by Lori Foster
“These days he rarely recognizes anyone, and he’s often afraid, even paranoid.” She put a fist to her chest. “But he feels safe with me.”
And so she stayed at his beck and call. Pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place. “That’s where you go during the night? To see him?”
“He’s so frail, Jason. When he tries to escape the facility and fights the nurses, or my aunts or cousin, they have to strap him down. He ends up all bruised and...” She swallowed hard. “I can’t stand that. He was always such a gentle man that seeing him hurt destroys me.”
“The other relatives don’t help?”
“They sometimes show up. But he doesn’t recognize them anymore, so he doesn’t trust them.” She paused. “Actually I guess he never entirely trusted them. But now he almost fears them, like he thinks they’re trying to hurt him somehow. For the most part, it’s easier on all of us if they just stay away.”
“So it all falls on you?”
She shook her head. “Don’t misunderstand. They’re all in different circumstances than me. I’m single—”
“By choice.” Venturing a guess, he said, “I assume so you could care for your grandfather?”
Her mouth flattened. “For the most part, the family thinks I’m there because, as they put it, I want to rip him off in his dying days. But honestly whatever money he had, I assume, was needed for medical care. Only they don’t seem to understand that.”
Idiots. All of them. “Who ensures payment to the facility?”
“I don’t know exactly, but he had all that prearranged. Granddad was always a planner. He never wanted to leave things to chance, and he said he never wanted to burden me with it.”
Like Honor, he hadn’t wanted to impose on others. She’d probably learned to go it alone from her grandfather. “Your mother knows he’s ill?”
“She passed away in a car accident when I was twenty. We only knew about it because Granddad had to pay for her funeral. I have no idea about my dad. Granddad said he could track him down for me if I ever wanted, but I didn’t see the point. Dad knew where I was, but he’d never, not once, come back to see me.”
Jesus, his heart broke for her.
“My great-aunt, Granddad’s sister, used to say that at the very least he should track down Dad and make him pay my share of living expenses. She called my parents leeches, and me a leech by extension. They ended up in an awful argument over it. More than a month went by before he talked to her again. I don’t think she’s ever really forgiven me for that.”
For what? Being a kid in need?
Knowing she didn’t need his anger right now, he suppressed it. But it wasn’t easy. “I’m glad you had your grandfather.”
“Me, too.” She curled her fingers over his. “And now he has me. It doesn’t matter how many times I have to get out of bed or rearrange my schedule, I’ll be there for him through his last day.”
As Jason pulled into the parking lot, he asked, “That could be soon?”
She lowered her head. “I’m afraid so. These last few months he’s suffered and each day seems more difficult than the one before. He’s so...blank now. In my mind, I know that it’s his time. But in my heart—”
“I understand.” When Hogan’s wife died, Jason had been filled with both sympathy and anger. He’d grown to despise Meg for her cheating, but regardless she’d been Colt’s mother and seeing his grief had hurt.
Seemed the heart and the head often did battle.
To help Honor keep her composure, Jason redirected her thoughts with a question. “How do you usually deal with the relatives?”
“I do my best to be kind, but still firm. If I’m not, they get bolder and everything escalates.”
“Like it did today?” The news that her grandfather was almost gone had left her more vulnerable, and they’d pounced.
She looked away. “Yes.”
Jason parked near the front and turned off the truck. “Should we wait for Lexie?”
Honor glanced in her side-view mirror. “She’s here.” Then she turned back to Jason. “Are you sure you want to—”
“Yes.” He left the truck with Honor, taking long strides to keep up with her rushed pace. The circular sidewalk led to and from the main entrance with attractive plants and occasional seating along the way. Lexie caught up at the widest curve.
It was the first time Jason had ever seen her so serious, even grim.
She muttered, “There’s a gargoyle keeping watch,” and nodded toward the entrance.
Jason looked up. Right outside the double entry doors, a woman in her midsixties watched their approach. Her highlighted brown hair swung over her shoulders when she jerked around to face Honor, a glowing cigarette in one hand, a cell phone to her ear and a look of venom in her eyes.
Jason felt Honor’s tension, but she didn’t slow. Voice low, she told Lexie, “Behave.”
When they were close enough, the woman flipped the cigarette to the ground and stepped in front of them. “Why are you back?”
“To see Granddad, of course.” Honor started around the woman but got blocked again. Resolve squared her shoulders.
“You think just because you brought backup—”
“I’m going in, Aunt Gina. I’d prefer to keep things peaceful, you know that. But one way or another, with or without a scene, I will see my grandfather.”
“You’d do that, wouldn’t you? Show up here with your sidekicks, pushing your way in, causing problems.”
Honor met her angry stare without blinking.
Giving up the intimidation tactic, Gina transferred her gaze to Jason. “Who are you?”
“He’s with me.” Honor moved forward, reaching past Gina for the door handle and forcing her to step aside.
Jason half smiled. Had he really thought Honor would need him to defend her? She was doing pretty damn good on her own.
Air-conditioning hit them the second they entered the building. They could all hear the woman on her cell, loudly proclaiming that the “little witch” had returned.
They stood in an interior entryway separated by a glass wall from the main foyer. Jason assumed the double entry was to help ensure that the patients inside couldn’t wander off.
“Do you want to wait in the foyer?” Honor asked him.
“Not a chance.” Jason helped her slip on her cardigan.
“It’s only going to get worse.”
He’d assumed as much. “I’m a big boy. I think I can take it.”
Lexie shoulder-bumped him. “He’s sturdy, Honor. He won’t wilt under the maliciousness.”
She shook her head and again started them on their way. “Fine. But I need you both to let me handle things.”
“That’s a tall order, but I’ll do my best,” Lexie said, and Jason silently agreed.
He wasn’t surprised when, at the end of a long private hallway, two more women showed themselves. Another aunt, he assumed, given her resemblance to the woman out front, and probably the cousin who looked five or six years older than Honor.
Taking the offense, Honor said, “Aunt Janet, Terry. How is he?”
“Like you care.” The younger woman sneered.
As if she hadn’t spoken, Honor said, “I’ll talk with the nurse after I’ve checked in on him.”
“Hoping he’ll go soon so you can collect?”
Good God, Jason thought, they were all vile. Lexie sure as hell hadn’t exaggerated.
Honor said only, “Will we get along civilly or not?”
“Not,” the woman snapped.
The older of the two glared. “I thought you’d stay home and cry into your pillow, but instead you came back with your little entourage.”
“They’re friends.”
“It’s bad enough that you have that one with you,” she said, stabbing Lexie with her disdain. “Now you bring a boyfriend, too?”
There were no social niceties, no introductions or handshakes or even a measure of civility.
Honor said, “He’s a neighb
or.”
“And you brought him here?” Ugly in her anger, the woman crowded Honor, her voice a hiss. “Isn’t it enough that you’ve tried to cut out his family? Now you have to disrespect him by bringing a stranger to his deathbed?”
A door opened and a stately, much older woman stepped out, her narrowed gaze sweeping first over Jason, then everyone else. She pulled the door quietly closed behind her. “Janet, please shut up. And, Terry, you’d be wise to be silent now, too.”
Both of the relatives clammed up.
Honor said, “I hope we didn’t disturb you, Aunt Celeste.”
“You didn’t,” Lexie grouched.
Jason could understand Lexie’s inability to stay out of it. Already he clenched his teeth so tightly his jaw ached. But Honor didn’t need added pressure, so he nudged Lexie, encouraging her to keep it together.
The other women all had varying shades of light brown or dark blond hair, similar to Honor’s. But this woman—Aunt Celeste—had probably been steely gray for years. She shared a few features with the others, but was taller and notably thinner.
Because she wasn’t glaring, Jason stepped forward and held out his hand. “Jason Guthrie.” Following Honor’s example, he explained, “I’m Honor’s neighbor and friend.”
“Celeste Mefford.” She accepted his greeting, her hand fragile despite the strength of her manner. “I’m Honor’s great-aunt, and I trust you’re a tad more than a neighbor?”
“Yes.”
She tipped her head at Honor. “I did wonder if you’d go home, compose yourself and then return. I see now that you returned with reinforcements.”
“She doesn’t need reinforcement,” Lexie said. “But we insisted.”
“Honor is strong-willed enough that you could insist until you lost your voice and if she didn’t want you here, you wouldn’t be.”
Jason lifted a brow, and conceded, “Very true.”
That made the old gal smile.
A bit more flustered, Honor said, “I’d like to see Granddad now.”
“I assumed as much.” Celeste stepped aside, deliberately positioning herself in front of the other two relatives. “If he wakes, and if he recognizes you at all, he’d enjoy meeting your friend.”
“You two go on,” Lexie said, taking a militant stance facing the others. “I’ll wait here and ensure no one barges in with an Uzi.”
When Jason looked back at her with concern, Celeste said, “Go on. She’ll be fine.”
Given the temperaments of the relatives, he wasn’t so sure about that, but at least he’d get to stay with Honor.
9
HONOR FORGOT ABOUT the family as she stepped into her grandfather’s suite at the facility. His bedroom blended with a seating area with only a bathroom providing privacy. With the curtains drawn and the lights low, she saw her grandfather’s form as a faint shadow in the bed. He was so still that her breath froze in her chest.
“He’s still with us.”
Tears clouded her vision, and maybe that was why she hadn’t at first seen the elderly man standing just inside the door. His hushed voice drew her attention real fast.
Black eyes in a dark, wrinkled face took her measure. He stood a few inches taller than her, mostly bald with only a little closely cropped gray hair remaining. Dressed in an expensive suit and carrying a cane, he smiled, showing incredibly white teeth and, at least to Honor, looking very kind.
Keeping her voice as low as his, Honor asked, “Mr. Mosely?”
“Call me Neil, please.”
Honor stepped forward in a rush, her hand extended. “I’m Honor.”
Hooking his cane on his wrist, he took her hand in both of his and held on. “Of course you are. Your grandfather has spoken of you often, and shown me many photographs. You’re every bit as pretty as he said.”
Meeting him was too confusing, and too significant, for her to smile. “Mr. Mosely—”
“Neil.”
“Neil, this is my neighbor and very good friend, Jason Guthrie.”
Neil turned his megawatt smile on Jason. As if telling a secret, he leaned in and whispered, “Celeste and I heard through the door.”
Honor had forgotten how little privacy the room actually provided.
Waving a hand, Neil said, “She heard ‘boyfriend’ and hightailed it out of here real fast, fearing she might miss the introduction, or that the others might scare you off.” He released Honor to offer his hand to Jason. “I’m glad to see that wasn’t the case.”
“No, sir.”
“You’re a bruiser, aren’t you? Physical job?”
“Mostly,” Jason confirmed. “I build things.”
“Just about everything,” Honor added. “He’s really talented.”
Neil smiled at them as if greatly pleased. “Hugh would be so happy.”
Why did they all assume that she and Jason were that involved? “Mr. Mosely—”
“Neil.” He gestured toward the seating area. “Since Hugh is sleeping, could we talk a moment? I’ll need to be leaving soon.”
Honor wanted to keep vigil by her grandfather’s side, but how could she refuse one of his close friends? After another long look at Granddad, she nodded. “Of course.”
She wasn’t sure, but she thought he might be around the same age as her grandfather, in his late eighties. Once he’d seated himself on the very edge of the soft padded recliner, his hands resting over his cane, she and Jason took up the loveseat.
Jason didn’t put his arm around her, but he did sit near enough that their shoulders and thighs bumped, reminding her that at least for this visit, she wasn’t alone. “You said you were friends with my grandfather?”
“For a long time now. Hugh and I met twenty years ago. I was around when he moved you in, and when he buried his daughter. He was there for me when my wife passed. I know you’re probably wondering why you and I never met, and that’s part of what I’d like to explain.”
It did seem curious. Honor was well acquainted with many of her grandfather’s friends and a few of his business associates. “If Granddad never mentioned you, I’m sure he had a reason.”
Lines creased Neil’s face as he smiled. “That’s one of the things he’s always loved most about you. Your unwavering belief in him. More than the others—” he glanced at the closed door “—you’ve always been there for him.”
“I love him.”
“And it’s obvious.” Neil turned to Jason. “Hugh used to complain that Honor turned his hair gray with her stubbornness, and in the next breath he’d brag on and on about her, saying she was the most like him.”
“If that’s true,” Jason said, smiling at her, “then he must be wonderful, as well.”
Neil’s dark eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “Yes, wonderful.” He slipped a hand to the inside pocket of his suit coat and withdrew a standard-sized white envelope. “I told you I was also Hugh’s solicitor as well as his friend and I’ve had several duties to fulfill, including acting as his power of attorney to maintain the financial upkeep on his properties and holdings, as well as handling the payments on this facility. He entrusted me with very strict instructions—”
Honor closed her eyes. She didn’t want to hear about her grandfather dying. Not yet.
“—which included this particular talk.”
Jason kissed her temple. “Would you like me to wait outside?”
“No.” She grabbed his hand, realized what she’d done, and balked. “I mean, that is, if you want to go—”
His thumb smoothed over her knuckles. “I’d prefer to stay right here by you.”
She didn’t mean to, but her hand tightened on his. “Thank you.”
Neil nodded. “Good. Hugh will enjoy meeting you. For so many years he feared Honor would spend her entire life alone. I’m glad he’ll get to see that’s not the case.”
She didn’t dare look at Jason. He probably had no real idea just how alone she’d been. And now her dying grandfather’s solicitor was making it sound as if
they were practically engaged.
At the moment, she wasn’t up to explaining.
Neil didn’t yet hand over the envelope. “Hugh knew years ago that his health was failing, and of course he knew about the onset of the dementia. That’s when I became more important in his life. He knew his passing would be difficult in many ways, and he wanted to spare you the legalities of it. He never wanted to be a burden to you.”
“He’s not! He never could be.”
As if she hadn’t spoken, the lawyer continued in his best official voice. “Because of that he kept us separate, ensuring that you wouldn’t know of his plans, of the ways he tried to protect you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Hugh took incontestable legal measures...and named you his beneficiary on all his cash accounts. They’re set up as POD.” He took a second, his mouth firming as he struggled for composure, before he murmured softly, “Payable on death.”
Unable to take it in, Honor shot to her feet—then just stared, her thoughts scrambling, her stomach already knotting from the awful loss soon to come.
Jason slowly stood behind her, his strong arms coming around her, holding her close.
Neil struggled to his feet as well. “I’ve served as his medical power of attorney, but we were both certain if you knew, you’d try to help with that. Hugh trusted you, always, but he also understood exactly how much you love him—just as he loves you. That’s why he details in his letter to you, at this point in his illness he doesn’t wish to be resuscitated.”
Pain turned her denial into a whisper of sound. “No.”
Neil put a hand on her shoulder. “This saddens me, as well. I’m not ready to lose my dear friend. But this is a reality, and he knew you, above everyone else, would respect his wishes.”
When she started to tremble, Jason turned her into his chest. She felt him kiss her temple, felt his big hands stroking down her back, and she concentrated on that instead of her grief as she tried to compose herself.
When she finally had herself together, she turned back to Neil, firm in her decision. “I don’t want his money.”
Tapping the envelope to his thigh, Neil scrutinized her. “Now, you listen to me, young lady. Hugh knew you would say that, just as he understood the difficulty this will cause you with the others. They inherit, but it’s property and will have to go through probate. What he’s given you, you can take immediately.”