by Melinda Metz
“Right. Dad’s such a great person. Never hurt a fly, right?” Nate asked his sister. “Oh, except Mom. And you, even though you’re acting like he’s some returning hero instead of the guy who deserted all of us.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” Nate’s mother said, rubbing a spot on her ring finger. Where she used to wear her wedding ring, Briony realized.
“A bunch of people got sick after brunch on Saturday,” Nathalie explained. “Nate thinks someone intentionally tampered with the food.”
“And health department inspectors are investigating. If you left any evidence behind, they’re going to find it,” Nate told his father. “You better run back to Mexico or wherever it is you’ve been.”
“I didn’t do anything to the food.” Nate’s father looked at his mother. “April, I swear to you, I didn’t do anything to anyone at The Gardens. I didn’t even know there’d been offers on the place.”
“I think maybe we should table this conversation for a little while,” Caleb said. “There’s a meeting for residents and their families happening at The Gardens shortly. Nate, you need to focus on that for now.”
“Who is this?” Nate’s mom began rubbing her finger faster. “And who is she?”
“That’s my lawyer, Caleb Weber. And my friend Briony. She wanted to be there for the meeting, for moral support,” Nate answered.
“I don’t understand why this is the first I’m hearing of any of this. Isn’t this meeting something I should be there for?” Nate’s mother asked.
“If you’re feeling up to it, I think that would be helpful,” Caleb answered. “It’ll show Nate has the backing of his family.”
“I want to be there, too,” Nate’s father said.
“No,” Nate told him. “You’re not family. Not anymore. You opted out when you left.”
“Nate!” his mother exclaimed.
“That’s not true. He’s still my father,” Nathalie insisted. “And yours.”
Briony felt for everyone, even Nate’s father, not that that meant he hadn’t almost destroyed his family, although Nate’s mom and sister seemed willing to at least talk to him.
“Well, I don’t want him there tonight. It would take too many explanations. The residents don’t know him. It would just confuse things,” Nate said.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” his father answered. “You don’t want me there, I won’t go. But I would like to talk to you sometime, when it works for you.”
“Yeah, I don’t know when that’ll be.” Nate checked the kitchen clock. “I need to get over to the community center, make sure it’s all set up.”
“I’m going home to get the kids. Caleb thinks it would be good for them to be there. Is that okay, Nate?” Nathalie asked.
“Sure. Fine. If the kids want to be there, it’s fine.” He turned to Briony. “Are you coming with me?”
“Of course.” If he wanted her, she was there.
CHAPTER 20
Nate stood at the back of the screening room, Briony by his side. If someone had told him two days ago he’d be grateful to have her there, he’d have said they were crazy. But he was.
“You’ve got your cheering section right up front,” she said softly.
He nodded. LeeAnne was front row center, as promised, Hope beside her. Gib was in the front row, too, along with Nate’s mother, Nathalie and the kids, and Caleb.
“But Eliza’s up there, too,” Nate pointed out. She was dressed as demurely as ever, in a pale pink blouse and another of those skirts that fell to mid-calf. Her hair was pulled back with what his mother called an Alice band. She looked completely sweet and trustworthy. Nate was afraid she’d be hard to resist.
“She’s about to start the meeting,” Briony said.
“Wish me luck,” he said, and she gave his hand a quick squeeze before he walked to the front of the room. He glanced at Eliza and saw she wore a sour expression that undercut the sweetness of her little outfit. He smiled at her, then took a moment to look around the room, giving everyone gathered time to quiet down. There wasn’t an empty seat, and there were even some people standing in the back.
Peggy gave him a thumbs-up from her seat by her daughter. Rich, Regina, and Max, who were all sitting together in the second row, all smiled back at him. LeeAnne didn’t smile, but she looked ready to do battle with anyone who opposed him, and Nate thought Hope would join in.
“Welcome, everyone,” Nate said. “I’m glad you’re all here. We have some important things to discuss. I’m going to bring Eliza Pendergast, Archie’s granddaughter, up to kick things off. This meeting was her idea, and I want to thank her for organizing it.” He started a round of applause, then returned to Briony.
“Thank you all for coming,” Eliza said. “I wanted to have this meeting because I’m very concerned about the conditions here at The Gardens. I believe it’s dangerous for all our loved ones. My grandfather—” Her voice quavered, and she had to stop mid-sentence.
Nate wondered if she was just playing to the crowd but reminded himself that she loved her grandfather and that she had completely legitimate reasons to be worried about him staying at The Gardens.
“My grandfather fell off a treadmill in this facility’s gym. The treadmill malfunctioned,” Eliza continued. “Fortunately, my grandfather only suffered a sprained ankle, but it could have been so much worse. For example, he could easily have broken a hip. Did you know—” She glanced down at the index card she held in one hand. “Did you know that the CDC reports that one in five hip-fracture patients dies within a year of their injury? One in five. And yet basic upkeep of the exercise equipment is clearly not a priority here at The Gardens.”
There was a low murmuring from the crowd, and Nate wanted to jump in with the documentation that showed how often he had the gym equipment tested. But he needed to wait. Everyone here needed to see that he took Eliza’s concerns, and theirs, seriously. That meant letting her talk.
“My grandfather was also one of the victims of the food poisoning epidemic this Saturday. He, along with more than eighty percent of the community here, ate brunch in the dining room. More than fifty residents became ill.” Eliza checked her notecard again. “The elderly often have weakened immune systems, which means they may not recover from food poisoning as easily. They are also at greater risk of dehydration. Did you know dehydration is even more dangerous for our older family members than the rest of us? It can lead to a drop in blood pressure, and that reduces blood supply to essential organs. If the kidneys don’t get enough blood, for example, it can lead to renal failure. Renal failure can lead to death.”
Eliza drew in a long, shuddering breath, and again Nate wondered if she was faking her response to get a reaction. He again reminded himself that she’d been through a huge amount of stress and worry in the last several days.
“Twice in less than a week, my grandfather could have died,” she announced. “Twice. For this reason, as much as my grandfather loves this place and despite the good friends he has already made, I feel like I must find him another place to live. I honestly believe that staying at The Gardens puts his life in danger.”
That was enough, Nate decided. He joined Eliza in the front of the room. “Thank you, Eliza, for bringing these issues up.” He took her by the arm and escorted her back to her spot beside her grandfather.
“I wasn’t finished!” she hissed.
“I want to give everyone a chance to speak,” he answered loudly. He spread his arms wide. “Who has questions, concerns, or comments? I’m happy to answer anything.” He let his eyes briefly find Briony, then looked around at the rest of the group. “Tamara?” he called. Peggy’s daughter looked like she had something to say.
Tamara stood. “What really bothers me is that until I got Eliza’s e-mail I didn’t know anything about the food poisoning or anything else. You’re usually so good at keeping in touch, Nate. Why didn’t I hear about this?”
“You’re right. I should have gotten in touch wi
th all of you, and it’s on my list of things to do,” Nate answered. “Honestly, all my attention was on making sure everyone got the care they needed and on finding out what had caused people to get sick.” He avoided using the words food poisoning.
“I’m really not sure I feel comfortable having my mother stay here,” Tamara said. “All this . . . it’s frightening. I might need to look at other options.”
At that, Peggy stood. “Tamara, you know I appreciate how much you care about my well-being. But where I live is my decision. And I love The Gardens. I’ve been here for three years, and it’s my home. Until this week, there’s never been anything that’s happened here that gave me the slightest bit of worry.” She met Nate’s gaze. “I’m not worried now, because I know Nate will take care of the problems. I trust him completely.” She sat and tugged at her daughter’s wrist until Tamara sat back down, too.
“Thank you, Peggy. And Tamara, for sharing your thoughts. Who else?” Nate asked.
He continued answering questions for more than an hour, making sure to give information from the air quality report and making it clear that not just the treadmill Archie had been on during his accident, but every piece of equipment, had already been replaced. He also reassured the group that everyone who’d gotten food poisoning had already recovered.
“Anyone else?” he asked, wanting to make sure no one had been left out. He’d also stay afterwards to talk to people individually. Not everyone would have wanted to raise issues during the meeting.
Nate’s mother raised her hand. He smiled at her. “Yes, Mom?” he said. “You all know my mother, right?”
There was a smattering of applause as she stood. “I just wanted to say that Nate has been running The Gardens since he was nineteen, and every year I’ve been more proud of him and what he’s accomplished.” That got more applause, although Nate noted that Eliza and a smattering of others didn’t clap.
“Thanks, Mom. That means a lot to me,” he told her. And it did. She’d never really commented on the job he’d done. She just assumed he had everything handled, which was its own kind of praise.
As soon as his mother sat down, LeeAnne stood up. “A few hours ago, the health department gave the kitchen the go-ahead to start serving,” she announced. “So my crew and I got busy baking. If you have a favorite pie, I bet we’ve made one. I say we all go into the dining room and eat.”
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Eliza called. “I’m not sure my grandfather’s system could take another bout of food poisoning.”
“I’m not willing to risk it,” someone near the back agreed.
“I never turn down LeeAnne’s pie,” Gib said.
“I can guarantee you she uses only the freshest ingredients, and that you’ll think you’re eating a blue-ribbon winner from the state fair.” Nathalie looked over at Lyle and Lyla. “What do you say, kids? Want pie?”
“Yes!” Lyle gave a fist pump.
“Is there blackberry?” Lyla asked LeeAnne.
“Of course.”
Lyla smiled at her. “And whipped cream?”
“I don’t whip it until right before it’s served, but I never serve pie without it,” LeeAnne told her, loudly enough so the whole room could hear.
“I could eat a whole pie myself!” Amelia called. “Hooves to tail.”
“What exactly is in these pies?” Tamara sounded appalled.
“Joking. She was joking,” Briony told the crowd.
“Well, let’s go get in line.” Nathalie stood and headed for the door, the kids, his mom, and Caleb on her heels. Nate was relieved to see that more than half of the people in the room followed.
His twin drove him crazy a huge amount of the time. His mom, too. But right now all he could think about was how much he loved them.
* * *
Mac strolled from table to table, checking on his people. Nate and Briony both smelled much better than they had, not as happy as they had been, but much better. Gib smelled much better, too, with only a whiff of the illness that had been so strong when Mac visited him the day before. He didn’t smell the way he did when the woman Mac liked, Peggy, was nearby. Mac needed to work on that.
The man and the woman who had smelled a little like they might go kaboom when they were together now smelled happier, too, and not like they were about to make a bang loud enough to make Mac’s ears ring.
Caleb, the man who was living in Mac’s house, smelled fair. He wasn’t as happy as he could be, but he smelled better than he had yesterday, too.
Mac was satisfied. He’d made progress. He had to be patient. It took a long time to get humans to understand what they should do. They couldn’t help it. They just weren’t quite as intelligent as they needed to be to manage their own lives. They were more intelligent than dogs, no doubt about that, but not quite intelligent enough. They should all be required to live with a cat.
He wandered over to the man who didn’t like him. He was sitting in a chair with wheels. Mac gave the man’s ankle a good rubbing with his head, and the man released an odor that showed he disliked Mac even more than he had. Mission accomplished!
Mac’s whiskers twitched. That about-to-kaboom smell was back. He took in a long breath, flicking the air into his mouth with his tongue. No, it wasn’t exactly the same scent, and it was coming from different humans, young ones. Would he ever stop finding people who needed help?
He bunched his legs under him, then leapt onto the table to investigate. The young female stumbled back with a cry, and coffee sloshed out from the pot she held. “H-Hope! Are you all right? Did you b-burn yourself?” the young male blah-blahed loudly.
“You know my name?” the young female asked as she rubbed her skirt with a napkin.
“O-of course. We’ve had th-three classes together. And I k-know you from h-here, too,” the young male answered.
“But you act like—It’s like I’m invisible. I thought you just didn’t think the person serving you was worth paying attention to,” the young female said. “You never even say hello.”
“S-saying anything around y-you is h-hard.” The young male grimaced. “I s-stutter when I g-get n-nervous. I used to d-do it all th-the t-time.” He shook his head hard, hummed a few notes. “S-sorry. I w-wasn’t—I d-didn’t mean to offend y-you.”
“I make you nervous? Why would I make you nervous?” she blah-blahed. Since Mac was already on the table, he began to lick whipped cream off the nearest plate.
“Y-you’re s-so pretty.” Mac could smell the blood coming to the surface of the young male’s face. “A-and s-smart.” He shrugged. “Y-you n-never t-talk to m-me, either.”
“Because I’m stupid. I assumed you weren’t speaking to me because I was so far beneath you. I mean, I take the bus, you drive a BMW 335i convertible. I work serving you food.”
“You work making people like my grandfather happy. He thinks you’re awesome.” The young male’s blah-blahs had briefly become smoother. “S-so d-do I.”
“You make him happy, too. It’s so great the way you visit all the time, Max.”
“Y-you know my n-name, too!”
She smiled. “We’ve had three classes together. And I know you from here, too.”
He smiled back. “Hi, H-Hope.”
“Hi, Max.”
* * *
Briony collapsed into bed. That day felt like it was as long as three. So much had happened. She couldn’t even imagine how Nate must be feeling, after that meeting and his dad reappearing after so long. She flipped off the lamp on the bedside table and snuggled into the mound of pillows. A few seconds later, Mac jumped up beside her and started to purr. “There’s my kitty,” Briony murmured, already starting to drift off.
Then her cell buzzed. It was probably Vi. Or Briony’s parents. She checked it. There was a message from Ruby.
I feel like I’ve been missing my favorite Korean soap. Right when it got really good. Are you okay?
Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry! So much has happened.
So
did you talk to Caleb and Nate?
Yeah. Had a big fight with Nate, where he basically slut-shamed me.
No way!
Yeah. But he apologized later. And it seems like things are kind of okay. Good, even. Between us anyway. Nate’s trying to do damage control at The Gardens. Someone’s been sabotaging the place. Nate thinks it’s his dad. Who, BTW, has been out of the picture for about ten years. Abandoned the family, then just turned up again.
This is such a soap. Except real people. With real feelings. Which makes everything less entertaining and more horrible. What about Caleb? You notice you talked about Nate first again.
Caleb and I are officially over. He wanted to spend some time together, see if we could work it out. But I realized pretty much right away that it wasn’t going to happen.
Did he take it okay?
You have to meet Caleb. He really is practically perfect—for some other woman. He’s been amazing. I know he’s hurt, but when Nate needed a lawyer, Caleb was right there.
Nate needed a lawyer?
Seemed like maybe some people at The Gardens might sue. Some people got sick from food poisoning—part of the sabotage. And another man got hurt on a treadmill—also sabotage.
Wow. If I can help, let me know. It would give me a chance to get a look at all these people I’ve been hearing about.
I will. So tired. Talk soon, okay? Sorry I dropped out of sight.
Sounds like you had a few good reasons. Good night, sweetie.
Night.
CHAPTER 21
Nate made sure to get to the dining room as soon as it opened for breakfast the next morning. It was the first time a full meal would be served since the brunch that caused the food poisoning. He wanted everyone to see him there, eating. If he had to eat three breakfasts to make that happen, fine. Maybe Briony would like to come over for one. It had felt good to have her standing next to him last night.
A few days ago he thought he’d never wanted to see her again, but after he’d had a little time to recover from the gut punch of her very newly ex-fiancé showing up at her door, and after he’d actually listened to what she had to say, he’d found that the anger had drained out of him. And the attraction he felt for her came rushing in to fill its place. More than just attraction, though. There was appreciation, too, for what a decent person she was, despite what she’d done. She’d quickly come to care about the people who lived at The Gardens, and she’d been there for them. She’d been there for him, too, as soon as he’d let her. He shot her a quick text, hoping she’d take him up on the breakfast invite.