LITMIR.BIZ

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and the decor. No matter, it was damn well done. So far he hadn’t seen a nursing home that could equal this one, and he’d only stepped inside the front door.

      To the right and left of the entryway were two spacious living areas with nice furniture and game tables. In both of the rooms, residents were milling about. Clark knew from the blueprint of the facility that it was comprised of three wings. First off, he needed to locate the unit where his aunt resided.

      Suddenly he felt a tug on his arm, followed by a small voice saying, “Mister.”

      Clark swung around to find a tiny lady with watery eyes staring up him. He smiled. “Yes, ma’am?”

      “Do you know where I live?”

      “No, ma’am, I don’t,” Clark said uneasily, not used to dealing with the residents themselves.

      Her lower lip quivered.

      “But I bet I can find out and take you home,” Clark said quickly, sensing she was about to burst into tears.

      Her uneven features brightened. “Oh, thank you.”

      Before he’d taken two steps, a nurse approached them. “Sir, are you a relative of Mrs. Mary’s?”

      “No, I’m not,” Clark answered in a soft tone.

      “I didn’t think so.” The nurse gave him a lame smile, then placed her arm around the lady’s shoulders. “Come on, Mary, I’ll take you to your room.”

      Clark swallowed a hard sigh as he strode forward to the nurses’ station, where he asked directions to Zelma’s room. Once there, he found his aunt sitting in a chair sound asleep. He pulled another chair beside his aunt’s, but didn’t wake her, trying to come to grips with the change in her. She seemed to have shriveled up, nothing like the tall, strapping woman she used to be, who could and would take a belt to him whenever she thought necessary.

      Considering he had turned into a responsible citizen, after all, he guessed she had done the right thing, though at the time he’d resented her.

      “Aunt Zelma,” he whispered, shaking her gently on the arm.

      Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared at him through glazed, empty eyes.

      “It’s me, Sonny.”

      “Sonny,” she repeated, then smiled.

      “Yeah, Sonny, your nephew. Don’t you remember?”

      She smiled again. “Do you like my dress?”

      Clark’s heart lurched as he looked at what she was wearing. That was when he noticed she had on not one, but two dresses. He shook his head, thinking he couldn’t handle much more of this. “Uh, your dress is lovely.”

      “Now, who are you?” Zelma asked before her head lobbed back and her eyes closed.

      He patted her awkwardly on the arm, then watched helplessly while her chest moved up and down.

      

      “Mrs. Gillispie, you’re going to be just fine.”

      The woman’s round face stretched into a grin. “Oh, thank you, thank you, Doctor. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

      Sara smiled. “I’m just glad it was muscle spasms in your back and nothing more serious.”

      “You can forget Dr. Sara taking any praise, Mrs. Gillispie. She’s not about to. There’s something in her makeup that forbids such a thing.”

      Sara gave her nurse Rosa Foster one of her “looks,” but Rosa, as usual, paid her no heed.

      “Don’t you agree?” Rosa asked the woman.

      “I sure do, honey,” Mrs. Gillispie responded, her gaze steadfast on Sara. “But it doesn’t matter, we’ll sing her praises, anyway.”

      “I just did my job like I do every day of the week, like any other chiropractor worth her salt does.”

      Mrs. Gillispie had stepped into the cubicle to dress, but that didn’t stop her from commenting. “Well, I for one don’t know what River Oaks would do without you, especially the way these cattlemen and farmers around here are always pulling something out of whack.”

      “Well, again, Mrs. Gillispie,” Sara said mildly, “I appreciate your loyalty If you have any more problems, give me a call.”

      “You can count on that, Doctor.”

      Once the woman had left the office, Rosa said, “Oh, by the way, Mrs. Gillispie was our last patient.”

      Sara peered at her watch and noticed it was only four-thirty. She’d have time to visit her mother and get home before dark, which would be a rarity.

      With it being early October, the days were shorter, so when she got a chance to leave early, she took it. Today was no exception.

      “Thanks for the unexpected break,” she told Rosa.

      “Do you ever regret coming back here?” Rosa’s eyes narrowed on her. “In Dallas you had a great place to live and a lucrative practice, not to mention all those single guys running loose.”

      Sara didn’t hesitate. “No, absolutely not.”

      “You’re indeed one in a million, my friend, because there’s nothing here for a lovely, single woman like you.”

      “I’m not lovely, and I enjoy being single.”

      “You are lovely and you have a dynamite body, which—”

      “Enough, Rosa!”

      Rosa’s pretty features sobered. “I hope I didn’t offend you. I know you have your mother and the home—”

      “Hey, no offense taken. Forget it. I’ll see you tomorrow. Give your kiddos a hug for me.”

      “Will do.”

      Once in her office, Sara shut the door and took a deep breath. While she adored Rosa, who was invaluable in her dual role as nurse and office manager, she could be a handful at times. Yet Sara often envied that wild streak in Rosa, knowing she was far too much the other way—too quiet and too much a loner.

      When she had left Dallas and returned to the small community outside of Lufkin, she had run into Rosa at the post office. They had caught up on old times, and before she’d gotten her stamps, Rosa had been hired.

      Sara hadn’t regretted that impulsive decision, a rarity for her, and that had been three years ago. Her practice had grown steadily. Much of that growth was due to Rosa who told everyone about the clinic.

      Still, it hadn’t grown enough. Sara wasn’t sure it ever would, at least not enough to enable her to pay off her huge bank note on the nursing facility in which she was part owner.

      When she’d been knocking down that big salary in Dallas, meeting the note hadn’t been a problem. But now her situation was different.

      Sara frowned, trying to steer her thoughts in another direction. She didn’t want to think about that burden. It was much too depressing and frightening to dwell on how she was going to juggle her finances each month to meet her obligations.

      Rubbing the back of her neck, Sara removed her white coat and hung it up. Then grabbing her purse, she dashed out the back door.

      Four

      Sara stopped and perused her surroundings. Due to certain state guidelines, Quiet Haven had been designed for function, not beauty. But the grounds were a different matter altogether. The landscaping, including flower gardens filled with seasonal annuals of all colors, sizes and shapes, was breathtaking.

      Sara found herself actually holding her breath as her eyes focused on a huge bed of pansies. Their bright, multicolored faces seemed to be staring right at her.

      Realizing

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