Maid to Fit

by Rebecca Avery

“Ms. Clark, this is Mr. Wilkerson. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but we are currently unable to locate your mother. We have called the authorities and they reviewed the security cameras both inside and outside the building. It appears she slipped out during the lunchtime visitation hours. She has been gone a little more than an hour but she can’t have gone far. I apologize and promise that we are doing everything we can to locate her. We wondered if you had a photograph of her that you could provide the authorities to aid in the search,” he said.

  Her mother had finally done it. She’d gone looking for the good-looking guy she’d been talking about for more than a week now. The nurse had told Kayla that a male orderly who normally worked with her mother had recently quit and they felt that was Mary’s way of asking about him.

  But now she was gone. It was mid-December, and though the temperature was reasonably mild at the moment, they were in Ohio, and the weather could change in a matter of hours. And it was supposed to be very cold overnight.

  “I’ve got a picture of her at the house, I will grab it and be over there as soon as possible,” she replied, hanging up her cell phone. Seeing the alarm on Addie’s face Kayla said, “Grandma is missing. She slipped out during the lunch visitation and hasn’t been seen since.”

  “Oh, God, Mom! I’ll get the team to help us look for her,” Addie said, pulling out her own cell phone.

  “Your friends won’t know where to look or even who they are looking for, but I appreciate the thought. The police are looking and we are going to run a picture over and help look, as well,” she replied.

  “Mom, they all met Grandma! Ronnie had us go there a couple of days before competition to practice for her as a thank-you for her buying our custom competition CD,” Addie said.

  “Grandma doesn’t have any money. I’m her power of attorney and I handle all of her finances,” Kayla said in confusion.

  “Ronnie said Grandma paid for the CD and that someday I would thank him for making me go visit her. It was late when you got home that night and I was doing homework and I forgot to tell you, and then with competition and everything…”

  The truth must have hit Addie at the same time it came to her. Ronnie had paid for the CD…but why?

  Kayla would have to wonder about that later, for now she needed a picture of her mother and she needed to get it to the nursing home. She only half listened to Addie calling Chase and explaining about her grandmother’s disappearance.

  Kayla managed to get home, find the picture and get to the nursing home in record time. Entering the lobby, she was met by Mr. Wilkerson, the nursing home administrator, who ushered her into his office. A uniformed officer and a detective greeted her. After she gave them the picture of her mother, the officer headed out with it while Kayla stayed to answer questions for the other man.

  At some point Addie slipped out of the office, so after Kayla finished answering questions, she went to find Addie so they could start looking. Several kids were in the lobby finishing up a plan about where to look.

  “I appreciate you kids searching for my mother, but you must be very careful. God forbid it gets dark before we find her, but if it does, you head home. Make sure you let Addie know when you make it home safely,” Kayla said. “Addie, you keep in contact with me on your phone. I don’t want you to end up missing, too. Remember—not past dark. It’s not safe.”

  Where would her mother go? Would she forget where she was heading and then wander around aimlessly? Addie and her friends were headed outside just as inspiration hit. Kayla hadn’t checked the nanny cam while she’d been off work because she had the time to visit twice a day and hadn’t thought it necessary.

  She ran back out to her car and grabbed her laptop out of her briefcase and then headed to her mother’s room. After connecting the device, she began reviewing video from earlier. She watched her mother wandering aimlessly around her room, wringing her hands and mumbling something about a handsome man in a uniform.

  Would her mother really go outside in the cold in search of the orderly who had quit? Even with her dementia, it didn’t make sense. Wouldn’t she just wander around the halls of the nursing home? Yet the facility’s security video clearly showed her mother heading across the parking lot.

  “How long has she been missing, Kayla?” Ronnie asked from behind her.

  Kayla jumped at the sound of his voice and startled even more upon turning around to find Sergeant Buck with Ronnie, only a couple of feet away. Something like relief came over her.

  “She’s been gone about an hour and a half. How did you—”

  “Addie called me. I told you before that you could always call me. Obviously Addie listens better than you do,” he said.

  She ignored his comment. “She seems to be looking for one of the orderlies who normally takes care of her. He quit last week and she’s been talking about the handsome man in the uniform for days now. From what the nurse says, Mom must have gone looking for him. I just don’t understand why she would have headed outside instead of roaming the halls,” she said.

  Ronnie looked thoughtful for a moment. “Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is nearby. Maybe she’s looking for your dad…not the orderly.”

  Then, finding her mother’s robe and nightgown, he scooped them up in his large hands and knelt in front of the dog. Buck suddenly became very alert. Ronnie held her mother’s clothing and let Sergeant Buck sniff them for a few seconds. Then Ronnie said, “Seek.”

  Sergeant Buck sniffed all around the room until Ronnie called him out of the room, allowed the dog to sniff Mary’s clothes and again said, “Seek.”

  Again the dog began sniffing, making his way down the hall. Laying the laptop on the nightstand near her mother’s bed, Kayla followed them. Ronnie motioned for her to stay back. She watched Buck head out to the lobby and then stop in front of the entrance door and whine. Ronnie opened the door and led the dog outside. He again held out her mother’s clothing. After Sergeant Buck sniffed them, Ronnie said, “Seek.”

  Looking at her, he said, “Buck’s not really trained for search and rescue, but he’s a damn smart dog, so I figure it doesn’t hurt to try.”

  She watched in amazement as Sergeant Buck headed across the parking lot using the same path her mother had taken a couple of hours earlier. She followed a few steps behind Ronnie and the dog as the three of them headed across an open field. The farther the dog went the more concerned Kayla became. Traffic along U.S. 35 got louder and louder with each step they took.

  After walking a good while, they ran into a fence. The dog turned and began following the fence line, sniffing along the ground. They continued on until Kayla noticed that the nursing home was out of sight. The sunlight was fading and it would be completely dark within the next hour. She found herself quietly praying that someone would find her mother soon. Her mom had to be cold; she hadn’t been wearing a coat.

  Just as Kayla was beginning to think that Buck was only wandering around and wasn’t really tracking anything, the dog sat down and looked up at Ronnie with a whine.

  “Mary? It’s me, Sergeant Brown. We met a few days ago—you may not remember me. Are you out here?” Ronnie said loudly turning in a circle.

  Kayla heard her mother’s fragile voice call for help before she noticed a frail arm waving from a patch of tall grass straight out from the direction that Buck sat facing. Kayla ran over to her mother and knelt down next to her. Mary was so cold her lips were blue and she looked pale. Ronnie and Sergeant Buck were suddenly right next to them, and Kayla watched in a daze as Ronnie laid Mary’s clothes on top of her then shrugged out of his coat and laid it across her mother’s shivering body.

  “I need to run and get some help,” Ronnie said to her. Then looking at her mother, he said, “Mary, it’s awful cold out here this evening. Would you mind if my dog Buck sits next to you to keep warm?”

  When her mother looked at him but didn’t respond Ronnie knelt down near where she lay on her side and pointed to an area next to her. “Buc
k, down.”

  Kayla watched as Sergeant Buck lay down next to her mother and scooted slowly on his belly until he was right up against her body. Ronnie tucked his coat around her mother and said, “I’ll be back with some help, ma’am. Just try to keep my dog warm until I get back.”

  Then Ronnie took off at a run across the open field back toward the nursing home. Kayla watched him until he was out of sight. Looking to where her mother lay snuggled with Sergeant Buck, Kayla noticed the dog looked away from her as though he were afraid of her.

  Afraid she might pass out again perhaps.

  The irony wasn’t lost on her that the one thing she feared most in this world had given her back one of the things that meant the world to her. She slowly and gently touched Sergeant Buck on the back. “Thank you, Sergeant Buck.”

  The dog finally met her eyes and she swore some form of silent understanding passed between them. She texted Addie that her grandmother had been found and she should head back to the nursing home and wait for Kayla there. Then Kayla lay down facing her mother and threw her arm over Mary’s frail body. With the help of the largest dog she’d ever seen, she made a sandwich around her freezing mother while they waited for Ronnie to come back with help.

  “Do you think that soldier might know Douglas Clark? He’s stationed at the base,” her mother asked quietly.

  Ronnie had been right. Her mother had been out searching for a husband who had been dead for more than a decade. How could Ronnie have possibly known that Kayla’s father had been in the air force and that her mother was looking for him?

  Her parents had had a love that was from another time and place. Kayla’s entire childhood had been spent watching her mother and father share looks that only they understood and speak a silent language only they could comprehend. As much as her mother had forgotten, she obviously remembered the love of her husband.

  After what seemed like an hour later, Kayla heard the sounds of people. She sat up and waved the rescue workers over. Only when Ronnie approached and said, “Buck, come,” did the dog finally move away from her mother.

  Kayla stood and moved out of the way so the rescue workers could help her mother. The next thing she knew, Ronnie came up behind her, wrapped his thick arms around her shoulders and pulled her back against him. Amazingly, he was warm…and wonderful.

  It took the EMTs a little time to get her mother loaded and strapped onto a board that they then carried across the open field toward the nursing home. Ronnie didn’t ask questions or blame her for not doing a better job of taking care of her mother. He didn’t say anything. He simply guided her out of the field with one massive arm around her shoulders while he led Sergeant Buck by the leash with the other.

  The EMTs loaded her mother into a waiting ambulance and Ronnie assured Kayla that he would take care of getting Addie home and settled. Addie was kneeling on the hard ground next to Sergeant Buck with her arms around the old dog. Only when the ambulance actually took off did Kayla realize that her mother still clutched Ronnie’s jacket in her frail hands.

  Ronnie and Sergeant Buck had literally saved her mother’s life.

  Ronnie’s words came back to her. He saved my life a few years back and he’s been with me ever since.

  If Addie hadn’t called Ronnie this whole night might have ended differently. Kayla was grateful that he’d been there yet again helping her in that special way that was all Ronnie. She’d thought that being without Ronnie was getting easier with every passing day, but she was way off base. She had only missed him more with each passing day.

  He’d started out as hired help, for cooking, cleaning and running errands. Now he was…now he was a part of their lives. Things were better when he was around. Everything seemed to fit into place, compliments of Ronnie.

  It was past time she swallowed her pride and talked to him about how she felt. If he wanted out, then fine, but maybe they could still be friends.

  At this point, she would take whatever version of him she could get.

  Sometime later she received a text message from Addie. She was at home and fine and Ronnie had gone back to his place but said to call him if they needed anything. Ronnie had helped because Addie had asked him to, but now that everyone was fine he just went on back home.

  Didn’t he get it? She needed him…and not just when her life was crazy.

  Chapter Ten

  Ronnie started awake at the sound of his cell phone ringing. Groping around, he managed to push the button and answer.

  “Ronnie? I’m scared. Mom’s not home from the hospital yet and I heard a noise. Can you come back over until she gets here?” Addie asked. “I was going to call her but I know Grandma needs her right now. I’m trying to be mature, but I swear I heard something.”

  He could hear the fear in Addie’s voice and he wanted to help but he didn’t want to make things even worse with Kayla by overstepping his bounds again. Sergeant Buck whined from the blanket Ronnie had spread out on the floor. With Rusty currently out of town, he’d taken to sneaking Buck into his apartment at night and attempting to stay gone most of the day.

  “Look, I can’t stay there without your mom’s permission, but I can bring Sergeant Buck over there, check things out and then leave him there with you overnight. I can pick him up in the morning when your mom gets home. How does that sound?” he offered. “Even the biggest creep on earth is no match for a pissed-off Sergeant Buck.”

  “I know I’m being a baby, but that would be so great. How long will it take for you to get here?”

  “Ten minutes. Just check the doors and windows and we’ll be there before you know it,” he replied.

  He scrambled up and got dressed and was surprised to find Buck waiting at the door to the apartment once he managed to pull on his coat and find the keys to the truck. He banged on Ian’s bedroom door, since Seth had company, and told him he was leaving. Then they were out and headed to Kayla’s house. It was freezing outside, and he gave Buck another pat for having found Mary earlier. The older woman would have had little chance of survival if left out in the elements on this night in her thin clothing.

  Pulling into the driveway at Kayla’s, he couldn’t help but snicker. Addie had turned on every light in the house. That, along with the few holiday decorations in the yard and around the windows, had the place shining like the North Star. The front door swung open before he and Buck even made it all the way up the walk.

  “What took you so long?” Addie asked when he stepped inside.

  “I had to fight off an army of zombies at the end of the street,” he said.

  “Very funny,” she said, kneeling to hug Sergeant Buck.

  He started his search of the premises upstairs in Addie’s room, and when he didn’t find anything, he advised her to get in bed, since it was after one o’clock in the morning. She looked slightly embarrassed, but not enough to keep her from wanting Buck’s protection.

  “Come on, Sergeant Buck,” she said after climbing on her bed and patting the place beside her.

  Buck looked at Ronnie as though pleading his case to avoid this form of punishment. Ronnie gave the dog a reassuring pat on his head, then pointed at the floor beside Addie’s bed and said, “Buck, down.”

  The dog lay down on Addie’s pink fluffy rug and let out a loud sigh of relief. Then Ronnie advised Addie that he would make sure everything was secure and would lock the front door behind him when he left. She seemed reassured, but knowing his sisters’ ridiculousness when they were afraid, he figured he would park up the street for a bit to make sure she had enough time to either fall asleep or call him yet again.

  He closed Buck in Addie’s room and then inspected the rest of the house before heading down the street to park and wait. Relief settled in that Addie had called him rather than one of her friends…especially Chase. He’d recognized the boy’s interest in Addie, and some weird protective instinct had kicked in. Ronnie was thankful that there was still enough kid left in Addie that she chose to tell an adult when she w
as afraid rather than looking for adult-type comforts in the arms of some silly boy. Ronnie would like to see Addie wait a good ten years or so before doing that. Maybe twenty years.

  After an hour passed with no phone call and with the lights still dark, he headed back to his apartment to try to get a few hours of sleep.

  He was awakened a few hours later by a knock on the door. He heard Ian talking and forced himself out of the bed and into the living room. The landlord. Busted already and Rusty hadn’t even been gone for two days.

  Rusty had given Ronnie a key to his place and told him he could stay there with Buck. The problem was that all Ronnie’s things were in his room, including his stuff for school. He had figured he could at least finish out the week at the apartment, since he had classes. Then he would stay at Rusty’s place next week when there were no classes because of the holidays. Looked like he needed to make other plans.

  After Ian offered to allow the landlord to look around for a dog since there wasn’t one there, the man left and Ian gave Ronnie a knowing look. Ronnie was going to have to continue making the trip back and forth between his place and Rusty’s or just pack a few things and stay over there. By having Buck at the apartment, he not only risked being evicted himself but also risked Ian and Seth’s ability to stay. That wasn’t fair.

  “I’ll just pack a few things and stay over at Rusty’s. Sorry, man,” he said to Ian.

  “Where is Buck, by the way? I was half-asleep and only caught some of what you said last night,” Ian said, heading into the small kitchen to make some coffee.

  “An all-night emergency cheer session?” Seth asked Ronnie with a grin as he exited his bedroom and closed the door quickly—but not before Ronnie caught a glimpse of the blonde sleeping within.

  “Please tell me that is a bridesmaid from last night’s party and not the bride herself,” Ian said to Seth. Seth only smiled, obviously proud of his latest triumph.

  “Kayla’s mother managed to get out of the nursing home yesterday. I took Buck over and he was able to track Mary, but she’d been hurt. Kayla went with her to the hospital and Addie called because she got scared being home alone. I took Buck over and left him with Addie so she’d settle down and go to bed,” he replied.