Page 5 of Bear's Heart

Bear made it through the bathroom doorway, but his rims scraped on one side of the frame.She glanced down, seeing the scuffmarks and paint that had been scraped away, and then a hole in the drywall that clearly shouldn’t be there.

“Was there always a handheld shower head in here?”she asked, ignoring the hole and focusing on what was important now.

“A neighbor put it in for me,” he said.

Her attention shifted to the tiny sink.This sink, like the one in the kitchen, would work for him if he rolled up sideways and leaned forward, but she didn’t know how much flexibility he had in his spine, or strength in his pelvis and hips.The ideal situation would be a roll under sink with no pipes in the way.Knee clearance needed to be at least twenty-seven inches high, and close to fifteen inches deep to accommodate his chair and knees—and he had long legs.

The towel bars should also be moved, and the toilet itself needed to be higher.She didn’t know if he’d want a grab bar on one side.Jasper needed two grab bars, but she’d become aware in the past few months that some people wanted to downplay their different requirements, not wanting a home to lookhandicapped.

“You don’t have a lot of room in here,” she said finally, thinking as he transferred his chair would knock the sink, the toilet, the tub.There would be a lot of bumping around.

“It’s frustrating,” he agreed.“A bigger door would help.”

“But you need more than just a couple inches for the doorway.You need to be able to move and turn.This isn’t good space for you, not as your main bathroom.”

“My only one,” he corrected.“The guest bath off the entry is just a powder bath sort of thing.I can’t even get my casters through that door, and well, obviously upstairs is off limits.”

She faced him.“You have an enormous house here, and you can’t use most of it.Wouldn’t it be easier to sell this one, and find something that works better for you?”

He stiffened, broad shoulders squaring.“Thisismy home.”

She heard his sharpness, but then, she’d been expecting it.But she had to ask.It was important to ask.“What you need then is a proper main suite downstairs.I’d need to see more of the house to know if you have space to convert, or if you’d have to build new—” She lifted a hand to stop his interruption.“A master on the main level would change everything for you.”

“It would mean a huge remodel.”

“You’d have to move out for a number of months, yes.”

“Where would I go?”

“That’s a good question.”

His expression darkened.“I’ve spent years living in hospitals and facilities that weren’t my home.I want to be home.”

“I understand,” she said softly.“I also understand this is your house, but it’s clearly not home right now.You’re not comfortable, or happy, here.”

“I just want a bathroom that works for me.”

“I want that for you, too.But the only way to do that is to enlarge this doorway and try to grab some space to give you a proper bathroom.”

“What about when I want to sell this place?If it’s full of special accommodations for me, it won’t work for those… unlike me.”

“Just because you have a more accessible home doesn’t mean it will be unattractive to buyers.If anything, having a bedroom suite on the main floor will be appealing to most.”

His jaw worked.“You make it sound so easy.”

“When you know the right people, I can safely promise you a good renovation experience, but demoing a bathroom always takes time.There are permits to be pulled and inspections to be made.We probably couldn’t even get started for a good month—”

“That’s too long.”

“I suppose we could get some small changes done to try to tide you over.”

Bear shook his head, clearly unhappy with what he was hearing.“I can’t do months of this.I can’t.”

“In Bozeman, there are a number of long-term hotel options, and they’d have accessible suites.”

He opened his mouth and then closed it.“I’ll see you out.”

She nodded, aware that he was disappointed, and his disappointment was heavy.

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