A Special Kind of Love (2 page)

“I
would love that,” Sharon answered.

Mary
pulled out her pen and pad. “Give me your number and I’ll give you a call in a
few days and we can set something up. I sure hope you’re going to like it
here.”

“I
like what I’ve seen so far. I’m really looking forward to a slower pace, and if
everyone is as friendly as you, I think we’ll get along just great here.”

“Shoot,
I’m standing here jawing and not doing my darn job,” Mary said with a laugh. “Can
I get y’all
somethin
’ to drink?”

“Do
you have Coke or Pepsi?” Aaron asked, staring at the table top, not making eye
contact with Mary.

“We
have Coke, Sprite,
Dr
Pepper, or sweet tea, sweetie.”

“Coke,”
Aaron said.

“How
do you answer a question, Aaron?” Sharon chided.

“Coke,
please, ma’am.”

“That’s
better.” Sharon smiled at Mary. “What would you recommend to a newcomer?”

“Well,
the steak is great. This is cattle country you know, it’s practically just off
the hoof.”

Aaron
visibly cringed.

“Not
fond of beef, huh?”
Mary asked.

Head
and eyes down, Aaron spoke in a quiet voice. “I don’t eat animal flesh.”

“Oh,
well now, that’s mighty interesting. We have macaroni and cheese, grilled
cheese,
omelets,
I don’t know what else we have that
might be vegetarian.”

“Eggs
are chicken periods, I don’t eat those either.” Aaron responded, no inflection
in his voice.

“Aaron,
don’t be rude. I’m sorry, Mary. It’s been a long day and we’re both a little
tired and out of sorts. Give us a minute to look at the menu, okay?”

Mary
looked slightly confused, but nodded. “I’ll go and get your drinks.”

Mary
went behind the counter to the fountain machine, filled their glasses and
returned with the drinks. “Have you decided yet?” she asked.

“I’ll
have the grilled cheese and French fries, please, ma’am,” Aaron said.

“And
I’ll take your recommendation, Mary, and go with the steak. Medium rare,
please, with fries also.”

“You
got it. I’ll put your order in right away.”

Mary
headed through swinging door into what Sharon presumed was the kitchen. “Miss
Mary seems nice, don’t you think, Aaron?”

“Yeah,
I guess,” he replied. “She said this is cattle country. I thought you said
there were horses here? You promised me I could learn to ride a horse if we
moved here. Are there horses or only cows?”

“There
are lots of horses. Cowboys use horses to herd the cattle. You know that. We
passed a big ranch when we were coming into town, but you were asleep. They had
a sign that said they have trail rides. I’ll ask Miss Mary if she knows
anything about it.”

That
finally brought a smile to her son’s face.

Mary
returned momentarily with their meals. “Here you go, sweetie. One grilled
cheese, with French fries,” she said as she set the plate in front of Aaron.
“And a steak for the lady.
Anything else I can get you right
now? Do you need a refill on your drinks?”

“No,
I think we are set for now. But, I did have a question for you, Mary. When we
were coming into town I saw a big ranch. The sign said it was open to the
public, for trail rides and things. Do you know anything about it?”

“Sure.
That’s the RNR, Rope n Ride Ranch. Bud Lewis, he owns this diner. His family
owns the RNR. But he doesn’t have much to do with the ranch these days. My
friend, Tammy is Bud’s niece. She is the one that runs the trail rides and
organizes events at the ranch. Why do you ask?”

“Aaron
is really looking forward to learning to ride a horse—”

“I
like horses,” Aaron interrupted. “Horses are members of Genus
Equus
Caballus
, they were
domesticated in about three thousand BC. Most horses are four gaited, walk,
trot, canter and gallop. They can reach speeds up to thirty miles per hour at a
gallop. I want to gallop.”

“Okay,”
Mary said, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

“My
little professor.”
Despite the achy feeling of a long day, pride filled her chest and lifted her
spirits.

“I
can give Tammy a call for you, if you like. See if she can set up some riding
lessons for Aaron. I’m not sure if they do actual lessons, but I’ll check.” Mary
said.

“I
really appreciate that. You have my number, so just give me a call and let me
know what you find out. We’ll be busy moving in over the next few weeks. But
I’m not working, so whatever you can set up will be great.”

“I’ll
give Tammy a call tonight. I better get back to work,” she said as another
table waved to get her attention.

Sharon
looked at Aaron and smiled. She’d made the right decision, hadn’t she? Would
she come to regret this decision too? She’d made so many mistakes in the past.
Was this another one?
No, self-doubt isn’t
an option. Everything is going to work out here. It has to.

* * * *

The
movers arrived at eight in the morning, and Sharon had never been so glad to
see anyone. The prospect of another night on a blowup mattress with a sleeping
bag was more than she could contemplate.

The
two burly men from the moving company made quick work of unloading the truck
and by noon the furniture was in the proper rooms and the living room was
overflowing with boxes. She tipped the men, then bid them goodbye. They had
been nice enough to set up the beds for her, something that really eased her
mind. She was fairly handy with a screwdriver, but muscling around a mattress
and box springs was no mean feat for a five foot three inch, one hundred and
forty pound woman. No, she wasn’t some skinny little twig, but that didn’t mean
she was Hercules, either.

She
stood in the doorway of the living room, hands on her hips and surveyed the
chaos.
Well, damn, these boxes aren’t
going to unload themselves.
Aaron sat on the couch in the middle of the
room rocking slightly back and forth. The disorder was bothering him. Aaron
liked things neat and tidy. He had a bit of OCD, a common accompaniment to
Asperger’s
Syndrome. She knew she needed to get him focused
on something before he got too stressed out.

“Hey
baby…”

“Not
a baby.”

Sharon
suppressed a chuckle, Aaron never failed to bristle when she called him
baby,
but she
couldn’t seem to stop herself. It was a fight she’d never win.

“Sorry,
Aaron, but you’ll always be Mommy’s baby. Can you help me get started on these
boxes? Start by reading the labels and finding the ones that are from your
room. We’ll start unloading them first.”

Most
people might start with the kitchen or bathroom stuff, but Sharon knew that
getting Aaron’s room set up the way he liked it was the most important thing on
her agenda for today.

Three
hours and a lot of hard work later, his room was perfect. Aaron sat at his
computer desk surfing the web, and she was free to start on the rest of the
boxes.
Oh joy
.

Just
as she picked up the first box of kitchen stuff, her cell phone rang. Setting
down the box she tried to locate where the sound was coming from in the room. Where
the heck had she put her phone? Following the stupid ringtone her best friend
had downloaded,
I
Wanna
Do Bad Things to You,
she finally located it atop yet another box. The
caller ID indicated it was a local number.

“Hello.”

“Hi
there.”
Sharon instantly recognized Mary McGuire’s Voice.

“Mary?
I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. What can I do for you?”

“I
talked to Tammy last night and she said you should bring that boy of yours over
on Saturday. She’s got a trail ride scheduled, with a bunch of greenhorns from
the guest ranch and a few seasoned riders coming along to help. She said she
could have Tanner West stick close to you and Aaron and give you all the help
you need. He’s the fire chief and a great horseman-- part Shoshone you know”

“
Wow, that
sounds great. Thanks so much. What time should we
be there?”

“The
ride starts at ten in the morning. You should probably get out there by about
nine, so you can meet everybody and Aaron can learn how to saddle a horse.
Can’t be a horseman if you can’t take care of your animal.”

“Terrific.
Thanks, Mary. Aaron will be so excited.” Sharon bit her lip, should she say
anything about Aaron’s autism? She came here hoping the people would be
accepting of him. So, she needed to be honest with them. She loved her son and
wanted him to make a fresh start here. Her ex-husband always tried to pass
Aaron off as
normal
,
not wanting anyone to know his son was
different.
She wasn’t going to go down that road.

“Mary…”
she hesitated, how did she say it?
Just
spit it out, girl
. “There’s something I guess I should have told you. Aaron
is a little different, he has
Asperger’s
Syndrome.
It’s a high functioning form of autism.”

A
moment of silence followed her announcement, and nerves coiled in her stomach.

“I
sort of noticed something was a little different about him. That’s a mental
disorder, right?”

“It
is, but Aaron isn’t violent or anything bad.” Sharon hastened to inform her. “He
is actually the most kind-hearted and loving kid you will ever meet. He
wouldn’t hurt a fly, and I mean that literally. He won’t kill bugs, he doesn’t
eat meat and he loves horses. He’s just a little different. He doesn’t quite
comprehend other people’s feelings. Sometimes he seems inconsiderate or rude.
He talks a lot. That’s why I call him ‘my little professor’. And he has a bit
of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, so he likes order and structure. Do you think
I should talk to Tammy about it before we go to the RNR? I don’t want to cause
any problems.”

“I
don’t think most of that would be a problem, unless he spooked the horses. But,
yeah, you should probably give her a heads up just in case. Let me give you her
number and you can call her.”

She
sighed with relief as she hung up from talking to Tammy. That went better than
she had hoped. Tammy and Mary had both taken the news of Aaron’s disability
with polite interest and no signs of fear or censure. Tammy had been so nice on
the
phone,
Sharon couldn’t wait to meet her in person.

Tammy
said she would clue Tanner in. She went on and on about what a great guy he
was, and how sure she was that it wouldn’t be a problem. Sharon hoped she was
right. In her experience men seemed to have more problems with Aaron than
women. She didn’t know why, but men seemed to be threatened by a child with a
disability, at least her husband had been. It was like he thought the world
would think less of him for having an imperfect child. She always thought of
Aaron as
special
not less. He was
God’s gift to her, and she wouldn’t trade him for the world.

She
was looking forward to Saturday and couldn’t wait to go tell Aaron the good
news.

* * * *

Saturday
morning dawned clear and cool. Sharon was still amazed at the weather in
Wyoming. It was so beautiful, cool nights and mornings, pleasant day time
temperatures in the eighties. Chicago was miserable in July, hot, muggy and
yucky.
Another plus for Gaines.
They were really
adding up. She stepped onto the front porch and took a deep breath of the cool,
clean air, no smog or pollution to clog her lungs. She
smiled,
it was going to be a great day.

She
heard Aaron come into the kitchen and turned to face him. He was already
dressed for the trail ride, jeans and a T-shirt, with the cowboy boots he’d
just
had
to have. She’d had to
special order them from a vegan website. All he was missing was a Stetson and
he’d be a regular cowboy.

“Good
morning. You ready for our big adventure?”

“No
adventure.
Going to ride a horse.
I want to gallop.”