Toronto Collection Volume 1 (Toronto Series #1-5)

by Heather Wardell

  She hung up and turned her attention to me, no hint of her usual amused attitude visible. "Have a seat."

  I did, nervous.

  "That was Loren. His dad's missing. You know about him, I assume?"

  When I shook my head, she said, "He's got Alzheimer's. Fairly advanced, from the sound of it. Loren has a new caretaker for him during the day, and she turned her back for just a second, or so she says, while Loren was in the shower, and his dad walked out of the house."

  Trying to get my head around this, I said, "He takes care of his dad on his own?"

  She nodded. "Well, with the caretakers, obviously, so he can come to work. His mom passed away a while back. Loren visits him at lunch, and spends his evenings with him, so they can stay connected for as long as his dad can recognize him."

  My throat tightened. And I'd been begrudging him leaving work right on time. "Geez, Dana, the poor guy. Does he have any idea where his dad went?"

  She shook her head. "But they live by Sunnybrook Park and he loves it there, so..."

  She grimaced and didn't finish. She didn't need to, though; I'd spent hours at Sunnybrook as a kid and my mind had filled with images of the thick woods and boulders and the river that ran through the middle of the park. A disoriented older man stumbling through all that... it didn't bear imagining. "Is there anything I can do?"

  She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what. I offered too, but he says the police are watching for him but since he's not completely out of touch with reality they can't begin a full search for twenty-four hours. It's a shame. With missing kids they search immediately but for adults you have to wait. It could be too late."

  A memory prickled at the back of my mind. "I saw something somewhere..."

  "Okay..."

  "About missing adults. A way to find them...." It came back. The day I went to get my clarinet. "I was on the subway and saw an ad. There's a group in Toronto that helps with that."

  She spun her laptop around on the desk. "Search for it. It can't hurt."

  A few search terms later, I had the AdultAlert group's website on the screen.

  "Good girl. Let me call Loren."

  She quickly gave him the information. "Don't thank me," she said after a brief pause. "Andrea thought of it." After another pause she said, "Will do. Good luck," and hung up, and I wasn't surprised when she said, "He wants me to thank you."

  While she'd been on the phone I'd been thinking, and now I said, "I know that park really well. Would it be okay with you if I went over there and tried to find his dad? I'll make up the work time later."

  Her eyes softened. "Not only would it be okay, I think it's a great idea. Loren's afraid to leave home in case his father comes back confused, but he was trying to gear himself up for it. Send him a text so he knows he doesn't have to, okay?"

  I nodded and pushed my chair back, and was halfway to her door when she said, "Oh, and Andrea?"

  I turned back.

  "When you've found him, you'll both take the rest of the day off. With pay, of course. And don't even think about making up the time."

  "Why?"

  She smiled. "Because Loren has had a hell of a morning, and because you've been trying so hard to make yourself a great part of the team, and because you've both worked tons of overtime the last little while. You deserve it."

  *****

  On my way to the park I sent Loren a text message to let him know I was going to search. He wrote back immediately.

  Thank you. He's tall, skinny, white hair. Blue plaid shirt, jeans, running shoes. His name's Martin. Thanks for the phone #. They gave good advice.

  I responded, saying I was glad the hotline had helped and assuring him I'd keep in touch, then left the streetcar at Leslie Street and walked the short distance to the park entrance. I'd start at one end and check everything I passed along the way.

  My progress was achingly slow, since I left the path over and over to look behind trees and inspect the river, and having to stop every few minutes to answer another of Loren's hopeful text messages didn't help. I considered telling him he didn't need to bother, since of course I'd tell him right away if I found his dad, but I figured he needed to send the messages, to at least be doing something. I couldn't imagine how helpless he must feel.

  After walking for what seemed like forever, I saw something on the grass near a tree. A running shoe, a man's by the size, lay on its side as if it had been tossed or kicked off.

  No guarantee it was Martin's, but it could be, so I backed up about a hundred meters or so then moved forward again, searching even more intently than I had before. The trees by the water were so leafy it was hard to see the riverbed, but I did my best.

  When I'd gone about a hundred meters past the shoe, I sank onto a huge rock by the water and sighed. What if I didn't find him? How would I face Loren?

  I took a deep breath, letting the gurgling sound of the river calm me, then just for completeness looked in both directions along the river before getting to my feet.

  Down, nothing.

  Up...

  Excitement pounded through me. Someone sat, feet in the water, on a rock a little upstream. The riverbed jutted out there, shielded from above by trees that prevented me noticing the person as I passed.

  I squinted but couldn't see the person clearly, so I picked my way along the river's edge, afraid to climb back up to the path and then not be able to figure out where to go. When I'd closed half the difference between us, I knew it was a man, and his plaid shirt and rolled-up jeans suggested I'd found Martin.

  He had his head down, too intent on the water to even notice my stumbling arrival, and I didn't want to scare him, so I took a few more steps then stopped and cleared my throat.

  He looked up. Definitely old enough to be Loren's dad, but his eyes were a basic blue instead of Loren's gorgeous aquamarine. Maybe Loren had his mother's eyes. "Hello there, dear."

  "Hi. Enjoying the water?"

  He nodded. "Want to come see?"

  He didn't seem remotely surprised to see me, or bothered to be talking to a stranger, which strengthened my belief this was Martin. "Sure. Just let me send a quick message first."

  I held up my phone and snapped a picture of the man. The phone's shutter sound made me jump but he'd gone back to staring at the water and didn't react. I sent the picture as a message to Loren after tagging it with my phone's GPS. If it was his dad, he'd come find us. If not, he'd let me know and I'd somehow extricate myself from hanging out with a stranger.

  I slipped the phone into my pocket and approached the man. "I'm Andrea. What's your name?"

  "They're back!"

  I blinked. "Who are?"

  He looked up and waved me over impatiently. "You have to see. Don't step in the water, you'll scare them."

  I made my way to his side, and peered down to see tiny silvery fish darting around in the water near his bare feet. "Fish?"

  "What did you expect, a llama?"

  I laughed, and he looked up and smiled at me then returned his attention to the water.

  "Aren't you afraid they'll bite?"

  He shook his head. "They're just swimming around me. Put your foot in and see."

  In the water full of fish poop and who knew what else? "No, that's okay."

  He sighed but didn't say anything.

  Such an easy thing to reverse and it would make him happy. "Actually, you know what? I think I will."

  I shucked off my teal suede flats and set them on the grass so they wouldn't disappear into the river, then sat next to him and lowered my feet into the water. The fish scattered, then returned and danced around our feet.

  "See? They don't bite."

  "You were right. And the water feels great." My shoes were still a touch too tight even though I wore them a lot and my feet loved the cool touch of the water and the smooth stones of the riverbed. So soothing.

  He smiled at me, then his forehead creased. "How did I get here?"

  "I don't know. Have you been here
before?"

  "Oh, my, yes, lots of times. But not for a while." He frowned. "I think I'm not supposed to be here now either. Are you?"

  "I should be at work."

  "Maybe I should too." He shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked at me. "Do I know you?"

  "We just met. I'm Andrea. But you didn't tell me your name yet."

  "I'm Martin," he said, and relief flooded me. True, he was confused, but at least I'd found him. Unless there were two old men named Martin roaming the park, which seemed unlikely.

  "Nice to meet you," I said.

  He smiled. "You too, dear. What's your name?"

  Ouch. I took a breath to tell him again then heard Loren calling me. I stood up and carefully put both feet on the grass then took a few steps away from Martin so I wouldn't deafen him before calling back, "Over here!"

  "Again!"

  "Down here, by the water!" I thought Martin might question why I was yelling but he didn't seem to notice.

  The trees rustled and Loren appeared. At the sight of his dad, he rubbed his hand over his mouth and muttered, "Thank God."

  Martin looked up. "Hi there... Loren!"

  His confusion at first and then his delight in recognizing his son brought tears to my eyes and I blinked furiously as Loren said, "Dad, you scared me. Why'd you go out by yourself?"

  "But I'm not by myself. See?" He pointed to me.

  Loren and I looked at each other and he shook his head. "What do I say to that?"

  I smiled though my heart was aching. "He's smart. I see where you get it."

  Loren blushed, and his dad said, "Come put your feet in the water. The fish are nice."

  "Dad, we'll come back on the weekend, okay? I have to go to work."

  I remembered that actually he didn't, but before I could decide whether I should say so in front of Martin Loren added, "And you had that cold last week. You shouldn't be soaking your feet in cold water."

  Martin rolled his eyes at me. "He's so pushy." He got to his bare feet, though. "Where are my shoes?"

  "And your socks, for that matter."

  We found both socks stuffed into the one shoe he'd brought down to the water for some reason. Loren dried his dad's feet on his own khaki pants and put his socks on, and I went barefoot to let my feet air-dry while I fetched Martin's other shoe.

  "Come with us," Loren said to me once his dad and I both had our shoes on. "I'll take you to work afterwards."

  After checking to make sure Martin wasn't listening, I said quietly, "Dana gave us the day off with pay. For all the work we've been doing."

  He shook his head, a smile growing. "She's always trying to give me time off. Says I need a break. She must have figured it'd work better if she sent it through you."

  I smiled back, touched by our sweet boss. "Did it?"

  "Guess we'll see."

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Martin insisted I sit in the front seat of Loren's obviously old but clean car, and he chattered away from the back as Loren drove us without speaking to their townhouse a little north of the park. Once we arrived, Loren handed Martin over to his caregiver, who'd clearly been crying, then gave her shoulder a squeeze when she tried to apologize yet again. "It's okay. I know he's fast. But keep those locks on, okay?"

  She sniffled and nodded.

  "Bye, Dad. See you tonight."

  Martin looked up vaguely. "Okay. Bye." He turned to me. "Bye."

  I smiled and said goodbye, then the caretaker closed the door and Loren and I left. He paused on the steps, though, his head cocked to one side, then came forward and said, "Wanted to make sure she locked the door."

  "I doubt she'll forget again. Ever."

  "You're probably right."

  We stood on the driveway looking at each other, then he said, "I can't thank you enough."

  I shook my head. "You don't have to thank me at all. I'm just glad I found him."

  "Yeah. Me too."

  He looked so tired, and so miserable, that I couldn't stop myself taking a step toward him and wrapping my arms around his neck. As I did, I wondered if it was too forward, but he pulled me close at once.

  I held him tight and closed my eyes, overwhelmed by the feelings rushing through me. Relief at Martin's safe return home, happiness I'd been able to help, sympathy for Loren, amazement at how safe and protected I felt in his arms and how right holding him felt...

  And a desperate desire to kiss him.

  I couldn't believe how strong it was. I'd never thought of kissing him before but now my mouth burned with longing. But I couldn't, of course. You can't just kiss a coworker because you feel like it. Not to mention, I'd never kissed anyone but Alex and changing that would be such a huge sign I'd moved on. I had moved on, but was I ready for that?

  I pressed my cheek to his chest and refused to let myself do what I so wanted, and we held each other for a long moment before he squeezed me a little closer then let me go.

  When I looked up at him, his eyes were suspiciously bright. Tears tightened my throat and I looked away to give him a chance to recover. I couldn't imagine how he was dealing with everything.

  "Thanks," he said gruffly after a few seconds.

  I cleared my throat. "Hey, it's the least I could do after you got me to pull the handle on the bungee ride."

  He chuckled. "Hardly the same thing, but if you say so. All right, what should we do with our day off?"

  I blinked, surprised he wanted to spend it with me.

  He flushed. "Oh, geez, I'm sorry. Of course you don't have to--I mean--"

  I shook my head. "I was just surprised you didn't want to relax on your own. I'd love to hang out with you. But are you sure?"

  His face began to return to its normal color. "Definitely. I'm always at work or with Dad. I'd enjoy spending the day with you. If you want to."

  Did I want to spend a whole day with a man I longed to kiss? "Absolutely."

  *****

  Since he hadn't eaten yet, we decided to head to the Eaton Centre for breakfast for him and a snack for me and then see what we wanted to do next. The shopping center wasn't open yet, but he took me to a tiny coffee shop that was and insisted on paying for my snack, the best croissant I'd ever tasted. We stayed for ages since everyone else was rushing in to buy things before work and didn't need the chairs, and chatted non-stop. No topic was off-limits, and he made that clear right after we sat down.

  "Look, I think I owe you an apology." His neck reddened. "You'll probably hate me but I have to tell you. You used to work with Tina, right?"

  I nodded. Oh, please, don't let him want to date her.

  "She was with my friend Brent for a while, and she was bitching about her job and how some girl was standing between her and the job she wanted. I..." The flush deepened. "I got frustrated listening to her gripe about how messed up this person was after a big breakup and said, 'Maybe she'll just quit and you can take her job.' She seemed happy and it shut her up, but when we talked at Wonderland and I realized how you came to work with us... I've felt terrible."

  He felt bad about that? I remembered his reaction at Wonderland when I'd mentioned dealing with a breakup and knew he did. How sweet. "Come on, it's not your fault. I think Tina was well capable of coming up with that on her own."

  "Maybe, but I should have stayed out of it. If I hadn't said anything she might not have decided to make you quit."

  I sighed. "I suppose. But honestly, I think I'm better off."

  He wasn't convinced. "One stupid comment and I changed your career path."

  I reached out and patted his arm, partly to comfort him but mostly because I wanted to touch him again. "She changed it. You've been nothing but great to me." I gave him a squeeze then let go though I didn't want to. "Besides, she was right in one regard. I was messed up."

  "Because of your ex?"

  I nodded, and told him about my breakup with Alex and how strange my life had felt afterward and how I was crocheting and bellydancing and trying to figure out
who I was as an adult. He listened and empathized and asked questions about my new hobbies and let me show him far more pictures of Harrison than anyone needed to see and even convinced me to teach him the snake arm movement I'd learned in dance class the week before, making us both teary-eyed with laughter when his snakes were more like metal pipes than sinuous reptiles.

  When we'd calmed, I said, "And what about you? I didn't know about your dad."

  He shrugged. "I don't like to beg for sympathy so I don't talk about it much. My mom died of cancer two years ago. At that point Dad was only a little forgetful, but I think she knew something was happening. She made me promise to keep him at home and take care of him, and I said I would. I'd have said anything to make her happy at that point. But I don't know if I can do it forever."

  "Was today the first time he got out of the house like that?"

  He nodded. "He's slipped outside before, but he's always just sat on the steps to get some air. But today? That long walk and everything that could have happened?" He shook his head. "I don't know whether it's even safe to keep him at home any more."

  I sighed. "That's awful. I'm sure some of the places he could live would be really nice, but they wouldn't be his home. It's so good of you to do what you're doing, but it must be so tough for you too. It's not begging for sympathy at all to admit it's a challenge."

  His smile was sad. "I owe him after everything he's done for me all my life. But... yeah, it's hard sometimes. Jay and Wendy used to invite me out for drinks all the time, but since I never went they stopped asking. That Wonderland trip was the first time I'd been away from Dad other than for work in ages. And the 'Cats' play, but I only went there because Brent's cousin was in it. I basically just work then go home." He gave a grim laugh. "I haven't had a girlfriend since Mom died. I can hardly say, 'Sure, I'll date you. Bring over a movie and some night-time diapers for my dad.' No woman's going to put up with that for long. So I haven't tried."

  I wanted to protest, since I felt sure he'd be worth that sort of sacrifice, but I couldn't really. Sure, occasionally it'd be fine to stay at his place, but dating a guy who could never leave the house? Not a lot of fun.