Free Worth the Trouble (St. James #2) by Jamie Beck Page A

home.” She looped her golden hair through a ponytail band, still looking like a kid even though she’d recently turned twenty. Their eleven-year age difference sometimes made him feel ancient. “I’m exhausted, but I still need to study for an exam.”
    Hank regarded her pursuit of an accounting degree with a mix of pride and envy. Thanks to his sacrifices, all of his sisters would earn degrees. The other three had already graduated and were now employed as a nurse, a teacher, and an office manager, respectively.
    Raising four sisters taught him that he’d be a good father. Caring for an infant had to be easier than managing four teenage girls. A baby wouldn’t hog the bathroom or yell at him because some other man did this or that. And hopefully he’d have a few sons so the women in his life wouldn’t perpetually outnumber him.
    “May I please have the keys so I can go to the library?” Jenny asked.
    “Hold on, where’s Meghan?” He slammed the back door of his truck closed after retrieving his luggage. Throwing his free arm around Jenny’s shoulders, he kissed the top of her head. “I thought she was staying with you this weekend to help take care of Mom?”
    Jenny walked with him back inside the house, where her backpack sat packed and ready by the door.
    “Meg bolted around eleven. I fed Mom lunch and got her settled into bed.” Jenny grimaced. “She seemed agitated while you were away, but she never asked for you by name or anything.”
    His mother had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s seven years ago, at the age of fifty-two. Now in the late stages of the disease, communication had become a real struggle when she felt like talking—which wasn’t often these days.
    Hank gently tugged on Jenny’s ponytail. “I’d have come home a little earlier if I’d known Meg had planned to bug out before lunch.”
    “It’s okay.” Jenny offered a bright smile. “How was Block Island?”
    “Gorgeous.” Hank smiled as he tossed his bag on the kitchen table, privately replaying the highlights from the wedding, which included Cat’s late-night kiss and confession. “It was good to get away.”
    Jenny cast her eyes downward. “You must be sick of taking care of Mom and me, huh?”
    “No.” He frowned. Sure, he’d given up a lot for his family, but he’d also taken pride in being dependable, needed, and well loved. “I’d do it all over again if given the choice.”
    “Maybe it’s time to consider other options for Mom, like a nursing home,” Jenny said while rubbing one wrist with her hand.
    Given her young age, Jenny hardly recalled the brave, beautiful woman who’d raised her kids with a firm hand and loving heart.
    His mother had set high expectations for their behavior, and her frankness had made it easy for him to understand what she wanted, and what he needed to do to make it happen. Yet even with a lifetime of memories, each month it became harder to remember his mother as she used to be rather than as she was now.
    “I can’t put Mom in a home full of strangers. Besides, I just finished paying off the mortgage on this house. Not interested in swapping that debt with one to a nursing home. We’ve hired Helen to help out. Between the two of us and our sisters, we can manage the rest.”
    “I’m not bailing on you, Hank. But I see how sad you get when you watch her.”
    “Don’t worry.” Guess he hadn’t been hiding the ache as well as he’d thought. “I’m tougher than I look.”
    “Sure you are.” She hugged him. He savored the warm moment before pulling back.
    “Hang on.” He strolled through the living room toward the master bedroom. His hand hesitated on the doorknob, which, like all the doorknobs in the house, was covered with a childproof safety cover—one of many precautions meant to keep his mom from wandering and hurting herself. Quietly, he pried the door open, praying he’d find her asleep.
    Through the dim light he saw the rented hospital bed. His