The Secret Life of Mac

by Melinda Metz

  “A lot of our people have gotten sick. We’re going to try to figure out if it’s food poisoning,” Hope answered.

  “I want to help. Can I help?” Nate might not want her there, but she needed to do something. She at least wanted to check on Gib.

  “We’re breaking up in pairs and going door-to-door. Do you want to come with me?” Hope asked. “Nate’s calling people from the health department, and LeeAnne is staying here to show them everything in the kitchen. She won’t let me stay. I think she needs to slam and bang things and doesn’t want me to see it. She’s so upset that her food might have caused all this.”

  “Yes. I definitely want to come.” Briony sent Caleb a text saying she was going to be longer than she planned, that she needed to help with an emergency situation.

  He texted back a few moments later, wanting details on what kind of emergency. Briony texted back about the possible food poisoning outbreak at the retirement center. He’d absolutely understand that as a reason for her being late coming back.

  But then, Caleb being Caleb, he wanted to know what he could do. She shot back an answer, telling him she thought they had enough people and that she’d be back as soon as she could. “Going out to talk to residents now. See who is sick,” she added, so he wouldn’t keep messaging her. He wouldn’t want to keep her from that.

  She and Hope reached the front of the line, and Hope wrote down the numbers of the houses they should visit. They each grabbed bags of bottled water from a nearby table.

  “Wait!” someone called. Briony turned and saw LeeAnne coming toward them.

  “You’re here,” she said to Briony.

  “I am.”

  “You left my boy in quite a state.”

  “I know. I know,” she said again, struggling, and failing, for a way to explain. “I didn’t mean to.”

  LeeAnne gave her a sheet listing all the foods served at brunch—a long list. “Check off what each person ate, whether they’re sick or not,” she instructed, then strode over to another pair of volunteers.

  Hope gave Briony a curious look but only said, “We’re starting over on Jacaranda Way.”

  Briony was relieved she didn’t have to come up with an explanation for the girl. She was probably only nineteen or twenty. She didn’t need to hear such a sad, sordid story. And, truth, Briony didn’t want to see the way Hope would look at her when she found out what Briony had done. Although LeeAnne hadn’t seemed to hate Briony. When she’d said Briony had hurt Nate, it was like it was something Briony should know, not like a condemnation.

  “Good. I’ll get to see Gib,” Briony said as they walked. “The cat I’m taking care of seems to have made friends with him. He keeps coming over to visit.”

  “Gib is great,” Hope answered. “I’m glad he’s started socializing again. He stayed away from the community center for a while. He didn’t even come to the dining room for meals.” She grimaced. “I guess it would be better if he’d stayed home today.” Her cell buzzed, and she checked it. “Nate wants us to text him and Yesenia with everyone who’s affected. He says we should tell everyone that we’ll be bringing in food from outside for dinner. We’ll deliver something bland to everyone who’s sick.”

  “Wow. He thinks of everything,” Briony commented. “How long ago did he find out this happened?”

  “Not even an hour ago.” They turned up the walkway of the first bungalow on their route. “He’s amazing.” She banged on the door. “Samantha takes out her hearing aid when she’s home by herself. The feel of it in her ear annoys her.”

  Briony was impressed. “Do you know so much about everyone who lives here?”

  Hope banged again. “Not all. This is the street I walk down when I’m coming or going to work. When it’s nice out, people are on their porches. We chat.” She raised her hand to knock again, but the door swung open.

  The tall, thin woman inside held up one finger as she put in her hearing aid with her free hand. “Hope! What a lovely surprise. Would you like to come in? I found a pattern to crochet an adorable little octopus, and you’re getting one. You can look through the yarn and choose the color.”

  “That’s so sweet, but I’ll have to do it later. We came by to see how you’re feeling,” Hope told her. “Some of the residents got sick after lunch. We’re afraid it might be food poisoning. Are you doing okay?”

  “Fine,” Samantha answered, placing one hand over her stomach. “I hope no one’s seriously ill.”

  “Yesenia’s been treating people, and Jeremiah should be in soon to help,” Hope explained. “Can you tell us what you ate at lunch? That will help us figure out what food is responsible.”

  Briony pulled a pen out of her bag and began checking off the foods as Samantha named them. “Let me read you what else was served,” she suggested when Samantha finished. “It would be easy to leave something out, like a condiment or dressing.” She ran through the list and checked off a couple more items. Then she and Hope said good-bye and headed to the next house. The couple who lived there had eaten at home.

  “How do you feel about doing the next one by yourself?” Hope asked.

  Briony was curious, but Hope hadn’t asked her any questions when LeeAnne had brought up the situation with Nate, so she decided to return the favor. “Sure.”

  “Thanks! I really appreciate it!” Hope exclaimed. “I’ll do the one next door alone, then we can meet back up.”

  “See you in a few.” Briony hurried up the walkway and knocked on the door. “Max, hi.” The boy was dressed in pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. “This must be your grandfather’s place.”

  “Yeah. I just got here. I didn’t bother getting dressed.” He flushed with embarrassment. “I was worried. He called and said he thought he had the flu,” Max answered.

  “I don’t think it’s the flu. Several people who ate brunch at the dining hall have suddenly gotten ill. It seems like it’s food poisoning,” Briony explained.

  Max’s eyes widened. “H-how serious is that? Does he need to go to the hospital?”

  “I’m going to have Yesenia, one of the nurse practitioners, visit him.”

  “Okay, yeah, I know her. How l-long will it be?”

  “I’m not sure. It depends on how many others have symptoms. But I know another nurse is coming in, so I don’t think it will be too long,” she answered. “Do you think I could see Rich for a few minutes? It would really be helpful if I could find out exactly what he ate.”

  “Sure. Yes.” He swung the door open wide, then frowned. Briony looked over her shoulder, trying to figure out what he’d seen. Hope was already waiting on the sidewalk. “What’s H-h—What’s s-sh-.” He swallowed hard. “What’s s-she doing out there?”

  “Hope’s going door-to-door checking on people, same as me,” Briony told him.

  “But why is s-h—” He hummed a little, then started again. “Why is she just standing there?”

  “We’re comparing notes every few houses.” Briony wasn’t going to tell him that Hope hadn’t wanted to go to his grandfather’s. “Can I come in?”

  “Y-yes. S-sorry.” Max stepped back so Briony could enter. Rich was sitting on the sofa with a plastic bucket next to him. But he had his notebook out and his pencil in hand. He wasn’t feeling bad enough that he wasn’t ready to jot down lines for one of his poems.

  Briony ran down the list of foods and Rich told her what he’d eaten, then she gave him the water and encouraged him to drink it slowly.

  “Can you think of anything that rhymes with ‘diarrhea’?” he asked when she stood to leave. Aiarrhea, biarrhea, ciarrhea. Briony kept running through the alphabet, trying to think of something. “Not offhand,” she admitted. “Maybe ‘dysentery’ would be easier!”

  “Or ‘the trots,’ ” Max suggested.

  “Ah! Good idea.” Rich started to scribble, and Max grinned.

  “You’re a good grandson,” Briony told him, then she returned to Hope.

  “No one was home at Archie’s. He’s who
lives next door,” Hope said.

  “Can you send a text saying that Rich is sick?” Briony asked. She didn’t want to do it herself. She didn’t think Nate would be happy she was still around. Besides, she didn’t have Yesenia’s number.

  “Oh no! How bad is it?” Hope asked as her thumbs flew over her phone.

  “When I left he was trying to compose a poem about diarrhea. Max was there, taking care of him,” Briony answered. “He’s a good kid.” She looked at Hope. “I guess I shouldn’t say ‘kid.’ He’s your age. Actually, aren’t you in a class together?” Nate had been asking Max about that at Family Night. It felt like weeks ago now.

  “Yes. Although I doubt he knows that. When he sees me, it’s like he doesn’t even recognize me. Or at least he pretends not to. Maybe he doesn’t want to talk to the help.”

  “That doesn’t seem like Max,” Briony said.

  “How can you even say that? You barely met him,” Hope protested. “Didn’t you see him the other night? He wouldn’t even answer when I asked if he wanted an appetizer. And he walked off about two seconds after that.”

  Briony tried to remember exactly what had happened, but she couldn’t. Hope sounded very sure, though.

  “Okay. Yesenia’s got Rich on the list of people to see. Let’s get going.” Hope started walking, and Briony fell into step. She was glad the next house was Gib’s. She was anxious to see how he was.

  When she knocked on the door, he called back, saying he was coming. Just from hearing his hoarse, weak voice, Briony could tell he was one of the people who’d gotten sick.

  It felt like it took forever for him to answer. When he did, his face was tinged with gray and sweat dotted his hairline. “Let’s get you back inside where you can sit!” Briony exclaimed. “Hope and I came by to see if you’d gotten sick after brunch. It sure looks like you did.” She stepped inside, looped her arm through his, and slowly helped him walk to the living room.

  “Who else has gotten sick? What about Richard, and Regina, and Janet? And Peggy?” Gib had thrown Peggy’s name in last, like it wasn’t important, but after what Nate had told her Briony knew Gib had to be more concerned about her than any of the others.

  “We don’t know yet.” Hope handed him a bottle of water. “Someone will be checking in on all of them, though.”

  “Where’s the beast?” Gib asked Briony.

  “I would say ‘home,’ but every time I think he’s at home he’s actually over here.”

  “He likes to bring me presents. That’s the latest.” He nodded at the side table. Beside the lamp sat a—She wasn’t sure what. She hoped it wasn’t something dead that Gib hadn’t felt well enough to dispose of. She cautiously picked up the thing, trying not to touch any of the sparse white hair. To her relief, she realized it was mostly made of latex so thin it was almost transparent.

  “What is it?” She gave the thing a little shake.

  “Not sure. He must have played with it awhile before he brought it over. Or else he found it in the trash,” Gib answered.

  It did look like it had been batted around with some sharp little claws and possibly chewed on a little. “You want me to throw it away?”

  “Nah. I’m starting a collection. That cat is a character.” Gib cleared his throat. Briony could hear how dry it was.

  “Maybe try a little more water,” she suggested. “Then I need to find out what you ate.”

  After she ran through the checklist with him, she told him they had to move on to the next house. “Would it be okay if I come back later?” she asked. “To check on you. I can let you know how Peggy and the others are doing.”

  He looked pleased. “If no one else needs you more. And since you seem not as crazy as you first appeared to be.”

  “Did you tell Nate that Archie wasn’t home?” Briony asked as they started to the next house. “He’s got to be anxious to know if he’s one of the ones who got sick. His granddaughter will go nuclear if he did. She already wants to move him out.”

  “I texted him.” Hope looked at Briony in what felt like an appraising way. “He told you about that? Huh. He usually keeps his problems to himself. LeeAnne has to drag things out of him. You must have gotten close pretty fast.”

  Briony wasn’t going to touch that. They finished their area about an hour later. As she and Hope headed into the community center, Briony felt her stomach tighten, hoping she wouldn’t run into Nate again. She still needed to talk to him, but today was not the time. She’d go with Hope to turn in the lists of what everyone they’d seen had eaten, and if there wasn’t anything else for volunteers to do she’d leave.

  She needed to spend some time with Caleb anyway. She wondered how long he was planning to stay. Until it was time for her to go home? Wherever home was. She had no apartment to go back to. Caleb had found a place for them in Portland. She could feel her pulse start to race at the thought.

  “You okay?” Hope asked as they walked into the dining room. People were gathered at several tables, filling brown bags with bananas, yogurt, crackers, and more water. They looked like they had the job covered.

  “Yes. Fine.” Briony pulled in a deep, steadying breath. “Since we’re back, maybe I’ll have a water.” She opened a bottle and took a swallow. She wasn’t going to let herself have a panic attack. Not now.

  “We’re about to run out of yogurt over here!”

  Briony knew that voice. She scanned the room. Yes, there was Caleb. Somehow, he’d found The Gardens and was pitching in. Why did Caleb always have to be so . . . so Caleb? She had to get him out of there. It was bad enough that she’d shown up when Nate was dealing with an emergency.

  “I’ve got you covered, Caleb!” a twentysomething woman called as she walked toward him carrying a case of yogurt. Caleb, being Caleb, had already started making friends. This friend was gorgeous, with long, dark hair and dark eyes that reminded her of—

  Briony grabbed Hope’s arm. “That’s—That’s—”

  “That’s Nathalie.”

  “Nate’s sister,” they said together.

  Perfect, Briony thought. Just perfect.

  * * *

  Nate and LeeAnne finished carrying the last of the meat and fish out to the dumpster and tossed it. The Department of Health had taken samples of everything served at lunch and told them to dispose of the rest.

  “What a waste.” LeeAnne shook her head. “There was nothing wrong with any of that. I know bad when I see it, and that food wasn’t bad.”

  “I agree. Somebody must have gotten to the food on the brunch buffet. The ventilation system, the treadmill, now this. And I have no idea who’s behind the sabotage.”

  “You don’t go out enough to have enemies,” LeeAnne joked weakly. “And it’s not like you have any enemies inside The Gardens. I’d know. Between me and the staff, I hear everything.”

  “There’s got to be something I’m missing.”

  “Well, now the health department’s on it. Maybe they’ll see something we haven’t. Fresh eyes.” LeeAnne and Nate started back toward the community center. “We’re set for dinner with the catered stuff and the bland foods for everyone who’s sick. Are we serving breakfast as usual?”

  “I don’t know.” He hated saying that. “I’m not sure people will be ready to eat in the dining room so soon. But it’s possible getting things back to normal as fast as possible will reassure everyone. Let me think on it and get back to you.”

  When they returned to the kitchen, they both washed their hands. “I’m going to go check on how it’s going with the care packages, see if anyone came across residents who they think need a personal visit right away. I’m going to check in on them all as soon as I can.”

  “I’m lucky. All I have to do is clean up this disaster.” She gestured at the mess left behind by the health inspectors. “If you see Hope, tell her I’ve stopped having tantrums and it’s safe to come back here and help.”

  “Will do.” Nate straightened his tie, preparing to show everyone he enco
untered that he was in control of the situation. Even though he wasn’t. Not by a long shot. He strode into the dining room. It looked like there was good progress getting food and more water assembled for delivery to those who’d gotten sick. They could switch over to making up dinner deliveries for everyone else as soon as the caterer got there, which should be within half an hour.

  His gaze snagged on one of the tables, and he stopped short. His sister was tying bows onto the packages. How’d she even known what was going on? He hadn’t told her or his mom. It would only have meant two more people to reassure. Or that’s what he’d assumed. But here Nathalie was, actually helping. He started toward her, then stopped again. She was standing next to that guy from last night. Briony’s fiancé. Ex-fiancé. What the hell was he doing here?

  If he was here, that meant Briony hadn’t left. He quickly spotted her in the far corner, chatting with Archie, who was sitting in his wheelchair, a natty fedora pulled low over one eye. Regina and Janet hovered over him, and he looked like he was enjoying the attention. Nate switched course and headed over, wanting to touch base.

  Before he reached the little group, he was intercepted by Eliza. Because that’s the kind of day it was. You needed to talk to her anyway, he told himself. Might as well be now. “Eliza, how did it go with the specialist? What did he think of the ankle?”

  “The ankle? That’s the least of my grandfather’s problems at the moment. I had to rush him to the emergency room. He had food poisoning. Along with most of the people here.”

  “The number isn’t that high,” Nate protested. He glanced over at Archie. “He looks well enough to flirt at least.”

  Eliza wasn’t amused by the mild joke. “He should be in bed. But he’s stubborn, and he’s somehow become incredibly loyal to this place, even though he’s been here less than a month. He insisted on coming over to see how things were going.”

  “He’s made a lot of friends,” Nate began. “He’s been—”

  She didn’t let him finish. “I’ll be sending you this emergency room bill along with the one from the orthopedist, once we’re able to see him.”