Page 15 of The Drummer's Heart

“I did some googling after you told me we were gonna have her sit. The pillow between her knees helps keep her spine aligned. That eases pressure on the joints. I ordered a foam leg wedge, which should work even better, but it won’t be here until tomorrow.”

I nodded, impressed that he was able to learn all that so fast this morning. But Atticus always stepped into action when you needed him. He was the person people called when they were in a bind. That take-charge quality was one of the many things I loved about him.

“We have to turn her every few hours in bed, too,” he said. “You know that, right?”

“That I did know, yes. Louise explained that before she left.”

He smiled. As tense as things were, I once again felt a wave of gratitude for not having to do this alone.

The feeling of appreciation was short-lived, however, when Mimi looked between us and asked, “So…when are you two gonna make me a great-grandma?”

CHAPTER 5

ATTICUS

It had been yet another damn long day. The woman who was supposed to stop by to bathe Mimi was apparently sick and had to cancel, so Nicole had to handle that task alone while I worked on something for dinner. I’d helped Nicole carry her grandmother to the bathtub before leaving the room so they could do their thing. I’d offered to assist, but Mimi wasn’t comfortable with me seeing her naked. I couldn’t blame her. But as a result, Nicole also got stuck with having to change her multiple times a day.

Nicole and I had managed to get through today without biting each other’s heads off, though, and that felt like a reason to celebrate.

I’d picked up a bottle of red while I was out earlier buying groceries but had forgotten to open it during dinner. That was just as well, since drinking didn’t seem to go well with spoon-feeding Mimi.

After we cleaned up supper, I popped open the bottle of wine. “Want a glass?”

“Yeah.” Nicole nodded. “I could use it after today.”

“Me, too.”

I poured her one and walked it over to where she was sitting at the kitchen table.

“Thanks for handling dinner,” she said as she took it. “And all your help with Mimi.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” I poured my own glass. “Wanna take these outside?”

“Yeah.”

She stood, and we headed out back, taking seats at the table in the yard. For late August, it was a pretty cool evening.

We sat in silence for a bit, sipping our wine and decompressing. This reminded me of better times, when we’d drink wine together after dinner and talk about our future, our hopes and dreams. This tense moment of quiet was nothing like that, yet it still felt like a gift to be with her.

“How are the guys doing?” she finally asked.

“Tristan and Emily are engaged,” was the first thing I thought to say.

“Wow.” She smiled, but it seemed strained. “That’s…great.”

“And Ronan…” I grinned. “Well, Ronan is Ronan.”

“Yeah.” She chuckled. “Somehow I know what you mean.”

I swallowed a larger gulp of wine. “Doesheknow about this? That you’re here with me?” I couldn’t even utter his name.

Nicole stopped mid-sip and set her glass down. “He does.”

“I hope it bothers him,” I bit out.

She looked down and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“You’d better fucking believe itdoesn’tmatter what he thinks of this.”

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