“That’s the woman who was just here, all right,” Terri says, pointing at the photo on my cell phone screen. “Who is she?”
“Jessica Bradley. Zack’s wife.”
“Oh!” Terri’s eyes widen. “Why didn’t she just say so?”
“I imagine she wanted to quietly scope out the situation.”
“Why?”
I blow out a long breath. “I hope she’s just curious, but I’m afraid that Zack wants guardianship of Lily.”
“Oh, no!” Terri’s brows pull together over worried eyes. “Quinn, you need to talk to your lawyer.”
I nod, my stomach tight. “You’re right.”
“Why on earth did Margaret stir all this up?”
I lift my shoulders. “I think she was going to tell me yesterday, but she was too groggy.”
“How’s she doing? You had a meeting with her doctor today, didn’t you?”
I nod. As the legal guardian of her great-grandchild, I qualify as her next of kin. “I met with the hospitalist overseeing her care to discuss her treatment plan. Tomorrow or the next day, they hope to move her to a regular patient room on a floor where she’ll get more extensive physical and occupational therapy. She’ll be there a week or two, then she’ll go to an inpatient rehabilitation facility for a few weeks.”
“Here in New Orleans?”
“Yes. There’s no one in Alexandria to care for her. Her friends are all her age or older.”
“So you’re Lily’s permanent guardian?”
I nod. That’s the one good thing that’s come out of all this. “Seems like it. I need to talk to my attorney, but Margaret seems accepting of the fact that she won’t be able to care for Lily. My fear is that she’ll want to get Zack named guardian instead of me.”
“She can’t do that, can she? She’s not even mentally stable.”
“She’s less out of it than she was right after the surgery, but she’s not completely clearheaded. She had some heart damage and she’s intermittently on oxygen. The doctors aren’t sure if it’s fluctuating oxygen levels or if she has a little brain damage or if she’s just confused from the anesthesia and all the pain meds.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Yeah,” I say. “And her birthday is Friday.”
“She turns eighty?”
I nod. “I want to hold a little party for her in the hospital. I thought I’d get a cake and invite the single parent group. And you, of course!”
“Oh, that sounds lovely!”
“I’m hoping it will perk her up.”
“Count me in! You know I’ll do whatever I can to help out in any way.”
“You’ve been an amazing help,” I say. “You’ve taken the burden of running the shop and the business off my shoulders and you’ve been a wonderful friend.”
She shrugs. “I always dreamed of having a shop like this, so getting to run it is a dream come true.”
My heart swells with fondness. “Thanks, Terri.”
“Don’t mention it.” She looks at her watch. “You need to call your attorney before his office closes. I’ll go back inside and check on Lily.”
“I don’t know how I’d manage without you.”
