It's A Wonderful Midlife Crisis (Good To The Last Death #1) - Robyn Peterman Page 0,39
quick hug and began to walk down the long, sterile hallway.
“Doubtful,” I called after her. “You’re the smartest person I know.”
“Remains to be seen,” she said cryptically as she left.
I stood still for a moment and mulled over the odd exchange. Heather never doubted herself. Maybe she was nervous. I’d been so lost in my own mourning for the last year, I’d not paid enough attention to the needs of the people that I loved. There was one way to solve that. Tonight, I would stop by Heather’s with the leftover ham salad and drag the rest of the gals with me. I’d bring champagne, but I was pretty sure it was a two-day test. We could share the bottle this weekend. This was a huge week for one of the women I adored most and I hadn’t even known. I sucked as a friend.
Shaking my head, I sighed. No dwelling on the past. Fix the future. Period.
“God, it smells good here,” I announced to the empty hallway as I made my way toward Gram’s room.
What was that smell? It was so familiar. A clean, soapy smell mixed with some kind of fresh woodsy scent. Maybe the nursing home had changed their cleaning products. I needed to find out what the heck they’d used. I could die happy with this scent wrapped around me.
Wait.
Crap.
No.
It belonged to Gideon. It was his scent that lingered in the air.
What the hell was he doing at the nursing home? Did he visit Gram too? No. That was silly. He didn’t know Gram. Was it possible he’d transferred to the law firm here because he had an ailing parent at the same home Gram was in? I mean, I didn’t know much about him other than that he was stupidly gorgeous, not hairy, not teeny-weeny and also not quite right in the head.
Now I felt even more sorry for Gideon. Next time I saw him, I wouldn’t be quite as rude—unless he was. It was difficult and sad to have someone you loved living in a place like this with very little hope of returning home. As far as nursing homes went, it was really good. But as wonderful as the doctors, nurses and staff were, it wasn’t home in a real sense of the word. If I could take care of Gram at my house I would do it in a heartbeat. I’d offered the suggestion up so many times I knew I sounded like a broken record.
Gram had raised me at a time when her life should have been a whole lot easier. When I was five and my mom died in a freak accident at work, Gram had stepped up—not one question or doubt in her mind about taking me in and raising me as her own. She loved me something fierce and I loved her right back. Every time I’d insisted that she live with me, she’d refused. I knew she didn’t want to be a burden. She would never be a burden to me. There wasn’t anything that I wouldn’t do for the woman who’d made me feel safe and loved my entire life.
“Hi there,” I said to Gloria, the nurse who was Gram’s favorite. “How’s she doing today?”
“Feisty as ever,” Gloria said with a chuckle. “But she hasn’t been eating well. Guess you have that covered.” She pointed at my load and laughed. “If you have an extra ham salad sandwich, I’d be happy to take it off your hands.”
“I believe I do,” I said. “Take a bunch. I brought about ten. I’ll be lucky if Gram finishes one.”
“Why thank you,” Gloria said, lightening my load by five sandwiches. “I love your ham salad.”
“Gram’s secret recipe,” I told her as I got to the door of Gram’s room and smiled. “No one makes them like she does, but mine aren’t too bad.”
“Make that sweet gal eat one,” Gloria called out as she went into the staff lounge. “She needs to keep up her strength.
I didn’t like the sound of that. Gram was going to get an earful from me today.
“I’m sorry. What the hell did you just say?” I asked, feeling nauseous, furious and seriously confused. My knees weakened and buckled. Luckily, I was standing in front of a chair that cushioned my fall. The second fortuitous thing was that I’d already put the food on the table in her room. Otherwise, ham salad and pecan pie would be splattered everywhere. “Repeat yourself, Gram. I need to make sure