Free Home in Carolina by Sherryl Woods Page A

“Look, if you really don’t want to do this, why don’t you find a good facility for her.”
    “Thank you!”
    “Hold on,” he said. “Let me finish. You can do that, but it seems ridiculous to spend that kind of money when we have room for her here, and this is where she wants to be. It’s not going to be forever.”
    Helen tried another approach. “She’ll need help, Erik.I can’t stay home from work now when I’m just getting back on track with my law practice.”
    “We’ll hire a caregiver, a physical therapist, whatever she needs. I’ll make some calls today, get some people lined up.”
    “What about moving her back to Serenity? I can’t spend days down here packing up her apartment.”
    “It’s not likely to sell overnight, and she won’t need her furniture until we’ve found her a house or apartment here. Leave everything there. When the time comes, we’ll get movers to do the packing. I’ll even go down to supervise. You won’t have to lift a finger.”
    “You have an answer for everything,” she groused.
    “The same answers you would have if you weren’t so resistant to this whole idea.”
    “Well, when our house is chaotic, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she said.
    “Nope, I definitely won’t be able to say that,” he replied so cheerfully Helen wanted to throttle him. “I love you. Talk to you later.”
    “Hold it,” she commanded before he could hang up. “How am I supposed to get her up there? I doubt she’s able to maneuver well enough to fly.”
    “Rent a car and let her rest in the backseat while you drive.”
    The thought of listening to Flo criticize her driving for hours on end set Helen’s teeth on edge, but it was a reasonable alternative.
    “Okay, fine,” she said glumly. “I’ll see you tomorrow night unless I deliberately drive off the road and drown us both in a swamp en route.”
    “You won’t do that,” Erik said confidently.
    “Don’t be too sure. She can get on my last nerve faster than a flea can pester a dog.”
    “You have me and our baby girl to get home to,” he reminded her. “Put our picture up on the visor and glance at it whenever you’re trying to recall why you need to live.”
    She smiled despite her sour mood. “That ought to do it,” she conceded. “I do love you, you know.”
    “I know.”
    “Even if you are a pain.”
    “I prefer to think of myself as sane and reasonable.”
    “And I’m not?”
    “No comment, Counselor. See you tomorrow. Let me know what you need me to do on this end.”
    Helen sighed and hung up. Obviously this move of her mother’s was going to happen whether she liked it or not. She might as well get with the program and make the best of it.
     
    Ty was icing down his shoulder after his workout at The Corner Spa, when his cell phone rang. It was nearly ten at night. At this hour, a call was never good. He glanced at caller ID and saw it was his attorney, Jay Wrigley. That was even worse.
    “Hey, Jay, what’s up?” he asked.
    “We’ve got a problem, Ty,” he said.
    Since his tone was ominous and Jay never overreacted, Ty braced himself. “Is it my contract? Is the team balking at paying my salary because of my being on injured reserve?”
    “No, those terms in the contract are airtight. It’s nothing like that.”
    “What, then?”
    “I had a call tonight from Dee-Dee.”
    Ty sank down on a bench at the mention of Trevor’s mother. “What the hell did she want?”
    It was the first time Dee-Dee had made contact since they’d finalized the custody agreement nearly two years ago. Even then, she’d sent the notarized papers by courier. She’d claimed that seeing Ty or Trevor would shake her resolve to do the right thing and let Ty raise their son.
    “I’m not a hundred percent sure,” Jay said. “But I thought you ought to know.”
    “What do you mean, you don’t know what she wanted? She didn’t call just to chat, I’m sure of that.”
    “I’m telling you, she never said.