A Mrs. Miracle Christmas - Debbie Macomber Page 0,36

we should let her.”

“Of course, I remember.”

“I still don’t understand why all this concern. What aren’t you telling me?”

He didn’t answer, and Laurel could tell he was struggling to put his thoughts into words.

“Zach,” she said, doing her best to remain calm and reasonable. “You have to agree that Mrs. Miracle has been exactly what Nana needed.”

Zach’s shoulders lifted with a sigh and he turned away from her. Something strange was going on. Laurel couldn’t put her finger on it. He was hiding something from her; she was certain of it. Her suspicions had been aroused in the last few weeks, but she’d convinced herself it was her imagination. There’d been nothing overt, just this distance she’d been feeling. An emotional distance. He’d been on edge—jumpy—like he was keeping a secret. She trusted him completely, or so she thought. A brief thought of an affair had crossed her mind, but she refused to believe it. She almost laughed at the thought of it, knowing that neither of them could afford an affair, let alone desire another person. Still, she felt something was off with her husband. Way off. She knew she needed to get to the bottom of whatever it was. She’d confront him this evening.

He turned to face her. “I understood you like Mrs. Miracle. I do, too. If you must know, she seems to know things that she shouldn’t.”

“Such as?”

“Please, Laurel, just call them. If you can’t, I’ll make a point to do it myself, but you were the one who filled out the application and talked to the agency in the first place. I’d rather you did this.”

“All right, I’ll make the call.”

“Thank you.” With a quick kiss on her cheek, Zach headed out the door.

Laurel reached for the half-bagel he’d left behind. As she chewed, she reconsidered Zach’s request. What he said was true. Laurel had felt it herself. The caregiver did seem to know far more about their circumstances than what Nana might have shared with her.

The home companion wasn’t anything like what Laurel had expected. All the extra hours Mrs. Miracle had put in were remarkable, especially when she insisted that she wouldn’t need to be paid overtime. Then there were the homemade meals every night when they came home from work. The extra effort to make Nana’s daily life more enjoyable, with the addition of outings that Nana truly seemed to enjoy.

Now that she thought about it, Laurel saw other oddities. The unexpectedness of her arrival that first evening, without an advance call from the agency. The Christmas tree, extravagantly decorated. And the lost ornaments from years gone by, especially the crumbled, precious homemade bell that had miraculously reappeared out of nowhere. It couldn’t possibly be the same ornament. And yet there it was, hanging on the tree again.

Details started adding up in her head. Questions that defied answers. Unusual events that seemed impossible.

Zach was right. There was good reason for Laurel to contact the agency and find out what she could about her grandmother’s caregiver.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Helen lingered in bed that morning. It was warm and cozy under the blankets, and she didn’t feel much incentive to get up and get dressed for some reason.

“Helen?” Mrs. Miracle called from the living room. “It’s almost ten.”

Helen glanced at the clock, surprised to see how quickly the morning had evaporated. She realized she had been drifting in and out of sleep.

“How did you sleep, dear?” her companion asked upon entering Helen’s room. Mrs. Miracle sat on the edge of Helen’s bed with a concerned look on her face.

“Lazy,” Helen admitted, stretching her arms above her head and yawning.

“Then rest. I’ve led you on a merry chase the last few days. We might have overdone our walk to the senior center yesterday.”

“The fresh air did me good,” Helen replied, “and I enjoyed reconnecting with old friends.” It’d been wonderful to see so many of her friends. Helen hadn’t realized how isolated she’d become. She’d been afraid to venture out on her own even though the senior center was within easy walking distance.

In the short time she’d been with Helen, Mrs. Miracle had expanded her world. The senior center was full of activities and events. Before Mrs. Miracle had arrived, Helen had hibernated in the house alone, growing wary and depressed without realizing what was happening or why. No wonder her brain cells were dying off. They hadn’t been fed anything more than daytime television. Just yesterday, while playing bingo, she’d run into her