Page 24 of Wish You Faith

“She’s practically an unpaid volunteer, right?” Evan suggested. “She cooked chili for us today, for example.”

“It’s her love language to do these acts of service.” Rosie opened the door to the greenhouse. A blast of warm air greeted them.

“How many days a week does she come to work?” Evan asked.

“Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, she goes to SSLR for afternoon activities.”

“SSLR, where we’re heading to now?”

“The one and the same. Since she’s on the waiting list, they let her join in on the resident activities twice a week. We pay day care fees, but still, she loves going there.”

“Did you say waiting list?”

“Right. There’s a three-year waiting list at SSLR. Can you believe it? Mom might not live long enough to move to SSLR.” Rosie kept her voice even. Inside, her heart broke, knowing that cancer could soon take Mom.

Wait. Not cancer.

Cancer had no power unless God allowed it.

It was God Himself who would determine when it was time for Mom to go home to heaven. Cancer might be the means, but God was still sovereign in all things. Rosie had to believe that God had allowed the cancer to ravage Mom’s body, but she was thankful that Mom was not debilitated enough to prevent her from enjoying simple things in life, like visiting with friends and cooking and spending time with her only offspring in her last days on earth.

“Three years,” Evan said. “That’s a long time to wait.”

“Right.”

“Maybe they’ll build more condos soon.”

“So you know about their expansion plans to an adjacent land?” Rosie realized that she hardly knew Evan or his background.

“My parents and Roger Patel are friends. However, it’s no secret that SSLR is raising funds to buy that land.”

“Yes, Mom and I contributed too.”

“I should, but I haven’t.”

“Every dollar helps.” Rosie turned pensive. “But the new units will be too late for Mom. Even if they build the units that Mom wants that have rooms with a view of the ocean and so forth, they would be for others, not for Mom.”

“There are other oceanfront houses on Tybee Island though.”

“I know, right?” Rosie led the way past some seedlings in the large greenhouse. “Mom’s stubborn. Doesn’t want this, doesn’t want that. She gets what she wants or she won’t move.”

“I suppose SSLR has perks.”

“Right. They have end-of-life care. Mom’s best friends live there. They got in early a few years ago, before SSLR became a fabulous resort to retire in. Mom thought she’d be staying in our family home for the rest of her life—before cancer canceled her plans. Now it’s too late to get into SSLR.”

“So she’s missing out on the sunrises on Tybee Island because the only place she’d move to is SSLR, which is only a fraction of the size of the island.”

“You got it.” Rosie laughed. “You’ve seen the beach sunrises? Glorious.”

“Yeah, but it’s been a few years. Grandpa lived at SSLR until he passed away two years ago. He bought his condo a long time ago before SSLR ever existed.”

“Is this why you came to Savannah for work? You’ve been here before.”

“I’m familiar with this town and the island, so here I am.”

At the other end of the greenhouse, surrounded by green ferns and some poinsettias, Queen Sonya was reading a hardcover novel on a hammock. Strands of colorful lights hung from both ends of the hammock stand.

Rosie was glad that Lorenzo hadn’t tied the hammock up somewhere. This way, the hammock was portable and could be moved around, including to the outdoors when the weather warmed up.

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