Dearly Departed

by Tristi Pinkston

  She moved to the window, knowing her time was running out. The view wasn’t anything to brag about—she looked right down to the parking lot. Across the way were office buildings, but she imagined the rooms on the other side of Shady Aspens had a great vista of the mountains.

  Eden slid out of the room, still holding the floral arrangement, and made her way to the second floor, where she was supposed to be in the first place. She noted as she walked that some of the rooms had name placards on the doors and others didn’t. She scouted around until she found a room with the door slightly ajar and a woman’s name printed on a card. “Hattie Lamb,” she read as she knocked.

  “Come in,” a reedy voice answered.

  Eden pushed the door open and stepped inside the dim room. “Hattie? I have a floral delivery for you.”

  “For me? Why, who on earth would be sending me flowers?” The tiny woman leaned forward in her wheelchair, reaching to take the offering.

  “There wasn’t a card,” Eden said. “I think you have a secret admirer.”

  Hattie immediately raised her fingers to her hair in the subconscious gesture all women make when they’re complimented. “I don’t know about that, but they are beautiful.”

  “Can I set them right here?” Eden indicated the table next to Hattie. The woman was obviously eager to hold the flowers, but the vase was a little heavy and Eden didn’t want to see the whole thing come crashing to the floor.

  “That would be lovely.”

  Eden put the flowers down, nudging a jar of VapoRub and a box of tissues out of the way. “There you go,” she said, and Hattie nodded her approval.

  “This looks like a nice place to live,” Eden said, stepping back and glancing around the room. “My aunt needs to find a good place to stay for a while. Do you know if they’re taking new residents?”

  “I imagine they are,” Hattie said, her eyes not leaving the bright blooms at her elbow. “I think there are only five of us on this floor, with eight rooms.”

  “I’ll pass along the information,” Eden said, giving Hattie her best smile. “You enjoy your flowers.”

  “Are you sure you don’t know who sent them?” Hattie asked.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”

  As Eden retraced her steps down the hall, she couldn’t help but smile. Hattie was darling.

  She nodded to Heather as she passed through the lobby. Kevin was nowhere to be found, but he caught her elbow as she walked down to the corner where they’d parked the car out of sight.

  “How’d it go?” he asked.

  “Mrs. Partridge’s room was clean as a whistle, as we thought it would be. And there are at least three empty rooms in the building. Hattie told me.”

  “Who’s Hattie?”

  “It may be just a hunch, but I think she’s the next member of the Secret Sisters.”

  7

  “I’ve got the answer to your problem,” Eden said to Ida Mae after handing her a napkin for her cookie. “I know Grandma’s driving you batty.”

  “I appreciate everything she’s doing, I really do,” Ida Mae said. “But these last twenty-four hours have been . . . well, they’ve been . . .”

  “You don’t need to explain to me. I know Grandma. She’s a dear, but she does have her moments.”

  “Just what is this answer you think you have?” Ida Mae asked.

  “How do you feel about a tiny bit of espionage?”

  Ida Mae immediately perked up. She loved espionage! And it had been so long. With wistful nostalgia, she listened to Eden’s plan.

  “You need a place where you can heal and be cared for. Well, I’ve got just the thing. It’s called Shady Aspens and it’s a lovely care center in Salt Lake City. They have a recovery program for people who’ve had surgery or injuries to help them mend before going home. It would be perfect for you. And . . . here’s the best part. I need someone on the inside to help me with a little project I’m doing.”

  “What kind of project?” Ida Mae could sense Eden’s excitement—it was contagious.

  Eden filled her in on everything, up to finding the body two days previously. “Since then, Kevin’s been listening to his police scanner and he’s talked to some friends on the force, and as near as he can tell, nothing has been done to link the death to the care center. Of course, he can’t know everything, but he says if they were investigating Shady Aspens, he’d probably catch wind of it somewhere, right? Well, I’ve just got this really nagging feeling it’s all connected. I think it would be great if you went and stayed there to see what you could find out from the inside. I would come visit you, and you could share all your juicy tidbits with me.”

  “That sounds like a lot of fun,” Ida Mae said. “I’m a little worried about cost, though.”

  “If we break this story, I think the newspaper would reimburse you for whatever you spent,” Eden said.

  Ida Mae thought about it. She hadn’t touched the money given to the Secret Sisters for busting the drug ring a year and a half ago—they’d decided to let it accrue interest at the bank until they went to Mexico to collect Ren from his mission. And since that was a year away still, she supposed she could use the money for something else, just for a little while.

  “This place sounds pretty expensive,” she said.

  “It is, I’m afraid. But they do take insurance. Do you have Medicare?”

  “Don’t we all?” Ida Mae thought back to the packet she’d gotten from them—they practically demanded she enroll. She’d done it, grudgingly, and had also signed up for a supplemental. “If that will help defray the costs, then, yes, let’s do it.”

  Eden smiled. “I think we need to call another meeting of the Secret Sisters.”

  Ida Mae looked around her living room, feeling more alive than she had in ages. Tansy, Arlette, and Eden were there, sitting in their usual places. It was just like old times, with two notable exceptions—Ren, on his mission, and Hannah, who had moved with her small family to Connecticut, where her husband had landed his dream job. Ida Mae missed those two, but she took comfort knowing they were happy in their new lives.

  “Ida Mae, would you please call the meeting to order?” Eden asked.

  Ida Mae blushed. “Oh, I’m not the president anymore.”

  “Nonsense!” Eden said. “You may not be the Relief Society president, but you’ll always be in charge of the Secret Sisters.”

  Ida Mae complied, feeling her cheeks turn pink. It did feel so good to be appreciated. “Welcome to our meeting, ladies. Our old business is, well, old, so let’s go straight to new business. Eden has brought us a mystery.”

  Three pairs of bright, twinkling eyes turned toward Eden, who sat forward a little on her chair.

  “There’s been a murder.”

  Never before had a pronouncement of something so horrible elicited such a reaction of glee and excitement.

  “In fact, there may have been two murders,” Eden continued, speaking in a tone some women reserve for words such as “shoe sale” and “chocolate.”

  “We only got one murder last time!” Tansy said, clasping her hands together.

  “Ida Mae already knows some of the story, but I’ll fill you ladies in,” Eden said. She did so, adding some extra details for Tansy’s delighted benefit. “So, we’re going to plant Ida Mae in the nursing home to do some spying for us.”

  “And we can be her visitors!” Tansy said, beaming. “We can carry out her information and get it to the authorities.”

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Eden said. “And Grandma, I think you should pose as Ida Mae’s sister, so you’ll have a reason to be there a lot.”

  “Well, we are sisters in the spiritual sense, so I guess it wouldn’t be a lie,” Arlette replied.

  “I’ll come as often as I can, too, because you’ll be my great-aunt,” Eden told Ida Mae.

  “I’ve been hoping to see you become my real niece,” Ida Mae said frankly. “If things work out between you and Ren, that’s w
hat you’ll be.”

  Eden lowered her eyes a little, looking embarrassed. “I guess we’ll just have to see what happens when Ren gets back.”

  “So, just what did you and Ren decide before he left?” Tansy asked.

  “We decided not to decide anything,” Eden said, studying her fingernails as she spoke. “We like each other an awful lot, but we didn’t start anything romantic because we both knew we had other things we wanted to accomplish first. He wanted to serve a mission, I wanted to get a handle on my career. So we’re both working on our dreams, and we’ll see if they still mesh when he comes home.”

  “I think you’re being wise,” Ida Mae said, and the other ladies nodded. “Romance is a big thing, and marriage is even bigger. You want to take every step carefully and make sure you’re on the right path.”

  “Enough about me!” Eden said. “Let’s get back to business.”

  Tansy raised her eyebrows. “You are our business.”

  “Be that as it may, we’ve only got a certain amount of leeway before Ida Mae heals and can’t remain in the care center. We’ve got to get in there while we can. By the way, thanks for getting hurt, Ida Mae. I couldn’t have orchestrated that any better myself.”

  “You’re very welcome,” Ida Mae said wryly.

  “We’ll take Ida Mae in and register her,” Eden said. “I did some reconnoitering yesterday and discovered a couple of empty rooms.”

  “You did that how, exactly?” Arlette asked.

  “I bought some flowers and pretended to make a floral delivery. The receptionist was busy and I was able to go right past.”

  “I think we’ll want more details about that later,” Ida Mae said. “For now, let’s get back to what you want us to do.”

  “Let’s go in tomorrow. I think Grandma should be the one to register you, as your sister, and I’ll be there as support. Although—rats! The receptionist and the director will recognize me.”

  “Not if you go in disguise,” Tansy said. “I bet you could wear a cute hat and you’d be fine.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Eden said. “We’ll get Ida Mae settled into her room, and then . . . oh, I wish Ren were here! He’d have a listening gizmo or an alarm gizmo or something we could hook up to Ida Mae’s wheelchair.”

  Ida Mae sat up straight. “Wheelchair? You’re going to put me in a wheelchair?”

  “I’m sorry, Ida Mae, but what else can we do? You can’t walk with that ankle, and you can’t use crutches with that wrist. You can’t hop around the care center like you do here—you know it takes you ten minutes just to get to the kitchen from the bathroom.”

  Ida Mae felt like sulking. Eden was right, but she hated such a visual reminder of her infirmities. “Okay, I’ll use a chair. But I don’t have to like it.”

  “Liking it is optional,” Eden said.

  “Are we registering her under her own name?” Arlette asked.

  “Yes. We’re hoping to get her insurance to cover some of the expense. This is why we have to get started now, while she’s really injured. If we wait, the insurance will say she’s doing too well and won’t pick it up.”

  “Make sure they get some sort of head doctor in to see her, too,” Arlette said. “She’s been a little depressed lately.”

  “I have not,” Ida Mae said.

  “Just think, Ida Mae, maybe it will make your stay longer,” Eden put in. “That could be a good thing.”

  Ida Mae sighed, knowing she couldn’t win.

  “We aren’t going to be defrauding the insurance company, are we?” Tansy asked, a note of concern in her voice. “I mean, I really don’t want to lie.”

  “No, Tansy.” Ida Mae thought about her fatigue, her overwhelming feelings of helplessness, and the fact that someone had to dress her every day. She hated like sin to admit it, but this care center might be the very thing she needed. “I could use some help, for real.”

  Arlette called Ida Mae’s doctor and he worked her right into his schedule, especially when she told him Ida Mae was getting fractious. He said he didn’t know what that word meant, but it sounded serious, so she’d better come right down. Arlette hung up the phone with a disgusted look on her face.

  “Don’t they teach basic vocabulary in medical school? Or at least, how to dissemble? That’s an important skill for any doctor to have.”

  “Um, what does ‘dissemble’ mean?” Eden asked.

  Arlette threw up her hands. “In this case, it means I think the doctor should have pretended to know what ‘fractious’ meant, even though he didn’t. It would have made him look smarter.”

  Eden nodded, understanding crossing her face.

  “This little vocabulary lesson has been fascinating, but I have to disagree,” Ida Mae said from her chair in the corner. “I am not fractious.”

  “It got you in this afternoon, didn’t it?” Arlette asked.

  Tansy and Eden went along to the doctor’s visit, although they waited in the lobby while Ida Mae and Arlette met with the doctor, an earnest-faced young man who had been practicing for about five years. Ida Mae still considered him a baby, but she did begrudgingly admit he was better than her previous doctor, a white-haired octogenarian who should have retired twenty years before he did.

  “What can I do for you?” Dr. Farmer asked Ida Mae. “Your friend says you have another fracture.”

  Arlette pressed her lips together. Ida Mae refused to go another round of English lessons.

  “I don’t have another fracture. I think the two I have are sufficient.”

  “I agree. More than sufficient.” The doctor sat down on the stool near the examining table. “What’s the trouble?”

  Ida Mae took a deep breath, realizing the time had come for full disclosure. “I think I need to go stay in a rehabilitation center.”

  Dr. Farmer raised his eyebrows over the rims of his glasses. “Didn’t I suggest that when you first fell?”

  “Yes.”

  “And didn’t I suggest it again when you slipped in the tub and broke your wrist?”

  “Yes.” Ida Mae’s cheeks felt hot.

  “What changed your mind?”

  “Living with her for a day and a half!” Ida Mae said, pointing at Arlette. “Well, and the fact that I just can’t do things for myself. I hate having to ask my friends to button my sweater or find me the remote control. And . . .”

  Dr. Farmer waited several seconds, then prompted her. “And?”

  “I think I’m depressed.” Ida Mae’s voice was barely audible.

  “I would be too, if I were you.” He reached out and patted her on the shoulder. “Ida Mae, you need to let others do things for you for a while. You need to rest and recuperate. Doctor’s orders.”

  “I know, you’re right.” Why did they all have to be right? It wasn’t fair.

  “Now, I’m not going to treat the depression right away,” he said. “I think a change of atmosphere might be the best thing for it, and I don’t want to go through the hassle of trying to find your best dose just to discover you don’t really need it. Let’s get you settled in the center, and then after about four or five days, if you still feel like you need some extra help, let me know. Okay?”

  “That will be fine.” Ida Mae was starting to feel relieved. The idea of staying in the care center had been repugnant at first, because she didn’t want other people waiting on her. Solving the mystery was the only thing that made the plan bearable. But now, as she thought about how nice it would be just to rest and not worry about the imposition she was to her friends, she felt almost glad about her incarceration.

  “Have you decided where you’d like to stay?” Dr. Farmer asked. “We have several favorite centers we can recommend.”

  “What do you think of Shady Aspens?” Ida Mae asked. “I had a friend who lived there, and it was very nice.”

  “It is a nice place,” Dr. Farmer agreed. “And the doctors are very competent. I think you’ll be happy there.”

  He checked Ida Mae’s blood
pressure, and Arlette’s too, just for good measure. He then promised to give Shady Aspens a call that very afternoon, and Medicare as well, to get the ball rolling.

  The nurse pushed Ida Mae, in the facility’s wheelchair, out to Arlette’s minivan. “Okay, Arlette, you were right,” Ida Mae said. “You can start gloating now.”

  “It’s no fun to gloat when you’re invited to,” Arlette replied.

  Ida Mae nodded. Gloating was only fun when you had no permission to do it at all.

  8

  Just before ten the next morning, Arlette pulled her minivan up to the curb at Shady Aspens. Ida Mae looked around, finding it rather like a mountain resort, and wondered if that was good or bad. Eden met them in the parking lot. She had found a nice blonde wig in a costume shop, and with a lime green summer dress, looked very different than her usual self.

  “I can’t believe I’m wearing green,” she muttered, checking her reflection in the side mirror to make sure her hair was on straight. “And bright red lipstick.”

  “It is sort of a nice change, dear,” Ida Mae told her, thinking the green made Eden’s eyes stand out. “A person can’t spend their entire life in black, pink, and white.”

  “I was perfectly content to try,” Eden said.

  An orderly came out to the van with a wheelchair, and soon Arlette and Eden were ensconced on either side of Ida Mae in the director’s office. A moment later, Debbie O’Donnell bustled in, looking every bit as elegant as Eden had described.

  “Good morning,” Debbie said, extending her fingers for limp handshakes all around. “I’m Debbie O’Donnell, the director here at Shady Aspens. What can I tell you about our fine facility?”

  “Do you serve tapioca?” Arlette asked. “My sister is wild about tapioca.”

  Ida Mae bit her lip. She hated tapioca and Arlette knew it.

  “It’s not a staple on our menu, but whenever one of our residents expresses a desire for a certain food, we make sure they get it,” Debbie said. “We want them to feel comfortable in every way.”