Patty had invited me to eat with her and filled me in on her childhood, on how Eleanor was the best and most patient mom.
She’d told me how her parents had fallen in love—a love made for romance books, a love that was everlasting, a love that I’d never known.
Patty’s stories were what I craved because I’d had an untraditional childhood. I’d never met my father, and my mother had been in and out of jail. I’d been sent to foster care, where I bounced in and out of homes until I was fifteen. Then, I’d run away, and I’d been fending for myself ever since.
So, this—this life I’d built with the people I cared for—was my family.
The doorknob shaking had me jumping up to a standing position and my heartbeat picking up in speed.
All my muscles tensed. My anxiety spiked, and my heartbeat pounded in my ears.
But then Patty walked in, pulling her suitcase behind her.
I let out a long sigh of relief.
When would my nerves ease up?
When would my life get back to normal?
Never, the tiny voice said.
Because since I had been born, my life had been anything but normal.
“Hey.” My heart rate stabilized as I assisted her, taking a bag from her shoulder. “I wasn’t expecting you this weekend.”
“Yeah, Charles gave me the weekend off to settle things.”
I made my way to the living room, following her in through the small two-bedroom ranch.
“I hope it won’t be too long, Becky. They are looking for my replacement, but you know their love for the girls is endless, so they want to find the perfect match.”
I smiled. I lived through Patty’s stories when she came home. About the family she cared for. I felt like I already knew them sometimes. As I didn’t have a family of my own, it was refreshing to hear her stories about her sweet Mary and Sarah.
“How’s Mama doing?” Patty approached the hospital bed and ran her hand down her mother’s arm.
“Good. I changed her bedpan this morning. The nurse came in earlier to check her stats, and she’s fine.” I pulled Eleanor’s blanket higher, up to her chin. “She makes me laugh. Today, she wanted me to brush her dentures with a different toothpaste, not the normal one, but the whitening toothpaste.” A laugh escaped my lips. “The girl doesn’t even wear them anymore.”
Patty smiled, staring at her mother and shaking her head. “You know she’s messing with you, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
Eleanor sure was an entertainer.
When Patty wasn’t here, Eleanor wanted to show me albums upon albums of her family, which included her deceased husband, Henry.
Their lives had been filled with happiness and vacations and endless laughter, something I’d never had while growing up, something that I was jealous of.
I fidgeted with the end of my shirt. “I’ve started looking for a job already, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
Patty turned to face me, her smile slipping. “Where will you be heading?” Concern was heavy in her eyes.
Patty knew I had a past, but she didn’t pry. That was the stipulation of me coming on board—that she wouldn’t ask me about my past. In return, I would take care of her mother and move on to a less stressful future.
I swallowed. I hadn’t planned my next course of action, but I couldn’t stay here long, couldn’t be too comfortable. It was time to leave, to pick up and move anywhere. I only stayed here longer than I’d anticipated because of my fondness for Eleanor and Patty. Plus, I was careful—really careful. I rarely went out, only for walks, and I always ordered our groceries for delivery. Honestly, it was the perfect job for someone who didn’t want to be found—someone like me.
I rustled a hand through my long blonde locks. “I don’t know. Maybe somewhere colder. North.” I had money saved, but it would only last me so long. I needed a job that could pay me under the table. Something like this. “If you have any prospects,” I hinted, trying to hide my desperation, “any elderly person who needs care.”
That was my expertise. I wasn’t grossed out easily, and I wasn’t a nurse, but in my former life—one where I could afford a college education, one where I wasn’t running—I would have been a nurse. I enjoyed taking care of people who couldn’t take care of themselves. Maybe it had been caused by my past, of no one taking care of me, growing up.