Carly had moved away for college, but when, during Carly’s senior year at university, her mother’s disease had progressed, causing her to leave her job, Carly had moved home. She’d had to. Her mother had needed help with expenses as she’d been on the verge of losing the house to her mortgage company.
Through endless hours of hard work, Carly had saved the house, taken over her mother’s limited finances, and worked as much overtime at her waitressing job as she could to make headway on the enormous burden of medical bills, the expenses of keeping up a house, and all the other bills that had seemed to hit her from every direction. Plus, she’d maintained her grades, gone to clinicals, and somehow found time to study for her nursing board examination.
That had been just over five years ago. Although Carly’s income had jumped upon graduation, her mother’s health had continued to deteriorate and her expenses had sky-rocketed. Audrey had been unable to stay home alone for the past three years and been mostly bedridden for the past year. Although taking a huge chunk of Carly’s income, Joyce had been a life-saver and was worth every penny.
To keep treading water and making a little progress from time to time, Carly worked her hospital job, worked from home reviewing the claims for a large insurance company, cared for her mother, and slept whenever she could squeeze in a few hours. Things were tight and Carly often felt she was barely managing to juggle all the bills, but it could be worse. She could be sinking rather than treading the surface.
Or even worse, she could not have her mother.
She wouldn’t complain.
“Of course, you do, dear,” Joyce assured her, coming over and giving Carly a quick hug. When she pulled back, she gave Carly that motherly look that made her feel as if she were five rather than a grown woman. “I’ll stay with Audrey and you go have a nice meal.”
Five or twenty-seven, Carly started to protest.
“I don’t have plans tonight. Gerald has his bowling league and won’t be home until late,” Joyce countered before Carly could get started. “I’ll be going home to an empty house, so I’d gladly stay for free.”
Joyce had offered to come in to help Carly on numerous occasions, offering not to charge anything for her time. She truly had become like family. Still, Carly had hoped she’d never have to take the woman up on her offer. She didn’t want handouts.
She shook her head. “I can’t ask you to do that. You already do too much.”
“You didn’t ask. I offered.” Joyce glanced toward Stone, gave him an appreciative once-over. “Actually, I insist. Go relax for an hour or so, Carly. I’d just gotten your mother changed as you were getting home. She fell asleep as I redressed her. She isn’t likely to wake any time soon. I can heat some soup and catch the news here just as easily as I can at home. Go.”
Carly bit the inside of her cheek. She couldn’t say yes, could she? The expression on Joyce’s face said the woman wasn’t leaving without an argument. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“Positive.”
“We could bring back dessert,” Stone offered, his gaze focused on Carly, except to flash a quick smile to the older woman.
Joyce smiled at him in a way that made Carly wonder if the woman was seeing wedding bells and a solution to Carly’s financial woes, just in case Gerald’s lottery numbers failed to produce miracles again this week.
“I like your fellow already, Carly. He knows the way to a woman’s heart. Dessert.”
Carly started to correct Joyce, to tell her that Stone was not her fellow, but she wouldn’t believe her, so what was the point?
Carly turned toward Stone. “Fine. If you’ll give me fifteen minutes to check my mother, change out of my uniform and freshen up, I’ll go to dinner.”
“Take all the time you need. In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m not going anywhere.”
Telling her heart not to believe him, that he didn’t know what he was saying, Carly stepped into her mother’s bedroom.
The rhythmic rise and fall of her mother’s chest was reassuring. Joyce was right. Her mother wasn’t likely to wake any time soon. Generally, Carly came home, ate leftovers or something cheap she could rustle up, then logged in remotely to the insurance company and worked until whatever time her mother woke. Generally, she woke around midnight, was awake for about an hour, and then was out again for the rest of the night. Carly usually headed to bed at whatever time her mother dozed back off.
Last night had been a blessing that her mother had been awake, aware, and communicative. A rare treat.
With Joyce at the house, Carly could go to dinner. She had several hours’ worth of insurance claims to go through, but she could do that when she got back and just not sleep as much. Who needed sleep, right?