Page 10 of Home Team Advantage
She smiled, but there was sadness in her eyes, as if she knew their time together was limited.
Time to change the subject.
“Remember when we first moved in?”
That did it. Her features eased, and she laughed softly. “Oh, yes. I remember. Sleeping bags on the dusty floor. Cokes and hoagies for dinner.”
The fire crackled in the hearth, surrounding them in warmth and providing background noise as they reminisced. From the moment they’d crested that final ridge and descended into the valley, this place had felt like home. Like they’d find all the answers here.
They had. They’d set down roots. His mother found a man who loved her more than life itself, and Matt had gotten a father and a large family of good men and women who supported and loved them. For a long time, Matt had been afraid to accept it, believing it too good to be true. But here they were, better than ever, with more than they’d ever dreamed.
He should be satisfied with that, right?
“What are you thinking about right now?” Faith asked, her head tilted, pulling him out of his own thoughts.
“The hours and hours of brutal physical labor,” he said, shifting his thoughts back to those early days.
The house had been in bad shape, and it had seemed as if there was no end to the cleaning, scrubbing, sanding, and repairs. They wouldn’t have been able to accomplish a fraction of it without the help of the Callaghans. Their free labor. Their cool tools. The supplies they’d passed off as leftovers from the pub renovations to make Faith and Matt feel like less of a charity case.
Another laugh. “It was worth it though, wasn’t it?”
“One hundred percent.” He paused, letting the nostalgia wash over him.
They’d been so busy then. In addition to trying to turn the cottage into a real home, Faith had had her job, cleaning rooms at the Celtic Goddess resort, and he’d earned his own money by mowing lawns and shoveling snow. Which reminded him of their elderly neighbor.
“Remember how Mrs. Campbell used to invite us to those summer barbecues?”
“Oh, yes. She was always trying to play matchmaker.”
“Didn’t she try to set you up with the butcher?”
She laughed. “Yes. Among others.”
“The neighborhood isn’t going to be the same without her.”
“No,” Faith agreed with a sigh. “I imagine it’s only a matter of time now. She is ninety-seven. She told me last week that her grandson wants to put her in assisted living and sell the house.”
Last week? “Wait. You mean she’s still living there?”
“Yes. Why?”
He thought about the face in the window. “Because when we arrived earlier, I saw someone watching us out of Mrs. Campbell’s kitchen window. A young woman.”
“Probably a home health worker. They never last long. Someone new comes every week. That’s part of the problem. She can’t find good help.”
“Is she that bad off?”
“No, not really. She’s pretty self-sufficient, but she uses a wheelchair to get around now and needs help with simple things. The other neighbors and I keep an eye on her. We take her meals and help around the house when we can, but she should have someone there with her full-time.”
“What about her family?”
“Her parents are gone, obviously, and her husband passed a long time ago. I don’t know if she has any brothers or sisters; she’s never mentioned any. Her son and his wife died a while back. There’s her grandson, Eddie, I guess. He moved from the West Coast a year or so ago.”
No wonder Mrs. Campbell was always in everyone else’s business. She had none of her own.
“Speaking of Mrs. Campbell, I was planning on taking some of that stew over one day this week. Would you like to come with me? I’m sure she’d love to see you.”
“Sure,” he answered. “Why not?”
