Page 17 of Fa-La-La-La Faking It
Even so, she slid her hand in his for a shake, taking note of the rough callouses on his palm. The warmth of his skin. The sheer size of him.
These were the hands of a man, not a fifth-grade boy. A man who carried the scent of pine in his bones and who had eyes the color of Christmas trees. A man who liked dogs and gingerbread. A man who’d just given her an offer she couldn’t, in good conscience, refuse.
Some things truly did change, after all.
“We’ve got a deal.”
Chapter Six
The following morning was Saturday, and even though Adaline had a million things to do—like plan and execute an impromptu hot cocoa stand by the agreed upon 6:00 p.m. start time—she went to see Gram at the retirement center before the bakery opened.
Visiting Gram was always a bit unpredictable. She had good days and bad. Some days she had trouble keeping up with their conversation and others, she was her usual self. As sharp as a tack.
When Gram first moved into Bluebonnet Senior Living, Adaline had given her a plush, battery-operated dog that could pant, wag its tail and make cute little yipping sounds. It had built-in sensors that responded to motion and touch, so Gram could feel the little dog’s heartbeat and it could respond to her voice with a cock of its head or vocalization.
Adaline had found the mechanical dog online when she’d been researching ways to help seniors adjust to moving into long-term care facilities. The internet had called the plush white poodle a robotic companion animal, but Gram had named it Coco. Right from the start, she lavished attention on the pup and treated it as if it were real. Adaline and Ford weren’t altogether sure she truly believed that or not, but what difference did it make? Coco made her happy, so they just went with it. Ford even took Coco and Gram to the vet every now and then for “wellness checks.” Translation: battery changes. It made Gram feel like a responsible pet owner, and Grover, Bluebonnet’s long-time veterinarian, was happy to play along.
Of course that had been before Maple moved to town. Ford and Maple had actually met at one of Coco’s wellness visits, and now Maple was Coco’s official veterinarian. Comfort Paws had even incorporated robotic companion animals into its mission, providing mechanical golden retrievers to the senior center and the county children’s hospital where Ford was on staff as a pediatrician.
Good days, bad days and every day in between, Gram doted on Coco. Her love for that little mechanical poodle was the one consistent thing in Gram’s life, and Adaline was grateful for it. She knew that eventually the day might come when Gram had trouble recognizing family members, and it broke her heart to even think about it. But something told Adaline that even then, her gram would always know and love her plushie companion.
“Knock, knock,” Adaline said as she tapped her knuckles on the half-opened door to Gram’s room.
“Adaline, dear? Is that you?” Gram’s cheery voice called from inside, and Adaline exhaled in relief. It sounded like a good day. “Come on in!”
Adaline prompted Fuzzy with thego visitcommand they’d been practicing. He trotted ahead, tail wagging, as she pushed the door all the way open.
“Ford.” She grinned in surprise at the sight of her brother sitting on Gram’s floral chintz sofa. He was dressed in blue scrubs, which meant he must’ve come straight from the hospital. “Hey! I didn’t expect to see you here this morning.”
“Hey, sis.” He stood to kiss her on the cheek while Fuzzy made a beeline straight for Gram.
Adaline returned her brother’s affection with a quick hug and then unclipped Fuzzy’s leash so he could hop onto Gram’s lap. Since this wasn’t an official therapy dog visit, the ordinary rules didn’t apply. Fuzzy always had free rein in Gram’s room. Fortunately, Coco’s presence in the basket of Gram’s walker—always parked within her arm’s reach—didn’t faze him much. Fuzzy craned his little neck to give the stuffed dog a curious sniff and then took a flying leap off the recliner to greet Ford.
“Too bad your dog is so shy.” Ford scrunched his face as Fuzzy covered his cheek with puppy kisses.
Adaline waved a hand. “Oh, please. You love it and you know it.”
After all, this was the same man who’d proposed to Maple by putting matching sweaters that saidMarryandMeon Fuzzy and his sister, Peaches, just a few months after Maple saved them during a perilous late-night delivery at the pet clinic.
“Put that sweet thing back in my lap, please.” Gram reached for Coco, scooped her out of the basket and placed the plush dog next to her in the recliner. “Coco wants to snuggle with her friend.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ford said and dutifully placed Fuzzy in the recliner, where he curled into a ball beside the stuffed animal. So long as he didn’t start chomping on Coco like he did his toys at home, they’d be golden.
Adaline plopped down on the sofa at the end closest to Gram’s chair. She reached out to squeeze her grandmother’s hand, but Gram didn’t seem to notice. Her gaze was glued to Fuzzy and Coco.
That was okay, though. The wide smile on her face warmed Adaline’s heart. Whatever it took to make Gram happy, she was all for it.
Ford’s gaze drifted away from Gram until his eyes met with Adaline’s and held. He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and Adaline knew exactly what he was thinking. He was worried about Gram too. Last week, she’d misplaced her handbag. Ford had eventually found it tucked under her bed. Just a few days later, she’d wandered into the extended care wing of the building and couldn’t remember how to get back to her room. Thank goodness one of the members of the senior center’s care team had found her before she accidentally wandered into room 212. What an epic disaster that would’ve been.
Adaline shuddered at the thought of an accidental meeting between Gram and Jace’s uncle Grinch...oops, uncleGus. She wondered if Jace might be in the building at that very moment visiting the horrid man. Then she wondered why on earth her thoughts kept straying back to a lumberjack she cared nothing whatsoever about.
“Adaline? Hello?” Ford waved a hand in front of her face. He’d apparently sat down beside her while she’d been imagining Jace in a soft flannel shirt rolled up to the elbows, dark hair dusted with pine needles.
What waswrongwith her?
She gritted her teeth and banished the image from her mind. “Sorry, my mind was someplace else for a second. What are you doing here, anyway? Isn’t bingo usually on Tuesday mornings?”
Bingo was Gram and Ford’s thing. Adaline’s brother never missed it. He rolled up to the senior center every week with a roll of pennies since the cost per card was one cent each per game. The collected funds were distributed to the winners. One week, Ford and Gram won an unprecedented combined jackpot of nearly eight dollars. They’d celebrated big with root beer floats from the ice cream parlor across the square from Cherry on Top.
