Page 16 of Sundowners
“So what if I am? You’re all alone in that big house, you work too much. You need someone to take care of you, and Creed is a very nice man. A little younger than you, maybe—”
“You mean still in diapers?” Reynaldo chimed in.
I punched him in the arm. He wasn’t in uniform so it was fine.
Frances’s nostrils flared and she squinted at her nephew.“Just because you keep chasing the good ones away,” she said to Reynaldo. “Besides, I am talking to my grandson.” She patted my arm and stuck her tongue out at my uncle.
“You’re right, Lola,” I said, raising my hands in surrender. “But if I start dating, that means I’m going to have to clean up the house, pick up all the beer cans and dirty socks—”
“Roman Emmanuel Armand San Angelo! You had better not—”
“Oh, did I tell you? I moved all of your sewing stuff out of Vanessa’s old room and I’m setting up a home gym.”
“How dare you!” she exclaimed, while Reynaldo had a good laugh. Lola had encouraged a way of teasing each other that others often remarked was cruel, but it was how we knew we were loved.
“Frances? Would you like to sing with me?”
She turned and placed her hands on her knees, faux-gasping as if she were shocked.
That damned Creed. He had Lola Frances preening like a schoolgirl.
“I haven’t seen her flirt like this since her failed attempts at dating after Lolo passed away,” Reynaldo whispered to me.
“Oh, I couldn’t,” she said, pressing her hand to her chest.
“Never stopped you before,” I muttered.
Frances stomped on Rey’s foot as she stood to sashay over to the piano.
“Ow!” He looked shocked “Why me? He’s the one who said it.” Reynaldo shot me a comical ugly look he didn’t really mean. He rubbed at his foot. “Damn, you got lead in your shoes or something? That’s gonna leave a bruise.”
“You deserved it,” Lola said, and then she curtseyed to Creed.
Creed smiled and shook his head. It seemed as though he was entertained by our banter. He often watched us sitting together at bingo. It made me jumpy. Was he worried that our visits would upset her? She hadn’t had one of her episodes since she’d moved here. That fact was the reason I’d been sleeping so well.
Reynaldo finally told me more of the factors that led to their decision to move her here. He’d discovered that Lola had been slipping while he was at work. There was the one night he returned home to find the burner on the stove blazing away and another time the oven had been left on. Then they’d received three identical packages from QVC. She’d ordered the same pair of shoes three times—each time they’d been advertised—because she hadn’t remembered placing the order. And then he noticed the scratches on her stomach when she’d walked down the hall in her bra, looking for her bathrobe, an unusual move for her. She couldn’t remember where the scratches came from.
I couldn’t be mad at them. They’d done the right thing, bringing her here. It was just hard to accept that she was doing so much better at Puesta Del Sol, better than she had when I was living with her and doing my best to take care of her. But then, she had her sisters and her friends…and her damn nurse.
She sang the song beautifully, her voice clear and stronger than I’d heard in a long time. Creed sang with her, and then he stood from the piano and took her by the hand. They danced in a big circle and he twirled her in his arms and dipped her. She squealed happily, but Rey stiffened next to me.
“Tita Frances, you be careful.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Why? You think I’m going to make these men fall in love with me?”
“More like you’ll break a hip,” he muttered, but she kept laughing, and Creed spun her again. They danced a few more steps and then took a bow. The other folks laughed and clapped for the pair.
My gaze was transfixed on Creed. Scrubs or not, he was incredibly graceful, and so gentle with Lola. So strong.
“All right, guys, gals and nonbinary pals,” Creed said, clapping his hands together. “The piano bar must close for the night.”
There was some pouting and boos but the residents began to clear out of the room.
“Boys, I’m going to Stella and Phyllis’s room to play cards. You two should go home.”
“Really?” I asked her, only partially kidding. “Just going to kick us out like that?”
“I gotta take off anyway,” Reynaldo said, giving me a quick bro handshake. We’d come here separately, so he gave her a hug and said goodnight. I watched him stop to chat up Lexi at the front desk on his way out.
