Page 30 of Sweet Passions at Bayside
“Good morning, Rose. I see you’ve been busy.” Chloe turned to Emery and said, “Rose is very particular about the arrangements in the dining room. She likes to rearrange them and make them just right for everyone to enjoy.”
Rose shook her head, mumbling about the arrangements. She picked up a daisy and pointed it at Chloe. “What I wouldn’t give to get back to my beloved gardens. When I’m on my feet again, I’m going to drive myself over to that florist and give him a lesson or two. He should be ashamed, sending these over the way he does.”
“It can be hard to have reduced mobility if you’re used to an active lifestyle.” Emery touched her shoulder, unsurprised by the spastic muscles she felt. “Are you in much pain?”
“Ha!” Rose stuck the flower in a vase and said, “That’s like asking if I breathe air.”
“Rose refuses to take the stronger pain medications the doctors have prescribed,” Chloe explained.
“They dull the pain and make my brain fuzzy,” Rose said sharply. “The pain is my reminder to get my butt in gear and find a way out of this darn chair.”
“I understand, and I’m sorry for what you are going through. Have you found anything that has given you relief?” Emery asked. “Exercises? Stretches?”
“Exercises? That would be like a dream come true. Every time I move I’m in pain.” Rose set another daisy in a vase and began picking through the flowers on the table. “I can only stand getting out of this ride to death’s door for short periods of time. I’ve had scoliosis forever, but it was a darn herniated disc that finally did me in. I’ve tried everything. Chiropractors, physical therapy, acupuncture…”
Emery looked at Chloe, whose empathetic expression mirrored her own feelings—almost. Hope sprouted inside Emery, the type of hope that brought her hands to Rose’s shoulders again and then lovingly down over the hump on her back. She felt Rose tense up and said, “I’m sorry. I can be overly touchy.”
Rose studied her for a moment. “Most people shy away from that ugly deformity.”
“I don’t find it ugly. Did you know that some spine curvatures can be fixed with the right care and therapies? If it’s not a rigid deformity, meaning a deformity of your spine, which would require surgery, there might be ways to help reduce the curvature.” She didn’t want to give Rose false hope, but she couldn’t resist asking, “If someone thought they could help, would you be willing to try?”
“Sweetheart, I’d sell my soul to the devil if it offered me a chance to get out of this chair and into my beloved gardens again.”
They talked for a few more minutes, and as Emery and Chloe headed back toward the lobby, Emery said, “I would love to try and help her. Do you know if there were other mitigating factors that led to her being wheelchair-bound?”
“No. I’d have to ask her doctor. As Rose mentioned, she’s seen the best doctors and physical therapists, but they’ve gotten nowhere,” Chloe said. “The herniated disc she’s speaking of happened when she slipped going up a flight of stairs shortly before she moved in here. She’s been wheelchair-bound ever since. It’s been several months. She’s gone through a lot. At first she was flat-out angry, and then she fell into a depression. I know she seemed uppity, but I’m so happy she finally is getting her personality back. I would have to speak to her doctor to get his approval for you to work with her.”
“Thank you. I would appreciate that. And I’m happy to speak with her doctor if you’d like me to. I can’t make any promises, and a lot of her success will depend on how much she’s willing to endure, because it will probably hurt at first. We’re going to stretch muscles that probably haven’t been stretched in years. But, Chloe, this is what I did for so long back home. I’ve seen patients with hunchback-like posture resulting from scoliosis, osteoporosis, disc issues…We had tremendous success with the programs I put together. I think I can help, and I assure you, I won’t give her false hope, but I will share her determination to help her feel better. I’ll make it clear that the goal is to give her more mobility with less pain but that there are no guarantees.”
Chloe put a hand on her hip and smiled. “Dean was right. You are passionate about the work you do. Let me make some phone calls.”
“Thank you.” She was still a little shocked at how Dean had built her up. He was just full of surprises.
“If you don’t mind me asking, are you and Deantogether?” Chloe asked in a hushed tone. “You don’t have to tell me, but I’ve known him all my life, and I’ve never seen him light up when he talks about a friend the way he does with you.”
Emery spotted Dean pushing Agnes’s wheelchair toward the lobby. Agnes had a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers in her hands and a smile on her lips. “We’re…” She paused, searching for the right words to describe their relationship. “He’s one of my best friends,” she said honestly, because she was pretty sure,Today we’re friends, but if he keeps up these heart-melting outings, I’m not sure what we’ll be tomorrow, wasn’t an appropriate answer.
Chapter Eight
“I CAN’T BELIEVE you told Chloe so much about me. Thank you. That was really beyond nice of you,” Emery said excitedly as Dean drove out of the parking lot.
He glanced at her, meeting her curious gaze. “No problem, doll. It was nothing.”
“No, it wasn’tnothing. It was really thoughtful. I was going to put off working anywhere but at the inn and your resort until I was settled in. Desiree has classes scheduled three mornings a week, and Serena said she was booking the other two mornings for me at the resort. We left open the afternoons until we see how the mornings pan out. I think I can squeeze in an additional client or two one or two afternoons a week. Chloe is going to see if she can get authorization for me to start working with one of the residents. And there were other residents who I could tell would benefit from working with me. Just talking about working with people who really need my help got my blood pumping.”
Her voice escalated, and he stole a glance at her, thrilled that she wasn’t upset with him for pushing her in that direction.
She reached across the seat and touched his arm. “I really mean it, Dean. Thank you for everything.”
Her hand slid from his arm, and it took all of his willpower not to grab her hand and hold on tight. Emery was generally a happy person, but right now she was radiant.
“We’re not done yet.” He nodded toward the stack of flyers on the seat between them. “Let’s go distribute those and see what else you can line up.”
“No way. You said you had to work, and you’ve done enough for me today.” She flashed an effervescent smile. “What’s next onyouragenda?”
“You,” he said, biting back an even more sexually charged response.
Her cheeks flushed, and a soft laugh slipped from her lips. “I meant next on your workday agenda.”
