She pulled her thoughts away from the wolves whose friendship she’d never found an equal for in the life she’d made after leaving. She wasn’t here for any of them. She was here for Maggie. Surgery was going to suck.
Surgery…
Her car slowed until she noticed her foot had lifted from the accelerator. She corrected. Refocused on the road. Tried to recall if she’d said anything about Maggie’s slipped disc, but…no, she hadn’t been specific.
Yet Aaron had been.
His last delivery of the day had nothing to do with the furniture business. He passed the town limits on autopilot, driving past a red-and-orange outburst of autumn leaves on both sides of the two-lane road. His truck had taken this route at least once a month for years. Today was different though. Today Trevor wasn’t Maggie’s handyman, wasn’t her adopted nephew stopping in to socialize. Today was Day One of his new position as home nurse.
He parked in Maggie’s circular driveway and walked around to the truck bed. He’d left his cabin this morning loaded up with the table and chairs he’d made for a family in town. Now the truck held a bunch of rustling white grocery bags. He looped a few over his arms, lumbered up the steps onto the front porch, and knocked with his elbow. In a minute the door opened.
“Hi, Trevor.” Maggie stood aside for him to enter. “Just throw it all wherever.”
“Yep.”
He dropped a kiss on her cheek as he passed. Had to lean down almost comically to do it, but for a while now he’d been unable to hug her without hurting her, however careful he was. Maggie followed him into the kitchen, her shuffle-and-stump gait bringing a pang to his stomach. But the days were numbered for the slipped disc in her back. In fact those days numbered only three more.
Maggie’s kitchen was about as old as she was, pale tile halfway up the walls and brown-paneled the rest of the way up. Beside the stove was an impressive, floor-to-ceiling pantry that wasn’t often stocked. Well, Trevor had come to stock it. Home nurse task number one. He found places for assorted groceries including packaged snacks, boxed granola and cereal, cans of soup. A lot of cans of soup. Easiest thing in the world to make, he knew from a bachelor’s experience.
“I talked to Ember,” he said while he unloaded Maggie’s favored oat milk into the fridge. “Aaron’s wife, you know.”
“I haven’t met her,” Maggie said.
“Well, Aaron says she can cook better than anybody, and she said she’d love to fix a few meals for you. Don’t know how often, but I’ll bring them over too. You can’t live on canned soup for four-to-six weeks.”
“That’s kind of her.”
“She’s cool like that.”
They were both quiet while he finished finding a place for every last food item. All the while an itchy feeling ran along his arms and a sick feeling lay in the pit of his stomach. But Maggie would be better soon. She’d be active again, independent again, her pain in the past.
He repeated those things to himself while he shoved the empty bags into one another and took the bundle to the recycle bin in the garage.
“There’s something we need to talk about,” Maggie said as he reentered the kitchen.
“Sure.”
She motioned him to a chair at the table. Of course she remained on her feet. The last month, sitting had gone from troublesome to unbearable. Trevor seated himself despite the impolite appearance of doing so while a forty-something woman stood to talk to him. Maggie preferred not having to crane her neck to make eye contact with his six-foot-five frame.
He laced his fingers and let his hands dangle between his knees. “What’s up?”
“Good news. Well, good news for me. I’m not really sure how you’ll feel about it.”
“Any news that’s good for you right now, it’s probably good for me too.”
“I hope so, Trevor. So…the obviously good part is, you won’t be the only one helping me after surgery.”
“I don’t mind, Maggie. I told you that.” About a dozen times.
“I know you did, and I’m more grateful than—” She blinked twice, ducked her head, then met his eyes again. “Anyway, I know you’d come by every day if you had to. Like you said. And we could have made it work. But I’m not going to be alone after all. I’ll have company staying with me as long as I need her.”
“Her?” His phone buzzed in his pocket. He huffed a sigh as he dug it out. “Sorry, one second.” He checked the display. “Huh, it’s Ezra.”
“Oh, go ahead. It could be important.”
“Sorry. Thanks. Just a second.” He swiped to accept. “Hey, bro, what’s up?”
“Where are you?”
