“I don’t think they’re ready to hire someone right now, but Carter being Carter, he wants to make sure he’s prepared. Then, when the time comes, he doesn’t have to start the whole process.” I pace in the other direction. “Also, I don’t think he knows what to do with his time, even if he’s spending most of it getting Mitchell Security closed down.”
Lila nods in understanding, biting the end of her pen as she sits at her desk. “I’ve met Alice a few times at the café, so it’s not like I know her well, but I wouldn’t have been able to tell that she has dementia if I hadn’t been told ahead of time.”
“I don’t know her well either, but from what I’ve picked up in the last week, it comes and goes. Her Alzheimer’s hasn’t progressed to the point where she’s confused more often than not, but even then, she’ll have moments of clarity. It’s one of the challenges of the disease; you never know what you’re going to get. You can’t prepare yourself.”
“That’s so hard,” Lila says, her face a mask of sympathy.
“Ugh,” I groan. “Where is he?”
Izzy pokes her head out from around her computer and stares at me.
“What?”
She bites her lip, tapping her fingers on her keyboard without actually typing. “I’m going to ask something, and I don’t want you to get mad.”
“Then don’t ask me stupid things.”
Her pursed lips give away just how unamused by my answer she is. But what does she expect? I can’t promise I won’t get mad.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation.
“But you know what happened last time—”
“Yeah,” I cut her off. “Of course I do. I was there.”
“I just want to make sure you’ve thought it through and aren’t just trying to help Carter. I mean, you already asked him to move in with you. Isn’t that enough? You’ve been dating for all of one minute.”
“When did you become so cynical?” I ask, truly looking at my sister for the first time since I’ve been home. There are little bags under her eyes, and her face is paler than usual.
“I’m not cynical. I’m a realist.”
“You’re sad,” I say, stating the truth on her face.
“No,” she retorts, her voice strong. “I’m mad. And there’s a fucking difference.”
The door to the office pushes open, and Carter enters, holding two to-go cups of coffee.
“When they realized the small coffee I ordered was for you, they gave me a kids’ cup,” he says, handing me the little coffee and leaning in to kiss my cheek.
“Well,” says Lila, standing quickly, her phone in hand. “I’m going to go get some coffee myself.”
“Sorry, Lila. I should’ve brought you one. That was rude of me. Do you want mine?” Carter asks, offering his cup to her.
“No, that’s all right, but thank you. Izzy and I were planning to go grab one and some food for lunch anyway.”
“We were?” Izzy asks. Then her face changes to one of understanding. “I mean,we were.See you later, alligators.” She grabs her phoneand bustles out the door, throwing a peace sign up over her shoulder as she leaves.
Now that the office is empty, the magnitude of what I’m about to do hits me. But instead of feeling trepidation or uncertainty, I feel calm. Certain.
Carter settles himself against the corner of Lila’s desk, his dark jeans and gray sweater making him look more academic than he did in his Mitchell Security shirts. “What’s up?” he asks with a smile.
“I…have a proposition for you.”
He leans in close to me, his nose centimeters from my ear. “Those windows are pretty visible from Main Street for another one of your propositions, Kels.” His tongue flicks out, briefly touching my earlobe. “But I’m game if you are.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing the image out of my mind. “Not that kind of proposition,” I say as I pull back and focus on his face. “Though good to know you’re game.”
