“I’m so sorry, Natasha.” She shook her head. “No, that’s not it.” She searched her granddaughter’s face. “You’re Cherri, right? You’re not a baby anymore. Natasha is gone.”
“Yes, Baba.”
“I don’t understand why I don’t understand.” She got that faraway look in her eyes and then she drifted off to sleep, the dog by her side.
He urged Cherri to go clean up. She didn’t want to go, but he promised he wouldn’t leave the room until she came back. He watched Yuliana sleep for half an hour from the easy chair, thinking about how scary it would be if his memories deserted him.
“I think I can manage now, Colin. Thanks for staying.” Cherri returned to the room freshly showered, her hair still wet, her face still swollen.
When he saw her, all their other problems, everything else faded away in that moment. He said nothing, only opened his arms to her and held her while she sobbed. “Shh, sweet girl.” He smoothed kisses down her face. “You’re going to make yourself sick.”
For the first time in his adult life he felt like crying. Seeing her this way … it felt like his chest was caving in. He couldn’t bear her being so unhappy. The need to fix things for her overwhelmed him. But he was afraid this was one problem he couldn’t solve. How could he combat sickness?
Eventually her sobs subsided into quiet tears and he felt brave enough to ask, “How long, Charlotte? How long have you been living like this?”
“Months. It started when she forgot where she put things. Then she forgot who people were—the mailman, the pharmacist. And then it was me. She was frantic one day when she thought she’d lost me. It took me ten minutes before I realized she thought I was my mother. But it only happened once in a while, so I let it go. Lately it’s been happening more and more, though. She left the house that time and now she’s scared of things that never used to bother her. I’m afraid to leave her alone, Colin. But what can I do? How can I take care of her if I don’t make any money?”
She started to cry again, and his heart was so heavy for her it felt like it was about to drop out of his chest. He couldn’t leave her like this. She needed somebody to take care of her. He was going to be the one who had to do it.
CHAPTER 13
Another day. Another dollar.
“I do not need a babysitter!”
Cherri turned away from her grandmother and rested her head against the wall.
Don’t smash your head into the wall. You need your brain.
Rufus seemed to read her mind and nuzzled her hand with his cold nose. He had been surprisingly well behaved lately. He must have known how hard things were, and for once Cherri had no complaints about him.
It was her grandmother who was driving her crazy. Why couldn’t she just for once be a sweet old lady? She was the most stubborn person on the planet and she was losing her memories.
“Why do you have your face pressed into the wall? You look like a dumb-dumb.”
“I love you, Baba,” she said, more to remind herself than her grandmother. She wasn’t ready to turn around yet.
A nurse had been sitting in their living room for the past twenty minutes waiting for Cherri to leave so she could start her job. It had gotten to the point where Cherri couldn’t leave Baba alone anymore. She had called Ellis and Belinda the day before to let them know she needed more time before she went back to working at the store. Things had changed. Before she was worried about leaving Baba for long periods of time. Now she was worried about leaving her at all. Hiring a nurse was the right thing to do but she still felt guilty. Baba used to be so independent. But that didn’t change the fact that their lives had changed.
Cherri handpicked Rena. The Trinidadian nurse was sweet enough to be likable but had enough steel in her spine not to take any crap from Baba.
And no matter what Baba said, she did need to be watched. It took her two days to recover from her last episode. Her memory going in and out. Her mood changing with the direction of the wind. Cherri had been so terrified for her. She had never seen Baba so bad. She was actually sick, and that caused Cherri to be terrified for herself. She didn’t want to think about a world where Baba wasn’t Baba. Where she wasn’t strong and funny and always there.
But before she sank into complete panic, Colin pulled her out. He didn’t let her get bogged down in her thoughts. He stayed with them for two days, helping her care for Baba, never saying much. But never letting her think she was alone. At first she didn’t know how to handle his presence. She had always been on her own. Especially this last year, trying to hide this secret from the world. But he wouldn’t let her be alone. He had been with her, a quiet force, invading their space and her solitude. And no matter how uncomfortable it was to let another person into her tiny circle, it was nice to have somebody there when she needed him.
“I love you, too, pixie. Now tell the babysitter to go home.”
Cherri finally lifted her head off the wall and faced her grandmother. She was sitting in her easy chair, her knitting needles clicking at a rapid pace as if they were arguing over taking out the garbage instead of her health.“She’s not a babysitter. She is a licensed practical nurse and she needs to be here when I’m not here.”
“Bah! I do not have demented. That doctor doesn’t know what he is talking about.”
“It’s called dementia, Baba, and I wasn’t aware that you attended medical school. Tell me, when did you get your degree?”
Baba raised one of her wispy brows at her. “Don’t be fresh. Ever since you turned twenty-two you’ve been sassy. I can still swat you.”
“Well, I’ll just have to live with that because I am not sending Rena away. You are going to have to behave yourself and deal with it. I have to go to work. I have to pay Colin back for filling the boiler and doing all the work that needed to be done around here in two days that needed to be done for the past five years.”
“So go to work! I never said not to. Just take the babysitter. Now go.” She shooed her with her wrinkled hand. “I want to watch the Today show in peace.”
“Old woman,” Colin barked from the doorway. Both Cherri and Baba jumped. “Are you giving the lass a hard time? She’s late for work.”
Seeing him standing there made her heart beat a little faster and not from the fright he’d just given them. She wasn’t sure how it had happened, but over the course of the past week he had become part of their lives. He was … dependable. And she hadn’t felt like she could depend on anybody since Papa had died. It was a very strange feeling.
“I’m sorry, Colin. I was just—”
He put his hand up to stop her. “Run along to the shop, love. I’ll be there in a bit. I’m going to have a chat with your gran.”
“But—”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed his lips to her ear. “You haven’t been out of this house in days. If you don’t leave now I’m going to toss you over my shoulder and carry you out.” She tried to focus on what he was saying but his lips pressed to her skin, his warm minty-smelling breath, turned her mind into mushy scrambled eggs. It had been exactly a week since she had given him her body and despite everything—the stress, the worry over her grandmother—she wanted to crawl back in bed with him. To kiss his neck and feel his naked skin pressed against hers.
She blushed to her roots. “Okay.” She pulled away from his embrace and knelt in front of her grandmother. “I’m going to work, Baba. You call me if you need me. All right? And you mind your manners with Rena. I made you a sandwich for lunch, and don’t think about looking for the chips because I threw them away. And no extra sweets today, either. I locked them up. The doctor said—”
“Pixie!”
“Cherri!” Both Colin and Baba yelled at her. “Go now, love. It will be okay.”
“Fine.” She kissed Baba’s cheeks, patted Rufus’s head, and left the room—but not before Colin reached out and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
* * *
“I saw Cherri leave.” Rena c
ame into the room wearing her heart-printed scrubs and a curious expression. “Did you finally stop giving the girl grief?”
“Bah.” Baba waved her hand in dismissal. “I don’t give her grief. I am an adult. I changed her diapers. I don’t need a babysitter. That means you can go away now.”
Colin watched as Rena put her hands on her hips and stared Baba down. He knew why Cherri had picked her. She was the right match for the feisty old lady. “Listen, old woman, you’re lucky that you’ve got that sweet girl to worry about you. You don’t know how many patients I’ve cared for who don’t. You be good to her, because she’s the bright spot in your life.”
“I know that.” Baba thumped her cane against the floor. “Now leave me alone with my boyfriend for a few minutes. If you hear noise coming from here, don’t worry, I’m just showing him a good time.”
She winked at Colin and he grinned back. Rena only shook her head, mumbling something about wildest dreams. When they were left alone Colin pulled a footstool in front of Baba’s chair and held her chubby wrinkled hand in his. “You’re a pain in the arse. You know that, don’t you?”
“I’m very pleasant.”
“You’re as pleasant as a colonoscopy on Christmas morning.” He sighed. “You’ve got to let up on the lass. She’s worrying herself sick over you.”
“I’m fine. So what if sometimes my memory ain’t so good? I’m still very strong. My mother was sixty-two when she died. My grandmother was fifty-five.”
“What’s that got to do with the price of whiskey in Ireland? We are talking about Cherri. You’re not a dumb lady. You know what you’re going through and you know that that girl loves you more than anything on this planet. So you’d better knock off this stubborn bullshit because I’ll not have you upsetting her.”
Baba stared at him for a long moment. Her sharp green eyes reminded him too much of her granddaughter’s. “You’ve got a big willy, Irish.”
Colin froze, then blinked, then opened his mouth trying to form words. “What?”
“I saw you naked.” Baba shrugged. “You’ve got a big willy.”
“I-I-I…”
Fuck. Shit. Bollocks.
Baba tapped her chin. “They say I have this dementia and I can’t remember so good but I remember you naked in my bedroom. I just don’t remember why you were naked in my bedroom.”
“Well, darlin’, I’m sad to hear that because that means you don’t remember the good time we had here together.”
Baba smiled at him and raised his hand to her lips. “She’s a good girl. Take care of her. Or else I’ll find somebody to kill you.”
He wanted to reassure Baba but for some reason he couldn’t find the words. Cherri was such a sweet fresh breath of air to him, one he would be happy to continue to breathe in, but— He felt crazy these past few days. He needed to take care of Cherri. His soul wouldn’t let him rest until he did. His phone rang, tearing his mind from his unsettling thoughts. “O’Connell.” He answered without looking at the caller ID.
“It’s your pop, lad. What kind of shit greeting is that?”
“Hiya, Pop. How are you?”
“In heaven. Or some people might call it South Beach. Oh lad! You should see the women down here. They come in so many different colors. Brown ones with red bikinis. Chocolate ones with pink ones. Ivory ones in black. So many different flavors. A man could get a cavity trying to taste them all.”
He couldn’t help but smile at his father’s exuberant description of women. “Enjoying single life, are you, Pop?”
“It’s fun for a while but I miss having a woman. One sweet, soft-smelling lass who I can come home to and bed down with every night.”
The hint of sadness in Magnus’s voice was unmistakable. He was going on fifty-five, never married, and a failure at more relationships than Colin had teeth. He didn’t want to be like his pop. Leaving middle age and still searching for somebody to love. “Call your ex … what’s her face. Maybe she’ll take you back.”
“Yeah, and maybe pigshit smells like roses.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Pop. Why don’t you stop being an old bugger and bring your arse to New York for a while?”
“Who you calling an old bugger? I could still kick your arse if I wanted to. Besides, I can’t get away just yet. I’ve got business to attend to here in Miami. It will be a little while before I can see you, lad.”
“Of course,” he mumbled. He wasn’t sure why his father’s absence still bugged him after all these years. He should be used to it by now. Magnus was a man who did things on his own time, even if that meant missing important events in Colin’s life, like his college graduation or the opening of his business. He wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt like he was six years old again, waiting for his father to come see him in the Christmas pageant. “I got to go, Pop. I was in the middle of something.”
“That something is a woman, right? I knew it! My lad is just like his pop. Tell me, what’s she like? Does she have big ones?”
He shook his head and turned to look at Yuliana. She had one eye on him and the other on her knitting needle. He winked at her. “Yes, she’s a beautiful Ukrainian lass. Long light-colored hair and a smile that makes my heart race.”
“Is she good in bed?”
Colin shook his head. There was no hope for the man. “Bye, Pop.”
“Good-bye, lad.”
* * *
Ellis, Belinda, and Cherri strolled across Durant’s town green. It was unusually quiet for a weeknight. Durant University was still closed for winter break. All the college kids who usually hung out downtown were gone for another week or so. It was still brutally cold, but this was Cherri’s favorite time of year to be in this part of town. It was peaceful here. She had memories of her papa taking her to the green in the dead of winter, buying her hot chocolate and telling her stories about the old country. It almost made her sad to be there at times, but Cherri needed to get out of the house for a little while, and she needed her best friends. She needed to tell them about the decision she had come to, but she couldn’t force the words to come out of her mouth. Her stomach cramped just thinking about it, but she had to do it. She had to do it for her grandmother.
“You guys want to head over to Hot Lava Java for some mocha lattes and brownies? I could really use something warm right now,” she said, breaking the long silence.
“No,” Ellis said, pinning Cherri with a glare. “I want you to come out and tell us what you need to tell us.”
Cherri shut her eyes, feeling the tears burn in the back of her throat. Never in a million years had she thought when she walked into Size Me Up that she would meet people who would change her life.
“I need to quit the store,” she said in a rush. “I’m going to work for Colin a few days a week and stay with Baba the rest of the time. It’s gotten bad. I don’t know what else to do.”
“How could you?” Ellis whispered.
“I’m sorry I have to leave so abruptly. I didn’t mean to leave you in the lurch.”
“It’s not about the damn job, Cherri!” Ellis stopped walking and faced her. “This is about you not telling us what’s going on with you. We could have helped you. We’re your friends. Asking for help doesn’t make you any less of a woman. It makes you human.”
“I’m—I’m sorry.” Tears stung her eyes. She didn’t know why she kept everything to herself. It was probably because she was as stubborn as Baba. And maybe because she thought that needing help was a sign of weakness.
Belinda’s arm came around her, offering her comfort as always. “Quit being a cranky bitch, Ellis. I know you’re upset, but yelling at her isn’t going to help things.”
“I’m sorry, Cherri.” Ellis looped her arms around her. “I just hate that it got so bad. I hate that you had to go through that alone.”
The three of them stood huddled on the green for a few moments.
“I didn’t have to go through it alone. Colin was with me.”
Both El
lis and Belinda pulled back to look at her.
“We had sex.”
“Oh, Cherri,” Ellis breathed.
“It’s about damn time,” Belinda grinned. “Tell me it was as good as I think it was.”
Cherri smiled back, glad that she had finally gotten that little bit of information off her chest. “It was better. He was gentle and sweet. It was perfect.”
“If you’re happy about this,” Ellis said, “then I’m happy for you, but I have just one question.”
“Yeah?”
“What the hell does this mean for you two now?”
* * *
Colin watched Cherri as she studied the chest she was painting. Some might call it a work of art, but he was more content studying the artist than the art. He had work to do and he knew that since she’d started working with him he’d stared at her more than he should. But the lass was so damned cute with a paintbrush clasped between her teeth and her brow furrowed in concentration.
She took her work seriously, and it showed in each brilliant piece she turned out. On his end asking her to join his business was the best business decision he’d ever made. But what was in it for her? Her last two pieces brought in thousands of dollars, and when he tried to give her all the profits she refused.
“We’re partners,” she said. “And nobody would care about buying anything made by me if it weren’t for you.”
She might have been right at first, but new customers were flocking to Stone Barley Restorations because Charlotte Rudy turned dreary pieces of furniture into colorful works of art. In a few months she could set out on her own and go into business for herself. When he brought up the idea to her, though, she simply shook her head, mumbled something about numbers, and went back to work.
She walked around the chest, studying it from a different angle. She had a smudge of green paint on her chin. Her work shirt was covered. Her hair was a mess, yet he found her sexier than any other woman on the planet. The younger him would have laughed at that thought. He used to like his women elegant and dressed to the nines in short skirts and high heels. He used to seek sophistication in a woman. Someone he thought could elevate him from his pigshit Irish background. What the hell did he know then? None of those women made him feel half as good as the girl before him.
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