspaper and a cup of coffee.
Mom looks up smiling. "Get yourselves a cup and have a seat. I know that look, Damon. What's on your mind?"
"We just brought the measurements Dad wanted for the Gilbert house ramps. By the way mom, do you think you could do a little research for us? We want to price out one of those chair lift elevators so Elena can get up and down the stairs on her own without needing someone to carry her. I'm certain they're probably quite expensive so I thought maybe we could do a fundraiser of some sort to raise money for it."
Mom's mouth drops for just a moment. "Damon! That's a fabulous idea. I'll get right on that. We'll need something to raffle off. Plus we could probably have a bake sale too. I'll make some calls. I'm sure the ladies I bowl with will want to help out."
She stands up then walks over to pull me into a hug. "I'm proud of you," she whispers in my ear.
Smiling up at her, I hug her back. "Thanks mom."
By the time the next Saturday rolls around, dad has had all the supplies delivered to the Gilbert house. Since it's hard to kneel with my bad knee, I managed to get Stefan, Tyler, Enzo, Ric and Jeremy to help out. Of course, I had to promise them a few rounds at the Grill. I do know they would've helped regardless but I didn't think it would hurt to sweeten the pot a little as it were. After working hard all afternoon, I step back to grab an ice cold bottle of water. I look up just in time to see Elena peaking through the curtain with a hint of a smile on her face when her eyes meet mine.
Thank you to Eva and thank you all for your reviews, favorites and follows. Please do hit that review button. For your DE reading pleasure: 'Bloom' by Vanagonne is full of angst and is extremely well written. Both of my friends, Jenna (Angel's blue eyed girl's) 'All's Fair in Love & War' and Silvia (Fontainebleau01)'The Love of a Woman' just updated too. Morgan's 'Changing Hearts and Spaces', Jenn's 'The Best Man' and lastly Charlotte's 'A Wonderful Lie' are all fabulous stories. I hope you all have a very wonderful weekend. Thank you all again, Carol