“Not till next week. Tuesday, I think.” She unlocks the door to his apartment and we step inside. My heart swells up at the familiar sight, even though I feel a bit awkward being here without him knowing.
“He’ll be glad to hear you’re back,” Carla says.
“Yeah, maybe,” I say, flushing. “I mean... I’m not, like, expecting anything.”
Carla opens the cupboards to find the fish food. “Why not?”
I chew on my lip. “I don’t know. It’s a lot to forgive, isn’t it? I basically chose another life over him.”
Carla chuckles. “I’m not sure that’s true. Sometimes love and real life are incompatible, that’s all. If Laurent decides to move to Antarctica tomorrow and spend the rest of his life as an ice fisherman, I’m sure as heck not moving there with him.” She smiles at me. “People change, lives change. If you’ve decided that this is the life you want, then I’m sure you and John can work things out.As long as your mind is made up, that is. It won’t do either of you any good to get back together if you’re going to change your mind again, or resent him for making you leave New York.”
“I won’t,” I say. “Honestly, John is only part of the reason I came back.” I lick my lips. “I really want to try to turn my caregiving work into a proper business. I think... I don’t know. I think I could really make a go of it.”
Carla smiles. “I do too.” Then she tilts her head. “I thought you liked the museum work, though.”
My heart twists in my chest. “I did,” I admit. “A lot. But... you can’t do everything you want to do, right? You have to choose one thing eventually.” I lift my chin. “And I really love working with older people.”
“That’s great, then,” Carla says. She sounds like she means it too.
“I’m going to go around begging all my old clients to take me back today,” I say.
“Begging?” She chuckles. “Dear, you’ve only been gone what, a few weeks? Tell them you changed your mind and I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to have you back. And if you want, I can ask around at the hospital to see if any of the staff know of someone who needs help in the community.”
“Would you really?”
“Of course. I can think of five patients I discharged last month who desperately need some help at home. And a lot of them are retired out-of-province folks who bought homes here on a whim during the pandemic, so youknowthey can afford it.”
“Carla... thank you.” I try to inject all my gratitude into the words. Carla smiles at me, and I smile back, and for one crazy second, I think we’re thinking the same thing. If John and I get back together... Carla might be my mother-in-law someday.
She turns away to measure out the fish food and sprinkles it over the water. We watch in silence as the fish eat. Fish 1, Fish 2, and Fish 3. Raspberry pudding, swordsmith, and geocentric.
Carla reaches out and squeezes my arm and I let out a long breath, feeling a bit of tension drain from my shoulders.
“Come,” she says. “Let’s go get a coffee.”
36
If I had any doubts about returning to Waldon, they disappear as I pull into Jim’s driveway. He’s sitting in the big wicker chair on his front porch, and his whole face lights up when he sees me get out of my car. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tear up a bit when he calls my name.
We make a pot of tea and sit back out on his porch, watching his neighbor’s horses graze and chatting a while. I tell him a little bit about New York and he fills me in on the latest Waldon gossip, but mostly we just sip our tea and breathe in the warm summer air.
“Will you be working at the auto shop again?” he asks me, as I pour more tea into his cup.
I grimace. “No, I definitely burned a bridge with my old boss. I’m going to try to turn my caregiving work into a proper business, actually. So if you have any friends who are looking,” I add, with a teasing smile.
Jim chuckles. “All my friends are long gone, I’m afraid. That’s the trouble with living as long as I have.”
I study his face. “You’re not too lonely, are you?”
“Ah.” He waves a dismissive hand. “Don’t you worry about me.”
I make a worried noise, but I can tell he doesn’t want me to press the issue. “Maybe when I get my caregiving website up and running, you can write me a review,” I say instead. “I won’t even be offended if you only want to give me four stars.”
“You really think I’d only give you a four out of ten?”
I giggle. “I meant four out offive.”
“Hmm.” He smiles at me. “I think we can do a little better than that.”
