A Cry in the Dark (Carly Moore #1) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,47
rather not stay there again. So I’d rather work out a barter. I can stay with you and help with the home health stuff in exchange for room and board.” I’d still need to work at Max’s for the money, but this would give me a chance to look for whatever evidence Seth had found…presuming the sheriff’s deputies hadn’t found it first.
“I don’t want no charity,” Mr. Chalmers said with a hard look in his eyes.
“I don’t want it either,” I countered. “And right now, I’m set to stay with Ruth Bristol and her boyfriend free of charge. If I stay with you, at least I’ll be earning my keep.”
“You can’t just up and decide to be a home health nurse,” Patty said in disgust. “It takes trainin’, and frankly, it takes a strong stomach. Hank just had his leg amputated. You ready to deal with that?”
I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat. I wasn’t sure I was, but I’d figure out a way. “I just spent the last month takin’ care of a dying woman. I learned how to give her injections, change her IV lines, help her in and out of bed and into the bathroom. I can handle it.”
Patty’s face softened.
“I’m goin’ home tomorrow,” Mr. Chalmers announced. “And that’s that.” He glanced up at me. “What time are you pickin’ me up?”
“Uh…” I had no idea when Max would need me tomorrow, if he’d need me, but surely he’d give me the afternoon off so I could bring Hank Chalmers home. “In the morning, by eight. So we have plenty of time to get you settled at home.”
“And plenty of time to get you up to speed on how to take care of Hank,” Patty said with a look that suggested she still wasn’t convinced I was capable. “I’ll go let the doctor know.”
Then she sashayed out of the room, leaving the two of us alone.
“Thank you, Mr. Chalmers,” I said, turning back to him.
“Enough with the Mr. Chalmers shit,” he said. “Call me Hank.”
I grinned. “Okay, Hank.”
His mouth pressed into a firm line. “I gotta warn you, my house ain’t fancy. I reckon you’re used to nicer places.”
“I was staying at the Alpine Inn. I don’t need fancy,” I said. “I’m just grateful for a place to stay.”
“And where’s that?” a familiar male voice said. My stomach dropped when I turned and saw Wyatt’s large frame filling the doorway.
Dressed in jeans and his brown jacket, he was more handsome than he had any right to be. His dark hair looked windblown and his dark eyes were narrowed in suspicion at me. It wasn’t fair that my heart leapt at the sight of him when he had nothing but contempt for me.
“Wyatt,” Hank said in surprise.
Wyatt shot me a glare as he walked into the room. “I wanted to check on you. How are you holdin’ up, Hank?”
Hank’s eyes welled with tears again, but he didn’t answer.
“I’m sure you’re not up to company,” Wyatt said in a gruff tone. “I’ll walk Ms. Moore out.”
Hank held up his hand and shook his head. “No need for that. She’s helpin’ me move home tomorrow.”
Wyatt’s jaw hardened, and his gaze darted between Hank and me. “And how’d that arrangement come about?”
“She stopped by to talk about Seth, and seeing as how Seth was supposed to take me home tomorrow, Carly volunteered to help in exchange for a place to stay.”
“The Alpine Inn’s not good enough for you now?” Wyatt asked me in a cold tone.
“It’s either Carly takes me home or I go to the shithole rehab center,” Hank snapped. “So get off your damn high horse.”
“You don’t even know her,” Wyatt protested. “And now you’re inviting her to stay at your house?”
“She tried to help my grandson,” Hank said in a gruff tone. “Nobody else saw fit to help him, and she didn’t even know him.” His eyes hardened with challenge. “That’s enough for me.”
I could tell Wyatt wanted to say more, that he was practically gnawing on his tongue to hold it back.
What the hell was his problem? While I understood why he’d be suspicious of me, the circumstances were unusual, to say the least, I was sick and tired of dealing with his attitude.
“Let’s just get this out in the open,” I said in a direct tone, the kind I would use on the third-grade class I used to teach when the kids got unruly and I needed to regain control. “I didn’t kill Seth.