Page 56 of Smolder

I started to tell her she didn’t need to worry about that when the door opened, and a woman appeared. She looked to be in her mid-forties with short brown hair and bright blue-rimmed glasses, dressed in a matching blue shirt with fluffy sleeves and a pair of cream linen pants. She smiled at Grams, then shifted her gaze to Amory and finally me.

“You must be Mrs. Maude Shelton,” the lady said, looking at Grams.

How did she know Grams’s name? If Amory had told her, how had he known Grams’s name? I’d never told him her name.

I swung my gaze to him, and he winked at me.

What the hell was that? Don’t wink at me. Explain yourself.

“I am indeed,” she replied, holding her shoulders back the best she could.

“We have been looking forward to your arrival,” she said, walking out to greet us. “There is a special story time today. We have an author visiting, and she’s reading her book in the silver room instead of the library. The silver room has much more comfortable seating, and there is a spot saved just for you on the coveted teal sofa.”

Grams looked at me. “They have an author here,” she whispered loudly. “I told you someone famous lived here.”

I forced a smile and nodded. “I heard that. Do you want to go listen to her read?”

Grams turned back to the lady. “Of course I do. They have me a special seat.”

“Wonderful,” the woman replied, then waved her hand for us to enter as she stepped back.

Another lady met us as we walked into the foyer. She was younger with thick auburn hair, pulled up in a loose bun on her head. Her eyes went to Amory immediately, and she blushed slightly, looking pleased to see him, as if this wasn’t the first time.

“Tully, if you can escort Mrs. Shelton to the silver room, please,” the woman told the redhead.

She tore her eyes off Amory rather reluctantly, then smiled at Grams. “Of course,” she agreed.

I wanted to reach out and hold on to Grams, but she didn’t even give me a backward glance as she willingly went with Tully, the redhead who had a thing for Amory.

I watched them as they walked slowly to the left of the wide staircase.

“I’m Shari Darlington,” the other woman said, and I turned to look back at her. “I’m the house manager of Haven House. I oversee everything that happens here and make sure that our residents and day guests are well taken care of.”

I cleared my throat. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Darlington.”

“Just Shari, please. Now, it’s Royal, is it?” she asked.

I nodded.

“I would love to have the opportunity to show you what it is we do here.” She said it as if I were about to bolt and go grab my Grams.

I had to admit that Grams was safer here than at home with my dad. It wouldn’t hurt to let her go listen to the author read her book. I nodded again, but I didn’t look at Amory. I wasn’t sure how I felt where he was concerned right now. He’d blindsided me with this, and I didn’t appreciate it. Even if he had been trying to do something nice for Grams and help me. He should have asked me first. We weren’t his charity case, and I didn’t want to feel like one. Not to anyone, but especially not to him.

Dad was probably home by now, and I hadn’t left him a letter to tell him we’d gone out. Not that he deserved one since he’d stayed gone all night and not called or texted. Served him right if he worried. Although I highly doubted he’d worry.

“We adapt an ability-centered enrichment approach for each resident and day guest. We believe in a whole-brain-fitness lifestyle, where they not only exercise their body and brain, but they also participate in social activities. If someone suffering from dementia is left without that, their mind goes faster. They lose themselves at a rapid pace. We give their golden years more time, along with a richer experience. A reason to hold on to things and enjoy their moments.”

I listened as she spoke, and the ache in my chest grew with each word. Grams didn’t have reasons to hold on. When her memory was clear, she was often sad. I couldn’t blame her for allowing her mind to go. Especially when the home she’d lived in with my grandfather was falling apart and her son did nothing to help out.

“We have chef-prepared dining with delicious courses that meet all their dietary needs. The things they need to strengthen their bodies and even their minds. There are seven licensed skilled nurses on-site with twenty-four-hour supervision. Daily wellness checks and medication management. We have an on-site fitness center with physical therapists,” she continued.

I stiffened as Amory’s palm touched my lower back, but I didn’t look at him. I didn’t want to look at anyone really. Hearing Shari talk, I felt my heart sink more and more. All the things that my Grams needed, and I’d never even thought about it. Even if I had considered it, I’d never been able to supply it for her.

“We have several brain-fitness programs with a highly trained and dedicated staff. We do small group exercises seven days a week. There is a bird-watching group that goes out every morning after breakfast to the lawn where the bird feeders are located. It’s a favorite activity around here.”

Grams would love that. She loved to look out our back window and watch the birds that came to the bird feeder I’d made for her one year at a vacation Bible school she’d sent me to at her church.

“Would you like to see the activity rooms?” she asked.

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